Caps ridge in Winter

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B the Hiker

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Middletown, CT
A friend asked me if anyone ever hikes the road and does Caps Ridge in winter.

I didn't know the answer! Caps Ridge, while short, isn't easy in the summer. I'm not a big fan of the scrambling, and I'm not sure why one would do it in winter. Seems rather risky. The reply was that it minimizes above-tree time, but feel like if one needed to minimize that, it probably wouldn't be a good day to be scrambling up Caps Ridge either.

But if anyone has done it, it's someone on Views!

Would love to hear your experiences.

Brian
 
A friend and I drove up the road from the north one year on January 2nd. We parked in the lot and hiked up. It was low snow year. Someone else drove up from the south but in theory that would not count as the base station road was not open in the winter. It was icy and front points were handy on the lowest cap. I heard of folks taking snowmobiles up and hiking it. The Boundary Line trail from the Ammo parking lot to Jefferson Notch road saves some elevation and distance rather than doing the lower section of Jefferson Notch road. No good short cuts from the north.

I think the state is a lot more conservative these days in locking the gates at either end especially after some folks tried to drive up from the base station road a few years back in the winter and had to be hauled out.
 
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Approach skis to the height of the land. Coast back out to your car on the return.
 
I ascended Jeff via Jewell and descended Caps Ridge this past March 17th. Fortunately I had my MSR Denali’s as the bottom mile out to the parking lot in Jeff Notch would have been difficult bare-booting as it did not appear that anyone had been on the route in a long time. I chose not to deal with the deep snow on Boundary Line Trail making the four-mile road walk back to the Ammi parking lot instead.

I will use Skiguy’s xc ski approach to Caps Ridge next time I do Jeff in winter conditions.
 
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Not winter but I came down in April 2021. I went up Ammo and then over to Adams before doubling back and opting to go down Caps Ridge. Then a couple miles of easy road walking following but a very wet Connector Trail. It was definitely shoulder season by that point but I could see it being fun in deep winter (especially with skis).
 
I may try tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17. Only a few inches on the ground, highs in the mid-30 at ground levels, "above seasonal" (according to the Observatory) at higher elevations.

The wind forecast for the Observatory is a very odd thing. The forecast says one thing, and then hikers on NETC report another. If winds are in the 30s, not pleasant, but I can handle that for a mile up and mile down, as long as I can see the next cairn. I'm not all that happy about hiking solo on the Ridge, but I have the time off and the conditions might be just right, if the winds aren't too bad.

Brian
 
I may try tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17. Only a few inches on the ground, highs in the mid-30 at ground levels, "above seasonal" (according to the Observatory) at higher elevations.

The wind forecast for the Observatory is a very odd thing. The forecast says one thing, and then hikers on NETC report another. If winds are in the 30s, not pleasant, but I can handle that for a mile up and mile down, as long as I can see the next cairn. I'm not all that happy about hiking solo on the Ridge, but I have the time off and the conditions might be just right, if the winds aren't too bad.

Brian

I always have problems seeing the cairns on my way down to the uppermost Cap, relying more on the white sign posts near the junction with the Cornice Trail.
 
That's a rather big problem for someone like me hiking solo on a windy day when there was fresh snow! I may take a compass bearing on the way up. I hate to say it, but it might also be a good day to have AllTrails on.
 
This may be a good year for it provided you have crampons plus micro's all the pictures I see over on FB look more like late November than Mid-January. I'd expect an icy mess. I have a 5am appointment to drive to Philadelphia tomorrow. (Not that I'm in shape for Jefferson either)
 
One more stupid question, is Boundary Line a blazed trail? Is it easy to follow if there's unbroken snow on the ground?

The one time I hiked Booundary Line in winter it was already broken out so I was not paying attention to blazes, and IIRC long stretches of the trail were submerged in standing water that does not seem to drain well, even in winter. I have had no regrets making the longer road walk, any time of year.
 
That's a rather big problem for someone like me hiking solo on a windy day when there was fresh snow! I may take a compass bearing on the way up. I hate to say it, but it might also be a good day to have AllTrails on.

I did it at the end of October one year (I also hike alone). Went up in the dark for sunrise. Definitely not full blown Winter when I did it but probably comparable to current conditions based on trail reports I've read. I think the 1/4 mile or so stretch before reaching the 1st Cap (ascending) was the worst part. Lot of really awkward scrambles there and ice and snow made it quite tricky, especially coming down. The Caps weren't as bad as I expected. I assume because they get so buffeted by the prevailing NW breeze they don't hold much snow. Was mostly bare rock and micro-spike worthy ice. Didn't need crampons but YMMV.

