Jeff&Henry
New member
Route: Webster Jackson Trail (out and back)
Photos & Videos: http://jcwheel.smugmug.com/Hikes/JacksonWinter
This was our first "winter summit" of the season, so we figured we'd tackle a relatively short one up to Mount Jackson.
Our day began around 6:15 AM south of Boston, and we watched a brilliant full moon set and then the warming sun rise. The great thing about the cold winter air is the crystal clear views, and our day looked promising. But as we passed through Lincoln, we noticed our gorgeous blue sky became partly cloudy, then cloudy and ultimately overcast...then blowing light snow. This would be our day.
We began at the parking lot across from the Webster Jackson trail head around 10:30 AM. The combination of blowing snow and wind numbed our fingers as we laced up our insulated boots and strapped on our snowshoes, but as soon as we entered the woods, it was quite comfortable. Overall, the trail was in very good shape given there had been a lot of recent snow. The trail was nicely packed although on the steeper portions the loose powder made it difficult for our snowshoes to bite in at all. Because the base is still not that deep, the trail meanders around larger rocks and we were tripped by the occasional hidden branch.
Before reaching the Webster Cliff intersection, we had already shed a layer of clothing and removed our hats to keep from sweating too much. "Cold" is definitely a relative term when you're working that hard.
As we got within a quarter mile or so from the summit, we passed several pairs of hikers that had already summited and were coming down. Each passed along helpful advice, like "get out your balaclavas and goggles -- you'll need them!". Another pair of young gentlemen cautioned us that no one had attempted to include Webster and that we shouldn't try. (We hadn't planned to!) A third set of hikers cautioned us about the violent gusts on the summit and to stay close together.
(Note: this is why the hiking community rocks. You can feel so alone when out in the mountains, especially in winter. But then complete strangers come down the trail from the other direction, and they pass on very helpful words of advice / caution / experience. It's great that we're all looking out for each other. You don't see that much any more.)
The gusty wind was definitely jarring, as we broke out of the trees and pressed on to the summit. Ironically, the expose summit had a hard crust over the snow, so our snowshoes gave us rock solid traction we had not had all day.
The soft snow was a treat going down; we were absolutely bounding down the mountain. In several places, prior hikers had obviously been "butt sliding", so we followed suit. (Our snowshoes wouldn't help us at all with the loose snow.) Around 2:30 PM, we very happily removed our snowshoes and climbed into the car for a quick trip over to North Conway.
As we entered Bartlett, the skies cleared and the blue sky was back. It reminded me of the words from an old timer was passed hiking years ago, who said, "these mountains make their own weather."
We're up to 6 winter summits!
-Jeff
NH 4K's: 48/48
NHW 4K's: 6/48
Photos & Videos: http://jcwheel.smugmug.com/Hikes/JacksonWinter
This was our first "winter summit" of the season, so we figured we'd tackle a relatively short one up to Mount Jackson.
Our day began around 6:15 AM south of Boston, and we watched a brilliant full moon set and then the warming sun rise. The great thing about the cold winter air is the crystal clear views, and our day looked promising. But as we passed through Lincoln, we noticed our gorgeous blue sky became partly cloudy, then cloudy and ultimately overcast...then blowing light snow. This would be our day.
We began at the parking lot across from the Webster Jackson trail head around 10:30 AM. The combination of blowing snow and wind numbed our fingers as we laced up our insulated boots and strapped on our snowshoes, but as soon as we entered the woods, it was quite comfortable. Overall, the trail was in very good shape given there had been a lot of recent snow. The trail was nicely packed although on the steeper portions the loose powder made it difficult for our snowshoes to bite in at all. Because the base is still not that deep, the trail meanders around larger rocks and we were tripped by the occasional hidden branch.
Before reaching the Webster Cliff intersection, we had already shed a layer of clothing and removed our hats to keep from sweating too much. "Cold" is definitely a relative term when you're working that hard.
As we got within a quarter mile or so from the summit, we passed several pairs of hikers that had already summited and were coming down. Each passed along helpful advice, like "get out your balaclavas and goggles -- you'll need them!". Another pair of young gentlemen cautioned us that no one had attempted to include Webster and that we shouldn't try. (We hadn't planned to!) A third set of hikers cautioned us about the violent gusts on the summit and to stay close together.
(Note: this is why the hiking community rocks. You can feel so alone when out in the mountains, especially in winter. But then complete strangers come down the trail from the other direction, and they pass on very helpful words of advice / caution / experience. It's great that we're all looking out for each other. You don't see that much any more.)
The gusty wind was definitely jarring, as we broke out of the trees and pressed on to the summit. Ironically, the expose summit had a hard crust over the snow, so our snowshoes gave us rock solid traction we had not had all day.
The soft snow was a treat going down; we were absolutely bounding down the mountain. In several places, prior hikers had obviously been "butt sliding", so we followed suit. (Our snowshoes wouldn't help us at all with the loose snow.) Around 2:30 PM, we very happily removed our snowshoes and climbed into the car for a quick trip over to North Conway.
As we entered Bartlett, the skies cleared and the blue sky was back. It reminded me of the words from an old timer was passed hiking years ago, who said, "these mountains make their own weather."
We're up to 6 winter summits!
-Jeff
NH 4K's: 48/48
NHW 4K's: 6/48
