Huntington Ravine is a glacial cirque on

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...

in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. It is named for Joshua H. Huntington, the Principal Assistant to State Geologist Charles H. Hitchcock (1836–1919) for the Geological Survey of New Hampshire. Of the four major cirques on Mount Washington ( Tuckerman and Huntington ravines, Oakes Gulf, and the

Great Gulf The Great Gulf is a glacial cirque, or amphitheater-like valley head formed from a glacier by erosion, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The cirque's walls are formed, from south to north, by the mountainsides of Mount Washington ( ...

), it has the steepest and highest

headwall In physical geography and geology the headwall of a glacial cirque is its highest cliff. The term has been more broadly used to describe similar geomorphic features of non-glacial origin consisting of a concave depression with convergent slopes ty ...

. Only one hiking trail ascends Huntington Ravine toward Mount Washington's summit; that trail, the Huntington Ravine Trail, crosses a boulder field, ascends a talus fan, and winds steeply up the center of the cirque's headwall, requiring several tricky scrambling moves that may be intimidating for less-experienced (or more acrophobic) hikers. All other portions of the headwall are too steep to climb safely without climbing gear and technical expertise. Several popular

rock-climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants Climbing, climb up, across, or down natural Rock (geology), rock formations. The goal is to reach the Summit (topography), summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined Climbing ro ...

routes, such as the Pinnacle route and the Henderson Ridge, do ascend the ravine, and in the winter the Pinnacle Gully is especially popular as an ice-climbing challenge. Because the ravine is higher and more exposed to the elements than most other climbing areas in the eastern United States, rock and ice climbing — and even hiking — are risky and weather-dependent.

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

icefall An icefall is a portion of certain glaciers characterized by relatively rapid flow and chaotic crevassed surface, caused in part by gravity. The term ''icefall'' is formed by analogy with the word ''waterfall'', which is a similar phenomenon of ...

s, and

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...

have killed climbers in Huntington repeatedly in recent years, and the hiking path is usually not passable until late May or early June.

References

{{Reflist

External links

SummitPost - Huntington Ravine Trail - Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering
Mount Washington (New Hampshire) Cirques of the United States Landforms of Coös County, New Hampshire

See also

References

External links