Huntington Ravine (7/2/25)
I have been (slowly) working on the Terrifying 25 list, which is the list of the most difficult/scariest hikes in New Hampshire. On that list, everyone agrees that the big daddy, the most difficult and scariest hike of all, is the Huntington Ravine Trail. I do a lot of solo hiking, but I wasn't going to attempt to solo hike this one. Thus, when I saw that the Random Group of Hikers put up a group hike for Huntington Ravine, I jumped on it immediately.
Leading the group would be Conor, who is an older guy but still very active in climbing and hiking, and the first thing I noticed when I met him were his very muscular arms and legs. He's probably twenty years older than me, and could probably outdo me in any hiking or climbing pursuit. His knowledge of the White Mountains was about as encyclopedic as my friend Steve's. In fact, it later turned out that Conor and his wife Margie are friends with my friends Steve and Andrew, and were going to have dinner with them the day after the hike. Hiking is a small world.
Speaking of Margie, she hikes and climbs a lot with Conor, so she is also in really good shape. Conor is a short guy, and Margie is a very short and slightly built woman, so I imagine that it would be easy to underestimate her, but she is a very skilled hiker. Her technical expertise and endurance more than make up for any physical limitations. She is also super friendly and fun to talk to, and I really enjoyed hiking with her.
The final hiker on the trip was Brenda. She had hiked with Conor and Margie before. She was a little older than me, and a very strong and skilled hiker. It took a while before I really got to know her, but once I did, I liked her. She is an avid backpacker, probably even more dedicated to it than me, although I think we do slightly different types of backpacking.
Brenda was about the same height as Conor, making me the tallest member of the group by a good bit. That was a physical feature that would prove to be an advantage on a number of parts of the day, but also a disadvantage on several parts of the day. Generally, when we had to stretch out, I had an advantage, but when we had to duck under things, I had a disadvantage. There was one spot, however, where I was going to have a really hard time crawling through it, and Conor pointed out that I could just go over it instead, so sometimes everyone was able to use their own unique advantages.
We met in the parking lot at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. The plan was to climb up Huntington Ravine Trail, go across the Alpine Garden Trail, and then descend via the Lion Head Trail. This would only be my second time on the east side of Mount Washington, after my winter conditions hike up Lion Head. Also, note that we did not plan to summit Washington on this trip. Doing so would have added a lot of time, and the trip was already pretty long, especially because we were moving at a conversational pace.
The initial hike up Huntington Ravine Trail wasn't bad. There was a water crossing that was a bit sketchy, and Margie took her time to cross it safely. I ended up picking a different route across, but we all made it safely. I was happy that we weren't going to have to cross again on the way down. After that, the trail ascended next to a series of waterfalls and cascades, and it felt kind of like a rainforest. At least the temperatures, which were quite hot down in the valley, were reasonable up on the mountain.
If you look at the picture above, you can see Pinnacle over to the left, Odell Gully in the center, and our route, the Huntington Ravine Trail, is off to the right of that. If all it looks like to you is just a big face of rock, then you basically have the right idea.
Albert Dow was a rescuer who worked with the Mountain Rescue Service. In 1982, he went out on a call to help two lost climbers, Hugh Herr and Jeff Batzer. Unfortunately, during the rescue, Albert and another rescuer were caught in an avalanche. The other rescuer survived, but Albert was killed, making him the only rescuer to be killed in the line of duty in the history of New Hampshire. The story is told in the book Lions of Winter by Ty Gagne, and it is a highly recommended read if you enjoy the outdoors. Seeing the first-aid cache named after Albert Dow was seeing a piece of somber history. Little did we know at that time that we would later see climbing drama unfold before our very eyes.
As we exited the woods and started into the rocks, we first encountered a boulder field. It reminded me a lot of Mahoosuc Notch on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. It even had the snow under the boulders in July that was a trademark of Mahoosuc Notch, as you can see above. Later on, we would see much bigger patches of snow sitting down in Tuckerman Ravine.
As we climbed up the rocks of Huntington, a hiker from Pennsylvania named Jeremy got stuck behind us because the trail was too narrow for him to pass. Because I was at the end of our line, I got to chat with him quite a bit. He was a nice guy. I think that because he was solo hiking Huntington Ravine (which is not recommended) he was sticking to groups as he went, trying to have some safety in numbers. When he left us, he attached himself to another group in front of us.
After much climbing, we made it up to what Conor termed the "lunch rock." I was super excited to see that, because I was hungry. I got my sandwich out of my pack and chowed down. As we ate, we observed the climbers around us. There was a pair of climbers slowly working their way up Henderson Ridge, while on the other side there was a solo climber free soloing his way up Pinnacle, and two roped climbers coming up behind him. We would later learn that the free solo guy was named Lukas Lamb Wotton, and he was an ecology researcher from Louisiana who had climbed Pinnacle twice before, though I don't know if those climbs were free solo or not. In case anyone doesn't understand what a free solo is, it's climbing without ropes and other safety equipment. It was made popular by the Alex Honnold movie Free Solo.
As we watched Lukas climb, we were all nervous. He was definitely taking his time, and he looked tentative. Brenda even mentioned that she said a prayer for him, hoping he would make it up safely.
With lunch over, we continued to our own trail, which was dangerous enough. The area right above the lunch rock is considered to be the toughest park of the entire hike. You can see it in my picture above. Thankfully, Conor led the way well, with Margie behind him, and then Brenda, with me playing caboose. I generally like to be the last hiker in a hiking group, because it helps keep my speed in check. I also know that I can easily catch up if I stop for a photo or a bio break or something and fall behind.
