Wandering Along the Benton Trail: 9/3/25

My intent was to hike to the outlook 1.3 miles up the Benton Trail (2.8 miles from the north trailhead of Tunnel Brook Trail), take in the views for a while, and head down. But the day turned out so fine, with the predicted possible showers not materializing, that I continued another mile up the trail and bushwhacked to some fir waves (bands of dead trees seen as gray waves from a distance) on the west edge of the ridge for more views.

Before setting off on Tunnel Brook Trail, I chatted with a fellow who was planning to spend the day gold panning along Tunnel Brook.

A washed out bank along the trail.

The 0.7 mile section of trail that follows the abandoned part of Tunnel Brook Road (severely damaged by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011) is very brushy in places, and hikers should expect wet feet from morning dew or after rain.

Yikes!

My boots after walking through that section.

Bottle Gentian along the still-maintained (for logging access only) section of Tunnel Brook Road 

A small brook caused this big washout.

The north ridge of Mt. Clough rises behind an old logging yard.

The Benton Trail diverges left at 1.5 miles. This is an old trail, dating back to its days as a bridle path starting in 1859. It is one of the less-used approaches to Mt. Moosilauke, the more so with the extra walking needed to access it.

A sign not often seen on a hiking trail. It must have been placed last winter when the road by the start of the trail was used as a logging yard.

As expected, the water level in Tunnel Brook was very low, making for an easy crossing.

The Benton Trail is admirably-maintained by adopter Per Frost. The drainages were well-cleared.

The lower part of the trail ascends through a fine hardwood forest, though logging is scheduled for this area in the near future.

The rest of the trail climbs moderately through wild conifer forests.

I've always liked the outlook perched on the edge of Little Tunnel Ravine, with a view north to the Kinsmans and the distant Pilot Range.

Zoom on the Kinsmans.

The wild view into Little Tunnel Ravine, with a great rock slab - presumably the remnant of an old slide - adorning the east wall. I relaxed here for an hour, enjoying the sun and wild vibe.

The day was too nice to head down in early afternoon, so instead I headed up. A bit farther up the trail a short bushwhack revealed an even better view into the ravine.

Some stretches of the trail have wonderfully good footing.

Another short bushwhack provided a window view of the Kinsmans from a higher angle.

What a fine trail.

Around 3600 ft. I headed off-trail for the fir waves. I've explored these several times in the past, but since this was an impromptu extension of the hike, I hadn't done any "research" on the exact location of the best views. As I remembered from previous bushwhacks, the woods in this area were generally good.

Wild country up here.

 

A few blowdowns, but I could see daylight ahead.

Approaching a fern-filled fir wave.

This natural opening provided a nice view to the west, out to the Green Mountains in Vermont.

Ledgy Black Mountain in the Benton Range dominates the foreground.

I quickly pressed on, as I wanted to find a view into Tunnel Ravine (aka Benton Ravine) and the big slide that scarred it during Tropical Storm Irene. I had to descend steeply to get to the edge of the ridge.

 

Farther down I wallowed through some scrub.

I had to work for it, but eventually I found a framed look at the slide and the Tunnel Ravine headwall.

Zoomed.

Revegetation is farther along on the lower part of the slide than it was when Daniel Newton, his canine companion, Friday, and I climbed it in 2020.

It's an impressive slide, up close.

I climbed back to the fir wave with the western view and hung out for an hour amidst the ferns, soaking up the afternoon sun.

Parting shot looking back at Mt. Clough.

Whacking back to the trail.

Thought this might be a moose scrape, signifying the start of the rutting season.

There are moose in the area.

The spring beside the trail at 3700 ft. was bone dry.

One of the more pleasant 4000-footer trails for descent.

Evening shadows creeping into Little Tunnel Ravine.

