Questions about hiking Jefferson and Adams

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Mark

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My sons and I are looking at hiking Jefferson and Adams from Jefferson Notch Road.

1) Is Jefferson Notch Road drivable from Rt. 302 with a passenger car (all-wheel drive RX 350 SUV)?

2) If we head to Adams after Jefferson and want to return to Jefferson Notch Road, is the taking The Cornice trail worth it to avoid having to reclimb Jefferson?

Thanks
 
1) Jefferson Notch road isn't open yet, but when it is open it's driveable in any passenger car. Check with NHDOT on the opening date, they're doing work up there and it might not open until July.

2) The Cornice trail is moderately awful. In the long run it's probably a bit easier than hiking back over Jefferson, but not by much.
 
By the way, the southerly section of the Cornice between the Gulfside and Caps Ridge is quite typical of many of the trails in this area. The section from Caps Ridge to Castle trail is decidedly "challenging" This section is definitely not a time saver. The option of taking Gulfside south to the southern Cornice is quite easy but the extra distance would take longer than resummiting

For what its worth, many folks pick this approach as the "easy" way to grab Jefferson and Adams. Its a lot longer day then many estimate.
 
It might be worth taking The Cornice first before summiting Jefferson. When you get to Edmonds Col you can decide if you want to tackle Adams as well. The Cornice will dump you next to the spring in Edmonds Col, so you can grab more water there easily.
 
Make a nice loop Up Castle Trail and down Lowe's Path.

One can skip the road walk taking the Cabin-Cascade Trail or Perch Path back towards Israel Ridge>Castle Ravine (lots of options). These loop options probably add 800' vertical, but it's a gentle 800, for sure.

Fair warning, The Link from Castle Ravine to Castle is pretty rough, and from Castle to Caps Ridge is very rough. Far worse than the Cornice. If you decide to do the Cornice on the way back and hate it, bailing down Castle and taking the Link is a sub-optimal option.
 
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Cornice = "moderately awful". That is funny yet accurate. I did Jefferson, Adams and Madison in a day and made the mistake of coming back on the Cornice. I would go over Jefferson again if I had a do-over.
 
Dave, I can't find anything on Jefferson Notch Road construction on NH DOT or 511 websites. Where did you get the July date from?

From comments on FB groups - several folks have reported this by contacting NHDOT directly. I haven't seen it posted officially online, just these mentions on FB.
 
The WMG specifically notes that taking the Cornice from Edmands to Caps to avoid reclimbing Jefferson is unlikely to save time. Between Castle and Israel Ridge, I didn't find it any worse than the average trail in the northern Presis but was pretty happy to reach Israel Ridge.

I wouldn't recommend Castle Trail to random people on the internet without knowing a lot more about their comfort with exposure and wicked scrambles. It's certainly easier in summer but not a cakewalk.
 
From comments on FB groups - several folks have reported this by contacting NHDOT directly. I haven't seen it posted officially online, just these mentions on FB.

I heard that the rd. is maintained by the Lancaster DOT. Not sure if that's true.
 
I just checked with NHDOT about Jefferson Notch Road and the woman I spoke to said she was told they opened it 20 minutes before I called. If I go, I will verify. (I may have lost my hiking partners.) I was thinking of playing it safe and approaching JNR from the north off Valley Road. Then if my info is bad, we could just head up the road and go up Castle Trail.
 
Maybe a littel more moderately awful

Cornice = "moderately awful". That is funny yet accurate. I did Jefferson, Adams and Madison in a day and made the mistake of coming back on the Cornice. I would go over Jefferson again if I had a do-over.

A couple years ago I went up Caps Ridge to Jefferson, down to Clay then back up to Adams, and liking lollipops much better than out-&-backs thought it would be cute to go down Castle Ridge and then cut over on The Link. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to any sane person, but it was a ton of fun and The Link was really interesting in the rain.
 
The Link was really interesting in the rain.
The Link south of Castle Ravine and the Parapet trail on Madison are the two trails I never recommend to anyone. The Cornice (between Edmands Col and Caps) isn't nearly as bad, but it's still pretty tiring at the end of a long day.
 
Pity the poor Link from Castle to Caps Ridge Trail , its just in the wrong place at the wrong time for most hikers use. The entire trails original purpose was to offer a non exposed route back to RMC territory for those who wanted to visit Jefferson as an alternative to hiking back along the exposed ridgeline during foul weather, unfortunately the westerly upper slopes of Mt Jefferson is not good territory for trails (I.E. The Link and The Cornice). Anyone who has been on the Link will realize that rebuilding it into a flat trail bed would be an incredible waste of resources compared to using these resources on far more popular trails that need attention. IMHO the main reason for hatred of the Link is psychological, it tends to be an afterthought by dayhikers looking to stretch out a nice day on Jefferson by adding in the upper Castles. Also people tend to equate a flat contour with easy walking, which definitely doesn't apply to the Link which is mostly an exercise in hopping from root to rock. Definitely not a trail runners route. Another strike against it is some rather optimistic map makers that show several streams crossing the trail on the end closest to the Castle trail.There may be water in the spring but for much of the summer they are totally dry with the only reliable water far closer to the Caps Ridge end. The last strike is although under cover, the trail is in full sun in the afternoon when hiking it and without a good breeze it can be quite hot.

These all contribute to many folks generally novice to intermediate ending up on the Link on a hot day with little or no water, hiking over rough territory. I generally try to warn folks off of it but generally its when they are skipping down the Castle Trail oblivious to what their detour entails.

I personally like the loop. I generally do it early in the morning and know what I am getting into. Its a good way to get some above treeline and still be done before noon.
 
I heard that someone updated the sign at the Castle junction to read 'The Dink'. Sounds like a more accurate name to me.
 
I heard that someone updated the sign at the Castle junction to read 'The Dink'. Sounds like a more accurate name to me.

Wasn't me but you are correct. But that's being nice. The sign should also read. 1.6 miles but will feel like 11.6.


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There is a similar trail that I tried in the past to bypass Madison. I have done various permutations of Madison & Adams from Appalachia through the years, one of my favorite descent routes is the Howker Ridge Trail. From Madison hut, I once tried to take the trail that tries to keep a relatively even contour around the north side of Madison to avoid going up & over the summit, I recall that not saving much energy if not being harder than going over Madison's summit, as the summit trail has much better footing. I would not take that trail again. I just find the high elevation terrain very taxing in the Presi's. BTW, I also took the Jefferson bypass trail discussed here many years ago, I also filed that one under "never again".
 
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