After waiting out morning rain showers, I got an early afternoon start for another ramble around the wonderful trail network on the north slopes of the Northern Presidentials, mostly on trails maintained by the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC). My main objective was Durand Scar, a small ledgy viewpoint on the side of Durand Ridge, a northern outthrust of Mount Adams. The loop hike also took in several waterfalls and ended with a sunset descent down the ledges of the Inlook Trail.
On this cloudy afternoon, murky with Canadian wildfire smoke, I had no trouble grabbing a parking spot in the lot at Appalachia.
The short path known as Maple Walk was the first of nine RMC trails I set foot on this day.
Maple Walk lives up to its name.
I followed the Fallsway up along Snyder Brook past a series of cascades. This trail is much more scenic than the parallel Valley Way.
Fallsway leads through the WMNF Snyder Brook Scenic Area, featuring some old-growth hemlocks.
RMC signs mark the named waterfalls. The club's custom is to use the singular "fall."
Upper Salroc from a distance.
Upper Salroc up close.
Fallsway merges briefly with Valley Way, then goes back on its own route.
Tama Fall might be the prettiest waterfall in the Randolph area.
Heading up Valley Way, the trade route for Adams/Madison and Madison Spring Hut.
Rock step work on a steeper pitch.
At 2.1 miles from Appalachia I turned onto the lightly-used Scar Trail.
The narrow, soft, leafy footway was quite a change from the rocky, heavily trodden swath of Valley Way.
After an easy beginning, Scar Trail becomes quite steep for a bit.
A little ledge scramble.
After climbing 0.2 mile from Valley Way, I turned right onto Scar Loop, which makes a short, steep and somewhat spicy climb to Durand Scar.
The first bit of Scar Loop runs under a neat cliff face.
After turning the corner at the edge of a dropoff, it climbs a steep, narrow, rooty footway to the base of the Durand Scar ledge.
It's a steep little scramble to get on top, and there is a serious dropoff on the left side. Luckily the rock is grippy.
Durand Scar is a cool spot, perched high above the Snyder Brook Valley with Mt. Madison, John Quincy Adams, and Mt. Adams rising at its head. The Scar (shown as Scaur on early Louis F. Cutter maps of the Northern Peaks) has long been a noted destination. The original trail was built in 1883 by Eugene B. Cook and William H. Peek.
In 1888, stalwart AMC explorer Marian Pychowska wrote, "Now for a bit of a scramble up through the spruces and birches between
the moss-clad rockribs to the " Scar." .... A most worthy place is this Scar, a very paragon of
half-way places, — offering a feast to the beauty-lover who dare climb
no higher, and whetting the appetite of the hardy mountaineer who is not
content until he has the whole horizon, from the eastern sea to the
Green Mountains of the west, spread for his table. The roar of Salmacis
Fall comes up from the deep glen to the jutting crag on which we stand;
and our eyes, as we lift them, traverse the steep forest-clad walls up
to the sinuous timber-limit, then the region of 'bleak and barren rocks
of ashen green,' up, up, to 'peaks sharp and clear, sublimely
desolate.' How near they seem, — the point of Adams glorified in the
sunshine, 'John Quincy 'with great jagged rocks projected against a
dark cloud, and Madison's dome caressed by the mist that is still
pouring over from the east !"
Descending Scar Loop is pretty sketchy - steep and narrow with big dropoffs alongside.
A smoky view out to the Mahoosucs.
Usually when visiting Durand Scar I'm headed higher up and only stop briefly here. On this jaunt I made it my primary destination and hung out for a while, enjoying the scene.
The Scar Loop and Scar Trail provide enjoyable hiking through a wild, mossy conifer forest.
A rough spot descending the Scar Trail towards the junction with Watson Path.
The section of Watson Path leading from here across to Valley Way is lightly used and pleasant.
This difficult boulder scramble along Watson Path is now bypassed up to the right.
Watson Path crosses Snyder Brook at picturesque Duck Fall.
On the far side Watson Path immediately shoots up a very steep and gnarly footway as it begins its ascent of Gordon Ridge en route to Mt. Madison.
There is a nice sliding cascade just below Duck Fall.
Any thought of bushwhacking upstream to find trailless Marian Fall was quickly banished after looking at this slope.
Lower Bruin, one of the shorter RMC trails, climbs from Watson Path by Duck Fall up to Valley Way.
It starts out with some good boulder scrambling; that's as far as I went.
A short backtrack along Watson Path brought me to the upper end of Brookside.
The upper end of Brookside is rough.
Slow going through here.
Some of the steeper pitches are navigated using rock steps built by RMC trail crews.
After descending some distance the trail comes down by Snyder Brook.
A dicey little scramble beside a hole.
The most scenic spot along Brookside is Salmacis Fall. From the ledges at the top of the waterfall you can see down to the base, where a pair of backpackers was taking a break, and out to the north.
Some distant peaks in the North Country can be seen beyond Jericho Mountain in Berlin.
A nice long waterslide.
I returned to the trail, descended to the base of the waterfall, and hopped rocks out on the brook for a close-up view.
On a 1937 winter aerial photo by Brad Washburn, seen on the Mount Washington Observatory website, I noticed a slide on the east side of the Snyder Brook valley. Further investigation on other old aerials showed that it came down to Salmacis Fall. When I crossed to the east side of the brook at the base of the waterfall, I could see the old, overgrown slide track rising above in the forest.
Another angle on Salmacis.
For the next part of the descent, I chose the slightly longer Kelton Trail/Inlook Trail route, which would provide some evening views, over the lower Brookside, which is a delightful walk through birch and hardwood forest with good footing.
Thanks to reconstruction by the RMC trail crew back in 2002-2003, this section of Kelton Trail provides relatively smooth, easy walking, even along a steep sidehill section.
A beautiful spruce grove.
With sunset drawing on, I set off down Inlook, one of my favorite trails - short, steep and sweet.
At the viewpoint known as Upper Inlook, at the top of the trail, I could see clearing far to the west.
Remarkably, the smoke haze that had limited visibility to 20 miles in the morning was gone by evening. With the naked eye I could clearly see Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield, far off in the Green Mountains.
Mount Crescent and Black Crescent Mountain seen from Dome Rock.
The sunset show was a treat as I descended westward down the Inlook Trail's ledges.
The biggest open ledge along the trail has a great view up the Snyder Brook valley to Madison and Adams.
Looking down into the valley.
Forest aglow.
The sun pops out under the cloud deck...
...and casts some alpenglow behind me.
A last look at cloud-capped Mount Madison before heading down. I descended the lower part of Valley Way by headlamp, stepping aside at one point for two upbound trail runners.
