This Trail Was So Dangerous, Rangers Had To Shut It Down - I Climbed It Anyway

While searching for obscure climbing routes in the White Mountains, I stumbled across something extraordinary. Hidden deep in the Northwoods is this massive rock face, which at first glance, looks like a technical rock climb. But just a few decades ago, it was actually home to a marked hiking trail. But this trail wouldn't stay open for long, because only a few years after its inception, something happened. This was big news at the time. It ended up being the defining factor for the subsequent closure of this trail, but buried in old guidebooks are clues that unravel the mystery of where this trail went, some of which even include maps. So with one of these guidebooks in hand, I headed north with one simple goal, retrace what once was, and uncover the mystery of the West Side Trail. My approach began on a marked hiking trail, but that wouldn't last for long because soon I found myself off trail. Eventually, after bushwhacking through some dense forest, I found the base of the slabs. Oh my god. Oh my god! Shit, we might have found it. Here we are at the base of the slabs, finally. As soon as I started climbing, it was immediately clear that this was no regular hiking trail. The higher I climbed, the more exposed the slabs became. Some moves even felt like real rock climbing. Nearing the top of the first section of slab, I spotted something interesting. The cairn there and a cairn right there. This was the first and only evidence I found of the original trail. But that left me with a question. Who was crazy enough to build a trail here in the first place? This is Robert and Maryam Underhill, two of the most accomplished climbers of their generation. Robert is best known for his first ascent of Mount Whitney's East Face and introducing modern rope and belay techniques to America, while Mary Ann made history by leading the first all-female team to the summit of the Matterhorn. But their climbing legacy also extends to the White Mountains, where they established the Westside Trail, a route that somehow gets even crazier towards the top. Yeah. I think it's pretty clear why that's not a hiking trail anymore. That was pretty gnarly.