hikersinger
Member
Route:
Photo Library: https://www.facebook.com/erikbertrand/media_set?set=a.10153262277319567.1073741867.570654566
GPS track (Strava): https://www.strava.com/activities/677095095
Having done perhaps the toughest of the ravines in the Whites a few weeks earlier, I felt on a small roll and decided for King Ravine, on the other side of the Northern Presidential range. This one featured some very cool cave scrambling, and was smack dab in the middle of Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) country -- an area I'd too-long ignored (though not on purpose).
King Ravine is a rock glacier, reportedly the only one of its kind in New England, and apparently the only north-facing glacial cirque in the area, according to Carl Lenz, RMC Board Member and cabin caretaker, whom we met on our visit to the Gray Knob cabin. It's floor is a jumbled mass of large boulders that fell from above, and under which caves and even some ice can be found year-round. I couldn't ignore such a rugged area any longer!
We parked across the street from the Lowe's Path trailhead, at Lowe's Store in Randolph (formerly known as Durand). A kind gentlemen runs the store, and charges just $1 for the parking privilege; do be sure to pay! We got under way at 9:00 sharp.
Much of the first mile or so of the trail climbs only very slightly. You soon cross an open, wide snowmobile path which features ancient-looking signs marking the junction, and soon another, more narrow but formally-defined, graded with a special black gravel mix, even. These trails run along Route 2 and surely connect with the hundreds of miles of snowmobile and cross-country trails that are so popular in winter.
Before long, we reached the King Ravine Trail junction, and headed up that way. This trail would take us to the top of the headwall, where we'd meet the Airline Trail and start our travel along the ridge. We did not necessarily expect to reach that point, as the weather forecast was iffy and called for a chance of thunderstorms. Skies were cloudy, and the ridge remained in clouds or fog at this point.
RMC very aptly maintains a dense network of trails that cover the north/west side of the Northern Presidential Range (Madison, the four Adams peaks, and Jefferson). It's a hoot to run into so many trail junctions along the way; trails criss-cross at 90-degree and diagonal angles in all directions. Redlining this area takes some real exploration!
We saw the first people, an older couple visiting from Philadelphia, at the Great Gully trail junction. They, like us, were looking to decide how to approach (or not) the ravine, based on the weather forecast and conditions to this point. We still hadn't experience any rain, and could even see a bit of sun trying to peak through at times, mostly down away from the ravine.
We decided to continue on; there was simply no indication that we shouldn't continue, and we still had a ways before we'd be exposed with no quick escape down under treeline.
I had entertained the idea of going up via the Chemin Des Dames trail (another on the Terrifying 25 List), as it features some cool rock formations and caves, but today we'd continue up the headwall. We reached the point along the ravine floor, strewn with very large boulders, at which the trail has two options: a "high" trail that skips along the top of it; or "The Subway", which brings you down and under/around those boulders. Couldn't not go low, so we started in.
The way along the subway wasn't real clear at times, and we did drift off a little to the right as we went along. But we found our way easy enough, meandering under large boulders and through darker spaces that blew very cool air up and over us. It was pretty surreal. We knew there was ice to be seen somewhere down under, but learned later from an RMC caretaker that some of that ice is as old as the the glacier that formed this ravine. Crazy stuff. At a few points, we had to take off our packs to fit through spaces; this was not unlike the commercialized Polar Caves, but with no admission fee!
The experience of traveling the Subway already made the day worth it, but we had just as exciting a stretch ahead of us - the headwall. We decided to bypass the Ice Caves, another side path that would take you down into even more dark, cool spaces. We weren't quite care-free, knowing the weather could turn at any moment, as it often does in the Whites, and especially along the Presidential ridge.
The going up the headwall was really pretty straightforward. From the Subway exit and around the Ice Caves path, and a little ways beyond, the trail remained sheltered and provided a good many crevices and shelter-friendly spots. Soon enough, we came up and out of the growth and only the larger talus slide that led us straight up the headwall. The footholds were largely very good, even with the dampness of the air dumping some coating on the rocks. Because the rocks were big and secure enough, we found the going relatively quick.
Rising up the headwall, we could see the very flat slabs along the right, and some great cliffs on the left. Cloud cover reliably dipped perhaps 150-200 feet below the top of the headwall all day, and didn't subside by the time we reached the top at the junction of the Airline Trail.
continued below...
