MadRiver
New member
Short and sweet. I mentioned to Beth and Eliza about a Jefferson to Adams hike that was in the works for Becca’s 48 finish some time ago, and they expressed an interest in attending. Fortunately for Becca, and unfortunately for us, she finished on Cabot several weeks ago, so the Jefferson/Adams hike didn’t seem like it would materialize. Couple that with Beth being away for the weekend in Portsmouth with my wife Sooze and our friend Mary, so Jefferson/Adams was beginning to look like it was surely dead on arrival.
Fast forward to the middle of the week where conflicting weather reports, miscommunication on my part, cancelled hikes, and a host of other screw-ups, finally lead to a decision being made to meet at Lowe’s store at 8:00am Saturday morning. Tim, Eliza (14), Jack (12), Mynetta and yours truly spotted my truck and Mynetta’s car at Lowe’s and we all piled into Tim’s SUV and headed to the Cap Ridge Trailhead off of Jefferson Rd.
The weather was calling for winds to increase throughout the day and the early morning fog to lift around noon. We packed accordingly and hit the trail around 8:30am. Although we were the only vehicle in the parking lot when we arrived, we were soon met by a few car loads of equally adventurous hikers who planned to test their mettle against the caps.
I haven’t hiked Jefferson in a few years so I was looking forward to the caps. Both Eliza and Jack were equally looking forward to climbing the caps; I just wish the fog would lift so they could see them in all their glory.
Unfortunately, that was not to be the case. By the time we reached the first set of caps, we were being passed by several groups. Since I knew this was going to be a long day, there was no reason to pick up the pace. Tim, Eliza, and Jack’s biggest hike thus far was the Franconia Ridge; therefore I didn’t want them to burn out too early, or not to enjoy the hike. The down side of the fog is it doesn’t give you a visual perfective of how much further you have until you reach the summit. It just seems like an endless slog with no end in sight, which can play havoc with your motivation to continue.
After conquering the caps, we finally arrived at the summit where the winds were steadily increasing to around 35 to 40 mph. At this point the sun was trying to peek through the fog and we could occasionally see the ridge. After having some lunch, we made the decision to continue over to Adams. By the time we reach Gulfside, the fog had lifted enough to see glimpse of Adams, as well as Washington and the great Gulf.
It took us a little longer than I had hoped to reach the junction with the Randolph Path because the group were not used to the boulder hoping that one has to endure when hiking in the Presi’s, so it took its toll on their speed. Jack and I reached the junction first and waited about 20 to 30 minutes for the rest to catch up. We ate and drank before heading off to Adams.
The wind was beginning to increase and we would get hit with the occasional 50+ gust as we hiked in and out of the wind shadow that the surrounding smaller ridges provided. Once we reach Thunderstorm Junction, we were met with the full force of the 60+ winds as we hiked the final .9 to the summit. Eliza and I reached the summit first and after touching the sign, we hunkered down between the rocks as we waited for the others.
For a brief second I looked over at Madison with a hint of longing and Eliza sensing my desire said “don’t even think it!” Ok then, we are out of here. The hike back down the cone was difficult because of the ever increasing wind gust that played havoc with our balance. We all regrouped at the large cairn before heading down Lowe’s Path to Gray Knob hut. Tim, Eliza, and Jack had not seen the hut before so they were curious. Eliza, Jack, and I reached the spur trail first and headed to the hut. After using the privy, Eliza headed back to the trail to make certain both Tim and Mynetta saw the cut off.
Regrettably, Eliza missed Mynetta by 30 seconds. While Tim, Eliza, and Jack checked out the hut, I headed down to catch up with Mynetta.
I caught up rather quickly and mentioned that the others would be along soon. I hiked ahead and said we would all meet up at the log cabin. After the log cabin and a few little scrambles, the trail gets benign, so I was hoping at this point we would be out before dark. I knew it would be close, I was just hoping we could do it without headlamps. I had two headlamps in my pack, and I “assumed” Mynetta had one as well. What happened next I take full responsibility for!
Once we hit the “flats” Eliza and I had a nice time chatting and we seemed to fly down the trail. After crossing the Link Trail I knew we had 1.6 to the road. About ten minutes after crossing the Link it became quite clear that we would not be out before dark. I could sense that Eliza was bonking so I had to make a decision. Do we stop for the 30 to 40 minutes and let the others catch up, or do I get her off the trail, now? I chose the latter. I took out my two heads lamps and gave one to Eliza, while I took the other. We continued our pace and within 40 minutes we were at Lowe’s store.
After making certain she was ok, I told her to stay in the truck and lock the doors. I then headed back up the trail sans pack, but with the extra headlamp. I reached the group after running up the trail in about 30 minutes. I would like to say our meeting was warm and fuzzy, with lots of hugs and kisses, but that would be in error. The group questioned my lineage by suggesting that my mother and father were in fact brother and sister. I didn’t argue the point because I’m the one who made the decision, so I had to live with it. After switching my headlamp with Mynetta’s, whose lamp gave off as much illumination as a cheap Mickey Mouse watch, and the other to Jack, we slowly hiked down trail. After we got back to the cars and a few beers were shared, all seemed forgiven. We all said our goodbyes to Mynetta as the rest of us headed to the Caps Ridge trailhead to retrieve Tim’s SUV.
