Flat Top Mountain Slide: 1/20/22

A cold, sunny day for a backcountry snowshoe journey to the slide on the east side of Flat Top Mountain, a northern spur of Mt. Garfield. The snow was deep and soft in the Garfield Stream valley. For the approach to Gale River Trail I used the popular route along the west side of the Beaver Loop from the Beaver Brook XC Trails parking on Route 3. Snowshoes should be worn on the XC trail.

At a left turn in the XC trail an unmarked but obvious path diverges right and quickly leads to the Gale River Loop Road.

The road was well-groomed for snowmobiling - the recent snowstorm brought the first good conditions of the season for snowmobilers.

No shuttle service today.

Gale River Trail had a nice softly-packed snowshoe track leading through its long hardwood corridors. There was one snowshoer ahead of me.

There's a river under there - the North Branch of Gale River.

Inviting stretch on the relocated section that stays along the west side of the river.

Across the valley, North Twin's version of the Giant Stairs.

Garfield Stream, the major western tributary of the North Branch.

A solid trail crossing here.

On the south side of the stream I began the bushwhack up the side valley. After the first step off the trail I could tell this was going to be a workout.

The slow pace of trail-breaking enabled me to savor the scenery, including this nice view up Garfield Stream.

Interesting ledge outcrops.

Holy moly, there was some deep soft snow in here.

Pushing through a bit of hoblebush.

The woods were mostly open, and a times it seemed I was on the corridor of the original Gale River Trail, which went up this valley past Hawthorne Falls to the Garfield Ridge Trail in the col east of Mt. Garfield. (The trail to Galehead Hut was then called the Galehead Trail.) This trail section was abandoned in the late 1950s. Most of it has been swallowed by the forest.

Farther up the valley I could see through the trees to a frozen cascade and the cliffs of Flat Top Mountain.

It looked pretty deep up ahead.

Yup. This was quite a contrast to the shallow depth along the Beaver Loop XC Trail.

Wondrous wintry beauty.

A good look at the Flat Top cliffs.

I broke out of the woods onto a great open ledge slab at the top of the cascade. This is the point where, during Hurricane Carol in 1954, the Flat Top slide came crashing down to Garfield Stream and made a 90-degree left turn into its bed.

Looking down the cascade.

A marvelous spot.

The last time I was here, in July 2013, it was 90 degrees and humid. 

 

From here I headed up into the woods towards the slide.

 

Partway up the slope I cut across to the slide track and had my first glimpse up to the Twins.

Tracking the track.

The steeper gully ahead looked sketchy, a potential terrain trap. Time to head back into the woods.

Sidehilling.

Emerging onto the remaining open part of the slide, about 270 ft. in elevation above the stream. This is mostly gravel and loose rock in summer.

The prize of this slide is the unique view up the North Branch valley to North and South Twin.

Looking up the slide to the Flat Top cliffs.

Two decades ago I struggled up to some great perches atop these ledges through some very thick and gnarly terrain. A more sensible approach is to come in from the north.

A remarkable spine of gravel separates troughs on either side of the slide.

The crest of the spine is the best vantage point. Thanks to a lack of wind, I was able to enjoy this scene for half an hour.

North Twin, looking appropriately massive.

A stepped series of wild-looking cliffs marks a NW spur of North Twin. These perches offer interesting views up the Garfield Stream valley to Mt. Garfield.

South Twin and its two highest SW spurs.

Galehead Hut could be seen on the saddle below the spurs.

Old aerial photos reveal that the Flat Top slide was a three-pronged affair, but only the middle prong remains wide open today. On the way down through the woods I had a glimpse of the one small open patch on the northern prong.

A steep descent through open woods - still strenuous due to the unconsolidated snow - brought me back to the open slab on Garfield Stream, from where I retraced my tracks down the valley to the trail. The descent time from slide to car was a bit more than half of the ascent time.

 

South Slide Viewpoint, Whaleback Mountain: 1/18/22

Continuing a series of visits to "neighborhood slides" near our home in Lincoln, I snowshoed up the old Osseo Trail to the last remaining open patch on the narrow slide that scarred the south face of Whaleback Mountain. The new snow from the previous day's storm made for a strenuous steep climb.

The "old" Osseo Trail was opened in 1905 by the North Woodstock Improvement Association and the AMC, as part of the Franconia Ridge Trail. It led over Osseo Peak (Whaleback Mountain) and then along a wooded ridge to Mt. Flume. It was officially abandoned in 1983 due to condominium construction but still sees some use today. 

 

According to Frank O. Carpenter's 1890s Guide Book to the Franconia Notch and the Pemigewasset Valley, the name "Osseo Peak" was approved for this "striking, sharp, slide-scarred peak" by the AMC Committee on Nomenclature in 1890. Wrote Carpenter, "Osseo is an Indian name for 'Son of the Evening Star,' so named because of a bright star that rises above it, as seen from North Woodstock." At the time Carpenter wrote his guide, there was no trail to the peak, but logging roads could be followed along Clear Brook to its base. In 1898, the second edition of Carpenter's guidebook could be purchased for 35 cents. It can be viewed on Google Books:

 https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=v3Ky0-iBatoC&pg=GBS.PP8&printsec=frontcover

There was a partial track in the easy first mile, but from there up I was breaking trail through more than a foot of heavy powder.

It took two hours to make the mostly relentless 1000-ft. climb to the slide.

Looking back during one of many short rest stops.

Big Coolidge Mountain looms to the west.

Drifts.

Winter beauty on the moderate section that approaches the slide on an old contouring logging road.

Heading up a short but steep bushwhack to the open slide patch.

Looking back.

Emerging at the edge of the slide patch, elevation 2750 ft. My best guess is that this slide fell during the 1938 hurricane, at the same time as the slide on the east flank of nearby Big Coolidge Mountain. No mention of the slide was made in the AMC White Mountain Guide description for this trail until the 1946 edition, which read: "...the trail turns R into the hardwood growth and zigzags with increasing steepness for about 1/2 m., then climbs into an easy old road leading R across the big Osseo slide." I recall climbing up the narrow slide swath above here back in the 1990s, but it is now mostly treed-in.

Loon Mountain's North Peak ski trails in view.

From the upper end of the open patch, a nice view of Scar Ridge and Mt. Osceola beyond the hump of "South Whaleback," which was once locally known as "Elephant Mountain." Guidebook author Frank O. Carpenter called it "Oweenee Ridge." The Osseo and Oweenee names came from Longfellow's poem, "Hiawatha."

The view was worth the effort on this cold, windy day.

Scar Ridge looks rather ominous in the low-angle January light.

 A particularly good angle on the long track of the eastern of Scar's NW slides, which I had visited the previous week.

 Snow plumes were blowing off the eastern Scar Ridge peaks and Mt. Osceola. Luckily this south-facing viewpoint was mostly protected from the wind, allowing for a half-hour stay.

Heading back down the old road section.

 

Descending towards the Loon ski trails.

Nice angle of light on the tracks.

Clear Brook.

A cold dusk in the depth of winter.