MtnMagic
New member
Ghostdog and I arrived at 8:15 for an 8:30 hike to find Jen and NH gearing up and Dr. Wu’s crew (Sleeping Bear, Jess and Anthony) leaving for their hike, coincidentally the same route we were to take. After Pucknuts and Tom arrived, I asked Jen, who is afraid of heights, how she feels about steep, open ledge climbing. She said she was a team player and would go up the Caps. Great!
We took the Jewell trail, headed South, then the Boundary Trail (many blowdowns) to the Jefferson Notch Road and walked almost 3 miles to the trailhead. I found it strange to see both parking lots empty since during summer both the parking lots are usually full. A stop at the granite outcrop to access the weather was in order and decided to continue upward in the 25 mph wind, quickly warming temperature, while the gray skies rapidly turned deep blue.
At the first cap we caught up to the first group and faced our first of two challenges, scrambling the open ledges of the two caps. Jen, most importantly, said she felt comfortable, as did Brian. I left them in the capable hands of Bill and Tom as I found myself keeping more to the first group’s pace. We stopped to chat with Pilgrim, who I hiked the week before and his friend to ask about trail and summit conditions. In no time we were at the summit, found winds so strong we didn’t break for a second to have lunch or rest and continued down on the Gulfside trail.
Dr. Wu and Sleeping Bear, who I’ve hiked with before, wanted to catch Mt. Clay, while in the neighborhood. Jess, Anthony, and I wanted to join them but we found our knees starting to ache from their use on the Caps Ridge. We bid them "happy trails" and hiked on to the Jewell trail. In the distance, a mile away, I was glad to see my fellow hikers in the first group coming down the summit to the Gulfside Trail.
Now descending the Jewell, Anthony and Jess stopped to rest their knees. Saying I would see them in the parking area as I wanted to wait for the first group, I continued on. I was thrilled to discover Dave, Jerry, and Steve, from an Isolation hike a year ago, standing before me. We exchanged pleasantries for the remainder of this hike. As the second group returned, a vehicle drove up to us and out popped youngblood, unfrozen caveman and g/f. Yet another surprise! After enjoying the beautiful sunset, an hour and twenty minutes later group one returned delighted with their exciting hike.
This hike was remarkable in many ways—new hikers enjoying the steep and open ledges of the Caps, the hikers I knew on the trail and in the lot, and my first time hiking in one day with three separate groups. A most pleasant and spring-like day with spectacular views, with lots of sun, and hikers, in an 11 mile loop with 3400’ elevation gain lasting 9.5 hours.
We took the Jewell trail, headed South, then the Boundary Trail (many blowdowns) to the Jefferson Notch Road and walked almost 3 miles to the trailhead. I found it strange to see both parking lots empty since during summer both the parking lots are usually full. A stop at the granite outcrop to access the weather was in order and decided to continue upward in the 25 mph wind, quickly warming temperature, while the gray skies rapidly turned deep blue.
At the first cap we caught up to the first group and faced our first of two challenges, scrambling the open ledges of the two caps. Jen, most importantly, said she felt comfortable, as did Brian. I left them in the capable hands of Bill and Tom as I found myself keeping more to the first group’s pace. We stopped to chat with Pilgrim, who I hiked the week before and his friend to ask about trail and summit conditions. In no time we were at the summit, found winds so strong we didn’t break for a second to have lunch or rest and continued down on the Gulfside trail.
Dr. Wu and Sleeping Bear, who I’ve hiked with before, wanted to catch Mt. Clay, while in the neighborhood. Jess, Anthony, and I wanted to join them but we found our knees starting to ache from their use on the Caps Ridge. We bid them "happy trails" and hiked on to the Jewell trail. In the distance, a mile away, I was glad to see my fellow hikers in the first group coming down the summit to the Gulfside Trail.
Now descending the Jewell, Anthony and Jess stopped to rest their knees. Saying I would see them in the parking area as I wanted to wait for the first group, I continued on. I was thrilled to discover Dave, Jerry, and Steve, from an Isolation hike a year ago, standing before me. We exchanged pleasantries for the remainder of this hike. As the second group returned, a vehicle drove up to us and out popped youngblood, unfrozen caveman and g/f. Yet another surprise! After enjoying the beautiful sunset, an hour and twenty minutes later group one returned delighted with their exciting hike.
This hike was remarkable in many ways—new hikers enjoying the steep and open ledges of the Caps, the hikers I knew on the trail and in the lot, and my first time hiking in one day with three separate groups. A most pleasant and spring-like day with spectacular views, with lots of sun, and hikers, in an 11 mile loop with 3400’ elevation gain lasting 9.5 hours.
