The Castles of Jefferson

Trip Details
Date: June 28^th, 2019
Total Distance: 10.53 mi (via Garmin fenix 5X)
Total Time: 6 hours
Total Elevation: 4177 ft gained
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By the end of June, the snow was finally a thing of the past up in the 4000 footers. So, it was time to tackle another Terrifying 25 trail. This time around we decided to tackle the two "castle" trails. I was able to find a more information about the Castle Trail and very little about the Castle Ravine Trail. It appeared to make the most sense since it makes its way up a headwall and may involve some loose rocks. Beyond that we went in pretty blind.

Here is my one battle wound for the day and...it happened before the hike even started. Who knew putting on sunscreen was a full contact sport...

The trail starts down this ATV road and then after the gate in the distance it turns into the woods.

After this short woods section you cross a short section of long grass before entering the woods again.

The Castle Trail has great footing from this point until the junction with the Israel Ridge Path.

I do love this sign, but I will admit that I am by no means in top physical condition. I am in good shape, but this makes it seem like only Dwayne Johnson should hike this peak.

This is one of the only other souls we saw today. The use of these trails is obviously limited.

You quickly leave the Israel Ridge Path to start the ascent on the Castle Ravine Trail. This trail hugs the Castle Brook and crosses it at least eight times, if not more. I lost count eventually. In high water these crossings could make this trail not climbable (unless you are willing to get quite wet), but on this day the levels were quite low and we could safely make it across without getting wet. It got annoying and tiresome quickly though. There was also a bit of mud, but it was only for short spurts here and there. Eventually, the trail starts to climb up the slope and move away from the brook. Eventually, it makes its way back to the upper terminus of the river for a few final crossings before popping out at the bottom of the headwall.

Here is the junction where the Castle Ravine Trail leaves the Israel Ridge Path.

The waterfall on the brook looked so pristine...I had no idea what we were in for...

Look at these nice mossy rocks...oh wait is that diamond in the background the trail marker? Yes it is! The trail goes right up the brook here.

This is the blowdown from Tropical Storm Irene.

A cool cave to take shelter in, if bad weather arrives suddenly.

At the base of the headwall is this classic sign.

Looking up at the Castles.

Looking up towards the top of the headwall. I was guessing at the time that the trail was going to make its way straight up, but instead it goes to the right and re-enters the woods for bit before popping back out into a boulder field.

The climb up the headwall was not too bad at all. It was well marked and the cairns were all easily identifiable. A few steps here and there found a loose rock, but for the most part it was solid climbing. It only took us about 30 minutes to get to the top of the headwall and into Edmands Col.

I wished I had zoomed in, but I was trying to take a photo of that cool standing rock in the background.

Shortly after leaving the col we found this snow patch.

The climb up Mt. Jefferson from Edmands Col is still challenging hike. It is about a mile and probably close to 800 feet of elevation gain. So, it is another boulder scramble to the rock pile on the top. The summit was quiet with light winds at first, but as we hung out and ate our lunch it actually got cold up there as the sun got stuck behind a cloud.

Looking towards Mt. Washington and the northern Presidentials.

A few more snow piles.

The northern Presidentials and the rest of the White Mountains.

Bretton Woods

Mt. Adams

Portrait mode with my iPhone X.

Background defocus scene mode with my Sony DSC-HX200V. We need to thank my co-worker, Hannaford, for bringing the contraband back from Pennsylvania for us to enjoy on the summit.

I am not sure which one of the defocused background shots I like the best. I can list pros and cons for both. The iPhone is just simple, whereas my Sony camera gives you a distance but never says when you are in the ideal distance away. The colors are also crisper on the iPhone, but the Sony camera leaves a bit more definition in the background that I like.

Usually the descent is where the adventure ends and autopilot kicks on, but in this case we had one of the required Terrifying 25 trails in front of us. The trails starts by climbing down the boulder field before gradually descending down the moderately slopped side of Mt. Jefferson. After leaving the Alpine Zone behind, we got to the highlight of the trail...the Castles. These were some large rock piles that the trail maneuvered around as they essentially were shear cliffs on one side.

Approaching the first Castle.

Looking down towards the next Castles.

BishopX standing in his tower.

Looking back up towards Mt. Jefferson. You can get a sense for how gradual the trail is in this photo.

Looking into the Castle Ravine, which we had climbed out of earlier.

The view straight down from the edge of the Castle.

After the Castles, the trail has a few sections of steep descent as it makes its way back into the valley. This could get rather tricky in wet conditions, but we hugged the side and it took most of the challenge away. After that, the trail merges back up with the Israel Ridge Path and becomes flat with great footing.

For those looking to do these trails, I would highly recommend the loop in the clockwise direction we did it in. By the end I did not feel exhausted and actually felt like I still had high energy levels. Some of the headwall climbs are exhausting, but this one seems to have picked the path nicely that it never felt like that.

The mileage is off by probably 3/4 of a mile due to drift around the summit.