Should I have stopped and waited for the others? Yes, I did not know who had a headlamp and who didn’t, which was a crucial piece of information I lacked. I’m used to hiking with people who all own headlamps, but that is no excuse for not at the very least asking who had one well before it became dark. My bad, Princess Buttercup screwed the pooch on this one!
Let the flaming begin!
Fast forward to the middle of the week where conflicting weather reports, miscommunication on my part, cancelled hikes, and a host of other screw-ups, finally lead to a decision being made to meet at Lowe’s store at 8:00am Saturday morning. Tim, Eliza (14), Jack (12), Mynetta and yours truly spotted my truck and Mynetta’s car at Lowe’s and we all piled into Tim’s SUV and headed to the Cap Ridge Trailhead off of Jefferson Rd.
The weather was calling for winds to increase throughout the day and the early morning fog to lift around noon. We packed accordingly and hit the trail around 8:30am. Although we were the only vehicle in the parking lot when we arrived, we were soon met by a few car loads of equally adventurous hikers who planned to test their mettle against the caps.
I haven’t hiked Jefferson in a few years so I was looking forward to the caps. Both Eliza and Jack were equally looking forward to climbing the caps; I just wish the fog would lift so they could see them in all their glory.
Unfortunately, that was not to be the case. By the time we reached the first set of caps, we were being passed by several groups. Since I knew this was going to be a long day, there was no reason to pick up the pace. Tim, Eliza, and Jack’s biggest hike thus far was the Franconia Ridge; therefore I didn’t want them to burn out too early, or not to enjoy the hike. The down side of the fog is it doesn’t give you a visual perfective of how much further you have until you reach the summit. It just seems like an endless slog with no end in sight, which can play havoc with your motivation to continue.
After conquering the caps, we finally arrived at the summit where the winds were steadily increasing to around 35 to 40 mph. At this point the sun was trying to peek through the fog and we could occasionally see the ridge. After having some lunch, we made the decision to continue over to Adams. By the time we reach Gulfside, the fog had lifted enough to see glimpse of Adams, as well as Washington and the great Gulf.
It took us a little longer than I had hoped to reach the junction with the Randolph Path because the group were not used to the boulder hoping that one has to endure when hiking in the Presi’s, so it took its toll on their speed. Jack and I reached the junction first and waited about 20 to 30 minutes for the rest to catch up. We ate and drank before heading off to Adams.
The wind was beginning to increase and we would get hit with the occasional 50+ gust as we hiked in and out of the wind shadow that the surrounding smaller ridges provided. Once we reach Thunderstorm Junction, we were met with the full force of the 60+ winds as we hiked the final .9 to the summit. Eliza and I reached the summit first and after touching the sign, we hunkered down between the rocks as we waited for the others.
For a brief second I looked over at Madison with a hint of longing and Eliza sensing my desire said “don’t even think it!” Ok then, we are out of here. The hike back down the cone was difficult because of the ever increasing wind gust that played havoc with our balance. We all regrouped at the large cairn before heading down Lowe’s Path to Gray Knob hut. Tim, Eliza, and Jack had not seen the hut before so they were curious. Eliza, Jack, and I reached the spur trail first and headed to the hut. After using the privy, Eliza headed back to the trail to make certain both Tim and Mynetta saw the cut off.
Regrettably, Eliza missed Mynetta by 30 seconds. While Tim, Eliza, and Jack checked out the hut, I headed down to catch up with Mynetta.
I caught up rather quickly and mentioned that the others would be along soon. I hiked ahead and said we would all meet up at the log cabin. After the log cabin and a few little scrambles, the trail gets benign, so I was hoping at this point we would be out before dark. I knew it would be close, I was just hoping we could do it without headlamps. I had two headlamps in my pack, and I “assumed” Mynetta had one as well. What happened next I take full responsibility for!
Once we hit the “flats” Eliza and I had a nice time chatting and we seemed to fly down the trail. After crossing the Link Trail I knew we had 1.6 to the road. About ten minutes after crossing the Link it became quite clear that we would not be out before dark. I could sense that Eliza was bonking so I had to make a decision. Do we stop for the 30 to 40 minutes and let the others catch up, or do I get her off the trail, now? I chose the latter. I took out my two heads lamps and gave one to Eliza, while I took the other. We continued our pace and within 40 minutes we were at Lowe’s store.
After making certain she was ok, I told her to stay in the truck and lock the doors. I then headed back up the trail sans pack, but with the extra headlamp. I reached the group after running up the trail in about 30 minutes. I would like to say our meeting was warm and fuzzy, with lots of hugs and kisses, but that would be in error. The group questioned my lineage by suggesting that my mother and father were in fact brother and sister. I didn’t argue the point because I’m the one who made the decision, so I had to live with it. After switching my headlamp with Mynetta’s, whose lamp gave off as much illumination as a cheap Mickey Mouse watch, and the other to Jack, we slowly hiked down trail. After we got back to the cars and a few beers were shared, all seemed forgiven. We all said our goodbyes to Mynetta as the rest of us headed to the Caps Ridge trailhead to retrieve Tim’s SUV.
Should I have stopped and waited for the others? Yes, I did not know who had a headlamp and who didn’t, which was a crucial piece of information I lacked. I’m used to hiking with people who all own headlamps, but that is no excuse for not at the very least asking who had one well before it became dark. My bad, Princess Buttercup screwed the pooch on this one!
Let the flaming begin!
