Waumbek
New member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,890
- Reaction score
- 209
Yo, Darren.... (Pisgah-Hor)
- Thread starter Waumbek
- Start date
Help Support vftt.org:
dr_wu002
Well-known member
Our Hero!
Could you see how far up that boulder had come from? How long was the slide? Did you have to run down, Indiana Jones Style, with that thing chasing after you!?
-Dr. Wu
Could you see how far up that boulder had come from? How long was the slide? Did you have to run down, Indiana Jones Style, with that thing chasing after you!?
-Dr. Wu
Last edited:
darren
Poobah Emeritus
Thanks! My guess is that the holes in the road in front of the boulder were caused by smaller rock bouncing off it. It's a wonder no one was hurt.
Thansk again.
- darren
Thansk again.
- darren
chomp
New member
Wow, when did this happen? How much damage was done to the road? I am up in that area several times a year, and I have hiked Pisgah before.
darren
Poobah Emeritus
Waumbek
New member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,890
- Reaction score
- 209
In Search of the Slide
Mt. Hor forms the west side of Lake Willoughby (1) , Mt Pisgah the east side. Each has 1000' cliffs that frame the lake dramatically. I think I've climbed Hor before on snowshoes but I could not recall it very well. Last night I went in search of a view of the slide on the opposing Pisgah cliffs.
I must admit to a fascination with slides. The Crawford Notch Willey slide of 1826 was an ironic tragedy. The Willey family apparently heard the cliff behind them rumble and ran out of the house to save their lives. They were found buried in the rubble. The house was spared. The story made nation-wide news for days. Thomas Cole and other Hudson River painters had popularized the White Mountains among elite audiences by this time, but this news story brought the Whites into view for all audiences. Crawford Notch soon became an attraction, and White Mountain tourism was born from the tragedy. I didn't expect to find that impact from the Willoughby-Pisgah slide but it nevertheless has had its own impact (no pun intended).
The Mt. Hor trail climbs about 800 feet and then runs level (2) a little over a mile out to north and east outlooks, both of which have viewpoints of the Pisgah cliffs where the June 25th slide occurred. I went to the north outlook (3) first. I could not see any evidence of a slide on the Pisgah cliffs from there. Then I went to the east outlook and saw three possible sites for the recent slide but could not tell if one was them was recent enough to be the June 25th event (4).
I returned to the car and drove back down the CCC road, where there's also a good outlook on Pisgah cliffs. From this southern angle, it looked to me as if the slide must have run diagonally, not straight down the mountain (5). It was clearly time to venture onto VT 5A and have a look, although the warning signs (6) (7) as you enter this extremely narrow road were a bit daunting but I'd taken the old beater car and had only to worry about my life.
When I got down 5A past the houses about a 1/2 mile, it was clear where the slide ended--at the boulders that had been pushed off the road by road crews. These were clearly not glacial erratics dropped there by the last ice age but by the June 25th slide. It was very difficult to see up behind them but the uprooted trees and gouged earth indicated the terminus of the slide was here (8) (9) (10). There's no room to park a car on 5A, get out and have a look, it was getting late, so I left and headed for the south end of Willoughby to have a cold one, eat a sandwich for dinner, enjoy the view of Pisgah cliffs (11) and watch the sun set over Lake Willoughby (12). (If you want to see the bottom of the slide, I recommend parking at the south end of the lake and walking up 5A so you're not burdened with a car.)
I did not actually know where the slide had started until I searched further this morning and found this picture. (Look now; it may get archived soon). I think it was taken from a boat out in the lake. It is not my image but from the Caledonian Record so I cannot put it in webshots. But now I think I know where the slide started--at the top of the diagonal red line (14). What do you think?
Mt. Hor forms the west side of Lake Willoughby (1) , Mt Pisgah the east side. Each has 1000' cliffs that frame the lake dramatically. I think I've climbed Hor before on snowshoes but I could not recall it very well. Last night I went in search of a view of the slide on the opposing Pisgah cliffs.
I must admit to a fascination with slides. The Crawford Notch Willey slide of 1826 was an ironic tragedy. The Willey family apparently heard the cliff behind them rumble and ran out of the house to save their lives. They were found buried in the rubble. The house was spared. The story made nation-wide news for days. Thomas Cole and other Hudson River painters had popularized the White Mountains among elite audiences by this time, but this news story brought the Whites into view for all audiences. Crawford Notch soon became an attraction, and White Mountain tourism was born from the tragedy. I didn't expect to find that impact from the Willoughby-Pisgah slide but it nevertheless has had its own impact (no pun intended).
The Mt. Hor trail climbs about 800 feet and then runs level (2) a little over a mile out to north and east outlooks, both of which have viewpoints of the Pisgah cliffs where the June 25th slide occurred. I went to the north outlook (3) first. I could not see any evidence of a slide on the Pisgah cliffs from there. Then I went to the east outlook and saw three possible sites for the recent slide but could not tell if one was them was recent enough to be the June 25th event (4).
I returned to the car and drove back down the CCC road, where there's also a good outlook on Pisgah cliffs. From this southern angle, it looked to me as if the slide must have run diagonally, not straight down the mountain (5). It was clearly time to venture onto VT 5A and have a look, although the warning signs (6) (7) as you enter this extremely narrow road were a bit daunting but I'd taken the old beater car and had only to worry about my life.
When I got down 5A past the houses about a 1/2 mile, it was clear where the slide ended--at the boulders that had been pushed off the road by road crews. These were clearly not glacial erratics dropped there by the last ice age but by the June 25th slide. It was very difficult to see up behind them but the uprooted trees and gouged earth indicated the terminus of the slide was here (8) (9) (10). There's no room to park a car on 5A, get out and have a look, it was getting late, so I left and headed for the south end of Willoughby to have a cold one, eat a sandwich for dinner, enjoy the view of Pisgah cliffs (11) and watch the sun set over Lake Willoughby (12). (If you want to see the bottom of the slide, I recommend parking at the south end of the lake and walking up 5A so you're not burdened with a car.)
I did not actually know where the slide had started until I searched further this morning and found this picture. (Look now; it may get archived soon). I think it was taken from a boat out in the lake. It is not my image but from the Caledonian Record so I cannot put it in webshots. But now I think I know where the slide started--at the top of the diagonal red line (14). What do you think?
Last edited:
![Grand Teton Day Hikes and National Park Map [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DB0jvRnbL._SL500_.jpg)
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
![Grand Canyon, North and South Rims [Grand Canyon National Park] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419Y-ycyVUL._SL500_.jpg)
