Old Bridle Path Snowshoe: 12/9/24

I had a few hours free for a snowshoe jaunt before snow moved in late afternoon. I headed up to Franconia Notch with the idea of probing farther up the ridge north of Lafayette Brook, if I could follow the tracks I had made three days earlier. But the most recent snowfall had completely covered my tracks, and the trail breaking was that much harder with an additional 5-6" of soft snow. After taking in the view of Mt. Lafayette from the bridge by the Gallen Memorial, I drove back south to climb to the longtime favorite outlooks on Old Bridle Path.

 

There was a beautiful packed snowshoe track on Old Bridle Path, soft enough for enjoyable 'shoeing.

A pretty hefty snowpack for early December. Too bad about the heavy rain headed our way.

Signage at a planned relocation around a badly eroded section.

Snow-draped passageway.

A somewhat tricky little ice bulge on the scrambly section below the outlook ledges.

Tunneling.

First peek at the ridge.

A more open vista from the first ledge outlook.

Looking up Agony Ridge and the north branch of Walker Ravine. On Halloween I bushwhacked up the valley to the little open slide patch seen right of center, and basked in 70-degree sun.

Old slide tracks spilling down off the ridge.

Walker Ravine North, overlooked by Mt. Lafayette.

Walker Ravine South, between "Truman Peak" and Mt. Lincoln. It's fun to look at various slides I've visited in these ravines during recent winters.

Dry Brook Ravine, between Mt. Lincoln and Little Haystack.

Snow-packed scrub heading up to the upper outlook in this series.

View back to the south under leaden skies.

The Kinsmans, a few minutes before they were smothered by incoming clouds.

The ridge going under, time to head down.

Parting shot.

 

Afternoon Snowshoe at Lafayette Brook: 12/6/24

After morning errands and packing up mail orders, I took the afternoon off for a favorite short snowshoe bushwhack partway up the ridge on the north side of Lafayette Brook to an obscure viewpoint. Skies had cleared somewhat and the morning winds had subsided. From the old highway bridge by the Gallen Memorial (off Exit 34C),  where there is a wonderful view of Mt. Lafayette at the head of the Lafayette Brook ravine, it looked like the summit might emerge from the clouds by the time I reached the viewspot.

Just beyond the bridge I left the bike path and briefly followed an old woods road along the brook.

I wasn't sure there would be enough snow up here for good snowshoeing. Once I veered off into the woods, I found there was more snow than I had bargained for: a good 14 to even 20 inches in the open hardwoods.

December shadows.

Weaving through the trees and the hobblebush.

A peaceful wintry scene.

Farther up the ridge the hobblebush was prolific and the snow was deep and mounded.

After pushing though some dense, snow-laden conifers, I descended into the scrubby area that offers views up the valley. The first view was looking across at the back side of the Eagle Cliff ridge.

I continued steeply down to the most open area with the best views.

Tangled deciduous scrub guards this spot.

The summit of Lafayette was still socked in, but I did have an intimate view of the ridges enclosing the Lafayette Brook valley.

Looking to the left at the ridge on the north side, I could see a favorite view ledge I have bushwhacked to several times over the years.

Pushing back through the dense spruce.

Before descending, I headed across the slope to visit a neat glade area highlighted by large twin maples.

Nearby is a wide-open glade where many birches have died off, similar to those found in the area near the Rainbow Trail in the upper Wild River valley.

 

Looking back at the Eagle Cliff ridge.

Sunset behind Artist's Bluff.

 

SW Ridge, Mount Liberty: 12/2/24

In the wake of the Thanksgiving snowfall, I headed up to the SW ridge of Mount Liberty for my first snowshoe bushwhack of the season. The attractions of this route included expansive hardwood forests at lower elevations, gorgeous birch glades higher up, and an old slide track that would be more accessible when its wet ledge slabs were blanketed in snow. I was able to visit all these features, but the trek was a little more than I bargained for, leading to a late (6:00 pm) exit.

I approached via the wide paths that lead up past The Flume, pausing to admire this view of Flume Brook.

Ice formation was in its early stages in The Flume.

 

I paid a brief visit to the SW-facing viewpoint along the path above The Flume.

At the high point of the Flume path I exchanged spikes for snowshoes and launched a 0.6 mile bushwhack up the slope to meet the Flume Slide Trail, making the first tracks of the season in 6-10" of powder.

 

Open hardwoods reign on this slope.

Though we had only 3 inches in Lincoln, the Thanksgiving storm was more generous at higher elevations.

Slowly weaving upward.

A bear feeding nest high in a beech tree.

Another bear tree.

 

Some big sugar maples up here.

I hopped onto the Flume Slide Trail for a quarter-mile transfer to the main bushwhack event.

 

The woods became snowier as I ascended the lower part of Liberty's broad SW ridge.

I remembered this battered but still magnificent yellow birch from a spring trip up here two years ago.

 

Every limb had its mantle of snow.

 

The conifers were resplendent in their winter cloaks.

Looks like I'll be pushing through some snow-laden softwoods here.

Snow getting deeper. Slow and steady wins the day.

Climbing into the birch glades higher up the ridge.

The first time I visited these glades it was 85 degrees on a May day before the leaves came out, making it a hot, steep climb. 

The conditions today were a bit different.

For a short distance I followed an early 1900s logging tote road up and across the slope.

These glades are the legacy of a 1908 forest fire that seared this slope.

Oh my.

This slope would be carpeted with ferns in summer.

 

Can't get enough of these glades! Elevation here is 3150 ft.

It had taken a long time to break trail up to here from the Flume Slide Trail, and if I wanted to visit the slide I now had to make a strenuous sidehill traverse across the steep slope.

After a slow push through some gnarly spruce-thick terrain with plenty of blowdown, I realized that I had traversed to a point above the top of the old slide track. I then had to slither down a steep pitch to emerge at the upper end of the slide. Unfortunately clouds and flurries had obscured the southerly views.

Here is the view on a day in May.

 

 

But there was plenty of beauty to be seen around the edges of the slide.

Looking down the partly overgrown track. This fairly short slide was one of two western tributaries to the main SW Slide on Mount Liberty, which came surging down during a June 1883 downpour and swept the famous suspended boulder out of The Flume.

I descended carefully down the slide track, skirting potentially sketchy spots in the woods.

A snowy highway through the forest.

Opening up for more fuzzy views.

My favorite scene from the day.

Parting shot at the bottom of the open swath. From here, starting after 3:00 pm,.  I had to break out a new route to get back down and across the slope. After many refreshing showers from snow-burdened conifers, and much maneuvering over and around blowdown, I emerged back into open woods. Far down the ridge I finally linked up with my upbound tracks. Whew!

I reached the Flume Slide Trail at 4:40, changed into dry shirt, hat and gloves, and made a leisurely descent from there by headlamp, following my tracks through the woods back to the path above The Flume. It was a memorable start to the winter season.