And use Gaia GPS for a mapping app. Free. Can download maps in advance, mark waypoints, routes, etc. Works in airplane mode. Way more accurate than AllTRails. The pay version (I think $39 year) has tons of satellite imagery, USFS road maps, NatGeo maps, historical maps and other layers you can download with the maps for offline use. Very handy app.
 
It will be interesting to see if you went. At 10:30 AM the winds are slowly dropping but 53 MPH sustained and 60 MPH gusts are bit steep for me. I know just going out to put out my trash can in Gorham, I have to shuffle up my driveway with coating of ice and bungee my trash can to the mailbox. Not sure on the view, lots of blue sky around but the summits look like they have upslope clouds. Definitely a day for late day hike as things will improve.
 
It will be interesting to see if you went. At 10:30 AM the winds are slowly dropping but 53 MPH sustained and 60 MPH gusts are bit steep for me. I know just going out to put out my trash can in Gorham, I have to shuffle up my driveway with coating of ice and bungee my trash can to the mailbox. Not sure on the view, lots of blue sky around but the summits look like they have upslope clouds. Definitely a day for late day hike as things will improve.

I took a quick look at the MWOBS conditions this morning out of curiosity. Could be a pretty epic day on that ridge in those winds. Hopefully he went and can channel his inner "RhodySeth" with some photos and video. Would make for quite a trip report.
 
Monday night, I checked the MWOB high peaks forecast, and it wasn't great: Winds around 65mph, but decreasing over the day. I got up at 2am, departing Middletown, CT just after 3am, and the four hour drive was uneventful. I can go up either I-91 or I-84/20/290/I-93, and opted for the latter just because it breaks up the drive a bit.

At some point after 6am, I pulled over and checked the new Observatory forecast, and it was horrific: winds 65-75mph, gusting to 85. Dropping later to mid-50s. It was 65mph at that moment. I figured today wasn't going to be the day, but my mentor used to say, "Go until you have to turn around."

I arrived in the Ammonusuc Ravine parking lot at 7:15am, expecting it to be empty, but no, there were several empty cars and two folks standing outside. I got out and said hello, and a gent said, "Are you ready to climb Jefferson?" A bit surprised, I said yes, only to learn he thought I was someone else! I asked if I could join, and they looked at each other, kind of shrugged, and said yes.

They had used a different program to look at the weather for Jefferson, which was better, and we decided to go up the Jewell Trail and over. At ground level, there was only a few inches of snow, and the Jewell Trail was an absolute highway. No winds down below, but as we were about to top out, we could feel it. So right before above treeline, we donned our parkas and put on our goggles, but the weird thing was it wasn't cold. Like, just not at all. The sun would poke through every now and then, and make things positively warm, and in spots there were puddles of water on the ground. I never used the goggled, but they helped keep the jacket's hood on, folks with eye glasses said the goggles kept their glasses from fogging.

We went over to Jefferson, and maybe halfway there, the aspect was such that we were out of the wind, and we all took our parkas off(!) We just hiked in thin jackets. Once on Jefferson, we were back in the wind again, and once again suited up.

It was quite...odd. It's just not what winter is supposed to be. Very little snow, and we all wore microspikes or hybrid-crampons from start to finish.

For the way back, we decided to go down the Caps Ridge Trail. High up was pleasant, and the trail was relatively easy to follow, and we saw indications of a set of footprints, although the trail was certainly not broken out.

Below the bottom Cap, it might have made sense to put on snowshoes (not so much for postholing, but for ease of walking), but we wanted to get off the mountain, as we had not been moving quickly. Again, we saw a set of footprints (maybe two, but I think only one). A member of the group had brought a saw, and while the other three of us continued down, he cleared four blowdowns and still caught us at the parking lot.

The Jefferson Road had unconsolidated snow on it, and the walking certainly could have been easier. The gate was open, but we saw just one set of tire tracks. There were footprints on the Boundary Trail, and it was very easy to follow, but, as was said above, it was wet in spots, and we punched through (the three inches of snow and ice) at times. All in all, and easy trail to follow.

I have to say, it was far easier going up and over from Jewell than dealing with Caps Ridge. Even with the extra distance and elevation, moving over packed down trail is just so much easier than breaking, especially on a challenging trail like Caps Ridge. If one can't handle the winds going from Jewell, you aren't going to be able to handle them any other way either. Although shorter, it was by far more work than simply returning via the ridge and Jewell.

That being said, I think we all enjoyed going down the trail, with the challenges it posed. At times, the clouds parted, and we enjoyed some nice views.

