The Adventures of Donkey Dong Doug in and around King Ravine

Trip Details
Date: October 5^th, 2018
Total Distance: 11.09 mi (via Garmin fenix 5X, but the GPS glitched on Chemin des Dames and even threw off the altimeter)
Total Time: 6 hours 43 minutes
Total Elevation: 5371 ft gained (with the glitch this number is likely off, but is surprisingly close to the theoretical gain)
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My title for this trip is a play on a name thrown out in this recent skit on SNL that cracks me up. Matt Damon is the man!

Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

First, a pitstop to try out the Tesla Destination Charger at the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center. The colors were pretty nice in the Presidential Range area.

As we work on completing the Terrifying 25 Trails (it is important to note that we are going for 100% including all electives before we submit for the patch), we are having to get a bit creative to get all the trails and not have to make multiple trips to the same mountains. Case in point, Great Gully Trail, Air Line Trail, and Chemin des Dames which ware all around the Mt. Adams and Mt. Madison area. At this point we had only been on King Ravine Trail which is the start of the Great Gully Trail, but we had never done any of the main Air Line Trail. Chemin des Dames connects the Air Line Trail to the King Ravine Trail. The Great Gully Trail has a recommendation as a trail that you would not want to descend. So we had to ascend that trail. Air Line Trail, on the other hand, is a tame trail so we could descend that way. The question was where to fit Chemin des Dames in. We could start down Air Line Trail and then descend Chemin des Dames back into the King Ravine, but we might miss the section of the Air Line Trail that qualifies it as a Terrifying 25 Trail. The fix…climb up Chemin des Dames and then descend it back into King Ravine before ascending Great Gully Trail and then descend down Air Line Trail.

So we made the couple of mile trip to the base of the King Ravine. The trails are not too bad at this point and there is not a whole lot of elevation gain until you get into the ravine. Once you start climbing up and over a few boulders you quickly come to the junction with Chemin des Dames. This trail climbs up the side of the ravine and is rather steep at times. There are no cliff faces, but you do have to climb on boulder fields and loose rock before making your way to the top where it junctions with the Air Line Trail. We stopped here for a bit to take in the view and the absolutely amazing day. The weather was forecasted rather cold and with a slowing wind as the day went on, but we found neither and were actually quite warm in the sun.

The mossy rocks were foreshadowing the terrain in a few short hours...

At the entrance to the King Ravine you are greeted with this gem.

Looking up the Chemin des Dames.

Looking up the King Ravine Trail.

The top of the King Ravine Trail.

Looking towards the Great Gully Trail.

Looking out of the ravine.

Starting our climb up the Chemin des Dames, which is a boulder field.

There is a tight cave you have to go through.

BishopX coming out of the cave.

The rim of the ravine. I believe the Great Gully Trail is dead center.

BishopX and J-Pain taking in the view from the top of Chemin des Dames.

Crystal clear day put Mt. Mansfield in view.

Crag Camp

This photo is provided by Matt Boston. Used with permission.

The descent is not too bad, but you do have to pick your footing wisely and take it slow. After the descent we got to take our second stab at the Subway on the King Ravine Trail. We had gone this route our first time in the King Ravine, but always felt like we missed something and ended up bypassing the caves even though we went the cave route. This time around we felt the same until we started getting into some decent caves. We just did not realize that there is a section in the middle where you just have to climb over the rocks as that is the trail.

The trail goes under and over those boulders...

After the caving detour we started up the Great Gully Trail, which junction soon after the Subway. Once you start ascending on the trail it is quickly noticeable that this trail is rarely used. If any trail is a candidate for abandonment, this is the trail. It is over grown, moss covered, and quite wet in spots. Though the trail is rather steep and has one section where you make your way around a sheer cliff, it felt easy compared to our trip up the Great Gulf headwall. The infamous narrow cliff I went around and did not realize it until after the fact. As you start to approach Thunderstorm Junction the trail slowly levels out and this part felt like it took forever.

A waterfall along the Great Gully Trail.

BishopX making it around the narrow section which is the most difficult part. If this is not actually it then it is the section right below this, but that felt more like a scramble to me.

The top of the King Ravine Trail...it is a long boulder scramble.

Mt. Adams is back there. 

From Thunderstorm Junction is was a boulder climb to the summit of Mt. Adams. The wind was a bit stronger here, but it was still an amazing day! After lunch, some Tree House Brewery brews, and photos we began the long journey down the Air Line Trail.

Mt. Washington

Mt. Jefferson 

The Wildcat and Carter Mountains.

Mt. Moriah

Mt. Quincy Adams, Star Lake, and Mt. Madison

Jericho Mountain and Berlin, NH

Old Speck Mountain, the bastard stepchild of the White Mountains.

Franconia Ridge

This photo is provided by Matt Boston. Used with permission.

We had previously made the call due to the potential cold weather to skip Mt. Madison this time around. Once we found out Madison Springs Hut was already closed for the season (and missed the potential to make some serious money over Columbus Day weekend) it was not hard to keep to our Mt. Adams only plan. Air Line Trail is all boulders until you approach the “narrow” section. I put narrow in quotation marks, because the trail never felt dangerous and the footing improved slightly. There is a knife edge section that got it on the list, but I never saw it. Once we got back to the junction with Chemin des Dames the trail returned to the woods, but footing stayed rater poor. It did not help that rain over the past few days had made all the rocks damp. This just helped to drag out this trail, but eventually we made it back to the junction with Short Line and then it is rather smooth sailing for the last mile.

BishopX and J-Pain coming down the Air Line Trail.

Overall, I would say the Great Gully Trail and Chemin des Dames deserve their place on the list but Air Line Trail is not a great elective. You could easily just do a loop and head down Chemin des Dames instead of doing the crazy up and down that we did. This would still get you the qualifying section of the Air Line Trail and get you some trail with better footing once you get out of the King Ravine.

The basic track, time, and the elevation gain are about all that is close to what we actually did. Due to a GPS glitch along the Chemin des Dames the mileage and altimeter went crazy.