Seeking an Alternate Peak - Mt Adams via King Ravine - 7/23/11

[mtruman]

With the record crowds and less trails to hold them with Tucks closed we decided to take an alternate route for Seek the Peak. That route happened to lead up a different mountain and also led to an incredible day! We wound up hiking King Ravine to Mt Adams and it was one of the most spectacular hikes we've done in the Whites so far. King Ravine is described in the guide books as "wild and beautiful" and it certainly lives up to that description. The Seek the Peak event was fantastic and it was wonderful to be able to help make this one of the most successful ones ever. It was an all around fabulous weekend with great friends. Here's the complete account of our Seek the Peak hike and the other weekend events. Links to the complete photo albums are at the end. Enjoy!

http://theramblingsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/seeking-alternate-peak-mt-adams-via.html

Here's a little preview...

Mt Madison and Quincy Adams over King Ravine

Mt Washington from Mt Adams summit

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Great sampler!

It was great to see you guys again this year! This is always such a great event! I wish more people from the hiking community would get involved, it truly is for a good cause. Judy, Emma and I rely heavily upon the weather reports from the Observatory to help plan our hikes in the Whites, it is good to know we can give something back. Over the years we have made some great friends and had some wonderful times! It is cool you chose to hike on Adams as indeed the trails on Washington were full. I'll be posting about our STP soon as well. See you soon!

KDT

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

Mark, what a fantastic hike! Great slideshow too. Enjoyed going along with everyone up King's Ravine. Didn't realize how extreme the ascent is near the ridge until seeing your pictures. It looks like our kind of trail. We took Airline over Durand Ridge (which was a bit of a challenge) when we did Adams a few years ago.

Donna

 

[mtruman]

Kevin - great seeing you guys too! I totally agree about Seek the Peak and how much I enjoy being able to give something back for the Obs. Equally wonderful has been the way that it's created so many new and lasting friendships in the "Obs community". I initially felt guilty about not hiking Mt Washington this year but afterward was very glad we chose Adams. We'll definitely go back to Washington in future years but may do the alternate peak thing again as well. Who knows, maybe it will start a trend. As long as we continue to raise money for the Obs and are still able to participate in the rest of the event over the weekend I think it's all good!

Donna - thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The pictures in some of the spots at the top make it look worse than it is. No scary spots - just a continuous climb up one big honkin' pile of boulders for 1100'. Fun! We'll definitely go back and do Airline at some point as well. Durrand Ridge looks like another great spot.