CASTLE RAVINE: 6/7/11

My favorite of the great glacial cirques on the Presidential Range is Castle Ravine, the striking bowl on the NW side of Edmands Col, clasped between Jefferson's Castellated Ridge and Israel Ridge on Mt. Adams. This is a really wild ravine: it has a fairly long, curving trail approach, and there is no road, railway, hut, camp or crowd nearby. The view below is from Emerald Bluff, a great viewpoint along the Emerald Trail.


One of the reasons I wanted to go back into the valley was to see the damage from an avalanche that fell in the winter of 2010 and ran across the Castle Ravine Trail down below the headwall. I could see this narrow brown strip from the Castles on a hike last summer.



Late on a sunny morning, I started off from the Castle Trail parking area off Route 2 in Bowman. I expected an immediate insect assault, but to my surprise, and delight, bugs were a non-issue on this hike with the exception of two spots up higher.



For the first 100 yards, the Castle Trail coincides with the Presidential Range Rail Trail.

At 0.4 mi. you cross the Israel River. A caveat for the hike into Castle Ravine is that it's best done in low water. There are numerous stream crossings, and few of them are easy even at low to moderate water levels. Even with the current low water levels, most crossings on this hike involved stepping on at least one or two underwater rocks.


For the next mile the Castle Trail is a gentle uphill stroll through a leafy hardwood tunnel.

At 1.3 mi. you bear L onto the Israel Ridge Path, one of many interesting and lightly-traveled trails maintained on the Northern Presidentials by the Randolph Mountain Club.


After a double crossing, this trail follows alongside the Israel River. This is a hike that is rich in stream scenery.


At 1.7 mi., where the Israel Ridge Path veers L to begin climbing its namesake ridge, I stayed on the valley route along the Castle Ravine Trail.

The first part is easy walking through a fine yellow birch forest.

The first crossing of Castle Brook on this trail is perhaps the most awkward of the trip. I always end up sitting on my butt and using a long leg stretch to negotiate this one.

One of many mossy cascades seen along this beautiful trail.

A nice patch of foamflower along a dry streambed.

This mini-Niagara Falls is just above another stream crossing.

A ferny streamside glade.

After another crossing, the trail climbs higher on the slope along the flank of Israel Ridge, through an open "salt-and-pepper" forest of birch and fir.

About 3 miles in, the Link joins from the L.

I took a break at a crossing above the Emerald Trail junction, with Castle Brook now much smaller.

Farther up, the trail actually follows the brook itself for about 100 ft.

Approaching the base of the headwall, the trail gets steeper and rougher.

At about 3400 ft. the trail makes the first of two back-to-back crossings of the avalanche track, which left a long swath of destruction down the brookbed. At this crossing caution is needed as you balance on tree trunks and mats of branches.

A short distance above, you cross back over. Here the avalanche opened a neat view up to the Castellated Ridge.

Looking up the avalanche track from the second crossing. I don't think I'll go snowshoeing in here.


After this crossing, the climbing gets pretty steep. Just below Roof Rock, you squeeze through this crevice.

Roof Rock (3600 ft.) is a cool spot. You can easily duck under with your pack on.

The trail becomes more boulder-strewn as you approach the open talus on the base of the headwall.


A toppled treeline warning sign.

Typical ravine headwall boulder scrambling - use of hands required.

I emerged on the open rocks at about 3900 ft. With my late morning start, this was as far as I planned to go. I found a reasonably comfortable boulder perch beside the trail and settled in to enjoy the views. Above, the steep, rock-strewn headwall looms.

A great view back down the ravine, with Castle Brook curving away under Mt. Bowman.


The vivid greens of late spring.

On the R side of the valley is the steep slope of Israel Ridge, showing the little bump of Emerald Bluff. Mts. Starr King and Waumbek are in the back, and the more distant view looks into northern Vermont.


