On another in our series of fine sunny days I took a long walk up the Downes Brook Trail to visit a pair of slides on the north ridge of Mount Whiteface. On this 9 1/2 mile round trip I did not see another hiker.
Trail adopter Ken MacGray has the waterbars in good shape along his 1.4 mile section up to the Wilderness boundary.
The first crossing of Downes Brook is often one of the most difficult, but with the current drought conditions it was easy this day.
All of the crossings (nine each way today) were similarly simple rock hops.
Downes Brook Trail has long sections with good footing.
Into the Wilderness for most of the day.
Farther along, good axe work either from another adopter or a WMNF trail crew. Thank you!
The trail crosses the outwash from the 1890s Downes Brook Slide on the north side of Mt. Passaconaway.
The good footing is broken up by an occasional washed out section.
A "half-flume" just below the sixth crossing of Downes Brook.
The site of an early 1900s logging camp of the Conway Lumber Company.
A few artifacts. (As always, please note that these are protected by law and it is illegal to remove them.)
This short stone wall, farther up the trail and on the other side of the river from the camp, presumably had something to do with the logging operation.
A lovely stretch of trail deep in the valley.
The section of trail between the eighth and ninth crossings follows a narrow footway along a steep sidehill.
There is a sketchy scramble at the far end of a gully crossing.
A bucket at another logging camp site.
Barrel hoop.
Nice sense of remoteness out here, 4 1/2 miles up the valley.
There are two open slides out here on the west side of the north ridge of Mt. Whiteface - a smaller one to the south and a huge one to the north, about 0.1 mile apart. They came down in 1920 or 1921. I dropped down off the trail to cross Downes Brook and approach the smaller southern slide.
Making a sidehill approach.
A narrow secondary track of the slide, grown to moss.
Breaking into the open on the southern slide. I had only been to this slide once before, on a winter trip back in 2007.
Picturesque clouds to the north.
Ascending the short northern branch of this two-pronged slide.
A diminutive white pine showing signs of the drought.
I cut across to the larger southern prong of the slide.
Ascending on gravel and loose stones.
This slide tapers to a point at the top.
View north to Mt. Tremont and distant Wildcats.
Down-look.
Ledges at the very top of the slide.
Looking down to the floor of the valley.
From here I bushwhacked north across the slope to the much larger northern slide. After an initial thick section with blowdown, I stumbled across the remnants of an old logging road that was heading where I wanted to go.
The old road provided stable footing and enabled me to avoid some gnarly terrain on this slope.
I emerged about halfway up the big slide, and crossed a southern offshoot to reach the main event.
This is one of the largest, most expansive slides in the Whites. The 1922 edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide noted it in a description of the route to Mt. Whiteface via the Downes Brook
logging road: "A new slide from near the top of the northerly part of
Mt. Whiteface is continued down the brook for a mile by a washout, which
has destroyed the road."
The upper half of the slide mostly consists of steep slabs of Conway Granite and, higher up, Passaconaway Porphyritic Syenite.
I scrambled up to a little shelf, a fine spot to take a break and savor the scene.
A nice cross-slide view out to the north.
The vista included cloud-wreathed Mt. Washington on the left, Mt. Tremont/Owl Cliff in the center, and the Wildcats and Carter Dome behind Bartlett Haystack on the right. Potash Mountain and South Potash are seen under Tremont.
I scrambled a little farther up for different perspectives. I've climbed Mt. Whiteface via this slide twice in the past, but today I was just paying it a visit.
Two decent-sized white pines have staked their claims higher up on the slabs.
The average grade of this 1000-foot long slide is 31 degrees, but these slabs are tilted at 34 to 35 degrees. Luckily they are grippy when dry.
It was tempting to climb higher, but I had a late start in the morning and the afternoon was getting on. Plus, ascending slabs like these is easier then descending.
Looking up at some wild crags along the northern edge.
Another angle.
Looking across the valley to the ridges of East Sleeper.
After a nice break in the sun, I started heading down, slowly and carefully. The lower half of the slide is mostly gravel and loose rock.
At its widest point it is 100 yards across.
Looking back up.
A trio of small white pines near the base of the slide.
Ferns flourishing amidst the rocks.
Parting shot.
Downes Brook at the base of the slide.
Found some peavey heads and other artifacts on the way back down the valley.
Not sure what this big metal piece was part of.
A peaceful scene along Downes Brook.
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