Foolin' Around at the Fool Killer

A short December day seemed like a good time to reprise a bushwhack I had done on a foggy day in April 2007. On that trip I bushwhacked over deep firm snow with a wet layer on top into a ravine on the NW side of the Fool Killer, a prominent eastern spur of North Tripyramid. After bushwhacking partway up the main brook that drains the ravine, I came back down and made a very steep side trip up to the lowest open slab on the little-known Northwest Slide of the Fool Killer. This old three-pronged slide is very steep, and the larger open slabs at its upper end drop off at a 45-degree angle, well beyond this hiker's comfort level. But with deep, firm April snow I was able to make it up to that lower slab. Unfortunately, dense fog closed off any chance for a view. On this return trip I hoped to get that view, though I knew current snow conditions were far less felicitous for such steep climbing.

 

The Northwest Slide can be glimpsed from one point along the Kancamagus Highway to the west, as seen below, and from an open glade on Scaur Ridge, just north of the Scaur Ridge Trail/Pine Bend Brook Trail junction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Surprisingly, there was only one vehicle at the Pine Bend Brook Trail on a Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a softly packed track, and though the cover was bony in the hemlock/spruce sections, snowshoes seemed like the tool of choice. 

The Pine Bend Brook Trail follows and crosses numerous branches of Pine Bend Brook.

 

The crossings are generally pretty easy, with the first significant one coming at 0.8 mile.

After the crossing I made a short bushwhack into a decade-old clearcut for a peek at the Fool Killer.

After another crossing, into the hardwoods.

Beyond the next crossing I struck off southwestward into the woods towards the ravine.

Good snowshoeing in about 10 inches of soft, light powder.

One of several drainages that meander out of the ravine.

Random giant boulder in the woods.

The Fool Killer looms through the trees.

Beautiful hardwoods as the ravine closes in.

Heading into an amphitheater enclosed by Tripyramid ridges.

Approaching the point where the track of the Northwest Slide (on the left) joins the main brook flowing down from the col between the Fool Killer and North Tripyramid.

An ice-draped ledge step formation at the base of the Northwest Slide.

Closer look.

I decided to climb through the woods along the right (west) side of the slide. The first maneuver was a switchback along the base of a ledgy ice flow.

A steep pitch above brought me to the top of the ledge step formation. It quickly became apparent that the loose, slippery, powdery snow was less than ideal for steep climbing.

The slide track itself remained unsuitable for ascent, so I stayed in the woods.

Side view of a steep ledge formation on the slide.

Due to the loose snow with no base, the climbing through the woods at a slope of 30 to 34 degrees was slow and strenuous, with much pulling on trees.

 

Upward.

Since it had taken something like 45 minutes to gain just 250 feet in elevation, and knowing that going back down would be trickier, I abandoned the plan to climb another 200 feet to the slab. Instead, I angled over to the slide via a sketchy sidehill traverse to have a look and take a break before heading down. 

At this spot I could see a typical debris flow levee - a chain of boulders deposited along the edge of the slide.

Though this was not high enough for an open view, I could see Mount Carrigain and the east ridge of Mount Hancock through the leafless branches.

 

A better look at Carrigain.

As I suspected, the return across the sidehill traverse was pretty spicy. Trees were my friends.

Glad to be done with that part,

From there, a more straightforward steep descent.

After getting back down to the floor of the ravine, I went over for a look at a frozen cascade on the main branch of the brook. A wild and beautiful area out here, on the northern edge of the Sandwich Range Wilderness.

Heading for home, in time to beat a predicted late day/evening snowfall.