Mini-slide on Hancock

[Pete_Hickey]

Friday, I took a walk in the rain up the Hancocks. I started a bit early, and was alone. It is an area I am unfailiar with. As I reached the junction of the Hancock loop trail, I noticed a slide on North Hancock, and wondered if the trail took that route up. If it didn't, I was thinking that in nicer weather it would be a good approach.

When I was a few tenths of a mile up the trail, I heard a sudden rumbling... a bit like thunder, but sharper, with the sound of large rocks bouncing. Yep, a whole pile of rocks let loose and rubled down the slide. In all my years of hiking, I've never been that close to rocks coming down. I've done quite a bit of slide climbing, too. I was then wondering if the trail would meet the slide, and worried slightly about crossing it, since when something slides, it is a bit unstable for some time after. It got me wondering, what it would be like to have been on that slide, and seeing the stuff coming.

As I'm not used to walking in the Whites, I wondered how common this is. Is it?

Oh yeah. On my return, I met a couple of hikers, and at the parking lot, I noticed a VftT sticker on their Maine car. "Hi" again.

 

[dr_wu002]

It got me wondering, what it would be like to have been on that slide, and seeing the stuff coming.

As I'm not used to walking in the Whites, I wondered how common this is. Is it?

I was walking around on a slide this weekend and I thought the same thing: what would it be like to see that stuff coming down on me. Probably not good.

There's a lot of slides in the Whites but I haven't read too many trip reports about people witnessing them. Last time I went up Hancock I went up the Arrow Slide and started a mini rock slide. A boulder about the size of a hideously large watermelon ended up flying about 15 feet into the air and then shattered when it hit the ground. I imagine that even with a helmet on my head wouldn't have been there had it made direct contact. Also, did you get that smell that you get when rocks crash all around. I remember the acrid smell in the air after the rocks fell.

A guy died a few years ago when a mini rock slide tragically passed thru him while hiking Katahdin. He was there on like a 30th HS reunion. Also, could it have been MEB's car you saw at the trailhead. Crazy Mainer!

-Dr. Wu

 

[skiguy]

As I'm not used to walking in the Whites, I wondered how common this is. Is it?

Common is probably a hard word to qualify but IMO more common this time of year. Many times around this time of year when things have been dry like they have been and then you get significant Rain like we did Thursday and Friday things have a tendency to slide. The Hancocks are also not very consolidated and some what loose to begin with. A few years ago around this time there was a slide in Crawford Notch in similiar conditions where the debris was so big acrosss the road the State was using plow trucks to clear the road Hope you had a good hike otherwise .

 

[MEB]

Ah-ha! That was me you saw After we talked Andy caught up with me and I said to him "Hey, I think that was Pete Hickey". Nice to see you again.


-MEB

 

[DougPaul]

Common is probably a hard word to qualify but IMO more common this time of year. Many times around this time of year when things have been dry like they have been and then you get significant Rain like we did Thursday and Friday things have a tendency to slide. The Hancocks are also not very consolidated and some what loose to begin with.

Don't forget that the Whites are getting freeze at night and thaw during the day temps. The ice pries the rocks loose and holds them in place until it melts...

This is a very common phenomenon on above-timberline peaks and climbers often start well before sunrise to get above the rockfall zones before the sun hits the starting areas. Spring is also a bad time until the rocks loosened over the winter have fallen.

If you want to see evidence of rockfall, walk along the climber's trail at the base of Canon Cliff--there is a band of crushed rock at the bottom. And you will see scars in the trees where they have been hit. (Wear a helmet and don't stay too long. Better yet, just take a climber's word for it...)

Most of the falling rock that I have seen in the Whites was triggered by humans.

Pete: Are you sure MEB wasn't above you on the slide?

Doug

 

[dr_wu002]

Pete: Are you sure MEB wasn't above you on the slide?

Doug

I don't think either was on the slide. Pete said that he heard the rockfall -- pretty understandable considering at some points, the trail is not much more than 100' from the slide.

More interesting about that slide is the funky red rocks all around it. It looks like someone flew by in a helicopter and dropped red paint everywhere. Has anyone ever noticed that? The rocks are so freakin' red and I don't recall seeing anything like that elsewhere in the Whites.

-Dr. Wu

 

[DougPaul]

I don't think either was on the slide. Pete said that he heard the rockfall -- pretty understandable considering at some points, the trail is not much more than 100' from the slide.

I had misread his report and thought he was on the slide when it happened.

More interesting about that slide is the funky red rocks all around it. It looks like someone flew by in a helicopter and dropped red paint everywhere. Has anyone ever noticed that? The rocks are so freakin' red and I don't recall seeing anything like that elsewhere in the Whites.

I'm not familiar with the slide in question, but when I climbed Arrow Slide many years ago, there was a lot of loose rock just waiting for an excuse to come down.

FWIW, I have observed that experienced technical climbers are much better at moving around without disturbing loose rock than are typical hikers.

Doug

 

[dr_wu002]

I'm not familiar with the slide in question, but when I climbed Arrow Slide many years ago, there was a lot of loose rock just waiting for an excuse to come down.

He was talking about the Arrow Slide, I'm pretty sure.

I'm talking about the bottom of the Arrow Slide. There's a lot of red rocks down there but they're not going anywhere because they're all basically at the bottom. They're freakin' RED though! Up closer to the top there's more loose rocks but they're not red.

FWIW, I have observed that experienced technical climbers are much better at moving around without disturbing loose rock than are typical hikers.

Well, if you were always swinging around the freakin' trees from a rope, you'd be good at it too!

Doug

 

[Jason Berard]

they are really red! I thought I had a good picture of that, but this is the best one I have. The rocks at the bottom of the slide are definitely the reddest.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Ah-ha! That was me you saw

As I was speaking with you, I was thinking that you looked SOOO familiar, but I just couldn't place it.

It was the slide which is fairly close to the trail, whatever that one is called. Somewhat long and narrow. Those rocks I heard started up fairly high, since the rumbling lasted a fair amount of time. By the time they reached the bottom, they must have had quite a bit of force. (I could also hear gravel sliding). I was curious, but did not feel like going to the bottom to see what happened.

 

[audrey]

Oooh, I've climbed that maybe 3 times. Each time we dislodged boulders. I thought it was a toughie because it was never completely dry, and sometimes the "erratics" were the only things to grab onto on the smoother ledges, short of scrabbling up along the mossy edges which were damp anyway. Thanks Pete! Glad I'm done with it!