Tumbledown Loop Trail

[marty]

I am considering doing the Tumbledown Loop Trail. Last I heard the chimney collapsed, but was still passable. Does anyone have any updated information on this trail? Many thanks, Marty

 

[injektilo]

Long time lurker first time poster... I hiked the loop trail last October and the trail was passable. Is the chimney the scramble through the cave with the assistance of metal rungs? If that collapsed then it happened this winter as i had no problems in October. The entrance into the cave can be a little tough to find... maybe someone just didn't find it. If it did collapse then I can't imagine the trail is passable. Perhaps it is though... I was planning on hiking up at Bigelow this weekend but perhaps I'll have to investigate Tumbledown instead.

This is in my opinion one of the sweetest trails in the northeast. Very steep and rugged, amazing views of the Tumbledown cliffs, and the promise of a beautiful glacial tarn just below the summits.

One other thing, the trailhead sign was gone last fall. If you've been there before you shouldn't have a problem finding it though.

Tumbledown is a great mountain... one of my favorites.

 

[Quietman]

Here is a previous thread. Anyone have any updates?

Previous Tumbledown Thread

 

[injektilo]

I just talked to a co worker who said the cave on the loop trail is not "fat man's misery". I guess there used to be another section of trail on the mountain that is no longer passable and therefore not used. He said many people often confuse features of the loop trail (fissure cave) with the chimney and fat man's misery of the older trail. According to him, this older trail branched from the current loop trail.

Come to think of it, I seem to remeber hearing some people discussing this very topic last summer on the summit. There was some debate on whether the chimney trail was the loop trail... strange how your memory can be jogged. If there is an additional trail up there I wonder where it is?

Anyway the above thread was posted in June and I went up the loop in October... so I think it is passable.

 

[marty]

Thanks for your help, folks. I may go for it tomorrow morning. If I do, I will post my results shortly thereafter in Trail Conditions and/or Trip Reports, depending on how newsworthy the hike is. Tumbledown is indeed very cool.
Regards, Marty

 

[Papa Bear]

I just talked to a co worker who said the cave on the loop trail is not "fat man's misery". I guess there used to be another section of trail on the mountain that is no longer passable and therefore not used. He said many people often confuse features of the loop trail (fissure cave) with the chimney and fat man's misery of the older trail. According to him, this older trail branched from the current loop trail.

The Maine Mountain Guide (8th edition, 1999) says:

Loop Trail ... The trail crosses a brook and climbs steeply in a gully. Near the top of the gully a side trail leads right to a fissure cave ("Fat Man's Misery"). Above this is an opening in the boulders with iron rungs. (This section makes the trail unsuitable for dogs.)

I had heard that it was the boulders with the rungs (above the fissure cave) that became blocked a few years past. Audrey reported on this about a year back. Are you there Audrey?

It would be instructive to compare this with the Maine Mountain Guide 9th edition, just published. Anyone have that? What's it say?

 

[Quietman]

If you go, make sure that you take a sharp right when you get to the ledges about half way up. From what I gathered, there used to be a trail that went to the left, but it now leads to a dead end. There is supposed to be a barricade of sorts blocking it off but apparently it gets removed from time to time.
Here is another thread on the subject.
Another thread
I'm jealous, wish I could get up there!

 

[onestep]

1976 Maine Mountain Guide

If you go, make sure that you take a sharp right when you get to the ledges about half way up. From what I gathered, there used to be a trail that went to the left, but it now leads to a dead end.

"The loop and Chimney trails both leave from the Great Ledges and have a common origin on the Byron Notch Road... at 0.9 m. pass a huge boulder. From this point it rises steeply, coming out on open lidges (Great Ledges) from which there are splendid views of the 700 ft. cliffs of Tumbledown Mtn. Here, at a large cairn and sign, the Loop Trail diverges R, and the Chimney Trail turns sharp L. From the cairn the Chimney Trail continues through mixed growth to a boulder slide, Climbing steeply amont the boulders it skirts the base of the cliffs and enters a gully. GREAT CAUTION should be used here, as the trail is very steep and much of the rock is loose and rotten. Parties should travel in single file and no more than one person should be on the slide at one time. The trail keeps to the L (W) in the gully, which narrows and becomes a couloir and terminates in a chimney. Ascend the iron rungs which have been driven into the rock to the L of The Chimney itself. Exercise CAUTION when reaching from the top of couloir to the first rung, as the rock is rotten and always wet. Emerging from The Chimney, the trail turns sharp R and is easily followed over open ledges. among light scrub to the summit of the W peak (3,068 ft.), which is reached in about 5 min."

The Guide goes on to describe the descent via the Loop Trail:

"...at the saddle between E and W peaks. Here the Loop Trail turns R and descends through another gully. A fissure cave (Fat Man's Misery) will be found on the L, just below the point there the trail passes through an opening under the boulders. Iron rungs have been placed in the cave, the first is a long reach down, the trail descends steeply, crosses a brook, and at 0.8m.... rejoins the Chimney Trail at the large cairn."

