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| King Ravine, at the "Wait, the trail goes up there?" way mark |
Mt. Washington wrecked me. My plan was to go back to the Presidential Range two days later to summit Adams, bringing my list of 4,000 footers up to 45. But one day of rest wasn't enough. It was four days before I had the energy to get it together. In the end, the wait was a wise decision. I needed every ounce of that recovered energy for the grueling vertical climb that is King Ravine.
I hit the trail early, 6:15 AM, from the Appalachia parking area off of Route 2. Fortunately, the early hour meant plenty of parking in what is always a jammed lot later in the day. 90% of people go up Adams on the Air Line Trail, but I put my faith in
Steven Smith and Mike Dickerman, who write that a loop hike through King Ravine and a descent on Air Line is the best way to hit it. As usual, they were right on the money.
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| Halfway up the Ravine, looking back toward the way mark |
I traveled along the Air Line and Short Line trails with plenty of gear but decided on just two small water bottles to keep my weight down. Mossy Fall, just below King Ravine, and Madison Spring Hut, just below Adams, would provide the chance to refill at key points along the 9-mile route. King Ravine turned out to be an amazing, solitary place, where the trail weaves over and under huge boulder piles and then straight up the U-shaped, glacial wall of the ravine. The 1,100 feet of elevation gain over a short 1/2 mile of distance meant stowing the trekking poles and hand-over-hand climbing the whole way.
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| View of Mt. Madison |
At the top, a point called the "Gateway," the trail reconnects with Air Line and rewards the climber with a striking view of Mt. Madison. I had great views along the ridge, but the final summit push around 10 AM took me into the clouds. The summit experience on Adams, therefore, was one of chilly, high winds and zero visibility.
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| Summit, Mt. Adams |
I had hoped for a nice break on the summit but had to quickly head down below the clouds and over to Madison Spring Hut, where I ate an early lunch and prepared for the descent. I debated taking Valley Way, which I had done before, but stuck with the plan and descended via Air Line. The views west into the King Ravine from Durand Ridge and the so-called Knife Edge were tremendous, but the trail then descends quite steeply with lots of rock hopping. Valley Way would have been the easier choice.
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| Air Line Descent Route |
I also had to negotiate my way around lots of parties just now making their Adams ascent via this most popular of trails to the summit.
I felt like saying, "You should have taken King Ravine."
Peak: Mount Adams
Elevation: 5,799 feet (Gain: 4,653 feet)
Distance: 9.2 miles
Route: Loop: Lower Air Line to Short Line to King Ravine Trail to Upper Airline to Gulfside Tail to Air Line Connector to Air Line
Conditions: Partly Sunny, 70 degrees F
