The Castles: 7/29/24

After peering up at Mt. Jefferson's Castellated Ridge from Castle Ravine a week ago, and from a slide above The Link a few days later, it was only fitting that I would follow with a climb up to The Castles to enjoy their panoramic views. I've long felt that the First Castle is one of the finest viewpoints in the Whites, and I was long overdue for a visit. The Presys were shrouded in fog when I arrived at the trailhead for the Castle Trail in Bowman, but forecasts promised some sun in the northern part of the state this day. I hoped they were right. 

The crossing of the Israel River at 0.4 mile was a fairly easy rock-hop. This was the only water crossing on this route, quite a change from the dozen crossings in each direction along the hike into Castle Ravine.

I hadn't been on the Castle Trail above the Israel Ridge Path junction since 2010.

For quite some distance the trail ascends through a beautiful northern hardwood forest on the flank of Mt. Bowman.

Higher up, white birches enter the mix.

At this huge boulder, the trail commences a relentlessly steep ascent to the crest of the ridge between Mt. Bowman and Mt. Jefferson.

There is some fine rock step work by the AMC trail crew on the lower half of this climb.

Above 3000 ft. the trail gets rougher, Northern Presidential style.

The trail abruptly levels up on the crest of the ridge (~3300 ft.)

For the next half-mile the grades are easy and the footing is excellent on the fern-fringed trail. It's one of the nicest walks in the Presidentials.

Even as the ridge steepens, the footing remains pretty good.

The junction with The Link, at 4000+ ft., marks the transition to steep, rough climbing with scrambles aplenty, some of them challenging. The Castle Trail was cut in 1883-84 by four of the notable AMC trail-builders of that era: Cook, Watson, Sargent and Hunt. The lower part was obliterated by logging in the early 1900s and was subsequently relocated. The ridge part of the trail remains the same. Early editions of the AMC White Mountain Guide noted that above The Link, "The path is steep and requires the use of both feet and hands." At that time there was an AMC register at the First Castle.

Here the trail wastes no time getting down to business.

The first scramble.

This one involved some gymnastics.

Looking down.

This steep slab was one of two scrambles I remembered from previous trips.

Just above, another scramble lifts you to the first outlook.

The top of the Castle Ravine headwall was still socked in, but the clearing trend was promising.

Still some steep climbing ahead to reach the First Castle.

A tight squeeze with a pack through this crack.

Another challenging crevice climb.

The trickiest scramble on the trail brings you to the top of the First Castle. I invariably take my pack off and heave it up top before making the move.

Fog was blowing off the ridge when I arrived at the First Castle (~4450 ft.). This was my destination for the hike, so I dropped my pack and settled in to enjoy its marvelous and varied views.

The down-look to the floor of Castle Ravine is startling. On the left side of the photo is the light-colored strip of an old slide I visited in Castle Ravine a week earlier.

The view looking up the ridge is equally impressive. Starting with the earliest editions, the AMC White Mountain Guide  has described this as "the sharpest and most salient of the White Mountain ridges."

 

Looking down the long, winding valley followed by the Castle Ravine Trail.

A great view of the Castle Ravine headwall. The light green stripe left of center is the revegetated track of a snow avalanche that came down in 2010.

Looking across at Israel Ridge with Nowell Ridge behind. The ledgy patch of Emerald Bluff is seen just left of center on Israel Ridge.

Looking across the slope to Caps Ridge and the Southern Presidentials. The slide I visited three days earlier, above The Link, is visible at lower right, under Mt. Eisenhower.

The First Castle also has a good view out to the central/western Whites, which were burdened with a thick layer of clouds. The Willey Range is outlined in the center of the photo.

Close by to the west is the wild country of the Dartmouth Range, with Cherry Mountain/Owl's Head beyond.

Peering down the ridge to Mt. Bowman.

The Pliny and Pilot Ranges and many North Country peaks are seen beyond the mouth of the valley. I lounged here for more than two hours, and in that time only one group of three hikers came by, bringing the day's total to six.

