BIGEarl
Well-known member
January 15, 2011: Jackson and Cannon
Trails: Two Hikes…
Jackson: Webster-Jackson Trail
Cannon: Kinsman Ridge Trail
Summits: Jackson
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Jackson:
Planning to complete two hikes we needed and early start to our day. Sue and I met early at the Park & Ride and made it to the Highland Center around 6:30am. While we were there we ran into Mike Lynch (aka Sirdar) with plans to hike Washington and Monroe with some friends. After a quick stop for final hike prep we relocated to the trailhead lot for the Webster-Jackson Trail, grabbed our things, and set off. The sky was clear, wind was calm, and the official temperature at the local NWS reporting station showed -12 degrees (the truck showed -4). Brisk!
We started out on snowshoes and stayed that way for the full hike. The day before, Bryan Cuddihee and a friend broke out the trail to the summit. They left a terrific snowshoe track to follow. It only needed a little grooming and packing. The conditions kept us moving but I think both Sue and I went through a longer-than-usual warm-up for the hike. By the time we reached the spur to Bugle Cliff we were both up-to-temperature and comfortably making our way through the hike. The trees were loaded with the snow from Wednesday’s storm. We had a beautiful environment to walk through on our way to Jackson.
We passed the Webster-Jackson trail split and were still hiking in the shade patiently waiting for the sun to get a little higher in the sky. From the trail split to the summit there are a few extended steep pitches and we were going through the process of raising and dropping our televators as we climbed.
Roughly a half mile below the summit another hiker passed on the same hike plan. He was on what appeared to be 36 inch snowshoes and doing a very nice job smoothing the trail. We made a brief stop for Sue to pull out warmer hand gear and a face mask. During the stop the first of several Gray Jays arrived. They stayed with us to the summit. Roughly .2 miles from the summit, the solo hiker passed again on his descent. We finished the climb on snowshoes and had no real problems with the final section on the ledges. Be careful, the place is getting loaded with ice, which is usually not considered good snowshoe conditions.
Half-way up the ledge we stopped to enjoy the views and Sue decided to make friends with the gray jays that were traveling with us. Eventually, the package of crackers was gone and we continued to the summit. The conditions were outstanding; still a clear sky, very light breeze, and cold - but the sun really helped. Evidently, good news travels fast. Soon, there were at least four gray jays fighting for position. We got our usual summit pictures and some very nice view pictures before stopping to enjoy the jays. While the cameras were out the jays sat patiently in the scrub surrounding the summit clearing. Sue pulled out more crackers and I did too. The jays jumped into action. Having a bird sitting on your hand and trying to see how much broken cracker can fit in its mouth is entertaining. We dropped quite a supply of cracker bits on the ground and eventually that was the birds’ focus. There was more entertainment in the fighting that started by birds wanting to take it all for themselves.
We enjoyed the views, fed the birds, and it was time to go. Leaving is always more difficult, especially from Jackson. We made our way off the summit ledges and were able to get past the sections of ice and stay upright at all times. Not bad!
The exit hike was completely uneventful, except for meeting more than forty others headed for the summit. They were all on snowshoes! There wasn’t a barebooter in all of the people we met. We made our way back to the trailhead, quickly packed our things into the truck, and set off for Cannon via the Highland Center.
Cannon:
At Cannon we found the main lot jammed with cars. We parked on the road near the base of the tram. While we were getting our things together for hike #2, Ed Hawkins and his army arrived. They started the day hiking Cannon via Kinsman Ridge Trail. There were roughly sixteen in the group and some appeared to have put in a full day. I’m sure breaking out the Kinsman Ridge Trail from the tram lot to the summit was a lot of work, even for a group that big. Lots of familiar faces were in the group and we stopped to visit for a while before starting our climb.
As expected, the trail was a superhighway, to start. We were on snowshoes right from the truck. We started into the climb and soon had the televators up. Cannon is a short hike but it’s very steep for much of the distance. In my opinion, the heel lifts make climbing a trail like Kinsman Ridge Trail in winter easier than in summer, as long as there is no significant ice. We had virtually no ice to deal with. On our climb we met a few others on their descent. The last of the bunch was a short distance below the point where the Kinsman Ridge Trail leaves Kinsman Glade. He expressed concern that we were headed for the summit. He cautioned us about high wind, blowing snow, and deteriorating conditions.
