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| The three distinct "caps" of Mt. Jefferson's Caps Ridge are visible leading to the summit |
After traversing the Bonds, Paul and I had dinner and did a night hike on Crawford Path. We set up camp en route to Mt. Pierce in anticipation of hitting some Presidentials the next day.
The next morning we woke up much more sore than we expected. We broke down camp, made breakfast, and headed for the summit of Pierce. When we arrived, we were completely socked in. Given our physical condition and the weather, we decided to head down and take an off day in the valley.
We spent the day exploring Mt. Washington Valley, cooling off at Echo Lake State Park, and visiting the Weather Discovery Center in North Conway. We spent the night at the Barlett Inn which had great accomodations.
The next morning we began a hike up Mt. Jefferson via the Caps Ridge Trail. Again, this was a hike that I have always looked forward to.
Caps Ridge approaches Mt. Jefferson from the highest trailhead accessed by a public road in the state (there are higher trailheads in NH, but they are located on the privately owned Mt. Washington Auto Road). Jefferson Notch is at 3,009 feet above sea level. The Ridge of the Caps extends 2.5 miles from the trailhead to the 5,712 foot summit of Jefferson, the shortest approach to any Presidential peak. The short distance comes at the cost of elevation: Caps Ridge Trail climbs three major "caps", or rock outcroppings, before reaching the summit. Bring it on!
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| The first outlook on Caps Ridge. Southern Presidentials and the Willey Range. Glacial potholes on the ledge in foreground. |
The trail very quickly enters the alpine zone. Unlike the 9-mile green tunnel approach to the Bonds (delayed gratification), the hike to Jefferson was immediately rewarding.
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| The caps require some serious climbing |
The closer we got to the summit, the more jagged the rocks became. I paid special attention to this in case we should find ourselves in a white-out.
The climb was a lot of fun, but there is not much to tell. When we arrived at the top, the cloud cover made it hard to tell where the true summit was.
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| Jefferson is one of very few peaks on which I did not have a view |
The clouds were blowing by quickly and revealing views every now and then. For the most part, we had to use our imaginations and envision the massive headwall of the Great Gulf and Washington summit to the south, or the epic pinnacle of Mt. Adams to the north.
With only two miles under our belts and decent conditions other than the lack of views, we decided to head for Washington!
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| Washington is under there somewhere! Mt. Clay is visible. |
The clouds hung low over the summits, but allowed for views over the vast alpine zone. Through the haze we could also see the valley to the west. We by-passed the summit of Mt. Clay, and just as we approached the most scenic section of the Gulfside Trail, the clouds began to lift over the Northern Presidentials.
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| Not the crispest view, but we'll take it! |
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| Gulfside grandeur! |
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| View back to Clay and Jefferson |
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| Jefferson, Adams, and Madison all came out! |
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| Are we there yet? Perhaps. |
Just as the excitement was peaking due to the clearing skies, I realized I no longer had my hiking pole. I must have left it near where the Gulfside Trail passes the rim of the Great Gulf. I dropped my pack to run back and find it.
After descending quite a bit with no luck, I decided to stop wasting time and continue up to the summit. This was a difficult decision since my hiking pole is the most sentimental object I hike with. It has accompanied me to every one of my four-thousand-footers as well as on countless other hikes since I acquired it on Katahdin in 2009.
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| Quite proud of my Photoshop abilities in terms of cloning out tourists |
Mt. Washington was my first 4,000-footer. In a bizarre coincidence, my first ascent of Washington was on July 7, 2010 and three years later to the day I was again standing at the top of the Northeast, soon to summit my 40th peak in the Whites.
TOURISTS. I don't believe I am alone for dreading Washington for this exact reason. After waiting in line for 10 minutes, we were able to get our picture taken at the summit, but not without being heckled for taking too long. Let me extend my sincerest apology to everyone in flip-flops who had to wait behind us...no wait. I don't have time for that. I have more mountains to climb!
After resting at the summit, we made the decision to return to the Gulfside Trail in search of my hiking pole. I feel bad about this because it took away from time we could have been exploring the area around the summit.
The pole was right where I had left it and I was more than excited to be reunited with my trusty companion
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| Reunited and it feels so good |
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Next we headed toward Lakes of the Clouds and Mt. Monroe. The excursion to retrieve my pole had added about 1.4 miles to our hike.
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| Matterhorn of the Whites |
The Lakes of the Clouds were cool to explore, then we dropped our packs at the hut and headed for the summit. Washington emerged from the clouds on the ascent, but only temporarily, before again disappearing by the time we reached the top.
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| Up to Monroe |
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| If only it was always this clear |
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| Monroe is an awesome walk |
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| How did I ever make it this far? |
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| Descent at golden hour |
I wish we could have stayed for sunset. It looked like it was setting up for a great show, and we caught glimpses of it once we were below the trees.
The Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail was very scenic: full of waterfalls and vistas of the alpine zone. It looks like a rewarding trail to ascend.
Our descent was prolonged since we had not spotted a car near the Cog Railway Base Station. We needed to take the Boundary Line Trail to Jefferson Notch Road and walk the rest of the way. It was tiring and is one of those experiences that gets better with time.
A successful day to say the least. We camped in the bed of the truck and unfortunately got rained out for Franconia Ridge the next day. It is hard to complain, though, after having perfect weather for a Bonds Traverse and near perfect weather for a day in the Presidentials.
40 peaks down for me, 8 for Paul...that's one hell of an introduction to the Whites!
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