Monday night, I checked the MWOB high peaks forecast, and it wasn't great: Winds around 65mph, but decreasing over the day. I got up at 2am, departing Middletown, CT just after 3am, and the four hour drive was uneventful. I can go up either I-91 or I-84/20/290/I-93, and opted for the latter just because it breaks up the drive a bit.
At some point after 6am, I pulled over and checked the new Observatory forecast, and it was horrific: winds 65-75mph, gusting to 85. Dropping later to mid-50s. It was 65mph at that moment. I figured today wasn't going to be the day, but my mentor used to say, "Go until you have to turn around."
I arrived in the Ammonusuc Ravine parking lot at 7:15am, expecting it to be empty, but no, there were several empty cars and two folks standing outside. I got out and said hello, and a gent said, "Are you ready to climb Jefferson?" A bit surprised, I said yes, only to learn he thought I was someone else! I asked if I could join, and they looked at each other, kind of shrugged, and said yes.
They had used a different program to look at the weather for Jefferson, which was better, and we decided to go up the Jewell Trail and over. At ground level, there was only a few inches of snow, and the Jewell Trail was an absolute highway. No winds down below, but as we were about to top out, we could feel it. So right before above treeline, we donned our parkas and put on our goggles, but the weird thing was it wasn't cold. Like, just not at all. The sun would poke through every now and then, and make things positively warm, and in spots there were puddles of water on the ground. I never used the goggled, but they helped keep the jacket's hood on, folks with eye glasses said the goggles kept their glasses from fogging.
We went over to Jefferson, and maybe halfway there, the aspect was such that we were out of the wind, and we all took our parkas off(!) We just hiked in thin jackets. Once on Jefferson, we were back in the wind again, and once again suited up.
It was quite...odd. It's just not what winter is supposed to be. Very little snow, and we all wore microspikes or hybrid-crampons from start to finish.
For the way back, we decided to go down the Caps Ridge Trail. High up was pleasant, and the trail was relatively easy to follow, and we saw indications of a set of footprints, although the trail was certainly not broken out.
Below the bottom Cap, it might have made sense to put on snowshoes (not so much for postholing, but for ease of walking), but we wanted to get off the mountain, as we had not been moving quickly. Again, we saw a set of footprints (maybe two, but I think only one). A member of the group had brought a saw, and while the other three of us continued down, he cleared four blowdowns and still caught us at the parking lot.
The Jefferson Road had unconsolidated snow on it, and the walking certainly could have been easier. The gate was open, but we saw just one set of tire tracks. There were footprints on the Boundary Trail, and it was very easy to follow, but, as was said above, it was wet in spots, and we punched through (the three inches of snow and ice) at times. All in all, and easy trail to follow.
I have to say, it was far easier going up and over from Jewell than dealing with Caps Ridge. Even with the extra distance and elevation, moving over packed down trail is just so much easier than breaking, especially on a challenging trail like Caps Ridge. If one can't handle the winds going from Jewell, you aren't going to be able to handle them any other way either. Although shorter, it was by far more work than simply returning via the ridge and Jewell.
That being said, I think we all enjoyed going down the trail, with the challenges it posed. At times, the clouds parted, and we enjoyed some nice views.
Thank you for all the feedback. I greatly enjoyed the company yesterday, and it was far more fun, and certainly miles safer, than it would have been going alone.
At one point high up on the Jewell Trail, we saw an individual behind us, but he didn't appear to follow. I have a hard time imagining someone tried to do Washington yesterday, given the forecast, but I don't know.
Brian