Before heading down, I wandered a little farther up the trail towards the Second Castle.

Looking back at the First Castle.

Close-up of the First Castle.

The Second Castle.

Looking down the tricky scramble coming off the First Castle.

Quick stop at the first outlook.

Sun-dappled path on the gentle shoulder.

 

Castles in a Cloud.

 

Link Slide: 7/26/24

Took the afternoon off on a partly sunny day and headed over to Jefferson Notch Road to visit a slide I hadn't been to before. This one fell during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and spilled down across one of the more notorious trail sections in the Whites: The Link, between the Caps Ridge Trail and the Castle Trail. I prepared myself mentally for the 2+ mile round trip on this rough and tedious sidehill trail to gain access to the slide.

As expected, the Caps Ridge Trail, by far the shortest route to Mt. Jefferson, was busy on this Friday afternoon. Several descending hikers noted that the summit was socked in when they were up there, but it had since cleared out.

The Caps and Mt. Jefferson were in the clear when I arrived at the pothole ledge viewpoint, one mile up the trail.

Mt. Clay, with several small slides visible on its flanks.

Last summer I bushwhacked down to this slide from the Jewell Trail. It offered an excellent view of Caps Ridge.

The Southern Presidentials.

Long view out to the Willey Range and the Twin Range. A little hazy, but not bad.

Here we go.

The Link starts out innocuously for the first ~0.2 mile. Quite pleasant, in fact!

Soon enough, it becomes Link-like.

There is a certain rugged beauty to this trail, which clings precariously to the steep flank of Mt. Jefferson.

Verdant.

And rough.

Many a hiker has been fooled by the loop between the Caps and the Castles made possible by The Link. It looks inviting on the map, with little change in elevation. But the rough footing and countless little ups and downs have discouraged many a Caps/Castles looper. I met two who were regretting their choice about halfway along this 1.6 mile section.

The hits just keep coming. This trail can actually be (somewhat) enjoyable if you approach it with the knowledge that you are not going to breeze through in good time.

To be fair, there are some decent stretches mixed in with the rough stuff.

A mile or so from the Caps Ridge Trail, I came to the Irene slide. The section of the slide below the trail crossing is a crazy-steep brookbed that was scoured and widened.

Luckily there is a little shelf on which to cross the slide, though there is a steep scramble on either side.

Looking up the slide from the trail, I could see that the angled ledges would be too steep and slippery to safely climb.

Ledge perches along the trail's slide crossing.

A nice view here down a nameless valley, with Cherry Mountain on the horizon. Unfortunately, smoke haze from western wildfires had moved in, blotting out the distant views to Vermont.

I wanted to check out the wider, more open upper part of the slide, not too far above. The bushwhacking up through the steep woods beside the slide was slow going, with treacherous footing. Many hidden holes awaited.

I slowly made my way to the base of the upper section, and was greeted by an impressive, savage-looking swath. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up on it.

First I climbed up along the gully on the left, under the steep half-footwall.

If this footwall extended all the way across the slide, it would be a formidable barrier.

 

The gully was loose and sketchy at the top, so I went back down partway to try another route.

Looking down the gully.

Side view of the footwall.

Using a different approach I was able to scramble up onto the spine of the slide.

Partway up, I found a good rock seat. By now the smoke haze had nearly obliterated the view.

From the south edge of the slide I found a view up to the Castellated Ridge.

A different angle on The Castles.

Down-look.

It was tempting to go higher, but the footing would have been tricky coming back down, and it was getting late.

Redrock.

Parting shot in hazy evening sun.

Careful descent.

I came back to the trail just north of the slide and followed it up this rather exposed scramble.

I felt like I was in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Steep slide and steep ridge.

Cascades of moss.

More of The Link's greatest hits.

With two plus miles round trip on the trail, I had my fill.

Evening on the pothole ledge.

Jefferson illuminated.

Apocalyptic sunset.