NH 4K: Mount Adams, Madison, via Lowe’s Path, King Ravine, Watson Path, Brookside, Beechwood, Presidential Rail Trail
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King Ravine has long been on my list of objectives in the White Mountains. For a guy who spends many of my waking moments up there, I truly haven’t done a lot of the trails in the Northern Presidentials. In an effort to change that, I banged out a quick mid-September jaunt up Adams and Madison.
It was quite chilly up in the mountains for September (much colder than the temperate November climate we had last month). I brought liner gloves, regular gloves, a down jacket, and fleece lined hardshell, but I very easily could have brought more. The wind was brutal and the temps with wind chills were below freezing.
I didn’t run into a single soul up there on a late Friday morning until I got to the summit of Adams. The trail up Lowe’s was steady going, as was the first part of King Ravine. I quickly banged out a few miles before I reached the meat of the climb.
I passed myriad waterfalls on the way to the infamous Subway caves section. I had to climb over some steep boulders to get to this part, which is actually a completely separate trail from the main King Ravine trail. I’ll have to come back some day to do the actual trail, but the caves bypass was well worth it.
The last part of the trail leading up to the summit is quite steep and gives you a true alpine feel. It brings you up to Airline which you can take right up to the summit. I ran into a few people up here, and it was quite cold and windy and foggy so I didn’t stop too much. There was even some ice on the rocks near the top.
I took the Gulfside Trail to Madison Hut where I spent about a half an hour eating and warming up. Up to Madison’s summit I went, running into only a few people again. It was again foggy and cold, so I spent little time up there before descending Watson Path.
Watson is a beautiful way to descend, and one I am sure I will tag again while tracing more White Mountains trails. The distinct alpine vegetation and open views were enough to inspire me to take a few videos.
Once you get down into the forest, the trail is quite steep and hard on the feet though. I passed another waterfall and decided to take Brookside (more falls) and Beechwood, a nice flat trail for running. To get back to my car, I hopped on the Presidential Rail Trail and ran a few miles right back to Lowe’s Path. This was an incredible adventure that packed in a lot of miles in just over six hours. I can’t wait until the next journey through the Presidentials.
King Ravine has long been on my list of objectives in the White Mountains. For a guy who spends many of my waking moments up there, I truly haven’t done a lot of the trails in the Northern Presidentials. In an effort to change that, I banged out a quick mid-September jaunt up Adams and Madison.
It was quite chilly up in the mountains for September (much colder than the temperate November climate we had last month). I brought liner gloves, regular gloves, a down jacket, and fleece lined hardshell, but I very easily could have brought more. The wind was brutal and the temps with wind chills were below freezing.
I didn’t run into a single soul up there on a late Friday morning until I got to the summit of Adams. The trail up Lowe’s was steady going, as was the first part of King Ravine. I quickly banged out a few miles before I reached the meat of the climb.
I passed myriad waterfalls on the way to the infamous Subway caves section. I had to climb over some steep boulders to get to this part, which is actually a completely separate trail from the main King Ravine trail. I’ll have to come back some day to do the actual trail, but the caves bypass was well worth it.
The last part of the trail leading up to the summit is quite steep and gives you a true alpine feel. It brings you up to Airline which you can take right up to the summit. I ran into a few people up here, and it was quite cold and windy and foggy so I didn’t stop too much. There was even some ice on the rocks near the top.
I took the Gulfside Trail to Madison Hut where I spent about a half an hour eating and warming up. Up to Madison’s summit I went, running into only a few people again. It was again foggy and cold, so I spent little time up there before descending Watson Path.
Watson is a beautiful way to descend, and one I am sure I will tag again while tracing more White Mountains trails. The distinct alpine vegetation and open views were enough to inspire me to take a few videos.
Once you get down into the forest, the trail is quite steep and hard on the feet though. I passed another waterfall and decided to take Brookside (more falls) and Beechwood, a nice flat trail for running. To get back to my car, I hopped on the Presidential Rail Trail and ran a few miles right back to Lowe’s Path. This was an incredible adventure that packed in a lot of miles in just over six hours. I can’t wait until the next journey through the Presidentials.
Total Time: 5 hrs 12 moving, 6 hrs 15 total
Total Distance: ~12.36 miles
Total Elevation Gain: ~5456 feet
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