Summer Vacation

   The next day, Gail did get around to taking the day off, at least from hiking.  She got a nice swim in the "pool" in Gorham which is actually a pond.  She was willing to drop me off at the trailhead that goes into King Ravine.  I thought about a long trek to get four more 4000-footers, but chose King Ravine because the forecast indicated it would be a decent day after the morning showers cleared, and for my money King Ravine is worth as much time as you have, especially if you have an opportunity to see it from multiple perspectives.

Here's the view of King Ravine from where we parked for the Ice Gulch hike.  I'd explored it a little in 2019 and wanted to go back to try the Subway Trail, see some more ice in the caves, then go up the ridge on the right, across the headwall and down the ridge on the left.

Boulders that create the Subway Trail.  I stole this pic from the internet because the people on the right provide some scale.

I did most of what I had planned, but not in the weather I expected and without the views.  The Subway was just too tough to get through on wet rocks, one slip and I could have been at the bottom of a 30' hole, and after I got back on the King Ravine Trail to get to the ice caves it really started raining so the krumholz immediately soaked me through-and-through.  I'd seen ice the day before anyway and sat under a boulder for shelter from the rain and ate lunch.  I then headed over to the west ridge on the mesmerizing lower part of the King Ravine Trail to do the real climbing of the day.  

It was still a great hike even without views; I especially liked the Spur Trail that went past the Randolph Mountain Crag Hut.  From there to Thunderstorm Junction the fog was so thick I sometimes couldn't see the next cairn that marked the trail, which made me a little nervous.  When panic started creeping in I thought I saw some ghosts standing completely still with their backs to me up ahead in the fog.  They surely couldn't be people, I hadn't seen anyone since Gail dropped me off.

When they started moving I realized they were a crew placing rocks to improve the trail.  They were as surprised to see me as I was them.  Once I convinced them (and myself) I knew where I was, they got back to work in a robotic fashion.  Looking at pictures from 2019, it seems I never actually saw Thunderstorm Junction: there's a massive pile of rocks marking it and I think it's somewhere beyond the one they've assembled for their work.  I thanked them for working in rain and 30 mph wind and got the hell off that mountain.

Standing above the headwall of King Ravine in 2019.  That small patch of boulders the arrow points to contains the Subway.  This year I was unable to stand like that as the wind funneling through the ravine and over the wall was blowing me off balance every few steps.

 The top of King Ravine Trail.  Visibility was really increasing by the time I got there.