- Lowe's Path trailhead - start (9:00am)
- reached King Ravine Trail junction (9:55am)
- King Ravine Trail, reached Subway junction (11:40am)
- took Subway path, re-joined elevated path on King Ravine Trail (12:20pm)
- King Ravine Trail, quick lunch about half way up headwall (1:04pm)
- crested top of King Ravine headwall, at junction with Airline and Gulfside trails (1:40pm)
- Gulfside Trail south, at Great Gully junction (2:00pm)
- Gulfside Trail, reached Thunderstorm Junction / Lowe's Path junction (2:05pm)
- along Lowe's Path, took spur path and reached Crag Camp (3:00pm)
- break at Crag, then took spur path and reached Gray Knob (3:35pm)
- took Spur Trail down, reached junction with King Ravine Trail (4:20pm)
- King Ravine Trail, back to trailhead (~5:30pm)
Photo Library: https://www.facebook.com/erikbertrand/media_set?set=a.10153262277319567.1073741867.570654566
GPS track (Strava): https://www.strava.com/activities/677095095
Having done perhaps the toughest of the ravines in the Whites a few weeks earlier, I felt on a small roll and decided for King Ravine, on the other side of the Northern Presidential range. This one featured some very cool cave scrambling, and was smack dab in the middle of Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) country -- an area I'd too-long ignored (though not on purpose).
King Ravine is a rock glacier, reportedly the only one of its kind in New England, and apparently the only north-facing glacial cirque in the area, according to Carl Lenz, RMC Board Member and cabin caretaker, whom we met on our visit to the Gray Knob cabin. It's floor is a jumbled mass of large boulders that fell from above, and under which caves and even some ice can be found year-round. I couldn't ignore such a rugged area any longer!
We parked across the street from the Lowe's Path trailhead, at Lowe's Store in Randolph (formerly known as Durand). A kind gentlemen runs the store, and charges just $1 for the parking privilege; do be sure to pay! We got under way at 9:00 sharp.
Much of the first mile or so of the trail climbs only very slightly. You soon cross an open, wide snowmobile path which features ancient-looking signs marking the junction, and soon another, more narrow but formally-defined, graded with a special black gravel mix, even. These trails run along Route 2 and surely connect with the hundreds of miles of snowmobile and cross-country trails that are so popular in winter.
Before long, we reached the King Ravine Trail junction, and headed up that way. This trail would take us to the top of the headwall, where we'd meet the Airline Trail and start our travel along the ridge. We did not necessarily expect to reach that point, as the weather forecast was iffy and called for a chance of thunderstorms. Skies were cloudy, and the ridge remained in clouds or fog at this point.
RMC very aptly maintains a dense network of trails that cover the north/west side of the Northern Presidential Range (Madison, the four Adams peaks, and Jefferson). It's a hoot to run into so many trail junctions along the way; trails criss-cross at 90-degree and diagonal angles in all directions. Redlining this area takes some real exploration!
We saw the first people, an older couple visiting from Philadelphia, at the Great Gully trail junction. They, like us, were looking to decide how to approach (or not) the ravine, based on the weather forecast and conditions to this point. We still hadn't experience any rain, and could even see a bit of sun trying to peak through at times, mostly down away from the ravine.
We decided to continue on; there was simply no indication that we shouldn't continue, and we still had a ways before we'd be exposed with no quick escape down under treeline.
I had entertained the idea of going up via the Chemin Des Dames trail (another on the Terrifying 25 List), as it features some cool rock formations and caves, but today we'd continue up the headwall. We reached the point along the ravine floor, strewn with very large boulders, at which the trail has two options: a "high" trail that skips along the top of it; or "The Subway", which brings you down and under/around those boulders. Couldn't not go low, so we started in.
The way along the subway wasn't real clear at times, and we did drift off a little to the right as we went along. But we found our way easy enough, meandering under large boulders and through darker spaces that blew very cool air up and over us. It was pretty surreal. We knew there was ice to be seen somewhere down under, but learned later from an RMC caretaker that some of that ice is as old as the the glacier that formed this ravine. Crazy stuff. At a few points, we had to take off our packs to fit through spaces; this was not unlike the commercialized Polar Caves, but with no admission fee!
The experience of traveling the Subway already made the day worth it, but we had just as exciting a stretch ahead of us - the headwall. We decided to bypass the Ice Caves, another side path that would take you down into even more dark, cool spaces. We weren't quite care-free, knowing the weather could turn at any moment, as it often does in the Whites, and especially along the Presidential ridge.
The going up the headwall was really pretty straightforward. From the Subway exit and around the Ice Caves path, and a little ways beyond, the trail remained sheltered and provided a good many crevices and shelter-friendly spots. Soon enough, we came up and out of the growth and only the larger talus slide that led us straight up the headwall. The footholds were largely very good, even with the dampness of the air dumping some coating on the rocks. Because the rocks were big and secure enough, we found the going relatively quick.
Rising up the headwall, we could see the very flat slabs along the right, and some great cliffs on the left. Cloud cover reliably dipped perhaps 150-200 feet below the top of the headwall all day, and didn't subside by the time we reached the top at the junction of the Airline Trail.
continued below...
Attachments
Last edited:
