hikersinger
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I've been up on "the rockpile" (Mt. Washington, 6,288') several times, but not by all trails. I've approached from all directions, east and west, and south and north along the ridge, but one storied route remained on my to-do list: Huntington Ravine.
The Huntington route is one that's much less popular, not surprisingly because of its difficulty. The AMC White Mountain Guide calls it "the most difficult regular hiking trail in the White Mountains," saying "many of the ledges demand proper use of handholds for safe passage, and extreme caution must be exercised at all times." It goes on to give a clear impression that this isn't a trail for beginners or those with any difficulty or discomfort in steep places. In particular, it's "very dangerous when wet or icy, and its use for descent at any time is strongly discouraged."
I've experienced some of the steepest trails in the Whites and beyond, including the Flume Slide, Madison Gulf, and Holt (Cardigan) trails, and the slides on North and South Tripyramid. Still, from what I heard, Huntington seemed to present a challenge on a different level.
I had given thought to trying to get it done this summer, but didn't have any plans. Out-of-the-blue, a friend and former co-worker of mine (Matt) asked if I'd be interested in joining him and a friend of his (Daniel) to hike it up to Washington, and hike out via the Great Gulf. Both trails were chosen on purpose, being prominent on the Terrifying 25 list, which I'd also been chipping away at here and there. I'd not done either trail, and they seemed perfect for a weekend summer day in particular, so I was in!
My friend had to bag out due to lack of sleep the previous night, so it ended up being Daniel and I. The three of us have hiked a few times before, most recently this past winter; we attempted a Moriah-Carter traverse but had to bag out due to excessive ice and rain forecast.
A perfect summer day was forecast, with 85-90 degree temps in the valley, but very nice temps up high. I encountered lots of fog on the way up, but knew it would all clear by mid-morning, especially on the east side, which we'd be climbing.
Daniel and I got underway at 8:30am from Pinkham Notch, hiking up the Tuckerman Ravine trail. As expected, we encountered a steady stream of people heading up. The "highway" that is Tuckerman wasn't terrible, but thankfully it wasn't long before we reached the Huntington Ravine trail junction. The width the former was a good 10 times that of the latter, and much more worn down to rock; this tells you just how much each is traveled!
I didn't realize it again until recently, but I'd been along the bottom part of the Huntington Ravine trail 25 years earlier, when I hiked Mt. Washington with the Outing Club at St. Anselm College, my alma mater. We hiked in October each year, staying at Harvard Cabin each time, not far from the trail I was on (open only during colder months, by reservation). We certainly didn't ascend Huntington either time, but I remember both stays. One year, the weather was very pleasant and fair for October, and we actually slept outside on a bridge with a stream running underneath, and bright stars overhead. But, as much as that particular year was very nice, the next year brought us the polar opposite, with high winds and ripping frozen rain above treeline; it was so bad, we had to walk down the Auto Road.
Much of the lower part of the Huntington Ravine trail is straightforward, nothing steep; you simply ascend gradually until the bottom of the ravine, where the climb becomes much more rocky and steep. You knew you reached the ravine floor when you encounter large boulders, many of which feature neat little caves; reach your hand down into one and the temperature difference is stark: 20 degrees or more, I'd say! Along the way we crossed ski trails a few times; this is a popular place to hike up and ski down in winter; the neighboring ravine, Tuckerman's, is world-renowned for its skiing and has been featured in Warren Miller documentaries.
Before we started the vertical climb up the ravine, we encountered a medical rescue equipment shed. The nature of this trail -- and its use in winter especially -- calls for these resources to be more readily available, due to avalanche danger especially. A plaque on the shed bears the name of Albert Dow, a climber and rescuer who was killed in January 1982 by an avalanche while trying to rescue a fellow climber. It reminded me again of the book, Not Without Peril, which shares so many stories of hiking these and other mountains, all year round.
At this point, we were frequently blessed with increasingly wide glimpses of the ravine headwall. The scene reminded me of the topography of the south face of Mt. Katahdin, with its soaring cliffs and steep, rugged terrain. It didn't quite compare, but it was close. I was really pumped for this!
The trail brought us steadily up to the bottom of the headwall proper. We were hearing voices straight ahead, as well as to the right and left. It was tough to know whether these voices were simply bouncing off the walls of the ravine, or if multiple parties were ascending via different routes. Upon closer inspection, we saw hikers and climbers in each direction, either hiking or rock climbing; at one point, we saw climbers with ropes and heard them speak of on/off belay, etc. Climbing isn't my thing; I don't mind steep, but I choose to keep my feet relatively squarely on the ground, thanks!
The final ascent to the bottom of the main headwall led us over and around boulders and stunted trees, to the left side where the trail heads up the open slabs and ledges. It took us two hours to travel the 2.5 or so miles to this point. The remaining 0.3 or so miles up to the top of the headwall would take us over half that time, a little over an hour.
... continued below ...
