Mountain Wandering: Mount Liberty Talus: 11/30/23

I returned to the Flume Brook valley for the first snowshoe bushwhack of the season, circling around to the SE side of Mount Liberty and climbing to an open talus slope with a close-up view of Mount Flume and its great snow-covered slides.

To reach the Flume Slide Trail, I retraced my route from two days earlier, bushwhacking up the long hardwood slope from the upper end of the network of trails around the Flume. I passed this set of deer tracks on an old contouring logging road.

There was enough snow out here to make the snowshoes a good choice. It was easier going than when I barebooted up through here two days earlier.

First snowshoe tracks of the season!

A well-used bear tree.

I was a bit surprised to find one set of fresh boot tracks heading up the Flume Slide Trail at this quiet time of year.

The trail scoots over the debris flow levee from the 1883 Mount Liberty slide, which I had visited two days earlier.

After a mile or so on the Flume Slide Trail I headed up into hardwoods to begin a long angling bushwhack climb across the south slope of Mount Liberty.

When breaking trail, slow and steady wins the day.

Interesting track pattern. Not sure who made it.

Higher up across the slope I entered an expansive white birch forest that seeded in after a 1908 forest fire that burned 423 acres.

Spacious and inviting.

Fresh bear tracks at 2800 ft.

I angled a little too high on the slope and ran into a wall of conifers.

I had to drop down a bit to get around the steep nose of Mount Liberty's craggy south ridge, which loomed ahead.

I descended steeply to one of several prominent logging sled roads on the south side of Mount Liberty, dating back to the early 1900s.

These roads provide stable platforms for cutting across a slope, much easier than tedious sidehilling.

The road hugs the very base of that steep craggy ridge.

It soon breaks out at the top of another extensive birch glade.

I left the road for a while and meandered through the birches with snow-caked Mount Flume visible through the trees.

Then it was back to the road as it angled across the SE slope of Mount Liberty.

There were occasional blowdowns and obstructing conifers on the road, and there were other sections like this.

I eventually left the road and climbed steeply up the slope towards the open talus.

Along the way I crossed a higher, parallel sled road.

After a strenuous climb through dense conifers on rocky terrain, I could see the edge of the talus above.

Made it! Snowshoeing on the jumbled rocks with an early season blanket of sugary snow was pretty sketchy. On my previous visit here in late March, 2010, there was a deep snowpack along the base of the talus, and I was able to traverse along it for 100 yards to its upper end.. Today I was content to just clamber up to the top edge at this lower end, and settle in for some views and a late lunch.

Here, at 3380 ft., I could peer down to the broad floor of the upper Flume Brook valley, backed by the dark bulk of Hardwood Ridge.

Distant views were hazy on this fairly warm day.

Looking up the steep talus slope.

The view I really came here for: Mount Flume and its snowy slides.

Closer look. In winter, one of the most impressive sights in the Whites.

Another angle, showing the col with Hardwood Ridge.

The descent off the talus required careful snowshoe placement.

Steep terrain below the talus.

After descending to the upper parallel sled road, I turned onto it and followed it down across the slope.

Though steeper than the parallel road below, this road also provided a generally good route through the forest.

From the junction where the two roads converge, I descended steeply and directly through the birches to the Flume Slide Trail.

Looking back up the slope.

Heading towards the lowering sun on the Flume Slide Trail.

Flume Brook at one of the trail crossings.

Sunset afterglow from the trail. From this point the trail and then the bushwhack down to the wide and smooth Flume paths is all in open hardwoods. I was able to navigate all the way out to the Flume parking lot without resorting to a headlamp.