I
reached the South Slide shortly after leaving the summit. It began tentatively,
with a few loose pebbles, then soon opened up to a sea of loose rock and gravel.
Stashing my poles away again, I maneuvered carefully downhill, trying rigorously
to step from one relatively stable island of rock to another. The South Slide
was even more poorly marked than the North Slide had been. In one spot, the slide
split into two paths, and I wasn't sure which way to go, or whether the tracks
would even meet again at the bottom. I chose the slightly more dominant looking
left channel, but got worried when I didn't see any paint blazes for some distance.
The further down I went, the more the righthand path veered from the route that
I was taking, and I could no longer see it through the trees. I balked at the
thought of climbing back up again to where the tracks split. Finally, I spied
a faint yellow mark on a rock and breathed a sigh of relief.
There
was a small clearing at the foot of the slide, which would probably have made
a good campsite as long as the slide didn't start tumbling downhill again. The
trail turned sharply right there and wound gently around the west side of the
mountain. Suddenly, while walking normally down the trail, I twisted my ankle
on some unseen root or rock. Wincing in pain, I wondered how I could have made
it all the way up and down the hazardous slides just to hurt myself on a flat
trail. I took some ibuprofen to reduce any pain and swelling, rested for a few
minutes, then hobbled away warily. After a while, the pain eased up a bit and
I was able to walk normally.
When
I got back to a broad northeast-facing clearing on the Livermore Trail, I looked
back to see the tips of the Tripyramids peaking over the trees.
Their pyramidal shapes seemed more pronounced from the distance than when I was
actually on the mountains. At the junction of the first Waterville Valley
Association Trail by the creosote-oiled bridge, I sat and rested against a tree.
The weather was perfect and the spot relaxing, and I would have liked to take
a short nap before heading back. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time, so settled
for about fifteen minutes of peace.
Back
at the car, after
stopping to get some gas and a snack, I headed home. It had been a nice early
fall day and a challenging climb up the slide. Furthermore, I hadn't seen another
hiker all day. |
Looking
up the South Slide. Going down took great care because there was lots of loose
gravel on slide, and if you started to slip, you would probably be in for a long
quick painful trip down. |
|