As mentioned earlier, there had been virtually no bugs on this hike - until I emerged on the talus. Here the black flies were swarming. Still, I managed to get a snooze in, with the Castellated Ridge as a backdrop.

An interesting gully on the west side of the ravine, with a tiny snow patch at the top. This is occasionally skied by backcountry aficionados.
The route of the trail up the headwall can be seen above, mostly over talus, much of it loose. It's a pretty grueling climb, and not recommended for descent.

Looking back up the trail.




On the headwall, the trail is marked in orange. The arrow tells the story - it's down!

Back down by the Emerald Trail junction, I found a peek up at Emerald Bluff.

I made a loop return by following the Link across to the First Cascade and Israel Ridge Path.

The Link has a horrible reputation due to its nightmarish rough, rooty, bouldery, hole-dotted, ankle-twisting sidehill sections between Caps Ridge Trail and Castle Trail, and again between Castle Trail and Castle Ravine Trail. Much of this section between Castle Ravine Trail and Israel Ridge Path is pleasant, almost Kilkennyish, with open woods and good footing - decidedly un-Link-like.

As it approaches Cascade Brook and First Cascade, the Link reverts to form, such as this rough, roly-poly traverse across an old slide.

First Cascade is a neat spot. In this vicinity the great trail-builder J. Rayner Edmands had his Cascade Camp, destroyed in 1927 by a landslide. The Link crosses the brook (which required shallow wading across a ledge) just above the top of the cascade. There's a great dry, flat sitting ledge where you can look down over the series of step-like waterfalls....

...and up at Mt. Bowman. This was the only other spot where black flies were a problem today.

There's no path to the bottom of the cascade to give you a look up at it from below. But leave it to my bushwhacking buddy John "1HappyHiker" Compton to find a way down there! John knew of my basic hike plan for today and started in two hours after me, but unfortunately our paths did not cross. John visited both the First and Second Cascades, and while at the first, he whacked steeply down to the base and took some photos looking up. One of these can be seen here on John's always-excellent blog.

From First Cascade, I headed down the Israel Ridge Path. The first part was a rather tedious sidehill, then the footing improved.


Evening scene along the Israel River.

A look back at Mt. Jefferson and the headwall of Castle Ravine. What a place!

PASSACONAWAY CUTOFF TRAIL WORK: 6/2/11

I was joined for a spring work trip on Passaconaway Cutoff by frequent helper Jim Durning of Dover and North Woodstock (also a fellow member of Pemi Valley SAR), accompanied by his delightful Chinook, Myah. It was a perfect day for trail work, cool and cloudy with a strengthening wind to repel the bugs.

Jim's Loon ski patrol hat has a temporary resting spot on the sign at the Oliverian Brook/Passaconaway Cutoff junction.


Jim and Myah pose at the crossing of the west branch of Oliverian Brook, a half-mile up the Cutoff.

Not far beyond the crossing is a peaceful hardwood corridor, one of my favorite stretches on this trail.

Jim plans the strategy on a multi-branch blowdown.

There's a nice resting spot by the brook a bit more than halfway along the trail. We always take a break here before starting up the steeper section of the trail.

Behind a curve in the brook, there were a number of trees snapped off in the downhill direction. We figured there must have been an ice jam here during the spring melt.

Another blowdown, farther up the trail. We removed 16 in all, some by hauling off, others with multiple cuts. Along the way I snipped hobblebush with my loppers. It's a constant challenge to keep this prolific shrub at bay.

Myah was very patient, resting each time we stooped to work. She found a comfortable spot in this freshly-cleaned waterbar. The Chinook is a rare and special breed, first bred by legendary sled dog runner Arthur Walden at his farm and kennel in Wonalancet. This is the same Walden for whom the Walden Trail on Mt. Passaconaway was named, and he was married to Kate Sleeper, who founded the Wonalancet Out Door Club and has both a trail and two peaks named in her honor. Chinooks are noted as gentle, lovable dogs, and Myah is a fine representative of her breed. Myah's sister, Millie (short for Millinocket), was unable to join us today due to a minor injury.

