A morning visit to the lower part of the multi-pronged slide on the steep east face of East Osceola, in Mad River Notch. All was quiet at Upper Greeley Pond, gazing up at the cliffs of the NE spur of East Osceola.
From the Greeley Ponds Trail, I followed the low angle, rubbly runout of the slide up to the first ledges.
The slide was drier than usual in this drought summer, but a brook was still running down it, and there were plenty of greasy wet ledges. After the first bit of ledge scrambling I came to this slick-looking ledge face, and took to the woods.
These slide-side woods were better than average.
Looking down a steep ledgy chute.
Above that, it was safe to drop onto the slide for a short bit of scrambling on dry ledge.
Asters are found on just about every slide.
A nice perch ahead on the ledgy bulge in the middle.
Partial view of the SW ridge of Mt. Kancamagus.
Nope, not going up through there.
Slanting ledges at the edge of the slide.
View from the slanting ledges.
Mt. Tripyramid in the distance.
Back into the woods, and out to the broad ledgy area at ~2600 ft. where two forks of the slide merge. To the left is the long narrow slide track, popular with adventurous backcountry skiers, that has two prongs at the top that extend to ~3900 ft. This fell sometime in the mid-1900s, possibly during Hurricane Carol in 1954. To the right, behind the fallen birch, is the track of the 1892 slide, now mostly overgrown. The Mount Osceola Trail parallels this slide, passing a huge rock slab at 3300 ft., and crossing ledges at the top of the slide at ~3700 ft., where there is an excellent view.
A quick look across the notch at the K2 Cliff on Mt. Kancamagus, then it was time to head back out and get the store open for the afternoon.
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