Terrifying 25: Huntington Ravine Trail

Friday, July 24, 2026 - I have had this on my calendar for 6 months - Hiking Huntington Ravine Trail with daughter Ardath. (I want to bring "a ringer", especially since my lower-back muscles have been kind-of hurting the past few weeks.)

On the map:
Yellow = "Required", have not climbed
Blue = "Optional", have not climbed
Green = "Have Climbed"

Of 33 total trails, I have climbed 21 of them, with 12 to go (4 blue and 8 yellow):

You start at the parking lot at AMC Pinkham Notch Lodge. After 1.3 miles on Tuckerman Ravine Trail, you take a right onto Huntington Ravine Trail for 2.1 miles, then left on Nelson Crag Trail for 0.8 miles. Wendy will meet us at the top of Mount Washington at 3 PM and drive us back down to the bottom. Sounds like a Great Plan:

Wendy and I left home after lunch on Thursday, getting up to Whitney's Inn around 4 - nice dip in the pool! Ardath showed up at 6, and we went next door for dinner at the Shovel Handle Pub:

Friday morning, after breakfast at Yesterday's in Jackson, Ardath drove the-two-of-us up to the parking lot at AMC Pinkham Notch Lodge. It is a perfect day in the White Mountains - temperature in the 70's, and high scattered clouds:

Just 10 minutes up The Trail is Crystal Cascades:

30 minutes/1 mile into the hike:

Another 30 minutes later, and we are going back and forth across (and up) "the brook that drains Huntington Ravine":

I'm just playing "Follow-the-Leader":

The Moss means this Ravine is REALLY WET most of the year:

Of Course there is a WARNING SIGN (along with a yellow blaze):

Ardath went over; I went under:

2-and-1/2 hours (3 miles) into The Hike, you get a nice view of where we are going (UP!!!):

My view up, and Ardath's view back down:

We passed, and then were passed by, a bunch of guys in their 20s. I'm really surprised by the amount of vegetation on this "Trail":

Hanging out after ascending The Fan (the boulder field) - and after help from 2 of these guys pushing my feet UP over a rock:

This Trail is on the "Terrifying 25" list because it is "the most difficult regular hiking trail in the White Mountains". "extreme caution must be exercised at all times." , especially where it ascends "steep, open ledges". It turns out that our next stage is "steep, open ledges"!! Looking UP:

10 minutes later, Looking Back DOWN:

12:44 break:

Warning Sign at The Top of The Trail:

The guys that passed us went over to the other ridge to play:

Still going Up, to the intersection with Alpine Garden Trail:

A view back down at the Mount Washington Auto Road:

Final push to The Summit:

We met Wendy at 3:02, and got our "Summit Photo" a few minutes later:

A picture of the Mount Washington Post Office (ZIP Code 03589):

Time to head back down The Mountain:

We did 4.71 miles in 6 hours 10 minutes (looking up in Google Earth):

Wendy drove us to the bottom of The Mountain. Ardath got her car and headed back to Portland (I'm VERY PROUD to have hiked Mount Katadin and Mount Washington with my daughter - very nice résumé). With me in the back seat, Wendy drove all the way back down to Five Guys in Peabody (I drove home from there). Thank You God for this GREAT "Terrifying 25" Adventure!

For our listening pleasure yesterday and today:

Roxy Music - Avalon, 1982 album, last heard 5/19/2021 - really good album, listened to it twice:

Then Wendy read from a book we are making our way through: Dennis Lehane - The Given Day, 2008. To quote AI: "The Given Day" is an epic 2008 historical novel by Dennis Lehane, set in Boston around World War I, exploring the lives of two families—one white (the Coughlins) and one black (the Laurence family)—amidst social and political turmoil, including the 1919 Boston Police Strike. :

Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story, 1971 3rd album, last heard 6/13/2024 - I really like this album ("Maggie May" is my running song [not that I go running anymore, but you know ...]):

Paul Simon - Graceland, 1986 album, last heard 9/02/2021. An excellent way to end this excellent adventure:

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/

Terrifying 25: Ice Gulch Path

Tuesday, June 30, 2026 - I have been thinking about Ice Gulch Path for a while - every since it got HOT here in New England for a few days in May. It is one-of-the-20-Required-Trails for the Terrifying 25, so I have to do it sometime. Today is nice and hot (and I have all day free), so here we go.

