A Lovely Christmas Hike on Jackson

[LRiz]

We arrived. We climbed the mountain. We left.

Just kidding... Well, technically we did, but there's quite a bit more to the story and I shall relay it to you all in detail below.

After a late night spent watching season 3 of the Office, procrastinating on my packing, and (for the most part) being thoroughly unproductive, I woke up about 45 minutes later than anticipated - at around 5am this morning. Slightly stressed, I bounded through the shower, rather haphazardly shoved my gear into my truck, and took off down the driveway. About 10 minutes into my drive, disaster struck - I realized that I'd forgotten my 4-pack of SF Red Bull at home. This left me in a bit of a dilemma... but instead of turning around to retrieve it, I opted to continue on my way, naively thinking that I'd be able to stop at a Dunkin Donuts along the road to feed my caffeine addiction. Of course, every single one that I passed was closed! This made for very rough going during my first hour on route 93. Fortunately, I found a place in Tilton that was open and sold SF Red Bull. Two cans later, I was ready to rock.

I arrived at the Highland Center a little before 8. As I pulled into a parking space, I noticed that Rocket's truck already parked ouside. Fantastic! I did not know that he had planned on accompanying us. The winds were howling as I walked up to the building, and I became extremely cold quite quickly. Heading into the dining room, I quickly spotted Rocket and Geri finishing off their breakfast. Bob soon joined us, and within 10 minutes we were outside and on our way.

Upon arriving at the trailhead, we bundled up, put on our snowshoes, and... let out collective sighs of relief after seeing that the trail appeared to be broken out! Rocket took the lead, and within minutes was far ahead of the group. We soon passed the spur path to Elephant Head (which was unbroken), and shortly after started climbing along the side of the river. The conditions underfoot were for the most part excellent. Nevertheless, I felt slow and rather ungraceful on my snowshoes, which irked me for a little while...

The windy conditions were tough on all of us After a brief side trip to Bugle Rock, Bob and Geri decided to turn back, since Bob is currently recovering from a cold. They encouraged me and Rocket to continue along the trail, and let us know about an interesting viewpoint that we could stop at during our ascent. We were both sad to see them go.

Continuing on our way, we soon reached the first water crossing. Slush coated both sides of the stream, and it was necessary for Rocket to cut out a step using his mountaineering axe. Sheltered from the wind, we steadily made our way up the trail, which was still packed out and lovely to ascend. Rocket was kind enough to slow his pace to accomodate my own, which made for a very pleasant and leisurely climb and enabled me to take in the beauty of the forest surrounding us.

Soon, the summit of Jackson was visible through the trees... so wonderfully close! Upon reaching the bottom of the ledges, we removed our snowshoes/backpacks and put on our face protection and microspikes in preparation for the summit push.

Once we hit treeline, the winds bore down on us almost instantaneously, so fierce and strong that I found myself pinned to the ledges on more than one occasion. The scrambles were surprisingly not bad - Microspikes were more than able to handle the ice and hard-packed snow. Fueled on by adrenaline, I pressed on, the winds beating around me relentlessly, the clouds flying across the sky in every which way... It was surreal, intense, exhilarating.

Upon reaching the summit cairn, I let out a few silly yelps of joy and bent down so that Rocket could take a picture for me. The views to the north soon opened up, and we were greeted by the welcome sight of Eisenhower peeping through the clouds. Underneath the ridiculous face mask of mine, I simply couldn't stop smiling. Snapping picture after picture (of essentially the same view ), I felt as if I could stay up there for hours.

A tap on my shoulder from Rocket brought me back to my senses. We made our way back to the Webster Cliff trail junction, and then cautiously began to descend the ledges. Once again, the micros more than held up to the challenge. Within no time at all, we'd reached the sheltered spot in which we had stored our gear. Upon removing our face protection/microspikes and putting on our snowshoes, we set off down the trail and were soon sheltered by the trees.

During our descent, Rocket stopped frequently to cut up blowdowns and clear up the trail. On one such occasion, we had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful little Gray Jay that was patient enough to pose for pictures as I ogled over him... He perched on my hand for a second or two as I fed him some bread, which was hugely exciting for me, seeing as I'd never seen a Gray Jay up close before.

As we continued on our way, I started to feel considerably more comfortable about my snowshoeing abilities, and - gasp - actually had fun sliding, running, and bounding down the trail! Surprisingly, I was still a bundle of energy, especially considering that my caffeine intake for the day had been so unusually low. As I'm sure you can imagine, we reached the trailhead in no time at all. Walking back to our trucks, gray sky gave way to brilliant hues of blue... and the winds subsided substantially. Go figure.

All in all, it was simply a fantastic day. Great peak, good weather, and more than excellent company. In all honesty, I could not have asked for a better way to spend my Christmas. Thank you to Jeremy, Bob, and Geri for sharing the experience with me. I can't wait to hike with you all again.

Here are a five of my favorite pictures from the hike. I promise to post a few more once I've had time to resize them:

Rocket approaching Jackson as the summit looms ahead of us


My third winter 4k!


The clouds broke to reveal glimpses of Eisenhower


Webster Cliff trail junction


My new friend the Gray Jay

[TrishandAlex]

Larisa,

Awesome, wonderful TR and pictures. I so admire your strength, determination and gusto.

Congratulations on your third winter 4K -- three winter 4Ks in five days, on your first year hiking the Whites in winter -- not too shabby!

Keep it up, you're an inspiration.

[the_swede]

Originally Posted by LRiz

About 10 minutes into my drive, disaster struck - I realized that I'd forgotten my 4-pack of SF Red Bull at home. This left me in a bit of a dilemma... but instead of turning around to retrive it, I opted to continue on my way, naively thinking that I'd be able to stop at a Dunkin Donuts along the road to feed my caffeine addiction.

Oh no! I know exactly how you feel. Though I'm not a fan of Red Bull, about a half liter of coffee is always necessary before trekking out into the woods. If the hike is long enough, I'll bring a thermos of it.

Looks like a nice way to spend Christmas.

[UNFROZENCAVEMAN]

Great writeup!

Keep knocking 'em off, you'll be done in no time

[NewHampshire]

I remember doing Jackson last year just before the official winter season. It was a last minute kind of decision, one of those "well, Jackson denied us views the first time, lets go again!" Well, for last minute, no announcement, we sure did get a surprise as we ran into Tom and Laurie Rankin, John and June a.k.a. J&J, and Sherpa John and Adamiata. How is THAT for "it's a small world afterall"!?

Brian

[wardsgirl]

Great trip report! And thank you both so much for taking care of those Southern Presie blowdowns!

[MadRiver]

Nice report. I guess Jeremy's mission this winter is to help people get to the summit. Since the Isolation hike is cancelled, you might want to do the Hancocks on Saturday.

[rocket21]

Originally Posted by MadRiver

I guess Jeremy's mission this winter is to help people get to the summit.

My mission this winter is to become a professional Bill Cosby impersonator. So far, I'm not doing too well at it.

[1HappyHiker]

A well-written TR with lots of zest & passion! Good job!

[The Hikers]

I loved that report. We have been there in a snow squall where we had to scrape off the sign to read it. A thrilling and beautiful mountain.

[Amicus]

Originally Posted by LRiz

Rocket took the lead, and within minutes was far ahead of the group.

While his Cosby imitation is truly lame, he's the Energizer Bunny when you get him on a trail.

Thanks for the entertaining account of what sounds like a fun hike.

[rocket21]

Originally Posted by Amicus

While his Cosby imitation is truly lame

Hey now! I'm still working on it!