With an afternoon free, I headed up Rt. 118 to Ravine Lodge Road for the first snowshoe excursion of the season, following the big storm of the previous weekend. The plan was for a ramble partway up the Gorge Brook Trail and then some off-trail wandering in the Gorge Brook valley. The objective was an open patch on an old slide, which would hopefully provide a view.
Though the main summit was smothered in a cloudbank, Moosilauke's South Peak was shining brightly as I strolled up the plowed Ravine Lodge Road from hiker winter parking.
At road's end below Ravine Lodge, I strapped my snowshoes on and headed onto the Gorge Brook Trail, quickly crossing the Baker River footbridge.
Looking upstream, the Baker was largely smothered in early season snow and ice.
Gorge Brook Trail was well-packed from weekend traffic with a few rocks still exposed. The 'shoeing was good.
Partway up I chatted with Gary Coyne, a frequent customer at my store. He had done some trail-breaking on the Snapper Trail as his first snowshoe trek of the season.
Dartmouth Outing Club orange.
Love the open woods along the next section of the Gorge Brook Trail.
Nice!
I left the trail where it turns right at the Last Sure Water sign and Ross McKenney Forest plaque.
After negotiating several tricky drainage crossings, I snowshoed up the broad valley floor through open fir woods in 18-20" of beautiful light powder.
First tracks of the season!
A section of Gorge Brook that is not often seen.
Heading up towards the slide track.
Avoiding the steeper open snow slope (though not long, it could still present some avalanche risk with the deep new snow), I emerged from dense snowy conifers onto a shelf near the top of the lower open patch of this slide, which is the northernmost of six old slide tracks on the west wall of Gorge Brook ravine. My best guess is that this slide fell in 1942.
The sun was illuminating the tip of an upper ridge of Moosilauke.
The slide patch offered a small but pleasing vista across the Gorge Brook and Baker River valleys to Mt. Kirkham and Mt. Braley on the Blue Ridge.
The green roof of the DOC's John Rand Cabin, located off the lower part of the Al Merrill Trail, could be seen at the base of Mt. Kirkham.
With a late start, I didn't have time to explore more open patches farther up the track, so I headed back down from the slide.
A near-disaster on one of the drainage crossings.
All quiet at the Ravine Lodge.
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