Mountain Wandering: Castle Ravine (attempt)

This day's snowshoe jaunt was a bit of a gamble that didn't pan out, but it was still a nice day out in the lower part of a beautiful valley. My hope was that I would be able to go 2.6 miles into the lower part of Castle Ravine, between Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Adams, and then make a short, steep bushwhack to an open ledge slab, the remnant of a 1950s slide, for a neat view up to the ravine headwall and surrounding ridges. Castle Ravine Trail is rarely traveled in winter. Last January I broke trail for 1.8 miles to a another slide bushwhack farther up the valley, but there was less snow a year ago. On that trip there was a partly packed track on the 1.3 mile section of the Castle Trail; after that, no sign of previous travel.

The parking spot at the Castle trailhead was not plowed, so I parked at a large pull-off 0.3 mile west on Route 2 and did a semi-bushwhack down to the Presidential Rail Trail, a wide snowmobile trail in winter. Owl's Head (Cherry Mountain) could be seen off to the west.

On to the Castle Trail. From NETC reports I knew there had been some traffic on this trail. Underneath 5-6" of new fluffy powder (pockmarked by some critter tracks) there was a firm track.

The Israel River was in its winter slumber.

There was a good snow bridge for the crossing.

For nearly a mile the Castle Trail rises easily through open hardwoods.

Looking back.

As I expected, at the Israel Ridge Path junction the main snowshoe track continued ahead on Castle Trail. There was an older track on Israel Ridge Path, underneath a foot of powder. The effort level would be ramping up.

Second crossing of Israel River.

Good snow bridge here, too.

Making tracks parallel to the river.

There are several sidehill sections along the bank.

Winter river scenery.

In places the old track was pretty swamped in with snow.

Star Wars trooper?

I made a detour around a steep ledge by following the frozen edge of the river.

At the next junction, Israel Ridge Path, splitting uphill to the left, was untracked. The old track I was following continued ahead on Castle Ravine Trail, giving me hope that I could reach my objective. It was slow going breaking through a foot, but manageable.

One of my favorites of the many trails admirably maintained by the Randolph Mountain Club.

Castle Ravine Trail starts out at easy grades along the east bank of Israel River, leading through a nice yellow birch forest.

Use this bog bridge at your peril!

After 0.2 mile the trail makes the route's third crossing of Israel River. This one is tricky in summer and last winter I punched through on my return trip, losing part of a trekking pole in the process. I did not see any evidence of a crossing route, so I gingerly made my own way across.

Beautiful view upstream. This is a lovely, secluded valley.

On the crossing I stepped carefully to avoid plunging into a deep, soft spot.

There was a reason there was no evident route across the river - whoever made the old track had turned back at the crossing. Ahead, there was no visual evidence of previous travel, and the snow was now unconsolidated down to the bottom. Darn!

Not good.

Breaking trail through this amount of snow was ridiculously slow and strenuous. With 0.6 mile to go to access the bushwhack, and under the weather from a chest cold, I knew I would not make it to my objective.

This section of trail is a lovely corridor. I wanted to at least make it up to the next bend, a bit shy of the Forks of Israel, where Cascade Brook and Castle Brook merge to form the Israel River.

View of the river from my turnaround point.

This is the view I was hoping to reach. It would be spectacular in winter.

Heading back along Castle Ravine Trail.

Having just one set of tracks makes the going a lot easier.

Afternoon sun on Israel River.

Since it was mid-afternoon, I decided to head a little way up the Castle Trail to the beautiful hardwood forest on the lower flank of Mt. Bowman. Breaking 6" of powder would seem relatively easy.