Jazzbo
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9/30/06
Drove up from Waltham to Caps Ridge Trailhead for 9:00AM start. Three other parties started simultaneously. We stayed with each other all the way to the summit. Views were fine. Snowy white banks of fog were drifting over the summits of the Presidential’s added a dramatic element to the panoramic views.
The rock scrambling was challenging especially as I was carrying extra gear for early fall solo above tree line. I wondered whether I’d be able to descend or not. I wished I’d brought my bit of rope to lower my pack to enable descending unencumbered by my back. Oh well must keep going. The Caps and above seemed coated with frost or snow. Upon reaching the 3rd Cap, rocks, scrub, and grass were heavily coated with rime ice. The ice made for tricky travel.
Arrived at Jefferson summit just before noon. The summit was crowded, so I found a comfortable rock to sit on out of the wind and eat my lunch. The summit sitters cleared out and I found a comfortable summit seat of my own and soaked it all in. Conditions were pretty ideal. Winds were subdued, but the clouds were still in motion over Mount Washington and Clay.
I wanted a better view into the ravines to the east so I took the Six Husbands Trail down to the Gulfside Trail. The view was better, but not what I’d hoped for. I took the Gulfside Trail to junction with Jefferson Loop Trail where I would look at clock, map, weather to make final decision on my return route. I decided to descend via the Jewell Trail. It would be a long tedious slog down the Jewell Trail and then back to Caps Ridge Trail Head, but would avoid descending via Caps Ridge and I’d get to take in Mount Clay. My maps indicated going via Clay was only slightly higher elevation-wise then taking Gulfside to Jewell.
Good idea! The 500’ climb up Clay from Sphinx Col went quickly. The view of Washington Summit standing high above the gaping maw of Great Gulf was stupendous. Looking at my maps I wondered why there wasn’t a short link connecting the Clay Loop with the junction of Jewell and Gulfside. Clay summit was only 100 feet above Gulfside. I spotted a rocky path I could take to traverse the alpine grasslands to get over to the Gulfside to without walking on the lawn. The Gulfside trail to Jewell had heavy traffic. I joined the multitudes and descended as fast as possible.
It seemed like it might be feasible to bushwack in northwesterly direction from a point along the Jewell Trail at between 3500 to 4000 across to Jefferson Notch Road to return to Caps Ridge Trailhead. Another possibility would be to bushwack from Jewell Trail at 3000’ elevation along magnetic north course to meet Jefferson Notch Road at point it crosses Jefferson Brook. Neither of these looked appealing as spruce forest along the Jewell Trail looked thick at these elevations. Given the time of day it made most sense to keep going to the Boundary Trail down at 2500 feet and walk up the road to regain the 3000 feet at the trailhead. If there was such a trail though, this would make a very fine loop hike. It would only need to be less than one mile long and being in spruce forest wouldn’t need that much brushing to keep it up.
Is there some sort of board that considers new ideas for trails in WMNF?
Forgot to mention Boundary Trail is lightly used. Goes through very open mixed hard and soft woods. Trail has good footing and moderate ups and downs. There was large numbers of blowdowns. Mainly the spruces. Trail was somewhat obscured by new fallen leaves. In low light trail was hard to follow especially wacking around some blowdowns.
Jefferson Pics
Drove up from Waltham to Caps Ridge Trailhead for 9:00AM start. Three other parties started simultaneously. We stayed with each other all the way to the summit. Views were fine. Snowy white banks of fog were drifting over the summits of the Presidential’s added a dramatic element to the panoramic views.
The rock scrambling was challenging especially as I was carrying extra gear for early fall solo above tree line. I wondered whether I’d be able to descend or not. I wished I’d brought my bit of rope to lower my pack to enable descending unencumbered by my back. Oh well must keep going. The Caps and above seemed coated with frost or snow. Upon reaching the 3rd Cap, rocks, scrub, and grass were heavily coated with rime ice. The ice made for tricky travel.
Arrived at Jefferson summit just before noon. The summit was crowded, so I found a comfortable rock to sit on out of the wind and eat my lunch. The summit sitters cleared out and I found a comfortable summit seat of my own and soaked it all in. Conditions were pretty ideal. Winds were subdued, but the clouds were still in motion over Mount Washington and Clay.
I wanted a better view into the ravines to the east so I took the Six Husbands Trail down to the Gulfside Trail. The view was better, but not what I’d hoped for. I took the Gulfside Trail to junction with Jefferson Loop Trail where I would look at clock, map, weather to make final decision on my return route. I decided to descend via the Jewell Trail. It would be a long tedious slog down the Jewell Trail and then back to Caps Ridge Trail Head, but would avoid descending via Caps Ridge and I’d get to take in Mount Clay. My maps indicated going via Clay was only slightly higher elevation-wise then taking Gulfside to Jewell.
Good idea! The 500’ climb up Clay from Sphinx Col went quickly. The view of Washington Summit standing high above the gaping maw of Great Gulf was stupendous. Looking at my maps I wondered why there wasn’t a short link connecting the Clay Loop with the junction of Jewell and Gulfside. Clay summit was only 100 feet above Gulfside. I spotted a rocky path I could take to traverse the alpine grasslands to get over to the Gulfside to without walking on the lawn. The Gulfside trail to Jewell had heavy traffic. I joined the multitudes and descended as fast as possible.
It seemed like it might be feasible to bushwack in northwesterly direction from a point along the Jewell Trail at between 3500 to 4000 across to Jefferson Notch Road to return to Caps Ridge Trailhead. Another possibility would be to bushwack from Jewell Trail at 3000’ elevation along magnetic north course to meet Jefferson Notch Road at point it crosses Jefferson Brook. Neither of these looked appealing as spruce forest along the Jewell Trail looked thick at these elevations. Given the time of day it made most sense to keep going to the Boundary Trail down at 2500 feet and walk up the road to regain the 3000 feet at the trailhead. If there was such a trail though, this would make a very fine loop hike. It would only need to be less than one mile long and being in spruce forest wouldn’t need that much brushing to keep it up.
Is there some sort of board that considers new ideas for trails in WMNF?
Forgot to mention Boundary Trail is lightly used. Goes through very open mixed hard and soft woods. Trail has good footing and moderate ups and downs. There was large numbers of blowdowns. Mainly the spruces. Trail was somewhat obscured by new fallen leaves. In low light trail was hard to follow especially wacking around some blowdowns.
Jefferson Pics
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