- 08:30 Tuckerman Ravine trail from Pinkham Notch
- 09:15 Huntington Ravine trail junction
- 09:45 Raymond Path junction
- 12:50 Nelson Crag trail toward Mt. Washington summit
- 13:30 Mt. Washington summit
- 14:15 Trinity Heights Connector from summit, along Gulfside Trail
- 14:25 Great Gulf Trail, down into the Gulf
- 15:00 (approx) reached floor of the Gulf
- 16:50 passed Sphinx trail junction
- 17:40 passed Six Husbands trail junction
- 19:30 Great Gulf trailhead/car spot
I've been up on "the rockpile" (Mt. Washington, 6,288') several times, but not by all trails. I've approached from all directions, east and west, and south and north along the ridge, but one storied route remained on my to-do list: Huntington Ravine.
The Huntington route is one that's much less popular, not surprisingly because of its difficulty. The AMC White Mountain Guide calls it "the most difficult regular hiking trail in the White Mountains," saying "many of the ledges demand proper use of handholds for safe passage, and extreme caution must be exercised at all times." It goes on to give a clear impression that this isn't a trail for beginners or those with any difficulty or discomfort in steep places. In particular, it's "very dangerous when wet or icy, and its use for descent at any time is strongly discouraged."
I've experienced some of the steepest trails in the Whites and beyond, including the Flume Slide, Madison Gulf, and Holt (Cardigan) trails, and the slides on North and South Tripyramid. Still, from what I heard, Huntington seemed to present a challenge on a different level.
I had given thought to trying to get it done this summer, but didn't have any plans. Out-of-the-blue, a friend and former co-worker of mine (Matt) asked if I'd be interested in joining him and a friend of his (Daniel) to hike it up to Washington, and hike out via the Great Gulf. Both trails were chosen on purpose, being prominent on the Terrifying 25 list, which I'd also been chipping away at here and there. I'd not done either trail, and they seemed perfect for a weekend summer day in particular, so I was in!
My friend had to bag out due to lack of sleep the previous night, so it ended up being Daniel and I. The three of us have hiked a few times before, most recently this past winter; we attempted a Moriah-Carter traverse but had to bag out due to excessive ice and rain forecast.
A perfect summer day was forecast, with 85-90 degree temps in the valley, but very nice temps up high. I encountered lots of fog on the way up, but knew it would all clear by mid-morning, especially on the east side, which we'd be climbing.
Daniel and I got underway at 8:30am from Pinkham Notch, hiking up the Tuckerman Ravine trail. As expected, we encountered a steady stream of people heading up. The "highway" that is Tuckerman wasn't terrible, but thankfully it wasn't long before we reached the Huntington Ravine trail junction. The width the former was a good 10 times that of the latter, and much more worn down to rock; this tells you just how much each is traveled!
I didn't realize it again until recently, but I'd been along the bottom part of the Huntington Ravine trail 25 years earlier, when I hiked Mt. Washington with the Outing Club at St. Anselm College, my alma mater. We hiked in October each year, staying at Harvard Cabin each time, not far from the trail I was on (open only during colder months, by reservation). We certainly didn't ascend Huntington either time, but I remember both stays. One year, the weather was very pleasant and fair for October, and we actually slept outside on a bridge with a stream running underneath, and bright stars overhead. But, as much as that particular year was very nice, the next year brought us the polar opposite, with high winds and ripping frozen rain above treeline; it was so bad, we had to walk down the Auto Road.
Much of the lower part of the Huntington Ravine trail is straightforward, nothing steep; you simply ascend gradually until the bottom of the ravine, where the climb becomes much more rocky and steep. You knew you reached the ravine floor when you encounter large boulders, many of which feature neat little caves; reach your hand down into one and the temperature difference is stark: 20 degrees or more, I'd say! Along the way we crossed ski trails a few times; this is a popular place to hike up and ski down in winter; the neighboring ravine, Tuckerman's, is world-renowned for its skiing and has been featured in Warren Miller documentaries.
Before we started the vertical climb up the ravine, we encountered a medical rescue equipment shed. The nature of this trail -- and its use in winter especially -- calls for these resources to be more readily available, due to avalanche danger especially. A plaque on the shed bears the name of Albert Dow, a climber and rescuer who was killed in January 1982 by an avalanche while trying to rescue a fellow climber. It reminded me again of the book, Not Without Peril, which shares so many stories of hiking these and other mountains, all year round.
At this point, we were frequently blessed with increasingly wide glimpses of the ravine headwall. The scene reminded me of the topography of the south face of Mt. Katahdin, with its soaring cliffs and steep, rugged terrain. It didn't quite compare, but it was close. I was really pumped for this!
The trail brought us steadily up to the bottom of the headwall proper. We were hearing voices straight ahead, as well as to the right and left. It was tough to know whether these voices were simply bouncing off the walls of the ravine, or if multiple parties were ascending via different routes. Upon closer inspection, we saw hikers and climbers in each direction, either hiking or rock climbing; at one point, we saw climbers with ropes and heard them speak of on/off belay, etc. Climbing isn't my thing; I don't mind steep, but I choose to keep my feet relatively squarely on the ground, thanks!
The final ascent to the bottom of the main headwall led us over and around boulders and stunted trees, to the left side where the trail heads up the open slabs and ledges. It took us two hours to travel the 2.5 or so miles to this point. The remaining 0.3 or so miles up to the top of the headwall would take us over half that time, a little over an hour.
... continued below ...
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