December 30, 2010: Mt. Jackson (#11)

Last week we gazed at Webster Cliffs wrapped in clouds from across Crawford Notch, and today we stood atop the cliffs and basked in a glorious, blue-sky day in the mountains.  Let me begin by saying that there are so many great pictures from the hike that it's going to be a challenge to decide which ones to include, but I'll try to choose the best.

Today's hike was a loop of Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster starting from the trailhead in Crawford Notch.  I stopped at the outlook by the Mount Washington Hotel on the drive up to snap some shots of the Presidentials on a beautiful, clear morning.

Mt. Jefferson rising above the hotel:

This would be my first official winter hike (even though I think the weather was pretty winter-like for the last couple hikes), and also my first time using snow-shoes.  We departed the trailhead around 9:15 am.

The trail began climbing immediately, but nothing too serious.  It maintained a steady climb for most of its length, with only a very brief flat segment, and a scattering of steep sections.  We decided to skip a spur trail leading to the rock formation called Elephant Head...it was visible from the parking area across from the trailhead, so we didn't miss too much.  The trail was well-packed and I eased into snow-shoeing as we continued through the snowy forest.
We took a spur trail to a "must see" view and enjoyed a view of the AMC Highland Center as well as Mt. Field and Mt. Tom.

We reached a trail junction and continued left toward Mt. Jackson.  We took time to enjoy the climb and to make sure we didn't wear ourselves out too soon.  Before we knew it we were in a world of rime-covered trees and the summit was in view ahead of us.

We reached a steep section of the trail, which would no doubt be the rock scramble to the summit had it been a summer hike.  For us, it was a very steep, well-packed trail, and the spikes on our snow-shoes did a good job of keeping us grounded (although I did slip more than a few times).  Now the views began.

The Willey Range across the Notch (L to R: Willey, Field, Tom) with sections of Franconia Ridge and the Twins peeking out:

Mt. Webster across the ridge, with clear views of Mt. Carrigain on the far left, and Mt. Willey on the right:

The trickiest part of the climb came right below the summit, where the trail became extremely steep and icy.  It was a fun scramble, though.

After the scramble, we were immediately greeted by the summit sign...and incredible views in all directions.  Mt. Jackson has an open summit, rewarding us with views to the West of the Willey Range and views to the East of the Presidential Range.

Mt. Carrigain and the Hancocks (notice Signal Ridge, on the left, leading to the summit of Carrigain):

The Presidential Range to the East (most notably Mt. Washington):

A hungry gray jay at the summit:

AMC Mizpah Springs Hut on the shoulder of Mt. Pierce (with Mts. Jefferson and Eisenhower in the background):

The West view of the Willey Range:

Mt. Jackson deserves two summit shots...

As you can see, our pristine views were soon spoiled by the contrails of jetplanes.  Apparently the White Mountains are located along a popular flightpath.  I'll save my griping for another time.
Sadly, the time came to depart the summit.  The trail to Webster was unbroken so I ended up getting a pretty good crash-course in trail-breaking (all during my first hike with snow-shoes).
Trail-breaking was fun to begin with.  It felt good to be doing other hikers a favor by breaking the trail, and I definitely got a good appreciation of what went into making our ascent of Jackson so smooth.

Trail breaking is a lot of work, and it became exhausting fast.  We took turns leading the way and hoping that around every corner we would find the summit of Mt. Webster.
It took a long time and was probably one of the most physically exhausting things I've ever done, but we finally arrived at the summit of Mt. Webster, and it was definitely worth it.

A view of the Presidential Range with Mt. Jackson in the foreground:

Mt. Willey from Webster Cliffs:

Rte. 302 and the Scenic Railway way down below us:

I won't lie and glorify the descent.  Like most descents, it was long, rough, and seemingly endless; but it's a small price to pay for such a rewarding hike.  We arrived back at the trailhead just before 4 pm.
It was the perfect way to end my first year of peak-bagging, and I'm glad I'm now a pro in the snow-shoeing department (ha ha).  We were pretty much exhausted as we loaded up the cars, but the mountains offered us one final gift before we left.  We pulled over at the Mt. Washington Hotel to catch a blazing sunset that bathed the Presidential Range in alpenglow.

What a great feeling it is to spend my day off hiking to such phenomenal views instead of sitting on a couch in front of a TV set.  Too many people just don't know what they're missing.