We continued to the spur junction that leads to Cannon Cliffs. At that point the wind became very obvious. Also, we didn’t bother heading to Cannon Cliffs because visibility was also gone and there would be no views. As we made our hike from the spur junction to the open section below the summit there was no view of the summit tower or the section of mountain below it. The snow was increasing and as we started to break out of the scrub the wind was blowing hard from the southeast.
One of the first casualties of the conditions was the trail; it was completely drifted in and there was no sign of it as we left the scrub. The drifts we were working through were in many cases hip-deep. The blowing snow and ice made it very difficult to see and painful. Sue was first to pull out the goggles and then I followed. We were adequately protected from the wind and blowing snow/ice but visibility was down to roughly fifty yards (when it opened up) and our own tracks lasted for only a few minutes before being drifted in and obscured, and daylight was falling with darkness arriving soon. Suddenly, we were enjoying unpleasant conditions. The topic of u-turn came up more than once while we searched for the way up. The drifts were really beating us up, dropping off the side of large boulders into even deeper snow made the situation worse, even small spruce traps were out to get us. Finally, we were singing the same tune together; turn around.
I estimate we made the u-turn roughly a quarter mile from the summit but don’t really know for sure. We were close. The reverse hike back into the sheltered trail was more of a test. The drifting made trail finding extremely difficult but we were able to make it back to the hole in the trees and onto a well-defined trail corridor. In the short period of time we were working on the final section to the summit, the broken trail had received roughly two inches of new snow. The snowshoe track was still obvious but there was no sign of recent traffic, not even ours.
We kept moving wanting to get out of the wind. We continued to be hit hard by wind and blowing snow/ice all of the way across to the spur to Cannon Cliffs. From there we gradually worked our way down into a more sheltered condition and we were only dealing with a steady falling snow. We carefully made our way back down through the Kinsman Glade section and the lower Kinsman Ridge Trail. I think we were both happy to step into the small field at the base of the trail.
That was interesting. We’ll make a return trip to get the checkmark we left sitting on the summit – maybe later this week.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Two Hikes…
Jackson: Webster-Jackson Trail
Cannon: Kinsman Ridge Trail
Summits: Jackson
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Jackson:
Planning to complete two hikes we needed and early start to our day. Sue and I met early at the Park & Ride and made it to the Highland Center around 6:30am. While we were there we ran into Mike Lynch (aka Sirdar) with plans to hike Washington and Monroe with some friends. After a quick stop for final hike prep we relocated to the trailhead lot for the Webster-Jackson Trail, grabbed our things, and set off. The sky was clear, wind was calm, and the official temperature at the local NWS reporting station showed -12 degrees (the truck showed -4). Brisk!
We started out on snowshoes and stayed that way for the full hike. The day before, Bryan Cuddihee and a friend broke out the trail to the summit. They left a terrific snowshoe track to follow. It only needed a little grooming and packing. The conditions kept us moving but I think both Sue and I went through a longer-than-usual warm-up for the hike. By the time we reached the spur to Bugle Cliff we were both up-to-temperature and comfortably making our way through the hike. The trees were loaded with the snow from Wednesday’s storm. We had a beautiful environment to walk through on our way to Jackson.
We passed the Webster-Jackson trail split and were still hiking in the shade patiently waiting for the sun to get a little higher in the sky. From the trail split to the summit there are a few extended steep pitches and we were going through the process of raising and dropping our televators as we climbed.
Roughly a half mile below the summit another hiker passed on the same hike plan. He was on what appeared to be 36 inch snowshoes and doing a very nice job smoothing the trail. We made a brief stop for Sue to pull out warmer hand gear and a face mask. During the stop the first of several Gray Jays arrived. They stayed with us to the summit. Roughly .2 miles from the summit, the solo hiker passed again on his descent. We finished the climb on snowshoes and had no real problems with the final section on the ledges. Be careful, the place is getting loaded with ice, which is usually not considered good snowshoe conditions.
