Avalanche Ravine: 3/8/22

I had plans for a long bushwhack up Walker Ravine on the flank of Mt. Lafayette, dependent on snow conditions off-trail. On a wild, windy morning with snow flurries, there were no cars in the Old Bridle Path/Falling Waters parking lot at 10:00 am.

Alas, the most recent rain/thaw and freeze had undermined the solid base created by previous thaw/freeze cycles. A couple of steps off-trail, punching through a crust to deep sugary snow beneath, prompted me to abandon the whack idea. A mile and a half of that would be ... not fun.

I headed down to Waterville Valley, where by noontime skies had cleared, revealing the peaks of Tripyramid.

The winds were still howling, and a few fallen branches littered the Livermore Trail.

The upper part of White Cascade on Slide Brook was flowing freely.

Signs of March: bright sun, deep blue sky, bare ground on a south-facing bank, and a frozen lumpy track on the trail.

I was undecided between heading out to either the South Slide or the North Slide for a partial ascent to some views. Seeing this unappealing boot-holed track on the trail to the South Slide made the decision for me.

At the junction with the trail to the North Slide, I chatted with a hiker who had ascended the slide in 'spikes, and came down the Scaur Ridge Trail route rather than the South Slide because of the wind.

To access Avalanche Ravine and the North Slide, I followed a familiar bushwhack route along an old tote road on the north side of Avalanche Brook. The snow was more supportive here than in Franconia Notch, but not consistently. I made use of some firmed-up old tracks to stay atop the snowpack.

Hardwood nirvana at the base of Scaur Ridge.

The inner sanctum glade of Avalanche Ravine, flooded with late winter sun.

Looking back, with the ski trails on Mt. Tecumseh glimpsed through the trees.

Gateway to the North Slide.

Bare rock on the upper slide.

Despite three major thaws, the snowpack was still significant on the floor of the ravine.

Looking up the snowy swath of the North Slide's east fork.

Tracks.

Starting up the North Slide from the very bottom, along a short section bypassed by the Mount Tripyramid Trail.

The snow was nice and grippy for 'shoeing up the chute.

Ascending a gully section that the trail bypasses on the left. It's steeper than it looks, a slope of about 30 degrees.

Looking back.

I stopped at 3000 ft., about 1/4 way up the slide, as the next section would have been sketchy to come down. Here I made a seat in the snow beside the trail and enjoyed a nice view of the Osceolas with Scaur Ridge in the foreground and Mt. Moosilauke in the distance. This lower part of the slide was much wider after it fell in 1885, but is now largely revegetated.

Zoomed.

Heading down the unbroken trail where it parallels the gully.

Looking back up.

A side view shows the steepness.

Near the bottom the trail splits left and the slide track continues ahead a short distance to the valley floor.

Serious posthole action along the trail. Ouch!

Dance of the yellow birches.

Funky track.

Homeward bound on Livermore Trail.