Adams/Madison via King Ravine et al

[Toe Cozy]

Carole asked how the hike was on my King Ravine thread, so I'll post a trip report here.

Headed out on Saturday a.m. from my house in Springfield VT at 5:15 a.m. I love that hiking can get me up for the crack of dawn with a huge smile on my face and no need to hit the snooz bar (my alarm clock leaves off the 'e' on snooze, I never figured out why)!

Got to Appalachia at about 7:40 a.m. to meet Meri and John S. and was amazed at the number of cars already there. I haven't hiked in the whites much so the number of people is always so shocking. We headed out on the Air line to the Short line where it met up with King Ravine near Mossy Falls. The Ravine was fantastic and the Subway part of the trail really cool. Sometimes a tiny bit tricky following the blazes correctly, but we ended up in the right place, so no big deal. Going up the headwall was lots of steep rock hopping with amazing views. It was nothing terribly difficult, just had to pay attention and use your whole body lots of the time. Great stuff.

Went up to Adams summit and then down Star Lake Trail which was wonderful and lots of downhill rock hopping. No people sighted on that trail. In fact the summit of Adams was suprisingly quiet for all the cars in the parking lot. Stopped in at madison springs hut for a bowl of soup and some coffee and resting before heading up to the top of madison and back down to take the Air Line all the way to the parking lot.

We started at 8 a.m. and finished at about 6:30. The trails were unexpectedly empty for all the cars...not that I'm complaining. We had lots of time for pictures, relaxing on the mountain and easy going hiking. Can't wait to get back up there and do more!

And as was hiking I realized that these were #5 & #6, not #3 & #4. Cool. Not that I'm counting anything...I swear. Just out enjoying a hike, don't mind me checking off this little name on this page, you didn't see anything, putting away the pencil now...just making a note in my journal. I swear, I'm not a list person (she shouts unconvincingly ) .

 

[sal]

Toe Cozy - I tried to hook up with you and Meri at the trailhead, but we got there just after you had left (maybe we hit our snooze bar!). We went the same route up to the summit of Adams. Cool trip up the ravine, I had been a little apprehensive after reading the trail description, but just needed to pay attention and keep 3 points of contact! The summit was a little more crowded when we got there (hardly any room to get out of the wind!), and there was a bit of a line of hikers heading up as we started down. We got to the jct of the Madison hut trail and looked longingly at Madison - the weather was spectacular, but since it will be my last peak, I want to savor it and hike it on its own. We went down the Airline (really nice on the knife-edge part - I told Meri that Mark scampered out onto a "nose" that protruded over King Ravine so I could get his picture!). We didn't know where you guys would be after the hike, so we had a picnic at Dolly Copp picnic area (there was a wedding going on while we were there - really cool).

sal

 

[Quietman]

I call that nose "the elephant's trunk" because that's what it looks like from the floor of the ravine. I've spent a few hours relaxing on that spot, one of my favorite spots in the White's.

 

[Toe Cozy]

Meri and I loved that Elephant Trunk spot too!!! It was so cool. The picture of me giving a big thumbs up is my current desktop photo! Sorry we missed you sal, it would have been nice to meet.