Half-way up the ledge we stopped to enjoy the views and Sue decided to make friends with the gray jays that were traveling with us. Eventually, the package of crackers was gone and we continued to the summit. The conditions were outstanding; still a clear sky, very light breeze, and cold - but the sun really helped. Evidently, good news travels fast. Soon, there were at least four gray jays fighting for position. We got our usual summit pictures and some very nice view pictures before stopping to enjoy the jays. While the cameras were out the jays sat patiently in the scrub surrounding the summit clearing. Sue pulled out more crackers and I did too. The jays jumped into action. Having a bird sitting on your hand and trying to see how much broken cracker can fit in its mouth is entertaining. We dropped quite a supply of cracker bits on the ground and eventually that was the birds’ focus. There was more entertainment in the fighting that started by birds wanting to take it all for themselves.
We enjoyed the views, fed the birds, and it was time to go. Leaving is always more difficult, especially from Jackson. We made our way off the summit ledges and were able to get past the sections of ice and stay upright at all times. Not bad!
The exit hike was completely uneventful, except for meeting more than forty others headed for the summit. They were all on snowshoes! There wasn’t a barebooter in all of the people we met. We made our way back to the trailhead, quickly packed our things into the truck, and set off for Cannon via the Highland Center.
Cannon:
At Cannon we found the main lot jammed with cars. We parked on the road near the base of the tram. While we were getting our things together for hike #2, Ed Hawkins and his army arrived. They started the day hiking Cannon via Kinsman Ridge Trail. There were roughly sixteen in the group and some appeared to have put in a full day. I’m sure breaking out the Kinsman Ridge Trail from the tram lot to the summit was a lot of work, even for a group that big. Lots of familiar faces were in the group and we stopped to visit for a while before starting our climb.
As expected, the trail was a superhighway, to start. We were on snowshoes right from the truck. We started into the climb and soon had the televators up. Cannon is a short hike but it’s very steep for much of the distance. In my opinion, the heel lifts make climbing a trail like Kinsman Ridge Trail in winter easier than in summer, as long as there is no significant ice. We had virtually no ice to deal with. On our climb we met a few others on their descent. The last of the bunch was a short distance below the point where the Kinsman Ridge Trail leaves Kinsman Glade. He expressed concern that we were headed for the summit. He cautioned us about high wind, blowing snow, and deteriorating conditions.
We continued to the spur junction that leads to Cannon Cliffs. At that point the wind became very obvious. Also, we didn’t bother heading to Cannon Cliffs because visibility was also gone and there would be no views. As we made our hike from the spur junction to the open section below the summit there was no view of the summit tower or the section of mountain below it. The snow was increasing and as we started to break out of the scrub the wind was blowing hard from the southeast.
One of the first casualties of the conditions was the trail; it was completely drifted in and there was no sign of it as we left the scrub. The drifts we were working through were in many cases hip-deep. The blowing snow and ice made it very difficult to see and painful. Sue was first to pull out the goggles and then I followed. We were adequately protected from the wind and blowing snow/ice but visibility was down to roughly fifty yards (when it opened up) and our own tracks lasted for only a few minutes before being drifted in and obscured, and daylight was falling with darkness arriving soon. Suddenly, we were enjoying unpleasant conditions. The topic of u-turn came up more than once while we searched for the way up. The drifts were really beating us up, dropping off the side of large boulders into even deeper snow made the situation worse, even small spruce traps were out to get us. Finally, we were singing the same tune together; turn around.
I estimate we made the u-turn roughly a quarter mile from the summit but don’t really know for sure. We were close. The reverse hike back into the sheltered trail was more of a test. The drifting made trail finding extremely difficult but we were able to make it back to the hole in the trees and onto a well-defined trail corridor. In the short period of time we were working on the final section to the summit, the broken trail had received roughly two inches of new snow. The snowshoe track was still obvious but there was no sign of recent traffic, not even ours.
We kept moving wanting to get out of the wind. We continued to be hit hard by wind and blowing snow/ice all of the way across to the spur to Cannon Cliffs. From there we gradually worked our way down into a more sheltered condition and we were only dealing with a steady falling snow. We carefully made our way back down through the Kinsman Glade section and the lower Kinsman Ridge Trail. I think we were both happy to step into the small field at the base of the trail.
That was interesting. We’ll make a return trip to get the checkmark we left sitting on the summit – maybe later this week.
Pictures will follow.
