Mountain Wandering: Dry River Valley

A trip into the Dry River Valley is always an adventure. This huge basin on the south side of Mt. Washington, between the Southern Presidentials and Montalban Ridge, has long held an aura of remoteness, mystery and even spookiness, perhaps harking back to Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, "The Great Carbuncle." The lower half of the valley is narrow and steep-sided, almost like a canyon. Add to that the devastation caused by massive storms in 2011, 2017 and 2023, and you have a trail that is not for the faint of heart.

From 1892-1898 the valley was logged by crews working for the Saco Valley Railroad.The old logging railroad crossed the river 13 times because of the constricted terrain. Likewise, the Dry River Trail, opened in the 1930s, had numerous crossings. But after two hikers drowned in 1971 in this misnamed river, which rises fast and furious during storms, a footbridge was built at the first crossing and numerous relocations were made to eliminate most of the other crossings. As a result the trail has many rough ups and downs, with steep narrow sidehills beside dropoffs. and is much more difficult than a typical valley trail. More relocations were cut after the 2011 and 2023 storms. Dry River Trail can beat you up.

The trail starts with an easy half-mile stroll along an old logging road, passing along the edge of an old-growth hardwood forest.

It then joins the old railroad grade, which comes in from Dry River Campground.

At 0.7 mile you reach the Wilderness boundary and the first signs of destruction seen from the trail.

The 2017 and 2023 storms wreaked havoc in this area, which is now wide open with ledges and boulders to explore. In many places the river is twice as wide as it used to be.

There's even a small sandy beach.

After the 2017 storm the river surged through a cascade at this spot.

The 2023 storm changed the course of the river, moving it back over to the other side

Not far beyond, the route of the trail is not obvious around the washout to the left of the tree. The best route is up and over on the far left.

Just beyond is a washout from the 2023 storm that has necessitated yet another rough relocation.

This relo goes up a steep sidehill with lousy footing.

Some washout tightroping.

Peering down to the river.

With all the damage, there are many more river views along this trail.

Looking down at a rather sketchy scramble beside a dropoff.

Not a good trail for those who don't like steep edges.

A steep climb leads to a high bluff with a long view up the valley to Mt. Washington.

The vista is getting more restricted, but is still beautiful.

A steep and rough descent back to river level.

The suspension bridge at 1.7 miles has been damaged and repaired several times.

The guidebook mission for this hike was checking out the river crossing and lower section on the Mount Clinton Trail. I also wanted to get close-up looks at two huge gravel slides two miles or so up the valley. To approach the first slide I had to leave the trail downstream a bit.

This monster was initially created by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and was expanded by the 2017 Halloween storm and again by the December 2023 storm. It now measures more than 400 feet across and rises 150 feet in elevation from the river.

I found a nice rock seat opposite the south end of the slide and basked in the October sun on my lunch break.

A cluster of white pines towered behind me.

I made an easy crossing of the low-flowing river for a close-up look at the slide.

I was able to climb up the moderately pitched lower fan of the slide, but above that is a very steep (40 degrees) slope of hard-packed gravel.

Looking upstream.

And downstream.

Interesting formations.

A beautiful day in the valley.

I returned to the trail and continued up to a point opposite the second large gravel slide.

This is an old slide dating back at least to 1939. The longer right fork rises 280 feet in elevation above the river, with a slope of 36 degrees.

I scrambled carefully partway up on the loose rocks of the right fork.

View down the valley.

Looking up the narrow swath of the slide's left fork.

Plenty of exposed rocks for crossing the river.

Long view upstream from the trail.

Artifacts from a logging camp of the 1890s Saco Valley Railroad.

Stove made by Fuller & Warner Co., Troy, NY.

A nice stretch of railroad grade walking.

One of a pair of rough up-and-down, sidehilly relocations made after Tropical Storm Irene.

Junction with Mount Clinton Trail, the long and obscure "backdoor" route to Mizpah Spring Hut and Mount Pierce (formerly Mount Clinton).. Always seems like a long 2.9 miles to here.

The Mount Clinton Trail makes a long diagonal crossing of the river over rocks and outwash, crossing two water channels along the way. The water crossings were easy this day, but can be dangerous in high water.

The route is marked by a few small cairns.

The route leads to a low spot along the washed-out bank where it is possible to scramble up. It's marked by a small seen just left of center.

The scramble up the bank.

Above the bank an obscure path leads right about 60 yards, bending right to join the railroad grade...

...by this USFS survey marker.

The trail follows the railroad grade to the left for a short distance, then turns left up a steep pitch and follows a sometimes obscure route along the SW side of a tributary.

Back in 2016 a friend and I lost the trail here when it was obscured by a huge blowdown. The WMNF trail crew cleared the blowdown shortly thereafter. The trail jogs left and right through that now old blowdown cut.

The trail makes its first of seven crossings of the tributary 0.5 mile from the Dry River Trail. Some of the crossings are marked by small cairns. Careful navigation is required on this lightly-used trail.

A bit beyond the crossing the trail makes a steep right turn and them a left to climb to an old logging road on a hardwood shelf, seen here. An experienced hiker I encountered at the crossing had missed the steep downhill turn and had to backtrack. This was my turnaround point.