 

[Quietman]

Thanks for the trail descriptions! I guess that it's the chimney trail that has been described as impassable. We tried to descend in that direction but found no trail. Descending the loop trail was "fun". I found some pics from my trip a couple of years ago. Hope they help.


Tumbledown pictures

 

[^MtnMike^]

I wonder if maybe some people think it has collapsed because of the way the trail looks when they reach the passage? That was my first thought (but I'm not too quick anyway ).
When you get to the top of the gully you're staring at a mass of huge boulders directly in your path. It looks a lot like a rockslide that got "jammed" in the gully. No sign of iron rungs, just a bunch of boulders that form an impassable vertical rock face. It doesn't look like there is any way to get up it.

The 8th edition of the Maine Mountain Guide says "an opening in the boulders with iron rungs". When I read this I assumed it was just a set of rungs that climbed up or between some boulders near the top, so when I first got there I was looking all over the rock for rungs, or even just holes where rungs used to be. I couldn't find any and wondered if maybe the rocks that were there had fallen there recently, blocking/destroying the true "boulder passage".

It took a bit of investigating to actually find the "passage".
The rungs are actually under a boulder off to the left. You can't even see the rungs until you climb partially under/around the boulder they are drilled into. And the passage itself actually goes through the boulders. You climb under a boulder, up a rung and then take a hard right to exit the boulder passage (more like a vertical talus cave I guess).

Just a thought.

I have plans to go up there again this year so I'll check back with an update if no one else goes before then.

Some more pics if anyone's interested:
http://community.webshots.com/album/79173128fsmmxI

It's a great hike BTW!
^MtnMike^

 

[audrey]

I'm relying on memories from 22 years ago...We took a left (signed "Chimney Trail") at a junction where the right fork (Loop Trail, no longer a loop) leads to Fat man's Misery. This took us through a fun boulder field and then into the scree-filled gully. It was extremely eroded and we had to stay far apart because we were dislodging rocks constantly. Pat led the way towards the headwall and reported that it was a dead end, which I refused to believe till I saw for myself. There was no evidence of iron rungs or any nontechnical way to get up.

Now I'm going to have to go back. Looking at the map, it may be feasible to keep heading west to the end of the ridge.

By the way, you're missing some great hiking if you haven't bushwhacked to the North Peak. If you pretty much beeline to the peak, it's good scrambling and routefinding. I'd also like to do a loop from Little Jackson (don't miss this peak!) down to the north ridge and the pond. You lose the crowds for most of the day.

 

[king tut]

it's easy to see why someone might think that the trail is gone there. i must have been stuck at that spot for 10 minutes deciding how to rock climb the vertical face before someone w/ more common sense than me found the little hole to crawl through. it is a beautiful hike though, for anyone who has not done it yet, just make sure you can find the trailhead, that can also be another challenge. the actual hike is probably the easiest part.

 

[audrey]

Confusion?

I suspect that people are confusing the Loop Trail scramble with the long-gone Chimney Trail. The chimney on the former Chimney Trail has no passages or holes in rocks - those are on the Loop Trail which has been passable for many years.

The 1985 edition says,

"The Chimney Trail should not be used for descent at all, and only those who have a knowledge of technical climbing should climb up on it. A slide at the top has made rungs in the rock useless. A frightening situation now exits, and an error could easily result in injury. Winters to come may raise more problems on this trail, but for those who feel competent to climb it, here is a description..." It then describes the crumbling gully which becomes a couloir and terminates in a chimney, the rock being "rotten and always wet."

The Loop trail, on the other hand, is described with an opening in boulders with iron rungs.

They are not one and the same!

 

[injektilo]

Sounds like my co-worker was correct then. I'm going to have to explore that area a bit more the next time i'm there.

I suspect that people are confusing the Loop Trail scramble with the long-gone Chimney Trail. The chimney on the former Chimney Trail has no passages or holes in rocks - those are on the Loop Trail which has been passable for many years.

The 1985 edition says,

"The Chimney Trail should not be used for descent at all, and only those who have a knowledge of technical climbing should climb up on it. A slide at the top has made rungs in the rock useless. A frightening situation now exits, and an error could easily result in injury. Winters to come may raise more problems on this trail, but for those who feel competent to climb it, here is a description..." It then describes the crumbling gully which becomes a couloir and terminates in a chimney, the rock being "rotten and always wet."

The Loop trail, on the other hand, is described with an opening in boulders with iron rungs.

They are not one and the same!

 

[marty]

Hi all. Armed with all this good information many kind folks in VFTT Land so kindly provided, I did the Loop Trail up and back. It was quite unique, with the cave climb and rock scramble immediately above it. Will post on Trip Reports. This was my third trip to the the Tumbledown Range and it will not be the last! My next trip will be the North Peak bushwhack, since I have done the East and West Peaks, as well as Little Jackson. Thanks again. Marty