Great Gully Trail and King Ravine Trail?

[fluffy]

Okay, I'm reading the trail descriptions of these two, and it has me just a bit freaked out. We are due to do a long hike next weekend, including DESCENTS of Great Gully.. not sure if we will join King Ravine trail or not, but downhill...... not the recommended direction I hear. How tricky are they really? And with all the rain we've had lately, is it just stupid to try to go down these? We went down Six Husbands today, and a few of those boulders downhill near the ladders were tricky for me because I'm not very tall, and it was a bit slippery, though not really wet. If raining, that would be quite tough I think. We got as far down as the bottom set of ladders, but though we'd gotten the dog down the first ladders, there was no way he was going down that last set, so we ended up going back up and around a different direction.
What can you guys tell me about Great Gully and King Ravine?
thanks...

 

[^MtnMike^]

I haven't done the Great Gully trail, but the King Ravine Trail has good footing and very little scrambling on the headwall portion. The floor of the ravine (where the Great Gully trail meets the KRT) is a jumble of large boulders, but the trail is flat enough (in terms of overall grade) in this section that going "up" or "down" isn't too much different.

I do not think the KRT would be particularly difficult to descend - certainly easier than the 6-Husbands. It would be tiring after a long day though.

^MtnMike^

 

[fluffy]

thanks

Thanks Mike, What I could see of KRT at the top from Airline didn't look bad.. description of Great Gully says something about a narrow ledge under an overhand with sheer drop offs on one side, and some people crawl on their bellies... I'm not much for "exposure" so wondered if it's really as bad as the book makes it sound.

 

[TroutBumNH]

Great Gully feels like you're climbing up a waterfall at times... 'cause you are... I wouldn't recommend it for descent... I haven't been up there during the rain but would imagine it would make it potentially dangerous..

as far as the 'crux' you mention goes, it's not so bad, but I could see it being tough for people with heights issues....

Mike

 

[fluffy]

Great Gully

Thanks. it's all good to know from folks who have been there... Our hike will have us reaching that point after quite a few miles already so I'm not looking forward to that part! Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I like to know what I'm going to face.

 

[peakbagger]

The great gully is a fairly underused path and is maintained to a low level (most likely on purpose) As mentioned, part of it is an active streambed. The overhang is the only area with significant exposure and if you have a pack on you will need to take it off and hand it forward. Its going to be wet day.

 

[blacknblue]

Great Gully Trail is not as hard as Six Husbands, but the crux is pretty tricky to descend, especially with a pack. It requires taking the pack off and doing a nimble squeeze. With all the rain, I would stick to the King Ravine Trail (or Spur Trail past Crag Camp, for that matter).

 

[Quietman]

With all the rain, I would stick to the King Ravine Trail (or Spur Trail past Crag Camp, for that matter).

Or the Chemin des Dames which is still steep, but less so than the King Ravine trail.
Either way you go, save some time for a visit to the ice caves, especially if it's a hot day!

 

[TroutBumNH]

Great Gully Trail is not as hard as Six Husbands, but the crux is pretty tricky to descend, especially with a pack. It requires taking the pack off and doing a nimble squeeze. With all the rain, I would stick to the King Ravine Trail (or Spur Trail past Crag Camp, for that matter).

A nod of agreement on Spur Trail... if it's wet, then Crag Camp will be a welcome stop on the way down... if it's nice, you get the views... and the feel of an RMC cabin versus and AMC cabin...

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Neither King Ravine nor Great Gully are recommended for descent. If/when you hike them, you'll probably agree. Can they used for descent? Sure. Personally, I'd only do either of them in that direction in an emergency.

There are better descent routes off Adams, like Airline or Lowes Path, depending upon where you parked.

 

[sapblatt]

I agree with Kevin - I have only done the King Ravine Trail and I would not want to descend it - my memory is that I felt like every step was one foot forward and two feet up - very steep - if you look at the numbers in the AMC Guide you will get the idea - something near 1500 feet up in half a mile (I am guessing).

All that being said - it is one of my favorite hikes and really love it in there - I also have done Chemin des Dames which is not as severe and I could see descending that if need be.

Another beautiful option is the Spur Trail which takes you down to Knight's Castle and Crag Camp - near constant views down to tree line...some tough slabs and ladders after you get into the forest.

Here is my report and pics from my King Ravine hike - you will get a good idea of what the headwall is like

PICTURES

 

[Mike P.]

I'll agree with Kevin & Mike even though I've yet to do either trail.

I like seeing new trails as much as the next person but harder steeper trails with which warn about descending them should be heeded unless you are familar with them.

I'm considering (but I better do it in a year or two) descending Huntington's. but I've been up it twice & down something in Germany that I believe was much harder so I'm curious to do HRT as a comparison. It's been several years since I was abroad though so I may have to just keep the idea as an idea.

I'd like to find time for a Flume Slide, if ever dry (not this year), descent too. I'd probably go up it again thouh before I did it though.

 

[sapblatt]

I'll agree with Kevin & Mike even though I've yet to do either trail.

I like seeing new trails as much as the next person but harder steeper trails with which warn about descending them should be heeded unless you are familar with them.

To add to what Mike said - it probably makes a lot of sense to have ascended these types of trails before descending them...

 

[fluffy]

thanks for the feedback everybody

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and give some alternate routes. As it turned out, we were in the middle of ascending Huntington's when that nasty hail storm hit, and by the time we got to Washington summit, a few in the bunch were getting hypothermic and not interested in continuing.
Had we gone ahead with our original plans, we would have been going down GGT in the dark, and that would have been just plain stupid. We hiked out through Great Gulf to get back to our campsite, and though wet and slow on the upper part, wasn't too awful, (though we were sure tired of hiking through muck when it was all said and done.)
HRT was no picnic when wet.
thanks again.

 

[Technetium]

If you do take the King Ravine Trail in the future, I really suggest planning some extra time for the area where the boulders are. As someone else mentioned, the actual gradient of the trail there is not bad. But the boulders are as big as buses. In some places you have to scramble up and over them while black pits into the talus are open on either side of you. I found it to be one of the more scary hiking conditions I've encountered in the WM.

Also, it's worth it to give yourself extra time for the sidetrails marked as "subway" and "ice caves". Some of the best talus caves I've ever seen, and true to name, the ice caves have ice even in August.