A Mini-Adventure in Crawford Notch, NH

INTRODUCTION:

In early June 2019, I did a short but steep hike up to a huge rock slab on the lower slopes of Mt. Willey.  This spot is located in Crawford Notch and is frequented by ice climbers in winter.  There is a faint and rugged path leading to it from the west side of U.S. 302, just a short distance north of the Willey House Site.

PHOTOS:

From this rock slab there is a unique view looking northward up the Crawford Notch.  Prominent features in this photo are Mt. Willard (CENTER/LEFT), and a portion of Mt. Webster (CENTER/RIGHT).

From this rock slab, I zoomed in on the top of Mt. Willard and could only see one hiker.

Also, from this rock slab, I zoomed in on the area of U.S. 302 that is adjacent to the waterfall known as Silver Cascade (a portion of which is seen at UPPER RIGHT). 

And along my route, this unusual sight was seen.  I had no idea that boulders grew on trees. 😁 Anyway, my theory about the placement of this boulder is that it MIGHT be related to the fact that the tree is in close proximity to the base of the huge rock slab which develops a thick layer of ice in winter, and thus is frequented by ice climbers. So, MAYBE, under certain conditions, the ice breaks off in huge slabs during spring thaw, and MAYBE movement of ice slabs MIGHT have somehow pushed this boulder upward where it became lodged in the tree branches??

The only wildflowers seen along my route were patches of Starflower scattered here and there.

On a different day and on a different hike, I took this photo of the ‘rock slab’ that is referenced at the beginning of this report, and it’s the spot from which the first three photos were taken.