Webster Cliff Trail, Mt Jackson...

[forestgnome]

I'm sore, but the beer is helping!

8:00 a.m. Beautiful morning in Crawford Notch, clear sky, light SE wind.

Crawford Path to Mt Pierce by 10:30 a.m. Very bare-bootable, although I like crampons for stability. Summit is beautiful, I doze off for a bit in the sun
Meet a nice couple from Ossipee. Chat. Take pictures. Doze a bit more in the sun.

11:00 Wake up, head toward Mizpah Hut. Need snowshoes, pass a few parties postholing up to their waistes.

Lunch at Mizpah Hut. Doze in the warm sun. Ahhh!

12:30 p.m. Headed for Mt Jackson. Webster Cliff Trail today was as hard to follow as anything I have ever seen. The day was perfect and it was early, so it was a welcomed challenge. It was unbroken and the spruce were so full of snow and bent down over the trail that I decided to take a compass reading the first time I saw the summit of Jackson. I lost and found the trail about a dozen times. I went chest-deep in tree wells twice.

3:00 Finally break out at the summit of Mt Jackson! The view to the Presidential Range is stunning. Light winds are now from the SW, bright sun.

I'm chewing on icicles because I ran out of water and I'm uncharacteristicly thirsty. The 1.2 miles took 2.5 hours! Actually, my track was more like 2.5 miles long.

I meet an older couple from Switzerland and their daughter. They were about to head for Mizpah Hut. I warn them of what it is like in there, then I make my way to the summit, slump and rest in the warm sun. I'm hurtin' but happy.

Doze for a bit, then take pictures

 

[PatnJane]

Thank you

Did you tramp out a route sufficiently for others to follow or will the next Webster Cliff Trail seekers have the same grueling problems?

 

[forestgnome]

Funny you should ask...

The people who I met on MT Jackson were just about to do it without snowshoes. I light-heartedly warned how difficult it was, and I was wearing 30" Tubbs. A few minutes later the older woman went by me and descended the way they came, Wedster Jackson Trail, which also is very bare-bootable.

When I met her on the way down, she said her husband, age 79, is stubborn! She heeded my warning, the daughter wouldn't let him go alone. They started at 3:00. It took me about 2.5 hours. I sure hope they made it!

Anyway, No, it is not well tramped out. This section does not get much traffic so I would not guess anyone else will be packing it down. If you go their, good luck following the trail! You could follow my track, which is much longer than the trail, and would include a very little bit of minor crashing through branches, but you'll end up at Mizpah Hut.

It may not take you as long either, since I was really taking my time, due to both the difficulty of navigation though deep powder and spruce, and the absolutely spectacular weather and scenery.