On the map:
Yellow = "Required", have not climbed
Blue = "Optional", have not climbed
Green = "Have Climbed"

Of 33 total trails, I have climbed 20 of them, with 13 to go:

Ice Gulch Path is on the list because of a TON OF BOULDERING:

I did my reading: Ice Gulch Path and Peboamauk Loop going up, and Cook Path on the way back down, then 1/2 mile on the road back to my car:

I started the day with a nice morning walk on Singing Beach:

Today's hike is so far NORTH (Randolph, NH) that it runs off the AMC Map:

I was PARKed (in the shade) a little after 1 PM (looking towards The Trailhead, then back down the road I will finish on:

I never caught up to the person parked in front of me, but I did see his/her bootprints along the trail.

Trailhead at 1:08 PM (keep to the left of The Barn):

1 Mile (25 minutes) into the hike (6 miles all together) - the Red Blazes are helpful and reassuring:

Pretty nice trail:

You then turn right onto Peboamauk Loop:

This Hike has been just up-and-down through The Woods - no great elevation gain (or loss). But then you get to a "steep, rough pitch to Moose Brook" (and the base of "Peboamauk Fall"):

To get back up to Ice Gulch Path you have to continue on Peboamauk Loop. Go to the left of the waterfall and "make your way up" (note the red blaze, telling you that here is The Trail):

Peboamauk Loop continues alongside "Moose Brook". Some trail-finding skill/luck is required:

At 2:34 I hooked back up with Ice Gulch Path:

That's where THE FUN BEGINS (at least I'm on "The Trail"!):

Looking ahead, up Ice Gulch Path, looking down at THE ICE, then looking back down behind me:

You keep going up:

I got some ice right next to me, and I rubbed some snow on my head:

When you Google "Why is there ice in "Ice Gulch Path"?", the AI answer is:

Ice remains in the Ice Gulch (located in Randolph, New Hampshire) because it sits within a unique "cold-air talus" microclimate. The gulch is a deep, shadowed ravine filled with massive, jumbled boulders. In the winter, heavy snow and cold air plunge deep into the crevices between these rocks. Because the steep, narrow walls of the ravine block out most direct sunlight, this trapped ice and cold air remain insulated from summer heat, allowing the ice to survive well into the warmest months. This phenomenon also creates an environment where sub-alpine plants, typically found thousands of feet higher up on mountain ridges, can grow.

2 hours and 46 minutes into This Hike, I ascended to the-end-of-The-Trail and its meeting Cook Path:

Cook Path is very raw - pretty sections, but mostly very overgrown:

Out onto The Road, and I finished at 5:27 PM, hiking 5.96 miles in 4 hours - a "Really Cool" Hike (ha ha):

I got a Pastrami sub in Gorham, and home at 9 PM. Thank You God for this GREAT "Terrifying 25" Adventure! Singing Beach in the morning, Ice Gulch Path in the afternoon!

For my listening pleasure today:

George Harrison - Live in Japan (2 cds), 1992 double-live album, last heard never:

Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen - Live From Deep In The Heart Of Texas, 1994 live album, last heard never - These guys are A LOT OF FUN!

Elvis Presley - A Boy From Tupelo (live stuff), 2012 album (32 tracks, including 6 versions of "That's All Right"), last heard never. Live and Radio recordings from 1953-1955 - I really like the youthful energy, and the easy-going rawness of the music. And of course it is HISTORY!

Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around, 1968 third album, last heard never - a good album (I'll keep it), but not as good as their first two albums. The cover-photo says it all - Neil is already out-the-door:

Field Report - Trust in Movements Made, 2024 album, last heard never. I like Field Report, so I'm very glad I have the chance to listen to this:

Freddie Hubbard - The Best Of Freddie Hubbard, 1980 album, last heard never. Some good jazz, some not-so-good jazz. Freddie Hubbard has some WONDERFUL stuff out there:

Grateful Dead - From the Mars Hotel, 1974 album, last heard never. A nice collection, with standouts "U.S. Blues" and "Scarlet Begonias":

Miles Davis - Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel 1965 (cd 7), recorded 1965, released 1995, last heard 8/31/2021. Very Nice Jazz to hear on my last leg home:

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/