
Castle Ravine Scouting Hike via Mt Adams
Emilie Phillips
This spring, we attempted to ski Castle Ravine but were stopped by open stream crossings. We had started at Bowman on the Castle Trail, then followed Israel Ridge Path and the Castle Ravine trail straight up the drainage. An alternate approach via Lowe’s Path and The Link stays away from the ravine until high up. This account is of our scouting hike with Larry and Thor, two of our skiing friends, and Thor’s dog Bear. First we summited Mt Adams, then we descended the ravine.
Starting from the top of Castle Ravine, the headwall is a jumble of rocks. The rocks are smaller than lunch rocks in Tuckerman’s Ravine, and probably get filled in with snow. The open bowl sustains a good 30-40 degree pitch for the mile descent. For hiking, the rock scramble was, as Thor put it, gnarly. So few people hike this trail that the foot bed barely makes a dent in the lush green sphagnum moss at the top. However, we all agreed the headwall looks like good skiing. Our only concern is that, because it faces northwest into the prevailing winds, Castle Ravine will get less snow than the popular ravines on the other side of Mt Washington .
The real problems start below the headwall, when the Castle Ravine Trail enters the forest. The trail is narrow with dense evergreen growth on both sides. Despite the trees, the ravine continues its steep descent. We scrambled down, under (Roof Rock), and between rocks. Then a brook merged in and ran down the middle of the trail. Tyson thought this stream would likely wash out the trail during the winter. The Castle Ravine Trail does not look skiable even on its upper sections. If you want to ski Castle Ravine, you’ll have to approach from the top.
With the exception of crossing Cascade Brook at the cascades, the Link trail and the lower part of Lowe’s Path looked skiable.
As for the rest of our hike, the view from the northern presidentials is mind boggling. The rest of New Hampshire is so far below. It’s like you have hiked up and out of the world. We stopped at the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) Log Cabin shelter and Gray Knob four season hut. Gray Knob looks nice, like the 10th Mountain hut we stayed at this winter. As of summer 2020 it is closed for covid.
We took our obligatory summit photo on top of Mt Adams. The wind was blowing so hard I didn’t worry much about social distancing. The next group whopped and hollered for the joy of summiting. That’s not my style, but in this day and age, I can understand wanting to celebrate something. The best part of the trip as a mom was listening to Isaac chatting and laughing with Thor on the way down.
Us adults were tired when we got to the bottom, but Isaac and Bear (Thor’s dog) had enough energy for one last run across the parking lot.
All Photos
- Thor and Bear at snack time -- Comments (0)
- Isaac rest break -- Comments (0)
- Odd rock intrusion -- Comments (0)
- Mushroom -- Comments (0)
- RMC Log Cabin shelter -- Comments (0)
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- Climbing Lowe’s path -- Comments (0)
- Isaac counted 40+ mushrooms on the hike up -- Comments (0)
- Larry and Thor at the juntion with Gray Knob -- Comments (0)
- Karate Kid -- Comments (0)
- Emilie -- Comments (0)
- Thor and Larry picking out landmarks -- Comments (0)
- Cold hands above tree line -- Comments (0)
- Bear -- Comments (0)
- Tyson enjoying the view -- Comments (0)
- Over a mile from tree line to the top -- Comments (0)
- Shiny mica in quartz -- Comments (0)
- Isaac climbing -- Comments (0)
- Cairns on Lowe’s Path topped with quartz -- Comments (0)
- Adams and Madison -- Comments (0)
- Tyson descending Mt Abigail Adams -- Comments (0)
- Isaac double checking our position after Thunderstorm Junction -- Comments (0)
- Ascending Mt Adams -- Comments (0)
- Thor, Bear, Isaac, Larry, and Emilie on the summit of Mt Adams. Mt Washington in the background -- Comments (0)
- Mt Madison -- Comments (0)
- RMC Crag Camp Cabin -- Comments (0)
- Gulfside Trail west of Mt Adams -- Comments (0)
- Emilie on Gulfside Trail -- Comments (0)
- Thor and Larry -- Comments (0)
- Blueberries and cranberries -- Comments (0)
- Thor picking blueberries -- Comments (0)
- Bog in the Castle Ravine Trail -- Comments (0)
- Last level ground at the top of Castle Ravine -- Comments (0)
- Kestrel kiting -- Comments (0)
- Descent down Castle Ravine -- Comments (0)
- Castle Ridge -- Comments (0)
- Descending Castle Ravine headwall -- Comments (0)
- Tyson and Isaac in Castle Ravine -- Comments (0)
- Tyson and Isaac on the Castle Ravine headwall -- Comments (0)
- View down Castle Ravine -- Comments (0)
- Almost down the Castle Ravine headwall -- Comments (0)
- Castle Ravine trail below tree line -- Comments (0)
- Roof Rock -- Comments (0)
- Asters -- Comments (0)
- Castle Brook -- Comments (0)
- Castle Ravine trail follows the brook -- Comments (0)
- Isaac under a tipped over root ball -- Comments (0)
- birch tree -- Comments (0)
- Mushrooms -- Comments (0)
- Cascade Brook -- Comments (0)
- Emilie and Isaac at the lower falls on Cascade Brook -- Comments (0)
- The Link trail -- Comments (0)
- Out after dark -- Comments (0)
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Comparing Gray Knob to the 10th Mountain hut, this is a quote from the RMC site …
How cold does it get inside?
The internal temperature of Gray Knob in the winter is a refrigerator at best and a freezer at worst.
If the fire is lit, for a short period in the evening, the inside temperature could reach 35-40°F at the most. This is not warm.