A Loop around King Ravine, Plus a Side-Trip to Mt Adams

What delightful weather it was on 21-June!  Mostly sunny skies, low humidity, and the air temperature and wind were both moderate!  To make the most of these terrific conditions, I wanted to do a trek that would take me above tree-line, and would incorporate a trail that I'd never hiked.

The hike I finally decided to do was a 9.3 mile loop that goes around the tops of the walls surrounding the King Ravine, plus this trek also incorporated a trip to the summit of Mt. Adams.  And, I was able to include a trail in this loop that was new to me, i.e. the Spur Trail.  This trail ascends the west wall of King Ravine.  It leads from the Randolph Path (just above the junction with the King Ravine Trail) to Lowe's Path (just below Thunderstorm Junction).

Shown below is a GoogleEarth image of King Ravine with my route highlighted in yellow. The trails involved in my loop were: The Link; Amphibrach; Randolph Path; Spur Trail; Lowe's Path; Gulfside Trail; Air Line Trail.

As mentioned above, the Spur Trail was one that I had never hiked.  It was awesome!  The footing was good, and it was no steeper to climb than other trails leading up to the Presidential Range.  There were a number of interesting things to see along the way.  On the lower portion of the trail, a short spur path leads you to Chandler Fall where the Spur Brook runs down a huge slab of rock.  This cascade would probably be much more impressive at times of high water, but it was still a scenic spot even with a reduced flow of flow.

Chandler Fall

About a third of the way up the trail is a spot called Lower Crag.  Here I got my first peek into the massive King Ravine.  From this point forward, there are other views into the ravine.  Two of the more notable viewpoints are Upper Crag (location of RMC's Crag Camp), and then further up the trail is the Knight's Castle outlook.

Shown below are snapshots taken at Lower Crag, Upper Crag, and Knight's Castle.

Lower Crag

Upper Crag

Knight's Castle

Mentioned earlier was Randolph Mountain Club's (RMC) hut named Crag Camp.  Since this was my first time on the Spur Trail, it was obviously my first time to visit this structure.  It is impressive!  Shown below is a shot of the exterior and interior of this attractive mountain hut.

Crag Camp

The upper third of the Spur Trail is above tree line.  Besides the beauty of the surrounding alpine vistas, the trail itself is quite scenic (photo below).

The next snapshot was taken from the Spur Trail shortly before it ends at Thunderstorm Junction.  Mt Adams is seen on the horizon at the top right-side of the photo.  Although this mountain looks very imposing from most other perspectives, it certainly is less intimidating from this vantage point!

From the top of Mt Adams are magnificent 360 degree views.  Rather than present photo after photo of these views, I'll be a bit selfish and just show two of my personal favorites!  The first one is the view toward Mt Washington, and the second view is Mt Madison, the next door neighbor of Mt. Adams.

Mt Washington (and Auto Road on left)

Mt Madison (and tiny Star Lake at base of the mountain)

Shown below is yet another photo of Mt. Madison.  It was taken near the junction of the Gulfside Trail and Air Line Trail.  Of course, the building seen nestled at the bottom of the mountain is AMC's newly refurbished Madison Spring Hut.

The next photo was also taken from the Gulfside Trail.  It is looking northward over the lip of the ravine.  On the left side is the ridge that I climbed earlier in the day using the Spur Trail.  And on the right is Durand Ridge which was used for my descent via the Air Line Trail.  (Just as a side note, if you click on the photo below to make it larger, you can just barely see the Crag Camp resting atop the ridge on the left.  It's a tiny white dot about halfway up the ridgeline.)

Many wildflowers were seen while hiking my route.  The photo below provides a sample of many of these colorful beauties.

And so, to sum it up, all days spent hiking the mountains are good, but some are better than others.  This particular hike will be added to the "better" column in my book!