At Hiker's Paradise in Gorham on Saturday night, I'd set the alarm for 5am to get in an early climb of Jefferson before the forecast bad weather could move in. Of course, this meant that I was wide awake at 4am, and that I'd fall back asleep just as it was time to get up. Oh well. I had a quick breakfast, cleared the room, and made my way up Jefferson Notch Road for the Caps Ridge trailhead.
The parking lot had two cars in it, which surprised me for that early in the morning. I would soon realize that one car's occupants were curled up asleep beside it on a tarp, and the other car's owner was camping in a tentsite just beyond the 1/4 mile boundary. Neither would be climbing today, and so I was first, with all the benefits (all by myself) and responsibilities (clearing off the spider webs from the trail) that entailed.
At 7am, I started up. The beginning of the trail is a very uninteresting climb through the trees. Even compared to other woods trails it was somewhat blase. But this trail starts at over 3000' in elevation, so before long I was starting to see more and more sky through the leaves. After only 40 minutes, I had my first fantastic views as I stopped to marvel at the glacial potholes on a small outcrop.
The trail winds back into vegetation for a bit after that, and then before I realized it, I was facing the first Cap. I believe the first was the most fun - it was the most prominent, and looking up at the near-vertical faces I'd be ascending, I knew it was going to be fun.
And it was, wow. The Caps were the most enjoyable rock scrambles I think I've ever done. Challenging, but not with too much exposure. Varied, not big slabs but broken ledge. And all the time with those unending views of the Southern Presies, across the ravines, back over Bretton Woods, out to the Twins, over Crawford Notch down to Carrigain, and even to Franconia Ridge. This trail is really superb.
You pay for it, though, and I felt every step in my leg muscles. The WMG is right when they say that though this is the shortest route it is far from the easiest for it; however, I really just didn't care - with only distant clouds, some remarkable fog boiling out of the Great Gulf, and the mountain to myself, I couldn't be bothered by such trivialities as pain or hunger.
After the last Cap there's a false summit. That was a bit discouraging, not because it meant several hundred more feet of ascent, but because I could then see that the true summit was dancing in and out of the clouds. Every so often the view would open up on Washington, and I could see glimpses of the Auto Road and the summit buildings. Monticello Lawn remained mostly clear, a fascinating image of cairns marching across towards Mt. Clay. Jefferson's true crest, however, was grey and cold, and I stayed but a moment before retreating back down. Nobody else was in sight - I think I was the first on the summit that day. It was 9:20am ... I'd made it up 15 minutes ahead of book time. This was my 39th 4000-footer - only 9 more to go!
Coming down was a treat - now I had the views in front of me the whole way. I crossed the first hiker to have started up after me. Discouragingly, he would soon pass me on his way down, as would a second hiker. Oh, well. At least I was first to the top (and would be third down). At this point, I could no longer ignore my body's demands for food. At the third Cap, on a sunny piece of ledge, I stopped for a quick brunch. Unfortunately, it was too late. The headache would not go away, the nausea threatened to assert itself, and I promised myself at least six times that I would never go so long on a hike without eating again.
Fortunately, descending the Caps is a slow process anyway, and I just took my time, stepped carefully, watched the huge clouds forming on the horizon, passed a dozen or two ascending hikers (only half properly equipped for Presi conditions), and realized that it had gotten quite warm as the day progressed. I'd started in cool conditions, the summit was foggy 50's, and above treeline the breeze was pleasant; however, back in the trees the still, warm, humid air was oppressive. Just as I was starting to have air conditioning fantasies, I was back at the parking lot. 11:45am. 5 miles, 2700', 4:45, and that was with the lunch stop and the queasy descent. Not quite Frodo speed, but I'm getting there.
Back in the car, I almost immediately saw a huge downpour making its way down Rte 302. I then drove through more rain in Twin Mountain and Franconia Notch. I hope everyone out on the trail (including the people *starting* at noon!) did well. I was able to listen to A Prairie Home Companion for much of the drive, a perfect post-hike accompaniment, and was home, unpacked, and showered by the time the Sox game came on. Of course, I immediately fell asleep on the couch and missed the entire game...
I *highly* recommend the Caps Ridge Trail to anyone who enjoys rock scrambles. The pitches of the Caps were so much fun to ascend, combined with those incredible views, that this is already on my list of trails to do again and again. Shoot for good weather - mine was excellent on the trail, but the summit fog was still disappointing, since I knew that the Great Gulf and Jefferson Ravine were right there, just out of sight. This would be a huge rush in the winter, perhaps a ski w/sled pull up the (closed) road to establish a base camp at the trailhead? We shall see...
