Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Sunny Morning in Mad River Notch: 3/10/21

 I had the morning free on this gorgeous sunny, springlike day. Enjoyed a quick snowshoe hike into Mad River Notch, across Upper Greeley Pond, and up the lower part of the 1892 East Osceola Slide.

There was an excellent track on the Greeley Ponds XC Ski Trail. This has been heavily used by Osceola-bound hikers this winter as the Greeley Ponds hiking trail parking lot has not been plowed. Hikers using this trail should absolutely wear snowshoes, especially with thawing temperatures softening the snow. 


 At least one person did not wear snowshoes. The result was a gold medal posthole.

 

Skiers on Upper Greeley Pond. It remains to be seen how the forthcoming warmth affects the pond ice - caution needed.



The pond provides an excellent view of the two-forked East Osceola slide that fell in the 1950s, which is a favorite of expert backcountry skiers. Towards the bottom of the picture, hidden behind a ridge, this joins with the old 1892 slide.



The impressive cliffs on the NE spur of East Osceola.


Cliffs and slides on the broad eastern front of East Osceola. The big white slab on the upper right is part of the 1892 slide and is right next to the Mount Osceola Trail.


Looking north to the cliffs of West Huntington, prominent along the Kanc Highway.


Snowshoeing up the track of the combined 1950s/1892 slide. It had seen a fair amount of recent backcountry ski traffic.


Heading up onto the slide proper. My snowshoes had good grip on the top layer of snow; underneath was a rock-solid crust.


Looking back at the K2 Cliff and slide on the west knob of Mt. Kancamagus.


The slide widens out at 2500 ft. The snow was softening in the sun, heading for corn.


Mt. Tripyramid peers over behind the profile of the K1 Cliff. K1 and K2 were named in the early 1900s by Waterville Valley hikers, with the "K" probably short for Kancamagus.


Skier's view coming down.



 

After my hike, Carol and I went to Plymouth in the early afternoon for our second Covid vaccine shot. Thanks and kudos to the National Guard folks and the first responders who ran a very smooth operation.

On the way home we took a ride into Waterville Valley. We parked at a vantage point where I could study the south-facing slides on Mt. Osceola. Through binoculars, I could discern a winding track going up the huge Southwest Slide!

 

 

 I watched for a while, and  saw a figure moving up along the looker’s right side of the slide. The figure stopped about ¾ of the way up and was still for a good 10 minutes. And then the figure skied down in swooping turns, dropping over the headwall at the bottom in just a few minutes. What are the odds that I would get to see this? In the zoomed photo below the skier is in the middle, on the way up, and part of the climbing track can be seen at the lower right.



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