Mountain Wandering: Sunny November Days

This week I was able to take advantage of two relatively warm, sunny late fall days, a quiet time in the Whites.

FRANCONIA FALLS: 11/15/23

Carol and I took an afternoon walk on the Lincoln Woods Trail out to the Franconia Brook bridge. On the way back, she checked in on several geocaches she has placed in various locations along the trail. I paid a quick visit to Franconia Falls before heading back myself.

View of the East Branch from the washout area with the fence, 0.7 mile in from the trailhead.

I spent a few minutes poking around the site of Camp 8 of the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad and found a few artifacts (which are protected by law and should not be removed).

The classic view up the river to Bondcliff and its sharp-peaked southern spur.

Looks like November.

Late-day view from the upper end of Franconia Falls.

North Hitchcock on the right, and North Hancock on the left, with the snowy top of the Cedar Brook Slide visible.

Twin cascades and pool at Franconia Falls.

View down the East Branch to Mount Osceola and its Middle and West Peaks.

TRIPYRAMID HARDWOODS AND SOUTH SLIDE: 11/16/23

The next day I returned to the west side of Mount Tripyramid for more November hardwood bushwhacking and another stay in the sun on the lower part of the 1869 South Slide.

Livermore was the tale of two trails. Snowy in the shade...

...and bare in the sun.

White Cascade starting to resemble its name.

Always a pleasure.

Gateway to the Wilderness.

Partway up the south side of the Mount Tripyramid Trail I headed off for a mile-long side bushwhack loop through the vast hardwood forest on the western flank of the mountain. I had thought there might be some bare ground in this sun-exposed area, but those hopes were quickly dashed.

Snow or no snow, it's a delight to wander through these open woods.

Moose tracks on an old logging road that cuts across the slope.

One of my all-time favorite sugar maple glades.

Electric sky.

A benefit of the ~2" snow cover was an abundance of animal tracks, such as these partly melted bear tracks leading down to a crossing of Cold Brook.

Cold Brook, looking rather chilly.

The hardwoods go ever on. On this western slope of Tripyramid, between Avalanche Brook and Slide Brook, is a hardwood forest of more than 400 acres, extending up to an elevation of 2900 ft.

More bear tracks, perhaps from the same wandering bruin.

Possibly red fox?

A mouse or other tiny denizen of the forest floor.

Squirrel?

By noontime the snow in the woods was getting wet and slippery, and I was glad to get back onto the somewhat compacted trail at 2800 ft.

After a steep climb up the lower wooded track of the first South Slide, with some slippery spots (spikes needed for descent), I emerged on the lower open swath.

I made a short, thick bushwhack across to the westernmost open strip of the first South Slide, which I don't recall ever visiting before.

Nice view of Lost Pass from the top of the strip.

Back on the main swath of the first South Slide. I was surprised at how much snow lingered in this sun-exposed opening. The open expanse of this slide must have been huge after it fell in October 1869. For years, until the second South Slide and the North Slide fell in 1885, this was known as "the Great Slide" of Tripyramid.

I found a rock seat and lingered for an hour here in the low November sun, admiring the view of Sandwich Dome and various peaks in western New Hampshire. There was haze in the air - the distant Vermont peaks were only faintly visible.