Near the top of the trail I found a small bluff just down the slope with a look up at the imposing mass of Mt. Passaconaway.

The last of the 43 drainages have been cleaned, time for a break before heading down. Thanks to Jim for all his help on the trail, and for allowing me a chance to get to know Myah.

THOMPSON FALLS & WHITE HORSE LEDGE: 5/31/11

Until last week I had never been to Thompson Falls (the one on Moat Brook at the base of the Moat Mountains, just outside of North Conway -- not to be confused with another Thompson Falls at the base of Wildcat Mountain). I had read about this spot in old guidebooks such as Starr King's and Sweetser's, and had a vague idea about an old trail leading there. The falls trail was shown on the 1942 USGS 15 minute North Conway quad, and was described in the AMC White Mountain Guide into the 1950s. But little information could be gleaned from the two current guidebooks devoted to the region’s waterfalls, and the location of the falls was not to be found on the various White Mountain trail maps in use today.

What prompted me to finally go see Thompson Falls, and also walk the Moat Mountain Mineral Site Trail for the first time, was the recent decision by the Forest Service to add twelve miles of trails on the east side of the Moats to the WMNF trail system. Though most of these routes have been designated primarily for mountain biking, the old trail to Thompson Falls will be maintained as an official trail for foot travel only. I brought my measuring wheel also, as we plan to add the Moat Mineral Site and Thompson Falls trails to the next (2012) edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide. (Sorry, redliners!)

My hike plan included a trek along the Moat Mineral Site Trail, a loop around past Thompson Falls, and then an extension to White Horse Ledge via a combination of the mountain bike trails and existing hiking trails. I started at the Moat Mineral Site parking area, located at the end of High St., which leaves Passaconaway Rd. 1.2 mi. west of West Side Rd. This good, mostly gravel road leads 2.6 mi. to the parking area, which is slated for expansion in the near future.

In addition to hiking trail maps and the current USGS quad, I brought along the newly revised Conway Area Mountain Biking Trail Map, published by Mountain Cycle Guide Service. This excellent map, with cartography by the AMC's Larry Garland, shows the newly designated Moat area mountain bike trails, and also shows, but doesn't name, the Thompson Falls Trail.

There was some information about the mineral site on the kiosk.

The mileage to Red Ridge Rd. (FR 379) on the trailhead sign is a little off (it's 1.86 mi. by the measuring wheel), probably because of the many switchbacks that were added to the north half to prevent erosion. This trail is popular with mountain bikers, and hikers in the Moat region should be prepared to share the trail with riders.

The Mineral Site Trail offers easy, pleasant walking through an open forest of hemlock, spruce and birch. Even though it was near noon, and hot and sunny, the mosquitoes swarmed me as soon as I opened the car door, so I quickly slathered on some Ben's, making the walk much more enjoyable.


At 0.9 mi. this sign marked the collecting area. I was expecting some sort of open pit, such as the one near the Sugarloaf Trail on North Sugarloaf, but the collecting sites were well-hidden in the woods, presumably at the end of well-beaten side paths.

From here the trail descended through hardwoods via many gravelly switchbacks.

At the bottom I turned R on FR 379 and walked 0.2 mi. to a gate. The unmarked trail to Thompson Falls headed into the woods on the L side of this road, 200 yards past the gate, at a point where the road swings to the R. There are no signs on these newly designated trails as yet; the WMNF plans to have them in place in the near future. Thus it took me a few minutes of wandering around on woods roads before I realized I had passed the somewhat disguised spot where the trail leaves FR 379.

The half-mile Thompson Falls Trail was a delight, leading up through a gorgeous open hemlock forest.

After crossing a small brook, it climbed along a bank above Moat Brook.

