Gregory Karl
10-23-2011, 09:03 PM
A month or two back I used the right branch of the Angel Slide as a descent route after climbing the new Wright slide, and while doing so, mentally bookmarked two destinations for future exploration: Angel Left Branch and the NE ridge of Wright. On studying the latter I had thought: "How is it I've failed to visit that amazing half-mile of open rock all these years?" Today I made a loop out of both objectives.
Even though I had been up the brook last time I was in the neighborhood, I couldn't resist photographing some of the same stunning formations in different light. I was amazed at how quickly the unstable landslide debris erodes and how rapidly the hydrodynamics change as a consequence. The best example was a cave that has been carved out as the brook ate away at a mountainous tangle of root knots and mud. This mess became the ceiling of a walk-in size room framed by the surrounding rocks, a shadowy waterfall splashing down the back wall. All new architecture? Or is it just going back to its original course?
Anyway, at the point the scoured brook becomes the new slide proper, I began an ascending traverse to the left to reach the Angel. The Left Branch is quite wide and markedly convex top-to-bottom, steepest at the mid-point. There were lots of features and contrasting textures just right of the mid-line; I spent most of the climb there. With nary a dry patch anywhere, I preferred steps and seams to wet open slab—despite the fact that every wet slab I touched was super grippy. All in all, a relatively low-key and relaxing climb.
So there I was, at 3,640 feet, exiting at the top and studying the great expanses of open rock on the facing ridge where I was to return. The traverse across the steep face of the mountain, crossing two other major slide tracks as well as an ancient mossy one, was far easier and more open than I had expected. It was especially fun devouring those bits of eye candy, the vertiginous views down Angel Right and the new slide, as one traverses them on the edges of wet rock flakes. I reached the open rock on the prominent knob (elev. 3,600) midway down Wright's NE ridge at about 1:30 (departure time just after 10:00). While lunching there and generally taking my ease amid the natural splendor, I heard bellowing from the Algonquin Trail and answered in kind. The voice carries with a quasi-biblical boom on calm, heavy-air days like today! One can see the Wright summit from this knob and I thought I saw two lucky human forms up there on this, one of the calmest days on Wright I can remember.
The descent was a superb run with 90% open rock and a maze of possible routes to choose from. As one winds down the ridge the view of the slides goes from oblique to face-on while their myriad brethren on Colden rise over the ridge like an angry eastern constellation—seven or more major slide tracks visible at once! At 2,900 feet the open rock ran out and the course turned N across a coniferous escarpment. Angling down to the Whale's Tail Ski Trail through sere and dying fern breaks proved the most dangerous part of the trip, for beneath the drooping fronds lurked slippery wood.
What a great hike: Constant thinking and planning to negotiate steep open rock and thickly forested slopes, never a dull moment, constant views. Best of all, it is all crammed into a short space (not more than eight miles all told) so there is plenty of time to savor it. No rush, no pressure, time to check out anything that catches one's eye.
Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/curugroth/AngelLeftToWrightRidge#
Even though I had been up the brook last time I was in the neighborhood, I couldn't resist photographing some of the same stunning formations in different light. I was amazed at how quickly the unstable landslide debris erodes and how rapidly the hydrodynamics change as a consequence. The best example was a cave that has been carved out as the brook ate away at a mountainous tangle of root knots and mud. This mess became the ceiling of a walk-in size room framed by the surrounding rocks, a shadowy waterfall splashing down the back wall. All new architecture? Or is it just going back to its original course?
Anyway, at the point the scoured brook becomes the new slide proper, I began an ascending traverse to the left to reach the Angel. The Left Branch is quite wide and markedly convex top-to-bottom, steepest at the mid-point. There were lots of features and contrasting textures just right of the mid-line; I spent most of the climb there. With nary a dry patch anywhere, I preferred steps and seams to wet open slab—despite the fact that every wet slab I touched was super grippy. All in all, a relatively low-key and relaxing climb.
So there I was, at 3,640 feet, exiting at the top and studying the great expanses of open rock on the facing ridge where I was to return. The traverse across the steep face of the mountain, crossing two other major slide tracks as well as an ancient mossy one, was far easier and more open than I had expected. It was especially fun devouring those bits of eye candy, the vertiginous views down Angel Right and the new slide, as one traverses them on the edges of wet rock flakes. I reached the open rock on the prominent knob (elev. 3,600) midway down Wright's NE ridge at about 1:30 (departure time just after 10:00). While lunching there and generally taking my ease amid the natural splendor, I heard bellowing from the Algonquin Trail and answered in kind. The voice carries with a quasi-biblical boom on calm, heavy-air days like today! One can see the Wright summit from this knob and I thought I saw two lucky human forms up there on this, one of the calmest days on Wright I can remember.
The descent was a superb run with 90% open rock and a maze of possible routes to choose from. As one winds down the ridge the view of the slides goes from oblique to face-on while their myriad brethren on Colden rise over the ridge like an angry eastern constellation—seven or more major slide tracks visible at once! At 2,900 feet the open rock ran out and the course turned N across a coniferous escarpment. Angling down to the Whale's Tail Ski Trail through sere and dying fern breaks proved the most dangerous part of the trip, for beneath the drooping fronds lurked slippery wood.
What a great hike: Constant thinking and planning to negotiate steep open rock and thickly forested slopes, never a dull moment, constant views. Best of all, it is all crammed into a short space (not more than eight miles all told) so there is plenty of time to savor it. No rush, no pressure, time to check out anything that catches one's eye.
Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/curugroth/AngelLeftToWrightRidge#