Great Gully Trail

[arghman]

how mean & nasty & ugly is the Great Gully Trail up the west end of King Ravine? I've hiked up the King Ravine Trail before & found it strenuous but not daunting.

 

[David Metsky]

The trail isn't that bad, IMO. The footing isn't the greatest, lots of scree, and there's one or two places where you have to scramble over and around stuff. It's an interesting way up/down King Ravine.

 

[peakbagger]

Part of the trail runs up a streambed and it tends to be brushed in at the base. Both good reasons to wait for dry weather. The one major scramble spot requires removal of ones daypack. For some reason the upper section after most of the major climb occurs feels a lot longer than I know it is.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

how mean & nasty & ugly is the Great Gully Trail up the west end of King Ravine? I've hiked up the King Ravine Trail before & found it strenuous but not daunting.

Great Gully is about as steep as the King Ravine Trail, but longer and somewhat more scrambly. I approached it with some trepidation my first time because of the WMG's comment about "the faint of heart", but found it a fun climb.

I hope to be doing it again on August 2. Maybe the arnica mollis will be in bloom this time. Care to join me?

 

[RoySwkr]

The "remove your pack" spot is a ledge where you have to stoop and your pack may tend to brush you off, so it's a little different than an ordinary steep trail - I'm surprised nobody has posted a photo yet

 

[BobC]

There's also the Chemin Des Dames trail on the opposite side from the Great Gully trail....haven't done it but just hiked up the King Ravine trail recently with someone who did, and was told that it's not bad, but still somewhat harder than King Ravine trail.

 

[peakbagger]

Chemin Des Dames, is drier and used more often than Great Gully. Its a good way to include a portion of the above treeline Airline trail and is a bit faster if the goal is Madison hut

 

[Quietman]

No Great Gully pics from THIS previous thread either! But a little more info.

I went up about 1/3 of the way 4 years ago but turned around before we got to the really steep stuff as my son's knee was bothering him.

 

[DougG]

I catalog the Great Gully as an 'ascend' trail. Would prefer to descend elsewhere such as Spur. This is a very nice route, lightly used, with real alpine feel. Though not a dare-devil by any stretch...I found the crawl space short and not daunting at all.

 

[Juniper]

Just hiked this trail for the first time on Sunday. The heat and humidity in the ravine made the climb a challenge, but the trail wasn't bad at all. It surely helped that the weather has been dry for a while now. I was afraid it was going to be much more technical, but there really is only one short section that I could see causing trouble.

Just after you reach the first views of the falls,

the trail forces you through a narrow opening.

I was able to keep my pack on...just lay back and you're through in just a step or two. The spot just above this was somewhat tricky and may be what people are talking about above? Of course, I didn't take a picture .

When I arrived at T-storm Jct I sat for a good 15-20 minutes enjoying the relative coolness and having a little snack. I didn't see a soul in any direction the whole time I was there...felt eerie, considering it was 1pm!

 

[sierra]

I love that trail, it has a different " feel " compared to other routes in the Whites, I think its the best way up King ravine, followed by KRT then the chem.