sapblatt
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- Oct 22, 2004
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The Link - the name alone brings up images of horror and despair - guide books, reports, hikers all say it is a slippery, rocky, rooty mess - to be avoided! Well, for the sake of redlining and doing something different, I hooked up with Ron (rocksnrolls) at Appalachia for the drive/carspot over to the Caps Ridge lot - we figured we would do it the most downhill way. I would also add here that I have never heard of anyone hiking this trail all at once, it is usually used as a connector to make a loop between other trails, orto get away from Appalachia to the south west.
We were on the trail before 7am and made real good time up to the potholes, and shortly after to the junction with the Link. The views from the potholes were great - up to Jefferson, across the valley to Washingotn and the southern Presis and way across to the Mount Washington Hotel. After enjoying the clear skies and early morning views (the sun was not over Jefferson yet) we moved onto start the link.
The first few minutes of this trail are very easy going and then it all starts. Keep in mind, none of it is that horrible, but I have a different kind of soreness this morning - it is more of soreness that comes from having your feet and legs slipping with every turn and step - the rocks and roots seem like they had been freshly greased just for us! The 1.6 miles to the Castle Trail, due to this slickness, and a few scrambles took us nearly two hours! I would add that it is very pretty, lots of nice moss and more than a couple of nice clear views down to Bowman and up to the Castellated Ridge.
A quick break at the Castl Trail junction got us on our way for the second difficult section - the nearly one mile down to the Castle Ravine Trail. This was not as slick and tough in that way, but it was a pretty sharp downhill - I think we lost about 1000 feet in that mile. The trail is well marked, but at a few spots you have to look through the trees to see the blaze - it is only a little confusing. Did not expect this, but there were great views up to Emerald Bluff and across Castle Ravine in this section, at least when you walk in the direction we were heading. Near the junction we noticed some nice flat camping spots with fire rings - not 200 feet from the trail, but still quite nice - in an illegal sort of way.
The trail joins the Castle Ravine Trail for awhile and follows the river - which is quite wild looking! We met up with the Emerald Trail, and due to the overriding slowness of the trail up to this point we decided to forego the 1 mile round trip to Emerald Bluff (I had been there from the Israel Ridge side before. We made our way down to the very low volume cascades for lunch, just before the junction with the Israel Ridge Trail. Great views of waterfalling and foliage into the valley below the falls.
After this point, it gets a lot easier. The trail is nicely graded and makes very good time over its last 3-4 miles. We kept at it, taking short breaks at the major junctions of Lowe's Path and at Memorial Bridge. It was a great day, I enjoyed hiking with Ron for the first time and it was really cool to do an entire trail that is often looked at is being just a part of some other hike. I think people hate the tough parts of this trail because it really slows you down when you are using it as part of a scenic loop in either Castle Ravine, the Castellated Ridge or the Caps Ridge. As an end unto itself it is a very worthwhile trail and I would do it again, but not tomorrow!
PICTURES http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaKIgw¬ag=1
We were on the trail before 7am and made real good time up to the potholes, and shortly after to the junction with the Link. The views from the potholes were great - up to Jefferson, across the valley to Washingotn and the southern Presis and way across to the Mount Washington Hotel. After enjoying the clear skies and early morning views (the sun was not over Jefferson yet) we moved onto start the link.
The first few minutes of this trail are very easy going and then it all starts. Keep in mind, none of it is that horrible, but I have a different kind of soreness this morning - it is more of soreness that comes from having your feet and legs slipping with every turn and step - the rocks and roots seem like they had been freshly greased just for us! The 1.6 miles to the Castle Trail, due to this slickness, and a few scrambles took us nearly two hours! I would add that it is very pretty, lots of nice moss and more than a couple of nice clear views down to Bowman and up to the Castellated Ridge.
A quick break at the Castl Trail junction got us on our way for the second difficult section - the nearly one mile down to the Castle Ravine Trail. This was not as slick and tough in that way, but it was a pretty sharp downhill - I think we lost about 1000 feet in that mile. The trail is well marked, but at a few spots you have to look through the trees to see the blaze - it is only a little confusing. Did not expect this, but there were great views up to Emerald Bluff and across Castle Ravine in this section, at least when you walk in the direction we were heading. Near the junction we noticed some nice flat camping spots with fire rings - not 200 feet from the trail, but still quite nice - in an illegal sort of way.
The trail joins the Castle Ravine Trail for awhile and follows the river - which is quite wild looking! We met up with the Emerald Trail, and due to the overriding slowness of the trail up to this point we decided to forego the 1 mile round trip to Emerald Bluff (I had been there from the Israel Ridge side before. We made our way down to the very low volume cascades for lunch, just before the junction with the Israel Ridge Trail. Great views of waterfalling and foliage into the valley below the falls.
After this point, it gets a lot easier. The trail is nicely graded and makes very good time over its last 3-4 miles. We kept at it, taking short breaks at the major junctions of Lowe's Path and at Memorial Bridge. It was a great day, I enjoyed hiking with Ron for the first time and it was really cool to do an entire trail that is often looked at is being just a part of some other hike. I think people hate the tough parts of this trail because it really slows you down when you are using it as part of a scenic loop in either Castle Ravine, the Castellated Ridge or the Caps Ridge. As an end unto itself it is a very worthwhile trail and I would do it again, but not tomorrow!
PICTURES http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaKIgw¬ag=1
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