 

Cabin-Cascades Loop: 9/1/25

On my first day of being (mostly) retired, with Forrest Chess now manning the store, I went hiking on a holiday weekend! I wanted to avoid the crowds, and also needed to hike in an area with phone reception in case Forrest had questions. There were a few things I wanted to check out on trails on the northern slopes of Mt. Adams, so I came up with a loop taking in the First and Second Cascades on Cascade Brook, an old slide just above the Cascades, and the RMC's Log Cabin. The key to the loop was the little-used Cabin-Cascades Trail, which I had not been on in many years.

 

I parked in a grassy pulloff west of Appalachia and used the Presidential Rail Trail and a gravel road to access The Link. As it crosses Memorial Bridge over Cold Brook, The Link offers this view upstream to Cold Brook Fall. 

There has been recent logging (as in the past month) for a short distance along The Link just beyond the junction with The Amphibrach. 

The lower section of The Link offers pleasant hardwood walking.

A stiff climb leads to the junction with the neat trail known as Cliffway. Along this section I chatted with longtime RMC and AVSAR stalwart Paul Cormier, who was out for a local stroll.

This section of trail seems like a distant relative to the nasty sidehill traverse between Castle Trail and Caps Ridge Trail.

Interesting contrast between heavily-used Lowe's Path (running left to right) and the lightly-traveled Link (continuing ahead).

This way.

The curiously named stream known as The Mystic was nearly dry.

The Link getting wilder.

The last section leading to Israel Ridge Path gets more Link-like, narrow and rough on a steep sidehill.

Junction.

A gnarly little scramble heading up the combined Link/Israel Ridge Path.

The First Cascade drops over a series of ledge steps.

 

The ledge shelf atop First Cascade, crossed by The Link, offers a nice view of Mt. Bowman.

Looking upstream behind First Cascade.

A pair of ladders on the approach to Second Cascade.

The broad ledge face at Second Cascade is one of my favorite spots in the Presidentials.

Nice place to hang out for a while.

Even in a drought, Cascade Brook had a pretty good flow.

Interesting coloration on the ledges.

I climbed partway up the steep section of Israel Ridge Path to access the old slide I wanted to visit.

 

A short but thick bushwhack led to the revegetated slide. Ouch! 

An opening at the slide's edge provided a wide view to the north and NW.

I could see the ledge seat I was aiming for.

While pushing through dense spruce I passed this tiny tamarack.

These are the only exposed ledges remaining on this slide, which fell during the November 1927 rainstorm. It destroyed the birchbark shelter known as Cascade Camp, which was built by trailmaker J. Rayner Edmands in 1892 and was owned by the Randolph Mountain Club at the time.

 

A rugged flank of Nowell Ridge closes in Cascade Ravine on the east side.

 

A nicely framed view of the Pliny Range, dominated by the long ridge of Mt. Waumbek.

I spotted what looked like the top of a tall white pine farther up the slide track, so I headed up. Not the most enjoyable type of slide climbing.

And indeed, just off the edge of the dense small spruce growth was a good-sized single white pine, similar to one I found on an old revegetated slide near the Daniel Webster Scout Trail on Mt. Madison.

After descending Israel Ridge Path back from the slide, I headed across the slope on the Cabin-Cascades Trail, which climbs along a rough footway to the Log Cabin. This trail was opened by AMC back in 1881.

Randolph Paths, the RMC guidebook, calls this a "rough, rustic path," I would not disagree with that assessment, though it wasn't quite as gnarly as I expected.

The guidebook also says "it's a good place to escape the crowds on busy weekends," and that proved to be true.

There are a few easy sections mixed in with the rough stuff.

A mossy display on the approach to Lowe's Path.

The Log Cabin was unoccupied at the end of a holiday weekend.

The short but rough Log Cabin Cutoff is gnarlier than Cabin-Cascades Trail.

The section of Randolph Path below the Log Cabin Cutoff junction is one of the rougher sections of that long, traversing trail.

Cascade and pool on Spur Brook just above the junction of Spur Trail and Randolph Path.

A unique five-way junction.

Sanders Bridge over Cold Brook, where a sign asks hikers to cross one at a time.

View of Cold Brook from the bridge.

Starting the final descent to the trailhead.

Out by headlamp, again.