Saturday, August 14, 2021

Hot Morning in Mad River Notch: 8/13/21


On this sunny hot, humid day it was actually fairly cool when I started at 8 am, but it was mighty toasty when I came out a little before 1 pm. On this hike into Mad River Notch I bushwhacked up to mid-level open slabs on the two southernmost old slides on the east face of East Osceola.

Looking down at Upper Greeley Pond from the Greeley Ponds Trail.

 

First I climbed partly up but mostly alongside a narrow slide that fell sometime between 1964 and 1974, based on aerial photos. The lower part of this slide is a steep jumble of rocks.

 


 It gets ledgy around 2600 ft., and at 2770 ft. is this steep, open wet slab.


The view from the top of the slab is limited, looking across at part of the SW ridge of Mt. Kancamagus.




From here I whacked across the steep slope through dense spruce and blowdown to this open slab halfway up the 1897 slide, which I've climbed up to this point several times. When it fell, this slide partly filled Lower Greeley Pond.



After a wet July, a part of the slide I've traversed in the past was too slimy to go out on today, with the exception of this nice dry set of slabs.


I popped out on a favorite hangout slab looking down at the south end of Lower Greeley Pond and across at the SW ridge of Mt. Kancamagus.


Zoom on the K1 Cliff on Kancamagus.



Side view across to Mt. Tripyramid in the distance.



The Tris. The lighting would be much better in the afternoon.



Back at Lower Greeley Pond after a steep descent through prickly spruce. Such fun on a hot day!




The K2 Cliff from Upper Greeley Pond.



 The 1897 slide is seen as a white streak in this photo taken from a talus slope below the K1 Cliff. The ~1970 slide is faintly visible as a parallel strip just to the right of the 1897 slide.

 


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