Jackson

[Cymbidium]

Friday 02-26-2010 - 4"-6" inches of new snow at the road, increasing depths as we gained altitude. At 3000' it was easily 12"-16". The blowdowns were the bad story today. Many needed to be cut out just to get by, alot were very large and we needed to skirt around these. Drifting and new snow made following trail difficult, one blowdown was so large and their was no way to bypass so Steve dug into the snow and we burrowed under the tree. Once in the 'Fir Wave' the trail disappeared, stay to the left and be prepared to be very low for the next 30 yds. Finally broke out to the ledgy area and drifts were 3'-4' all the way to within 30 yds of the summit.
Submitted by Fran, Cymbidium's honey.

Enjoy the photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/FranMaineri/20100236Jackson?feat=directlink#

 

[KRobi]

Thanks for the hike and the company Fran. Probably (hopefully) the toughest small 4K we will do in winter. Thanks to Steve (the Mole), Tim and Beth also for a great day out. Great job of teamwork to get to the top of this one. Karen was thrilled to make her first VFTT photos.
Ken

 

[mirabela]

Wow, what a difference a wet storm can make, huh?

Good strong work ...

 

[1HappyHiker]

What an adventure! Your report is concise and provides just enough detail to leave no doubt as to what you experienced on your trek to Jackson. Your photos are great and support your narrative.

Awesome! Thanks for posting!

 

[MarkL]

Thank you for this first 4k report since the snow storms. The pictures really helped get across to me that I would have little chance of success. With Monday's forecast not looking good for the peaks I want, I think I'll just pass on the 12 hour round trip drive to the Whites this weekend. Glad you could make it though.

 

[Bombadil]

Thanks for digging that hole under the blowdown! We followed your tracks on Saturday quite nicely until shortly after that blowdown where the track was completely blown in. The final pitch required trailbreaking in knee deep powder, but we were very glad to have the trail mostly broken out after the midweek storm. Thanks!