Webster Cliff Trail?

[chinooktrail]

Has anyone hiked the Webster Cliff Trail between Jackson and Mizpah Hut lately?

I ask because, well, we totally missed it.

Hiked up to Pierce for a beautiful Blue Bird day, finally met the infamous Dr. Wu, and spent a nice hour or so on the summit, attempting to identify all we could see.

Made it to the hut in no time, with the intention of hitting Jackson and then out. WELL, we made it on to the Webster Cliff Trail, at least that is what the sign said, and the blazes were white, which is correct for the AT, but then the blazes were blue... we backtraced a bit, not far enough. Tried bushwhacking over to the trail, but that didn't pan out either.

So, I was just wondering how we missed the break in the trail and ended up on Mizpah Cutoff instead of the Webster Cliff Trail, is the break RIGHT at the hut? Just curious. Nice day to get out anyway!

 

[Maddy]

I wonder if this is a common error. It sure does bring back memories of almost being benighted on Webster Cliff when we wanted to take Mizpah cutoff from coming off Mt Pierce.
I think it's an easy mistake to make but I won't be making the same one twice. (I hope!)

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

This should be in the N.E. Q&A forum.

 

[RoySwkr]

The last time I was there a couple winters ago it looked like the start of the Mizpah Cutoff had been reblazed, at least after awhile I came into a much more obvious path.

Any time there is a hut or shelter there are herd paths all over and while it's easy going in it's often tough getting out. This is particularly bad in late winter or spring because if somebody gets off trail in early winter the wrong path can get well beaten. One time on the Bridle Path I only recognized this because I'd done trail work in that very area the previous summer so the detail was fresh in my mind.

 

[chinooktrail]

My hunch is that the break is very close to the hut, no one had traversed it in a while and we just blew by it. But we didn't see a sign or anything...
Usually there would be a sign for such a break in the trail at least, I would think so.
We had passed a couple earlier in the day who had camped at the tent site right there, and it was hard to see their prints from only a few hours earlier, so I am guessing we just had our heads down and missed the signs and the trail break... I was just curious to know if someone remembered for sure how far from the hut the break is, say, 50 feet or more like 1/4 mile. Just for chuckles on my part.

Thanks.

 

[LenDawg]

Yeah, I missed that turn too recently!

 

[RoySwkr]

I was just curious to know if someone remembered for sure how far from the hut the break is, say, 50 feet or more like 1/4 mile.

The current White Mtn Guide says .1 mile but an older edition says "near the hut" so probably it has been moved at least once

And yes it's tempting to follow the tracks, it's not unusual to discover they bypass a blowdown or something if you go the "right" way

 

[chinooktrail]

YUP!
We should have just turned around and retraced our steps as soon as we knew we were not on the right trail. Probably the split is right at the one sign I did see. But it was blazed in white, which is correct for the AT...
Oh well, no big deal, it was still a beautiful day out there and Jackson isn't going anywhere!