Thank you for all the feedback. I greatly enjoyed the company yesterday, and it was far more fun, and certainly miles safer, than it would have been going alone.

At one point high up on the Jewell Trail, we saw an individual behind us, but he didn't appear to follow. I have a hard time imagining someone tried to do Washington yesterday, given the forecast, but I don't know.

Brian
 
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Monday night, I checked the MWOB high peaks forecast, and it wasn't great: Winds around 65mph, but decreasing over the day. I got up at 2am, departing Middletown, CT just after 3am, and the four hour drive was uneventful. I can go up either I-91 or I-84/20/290/I-93, and opted for the latter just because it breaks up the drive a bit.

At some point after 6am, I pulled over and checked the new Observatory forecast, and it was horrific: winds 65-75mph, gusting to 85. Dropping later to mid-50s. It was 65mph at that moment. I figured today wasn't going to be the day, but my mentor used to say, "Go until you have to turn around."

I arrived in the Ammonusuc Ravine parking lot at 7:15am, expecting it to be empty, but no, there were several empty cars and two folks standing outside. I got out and said hello, and a gent said, "Are you ready to climb Jefferson?" A bit surprised, I said yes, only to learn he thought I was someone else! I asked if I could join, and they looked at each other, kind of shrugged, and said yes.

They had used a different program to look at the weather for Jefferson, which was better, and we decided to go up the Jewell Trail and over. At ground level, there was only a few inches of snow, and the Jewell Trail was an absolute highway. No winds down below, but as we were about to top out, we could feel it. So right before above treeline, we donned our parkas and put on our goggles, but the weird thing was it wasn't cold. Like, just not at all. The sun would poke through every now and then, and make things positively warm, and in spots there were puddles of water on the ground. I never used the goggled, but they helped keep the jacket's hood on, folks with eye glasses said the goggles kept their glasses from fogging.

We went over to Jefferson, and maybe halfway there, the aspect was such that we were out of the wind, and we all took our parkas off(!) We just hiked in thin jackets. Once on Jefferson, we were back in the wind again, and once again suited up.

It was quite...odd. It's just not what winter is supposed to be. Very little snow, and we all wore microspikes or hybrid-crampons from start to finish.

For the way back, we decided to go down the Caps Ridge Trail. High up was pleasant, and the trail was relatively easy to follow, and we saw indications of a set of footprints, although the trail was certainly not broken out.

Below the bottom Cap, it might have made sense to put on snowshoes (not so much for postholing, but for ease of walking), but we wanted to get off the mountain, as we had not been moving quickly. Again, we saw a set of footprints (maybe two, but I think only one). A member of the group had brought a saw, and while the other three of us continued down, he cleared four blowdowns and still caught us at the parking lot.

The Jefferson Road had unconsolidated snow on it, and the walking certainly could have been easier. The gate was open, but we saw just one set of tire tracks. There were footprints on the Boundary Trail, and it was very easy to follow, but, as was said above, it was wet in spots, and we punched through (the three inches of snow and ice) at times. All in all, and easy trail to follow.

I have to say, it was far easier going up and over from Jewell than dealing with Caps Ridge. Even with the extra distance and elevation, moving over packed down trail is just so much easier than breaking, especially on a challenging trail like Caps Ridge. If one can't handle the winds going from Jewell, you aren't going to be able to handle them any other way either. Although shorter, it was by far more work than simply returning via the ridge and Jewell.

That being said, I think we all enjoyed going down the trail, with the challenges it posed. At times, the clouds parted, and we enjoyed some nice views.

Thank you for all the feedback. I greatly enjoyed the company yesterday, and it was far more fun, and certainly miles safer, than it would have been going alone.

At one point high up on the Jewell Trail, we saw an individual behind us, but he didn't appear to follow. I have a hard time imagining someone tried to do Washington yesterday, given the forecast, but I don't know.

Brian
Well done. That is a long day especially if you drove home afterwards.
 
Day hikers from CT are a hearty breed. :) 18-22 hour days are pretty routine.

Road warrior mentality. I lived even farther South into my early 20's and started driving North on my own when I was 17-18 years old. Much of the time at night as the roads were less busy. Which made the driving much of the time easier. Not that there wasn't some epic stories I could tell. Back in '75 or so driving the Kanc was interesting much of the time. I remember driving multiple times on the Kanc from Lincoln to Conway or visa versa in a snowstorm and maybe seeing one other vehicle and that was usually a logging truck. Coming out of the woods after 4 or 5 days and finding your car totally buried in snow was a real joy too.
 
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