8.5 miles with about 2 hours in the dark; Mt Madison 5367'
Certainly a memorable July 4th weekend. Stayed at a friends house in Glen, NH Thursday night, nice ski lodge overlooking Atittash. Quick drive to Gorham and 7 adventurers hit the Airline trail headed for Mt Adams.
I had planned a leisurely climb up the Airline trail, but a friend had a detailed Presi map and wanted to see what the Ice Caves and the Subway were all about. Sooooo, a quick detour puts us in the middle of King Ravine, a massive glacial cirque north of Mt Adams.
Awesome views when it wasn't raining. The Adams headwall and the climb were well worth the strenuous grade and perilous rocks. I really don't have the vocabulary to describe the steepness on this trail. I have hiked the North Slide on Tripyramid, Beaver Brook on Moosilauke, and the Wildcats; none compare to King Ravine. Makes me excited to finally hike Huntington or Tuckermans.
Madison Spring Hut is still there, it was fun to go inside this time. When my brother and I completed our traverse last October we cruised through the area on our last day, it was nice to grab a cup of tea and listen to the conversations in the main room. Probably should've tried to get work/stay rooms
The original plan was to camp somewhere down on Howker Ridge and watch the fireworks in Gorham. Once we were up and over Madison it started to pour hard, cats and dogs and buckets. A consensus was made to try and get down and back to our friends in Glen, call it quits early. Easier said then done. I looked at the map and decided the 2 miles on Pine Link down to the road was easier then 4 on Howker Ridge. By the time we were serious about things it was dark and the trail was like the Penobscot. Slow, cold, wet marching out to the road with headlamps and sniffles. Soon as we got to the road we were seen and shuttled back to our cars, super awesome kids from Shelburne were life savers.
Probably the toughest 8.5 mile dayhike I've ever even dreamed of. Awesome experience with great friends