As we continued to go up, we started hearing the climbers shouting to each other. I couldn't make out what the climbers on Henderson were saying, but they seemed animated. I definitely heard the reply from the roped climbers on Pinnacle, though, clear as day. The lead climber called out, "No, we're not with him. We're trying to climb up to him." We all knew at this point that something had happened to Lukas, but we didn't know what yet. I was hoping that Lukas had simply gotten stuck and needed help with descending.
Some of the climbing above us was very scary. There was one spot in particular that really worried me, because I simply had to trust that my shoe grip was going to hold. I stared at it for about a minute, looking for alternatives, before I finally committed. Thankfully, I made it across with no problems, but it wasn't far off of actual rock climbing.
Finally, we came to the exit chimney. It was a narrow chimney of rocks that we had to climb up in order to get out of Huntington Ravine. It gave me a lot more respect for what Santa Claus goes through, I can tell you that. I eventually learned that the trick was to climb more with your arms than with your legs. Given that my legs are substantially stronger than my arms, this wasn't great for me, but I managed. When we made it through, we exited onto the cliffs overlooking Huntington Ravine.
Waiting there was a woman who worked for one of the local organizations. Maybe the Forest Service, maybe the AMC; I'm not sure. She explained to us that a hiker had taken a 60 foot fall on Pinnacle. It all clicked into place for us. We understood why we had lost sight of Lukas, and why the other hikers had been yelling across the ravine to each other. We told the woman what we knew, which wasn't anything especially useful. She let us know that a rescue helicopter had been called for from the New Hampshire Air National Guard, and Mountain Rescue Service was also on the way.
As we climbed up onto the Alpine Garden Trail, we ended up splitting into two groups. Conor was really curious to see if he could see anything down on Pinnacle, so he kept going over to the edge of the cliff to look down, and Brenda went with him. That left Margie and I on the actual Alpine Garden Trail. She told me that I could go look too if I wanted, but I thought it best to keep our group in pairs. Besides, I was enjoying talking to Margie.
It didn't take long for Conor and Brenda to catch back up. We were all becoming concerned because we hadn't heard a helicopter yet. Of course, we figured that they needed to get together a crew, get the helicopter ready with the right equipment, and then fly all the way from Concord, so it was likely to take a while. Still, in emergencies, every minute counts.
We made it to the end of the Alpine Garden Trail and took a left onto Lion's Head Trail. Our group order switched up a bit here, with Brenda now in front, followed by me, then Margie, then Conor. This resulted in a bit of a gap opening up between our front two and back two, but that wasn't a big deal. We all knew the rules about where to stop on a group hike. In case you as the reader are unfamiliar with those rules, on a group hike you should always stop at all water crossings and trail intersections to re-form the group.
We had a snack break at Lion Head. I was grateful, because I am always grateful for food. Conor and I discussed Lion Head. I don't think it looks anything like a Lion Head, but he insisted that it does if viewed from the correct angle. I have never seen that angle, that's for sure. Actually, a lot of mountains are like that. Owl's Head, for example, looks nothing like an Owl's Head. Of course, on the other hand, some mountains are appropriately named, such as Mt Mansfield in Vermont or the Tripyramids in New Hampshire.
We continued down Lion Head with Brenda and I still out front and Margie and Conor behind. Then, suddenly, we heard helicopter blades. I can't tell you how relieved we all were to see that helicopter arrive. It took them four tries to get Lukas on board, and we all watched transfixed. Most of the action took place on the other side of a ridge, so we couldn't see it, but we were glad to see them finally fly off towards the hospital. Thankfully, the news stories that have come out after the hike indicate that Lukas is seriously injured but recovering, and he seems likely to survive, and hopefully he will make a full recovery.
Of course, I have to admit to curiosity as to how the State of New Hampshire will approach his case. It is one of the few states that can charge people for rescues, but only in the case of negligence. You can buy a HikeSafe card that kind of acts like an insurance policy against being charged for rescue, but even that isn't perfectly effective. I realize that free solo climbing is a thing, but climbing without safety equipment could be considered negligence, and I am curious to see how the state decides to approach it. I wonder if there is precedent?
At any rate, I enjoyed descending with Brenda. She set a really good pace, and she's one of the few people that I have hiked with who I thought had a pace really compatible with mine. She might even be a touch faster than me, at least on descents. I will admit that summer descents aren't my favorite thing. There are too many opportunities to slip on rocks and roots, and I tend to go a little slower. On winter descents, on the other hand, I enjoy going fast.
Once we reconnected with the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, we shuffled up our groups again. This time Conor and Brenda were out front, and I chatted with Margie in the back. Time went by quickly as we talked, and soon we were near the end. There was a really impressive waterfall that Conor insisted that I had to see. I didn't want to waste too much time, because I knew Brenda was already late for somewhere she needed to get to, so I just did a quick jaunt up to it. It was worth it.
Actually, we had a funny conversation about waterfalls at one point. Brenda started singing "Waterfalls" by TLC, and I mentioned that I always use that song to caption waterfalls in my blogs. Neither Conor nor Margie knew the song, though, and Brenda and I couldn't remember many of the words.
After the waterfall, it was an easy hike down to the beginning of the trail. Conor and I walked together, and we finished a few moments before Margie and Brenda. He saw a water fountain and got very excited and went to go drink from it. He then explained to me that the water fountain came from a sulfuric spring and tasted awful. I asked him why he drank it, then. He said it was water and he was thirsty. I decided to stick to the water that was left in my water bottle.
Our hike wrapped up a moment later when Margie and Brenda made it down. I really enjoyed hiking with this group. It reminded me of some of the great Random hikes of the past. Maybe I'll get a chance to start hiking some more Random hikes soon. Until then, always remember that you can't take flight until you spread your wings.
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