Took the morning off to undertake a snowshoe bushwhack in Kinsman Notch, before the powder is obliterated by the forthcoming rain and warmth. I did a loop to visit two interesting spots I'd been to before: a small landslide on a low northern spur of Mt. Waternomee, and an open ledgy swath of brookbed that I call the Waternomee Waterslide.
I parked at the Beaver Brook trailhead and walked 0.4 mile along Rt. 112 towards Lost River Gorge before ducking into the woods.
Along the road walk I caught this view of the fire-scarred Dilly Cliffs across an open wetland.
View of Mt. Osceola, Breadtray Ridge, Middle & South Tripyramid and West Sleeper from Rt. 112 near the entrance to Lost River Gorge.
A steady climb through hardwoods in about a foot of powder led towards the landslide. With no base, the snow was slippery on steep inclines, and there were plenty of booby traps hidden under the snow.
Looking across at the Dilly Cliffs.
The little slide is in sight ahead.
Climbing steeply up the slide track through pioneer hardwood saplings.
This small slide may have fallen during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. It's hard to spot on satellite photos. I first saw it from an outlook ledge on a Kinsman Ridge spur in 2014.
Some large old yellow birches guard the slide.
Dilly Cliffs behind a snow-caked yellow birch.
The slide is steep! It was a struggle on snowshoes to get partway up.
My turnaround point.
This narrow corridor provided an exit from the steep terrain around the slide.
Below the slide the slope eases on a lovely plateau of open hardwoods. I snowshoed along this shelf to reach the Waternomee Waterslide.
Sign left by a wandering deer.
Heading across the slope to the waterslide.
Emerging at the edge partway up the waterslide, which is on a nameless tributary of Lost River. In the past I have snowshoed up and down this swath, but today there was hard water ice under a thin coat of snow, so I kept to the edge.
Side view.
Icy fringe near the top.
View from near the top, with part of lower Kinsman Ridge in the distance.
Making tracks for home.
Walking back towards the Beaver Brook trailhead.
This reminds me of your trip report from 2/10/15. How close were you to the slide/glades you explored that day? I'm hoping to get out there this winter to explore this area on skis!
ReplyDeleteThe waterslide I visited was the same one as in the 2015 report, just with less snow cover. The bottom is at ~2100 ft. The ski glades are above where I traversed across between the two slides, these are at 2500 ft. and above. Just need some snow!
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