The falls were 0.3 mi. up from the bottom (east) end of the trail. Though not a towering waterfall by any means, this is a beautiful spot. It was a favorite location of 19th century artist Benjamin Champney, who spent many summers in North Conway. "Thompson Falls and the Saco Valley" is considered one of his finest paintings.


I found a seat near the base of the falls, where I had lunch amidst a cool, mosquito-repelling breeze fanned by the plunging brook.


There's an interesting collection of ledges and boulders below the falls. Sweetser described them as "great masses of shattered rocks."

Above the falls, the brook slithered gently over broad ledges.

At the trail's upper junction with FR 379, I turned R (going L, you would reach the north end of the Mineral Site Trail in 5 minutes), and in a few minutes turned R again on an unmarked connecting path that quickly led to the Upper Stony Ridge mountain bike trail. Keeping an eye out for mountain bikers, I followed this for a mile up to the White Horse Ledge hiking trail. One of the purposes of going this way was to see how the bike trail interfaced with the hiking trail. Descending the hiking trail, you stay to the L here as the bike trail diverges R.

In another 0.2 mi. uphill, I reached the jct. with Red Ridge Link.

A short climb led to the top of White Horse Ledge.

Near the crest some lady slippers were in bloom.


From the big summit slab there's a partial view east to the Green Hills.


My favorite spot on White Horse is a ledge near the summit with an intimate view up to the Moat Range. From this angle you see South and Middle Moat and Red Ridge.


By moving down a bit you can also see North Moat.

This gnarled pitch pine ekes out a living at the base of the ledge.


After a long break here, I descended to the SE edge of the summit slab and followed a well-worn climber's path through the woods to a dramatic flat perch atop the main White Horse cliff. To the L I could see the Presidentials and Wildcats in the distance.

Beyond the back side of nearby Cathedral Ledge, Wildcat, Carter Notch, Carter Dome, Thorn and Doublehead were prominent.

Looking across the lush fields of the Saco Valley to Bartlett Mtn. and Kearsarge North.


The view east: Echo Lake and the Green Hills.

Heading back, a last look at the Moats.

For my return trip, I went down the Red Ridge Link through fine open woods.

At the bottom I turned L on the Red Ridge Trail.

This runs at gentle grades through a remote flat area behind White Horse Ledge.

Where the trail crossed FR 379, I jogged L a short distance on the road, then turned R on the unmarked Way in the Woods/Tent Boulder mountain bike trail. It was midweek and late in the day, so I figured mountain bike traffic would be light. (In fact, I met no hikers or bikers on my entire 9-mile trek today.) This narrow, meandering path was fun to walk; for much of its two-mile length it led through open hemlocks with long views through the forest.

Towards its south end it climbed to a shelf beneath an interesting talus jumble and cliff low on the flank of the Moats. This boulder cave, a smaller version of Big Rock Cave in the Sandwich Range, was a short distance off the trail.


I carefully made my way up through the big, chaotically strewn boulders to a spot where I had a glimpse up to the open talus area.

I had a peek up at the parent cliff, from which these rocks had tumbled.


A short distance farther the trail wrapped around the massive Tent Boulder, which has a neat overhang that would be welcome in a heavy rain shower. The mosquitoes had been getting progressively worse since I had descended from White Horse Ledge, and they hounded me relentlessly on the last mile out along the Tent Boulder and Mineral Site trails. It was probably one of the worst mosquito assaults I've ever encountered. This is a cool area to explore, but be sure to bring the bug dope!

The round trip to Thompson Falls on the Mineral Site Trail, FR 379 and the Thompson Falls Trail is 4.7 miles with 800 feet of elevation gain. To add White Horse Ledge, I recommend an out-and-back route using FR 379 and the Red Ridge Trail and Red Ridge Link up to the White Horse Ledge Trail near the top, rather than using the mountain bike trails. This trek would be 9.4 miles with 1,400 feet of elevation gain. (Thanks to Peter Minnich of Mountain Cycle Guide Service and Jana Johnson of the Saco Ranger District for providing info on these trails.)