I wanted to get up on a slide for some views, but with a 2:00 pm start there was not time for a long approach. The slides in the Gorge Brook valley on Mt. Moosilauke fit the bill. The parking at Ravine Lodge Road was not that full, and even with Dartmouth freshman trips underway, the Lodge was quiet. There was a fine display of asters and goldenrod along the service road below the Lodge, which is used by hikers to access the trails.
A field of goldenrod.
The new Ravine Lodge, which was completed in 2017, is closed through September 20 for the Dartmouth freshman orientation trips,
Familiar signs.
Not an issue this summer, but one big storm could change that.
The rocky lower section of Gorge Brook Trail. Gives the lower section of Mount Osceola Trail off Tripoli Road a run for its money.
Rustic footbridge over Gorge Brook.
The 2012 relocation above the Snapper Trail junction is always a pleasure to walk.
Beautiful open woods along this section.
Gorge Brook.
The point where the trail turns away from the brook, and the launching point for a bushwhack to the slides.
There are several confusing brook channels in this part of the valley.
Good whacking woods.
In 1966 DOC opened the Gorge Brook Slide Trail up the most open of six slide tracks on the west side of this ravine. This one fell in the November 1927 storm. The trail was "intended to be used in only one
direction - uphill." It was abandoned in 1980, though parts - but not
all - of the trail can still be found and followed. Adding to the navigational challenge is the close proximity of several adjacent old
slides on this wall of the ravine. The open part of the slide is very steep with a pitch of 34 degrees, and
there are some sketchy spots throughout with slippery footing. Its extreme
steepness and sometimes obscure route make it suitable for experienced
off-trail hikers only. In the lower part I took a little different route up a secondary track of the slide, gaining the first views across the valley.
A little dry ledge scrambling on the main track of the slide.
Steep enough.
The most open area of the slide is a swath of loose rock and gravel at ~3625-3725 ft.
One of several small white pines inhabiting the slide.
Down-look.
Looking up at the East Peak of Moosilauke.
Nice view across the valley to Moosilauke's Blue Ridge with Sandwich Dome and the Ossipee Range on the horizon.
Looking up. This was my turn-around point.
Coming down over the ledges.
From this point it was easier descending through the woods between the slide I ascended and the next slide to the north.
Farther down I cut across to the edge of the next slide, which presents some impressively steep ledges.
A view into the upper Gorge Brook valley, with the sunlit East Peak rising above.
I found a way to drop down onto a swath of gravel and loose rock parallel to the steep ledges.
I had been to the upper part of this slide a couple of years ago, but this was my first visit to its lower section. I believe it fell either in 1938 or 1942.
A closer look at the steep ledges.
Heading down to the bottom.
I spotted one scraggly white pine tucked in amidst some scrubby firs.
A rugged parallel track that presumably comes down from the steep ledges.
Back down to the floor of the valley.
Ravine Lodge at dusk.
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