masshysteria
Member
After seeing this slide from Stony Ledge last month, I decided to check it out. The last time I was on Stony in 2002, I don't remember seeing it, so I've been trying to find out the age of it. A couple of contacts told me they thought it was from the same year the larger slide on the east face came down; 1990.
It was a balmy 18 degrees as I headed up the Hoppper Trail, and I was debating in my mind how to approach the slide; Hike to the March Cataract Falls, and head north intersecting the slide somewhere; or getting higher up to the Overlook Trail, and whackin down to the top of the slide.
As I got higher on the Hopper, I could see the March Cataract Falls quite well through the trees, as it was frozen over. The slide came into view a little higher up, and I could see that the base of the slide was not too far from the Falls. That was where I would approach the slide, plus the fact that it was cold and quite windy up there made me want to get off that mountain.
The frozen falls came into view as I rounded a corner of the mountain, and it was quite a beautiful site. Ice coating the falls, and icicles hanging off the surrounding cliffs made a wonderful site. And there to the north, basking in the sunlight was the base of the slide! It was a little tricky getting across the frozen Hopper Brook, which I had to do by going downstream a couple hundred feet. The base of the slide stops about 50 feet from entering Hopper Brook.
I would estimate the slide starting at 2800 feet in elevation, and ending around 2200 feet. There is a rubble pile at the base, and some smaller piles of trees wrapped around larger trees in the slide path. Any thought I had of climbing down the slide was negated, as the pitch is very steep, and there are quite a few cliff bands crossing the slide (at least from the bottom that I could see). It's hard to tell how old it is. The trees in the rubble piles are not spongy or decayed. There are some little birches growing in the slide track, but they're only 3 feet tall at the most. This slide looks to be a little more recent than 1990?
Pictures;
http://community.webshots.com/album/568786061ImtvLR
It was a balmy 18 degrees as I headed up the Hoppper Trail, and I was debating in my mind how to approach the slide; Hike to the March Cataract Falls, and head north intersecting the slide somewhere; or getting higher up to the Overlook Trail, and whackin down to the top of the slide.
As I got higher on the Hopper, I could see the March Cataract Falls quite well through the trees, as it was frozen over. The slide came into view a little higher up, and I could see that the base of the slide was not too far from the Falls. That was where I would approach the slide, plus the fact that it was cold and quite windy up there made me want to get off that mountain.
The frozen falls came into view as I rounded a corner of the mountain, and it was quite a beautiful site. Ice coating the falls, and icicles hanging off the surrounding cliffs made a wonderful site. And there to the north, basking in the sunlight was the base of the slide! It was a little tricky getting across the frozen Hopper Brook, which I had to do by going downstream a couple hundred feet. The base of the slide stops about 50 feet from entering Hopper Brook.
I would estimate the slide starting at 2800 feet in elevation, and ending around 2200 feet. There is a rubble pile at the base, and some smaller piles of trees wrapped around larger trees in the slide path. Any thought I had of climbing down the slide was negated, as the pitch is very steep, and there are quite a few cliff bands crossing the slide (at least from the bottom that I could see). It's hard to tell how old it is. The trees in the rubble piles are not spongy or decayed. There are some little birches growing in the slide track, but they're only 3 feet tall at the most. This slide looks to be a little more recent than 1990?
Pictures;
http://community.webshots.com/album/568786061ImtvLR
