Hitting the Trails: 10/27/2013 Mount Jefferson

Sunday 10/27/2013

Mount Jefferson

Castle Trail / Israel Ridge Trail / Castle Ravine Trail / Randolph Path / Gulfside Trail / Jefferson Loop Trail / Mount Jefferson / Castle Ridge Trail / Castle Trail

After spending last Sunday taking in the views of Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson from the summit of Mount Adams, I decided to check out Jefferson via one of my favorite round trip routes. Arrived at the trail head for the Castle Trail off of Route 2 around 7:30am with temperatures in the upper 30s. The small parking area was surprisingly full and I surmised there must be some overnighters parked there. Started the trek in with a few layers, but no hat or gloves or heavy layers needed at the start. The trail passes through a clearing and intersects with the first of many water crossings on the way up. The "official" water crossing is a few hundred feet ahead, but I chose to cross sooner in a spot that kept my feet nice and dry. The most challenging part of this hike is to keep your feet dry over the water crossings so that once you hit the higher elevations and the snow, your feet will stay comfortable. I didn't have my winter Asolo boots on this one, but opted for my GoreTex Patagonia hiking shoes. I had plenty of extra dry socks, but was making every effort to avoid wet shoes.

Before long, the junction with Israel Ridge Path veers to the right. I smelled a fire going (maybe the best smell ever) and spotted a campsite set up a little further off the Castle Trail. I take Israel Ridge to link up the the Castle Ravine Trail. This is really one of my favorite routes. The trail doesn't get much foot traffic and has some interesting challenges and nice views.

A few water crossings on Israel Ridge before I link up with Castle Ravine. Some snow flurries start to fall along the way. I really enjoy this trail. There are many water crossings and most of them are fairly manageable with a high probability of dry feet. Every water crossing requires some scouting ahead to pick up the trail on the other side. A few crossings are fairly close together, but most of the crossings are marked with small white square signs bearing "PATH" or a directional arrow. When in doubt, keep your eyes open for a yellow blaze. The last time I came up this trail during March (?) of 2013, there was plenty of snow on the trail about half way up. Today, the trail remained relatively snow free in the forest, although some snow was observed in the woods.

The last two water crossings require extra care over huge piles of debris which have settled in the stream bed. I imagine this debris pile of dead trees, etc. was formed during Hurricane Irene. Almost as soon as you make the first crossing, you recrossed another debris pile a couple of hundred feet further up. After this, the trail steeply climbs a very wet, slippery section of rocks. The trail will eventually open up into a large clearing of boulders. The first time I did this trail a few years ago, visibility was limited and I continued straight up the boulder field and after gaining hundreds of feet of elevation, I realized I was not on the trail. It turns out the trail hugs the right side of the boulder field once you hit the clearing. Today, the cairns marking the way were easily spotted as the clouds were not in the valley.

The temperature had been steadily dropping as I continued climbing and the wind had picked up, so I added some layers to include a windbreaker, gloves and a hat. The snow had accumulated on most of the boulders, but there was no ice to worry about. The trail will re-enter the trees for a whole as you keep gaining elevation. There was plenty of snow up here and visibility started to drop. The trail continues up rocks and boulders that are covered in snow. Keep your eyes peeled for fairly large orange crosses painted on the boulders marking the way. The trail will level off for a bit into a wide open clearing called the "?". Back in March, this section was very slick and was completely covered with slippery, slightly melting ice, which required micro spikes or crampons to ascend. Today, there was plenty of snow, but no ice to contend with.

I have made the mistake to keep climbing to the right once you reach this point, but the trail continues straight for a bit on level ground until you reach a trail sign indicating a junction with The Cornice and Randolph Path. When visibility is clear it's pretty obvious, but when you reach this point in low visibility with snow and/or ice covering everything, it's easy to start heading the wrong way or wondering which way to go.

Today, I decided to take Randolph Path to Edmonds Col to link up with the Gulfside Trail. I encountered a lot of fresh snow on the trail at Gulfside and the trees flanking the trail were sagging under the weight of the snow covering the branches. I hit the junction with the Jefferson Loop Trail and started the final push towards the summit.

Visibility went from fair to poor and it was hard to see more than 15 feet in any direction. I was able to follow the cairns for most of the ascent, but with a few hundred feet to go, I knew I had lost the path. I could see some elevation ahead of me, which I headed towards. Once I reached this point, I knew I was off trail and I figured the trail must have veered off slightly to the right. After checking my GPS, I confirmed the summit was about 200-300 feet to my right. I started heading that way and was right on top of the trail signs near the summit before I saw them. I made the final climb to the summit with no visibility and spotted a couple of people climbing up the summit from the opposite direction. We briefly waved to each other and then I headed back down off the summit. There is a huge cairn here that provides a nice view of Mount Washington, but not today.

I started my descent down the Castle Ridge Trail. The descent took extra care as the trail was a combination of rock hopping with just enough snow covering to make everything potentially slick. Visibility was still just fair at best, but picking out the cairns ahead was fairly easy. Soon the journey over the three "castles" began. This is a really cool part of the trail where you traverse up and down three distinct rock formations that resemble the top of a castle. After the last castle, it's soon time to get back into the woods. Just before heading below tree line, there was a brief clearing in the skies, but more clouds were approaching. Eventually the trail lost the snow and I was back on a crunchy pile of leaves. With about 3 miles to go, some light hail started to fall, which turned over into snow, which was coming down pretty good for a while. Made it back to the trailhead at Bowman Road ready for a hot cup of coffee for the ride home.