I've got pictures (not yet captioned) here and a 17MB movie from the Upper Cap here.
The parking lot had two cars in it, which surprised me for that early in the morning. I would soon realize that one car's occupants were curled up asleep beside it on a tarp, and the other car's owner was camping in a tentsite just beyond the 1/4 mile boundary. Neither would be climbing today, and so I was first, with all the benefits (all by myself) and responsibilities (clearing off the spider webs from the trail) that entailed.
At 7am, I started up. The beginning of the trail is a very uninteresting climb through the trees. Even compared to other woods trails it was somewhat blase. But this trail starts at over 3000' in elevation, so before long I was starting to see more and more sky through the leaves. After only 40 minutes, I had my first fantastic views as I stopped to marvel at the glacial potholes on a small outcrop.
The trail winds back into vegetation for a bit after that, and then before I realized it, I was facing the first Cap. I believe the first was the most fun - it was the most prominent, and looking up at the near-vertical faces I'd be ascending, I knew it was going to be fun.
And it was, wow. The Caps were the most enjoyable rock scrambles I think I've ever done. Challenging, but not with too much exposure. Varied, not big slabs but broken ledge. And all the time with those unending views of the Southern Presies, across the ravines, back over Bretton Woods, out to the Twins, over Crawford Notch down to Carrigain, and even to Franconia Ridge. This trail is really superb.
You pay for it, though, and I felt every step in my leg muscles. The WMG is right when they say that though this is the shortest route it is far from the easiest for it; however, I really just didn't care - with only distant clouds, some remarkable fog boiling out of the Great Gulf, and the mountain to myself, I couldn't be bothered by such trivialities as pain or hunger.
After the last Cap there's a false summit. That was a bit discouraging, not because it meant several hundred more feet of ascent, but because I could then see that the true summit was dancing in and out of the clouds. Every so often the view would open up on Washington, and I could see glimpses of the Auto Road and the summit buildings. Monticello Lawn remained mostly clear, a fascinating image of cairns marching across towards Mt. Clay. Jefferson's true crest, however, was grey and cold, and I stayed but a moment before retreating back down. Nobody else was in sight - I think I was the first on the summit that day. It was 9:20am ... I'd made it up 15 minutes ahead of book time. This was my 39th 4000-footer - only 9 more to go!
Coming down was a treat - now I had the views in front of me the whole way. I crossed the first hiker to have started up after me. Discouragingly, he would soon pass me on his way down, as would a second hiker. Oh, well. At least I was first to the top (and would be third down). At this point, I could no longer ignore my body's demands for food. At the third Cap, on a sunny piece of ledge, I stopped for a quick brunch. Unfortunately, it was too late. The headache would not go away, the nausea threatened to assert itself, and I promised myself at least six times that I would never go so long on a hike without eating again.
Fortunately, descending the Caps is a slow process anyway, and I just took my time, stepped carefully, watched the huge clouds forming on the horizon, passed a dozen or two ascending hikers (only half properly equipped for Presi conditions), and realized that it had gotten quite warm as the day progressed. I'd started in cool conditions, the summit was foggy 50's, and above treeline the breeze was pleasant; however, back in the trees the still, warm, humid air was oppressive. Just as I was starting to have air conditioning fantasies, I was back at the parking lot. 11:45am. 5 miles, 2700', 4:45, and that was with the lunch stop and the queasy descent. Not quite Frodo speed, but I'm getting there.
Back in the car, I almost immediately saw a huge downpour making its way down Rte 302. I then drove through more rain in Twin Mountain and Franconia Notch. I hope everyone out on the trail (including the people *starting* at noon!) did well. I was able to listen to A Prairie Home Companion for much of the drive, a perfect post-hike accompaniment, and was home, unpacked, and showered by the time the Sox game came on. Of course, I immediately fell asleep on the couch and missed the entire game...
I *highly* recommend the Caps Ridge Trail to anyone who enjoys rock scrambles. The pitches of the Caps were so much fun to ascend, combined with those incredible views, that this is already on my list of trails to do again and again. Shoot for good weather - mine was excellent on the trail, but the summit fog was still disappointing, since I knew that the Great Gulf and Jefferson Ravine were right there, just out of sight. This would be a huge rush in the winter, perhaps a ski w/sled pull up the (closed) road to establish a base camp at the trailhead? We shall see...
I've got pictures (not yet captioned) here and a 17MB movie from the Upper Cap here.
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