Distance: 10 miles
Hikers: Vance and Quinn
4000 footer completion count: Eisenhower #11 (4,780 feet), Pierce #12 (4,310 feet), Jackson #13 (4,052 feet)
Lest I forget to mention it, Quinn's my hero! Friday night he had soccer practice followed by a late night game of neighborhood "Man Hunt." On Saturday morning he had a soccer game in some pretty brutal heat where he virtually ran non-stop for the entire game. He spent the afternoon swimming and waterskiing and then got up first thing in the morning eager to hike. Excellent job Quinn!
The starting point for our hike was at the Edmands parking lot on Mt. Clinton road. There's currently no sign for Mt. Clinton road on route 302, so I took a picture of the National Forest sign you'll see at the start of the road in case you're considering this hike:
Our route today was Edmands Path > Crawford Path [Eisenhower] > Crawford Path [Pierce] > Webster-Cliff [Jackson] > Webster-Jackson. I left a bike at the Highland Center so that I could retrieve my car from the Edmands lot when we finished the hike.
The southern Presidentials are glorious and we just had to take advantage of the amazing weather. It was a day made for hiking!
Early on in the trip, Quinn bumped into Inchy Mountain Climber. He was giving the trek up Eisenhower his best effort and we'd expect nothing less from Inchy!
Ahh, the sun was simply sublime as it shined down on us warming the cool morning mountain air.
Amazingly, I'd never hiked Edmands path on previous trips. It's an excellent trail. Under different circumstances, I think I would have done the trip in reverse and finished by going down Edmands path. It's likely a much friendlier trail than Webster-Jackson for descending.
Nearing the top of Eisenhower.
Eisenhower was the most crowded of the three peaks we visited. Given the weather and the breathtaking 360 degree views, it's not surprising why. We had a bite to eat, took in the surrounding views and we were on our way.
Quinn contemplates the beauty of his surroundings:
This way to Pierce!
Did I mention the weather was perfect??? Blue skies, great temps and minimal winds equals a great day on the trails.
We arrived at the summit of Pierce in no time at all. We shared some laughs with the good people on top and headed toward Mizpah Spring Hut.
There were some neat sets of stairs along the way.
We stopped in at Mizpah Spring Hut and had a look around. The place was mostly empty as the weather was just too nice to be indoors.
As we made our way toward Jackson, the landscape changed but the views back toward Washington remained spectacular.
Heavy rain on Saturday resulted in trails that were wet and muddy in sections. These little foot bridges were great for keeping out of the mud.
All kinds of beautiful rock formations.
We got to do a bit scrambling on the rocks which was a blast.
Jackson's peak offered more excellent views. We ran into a couple of boys Quinn's age that were working on the 4000 footers too and we chatted a bit about our adventures thus far.
Apparently, it's possible to get the Gray Jays on Jackson to feed from your hand. We had been hoping to do this but we didn't manage to pull it off.
The trip down the Webster-Jackson trail was especially steep at the top and the footing was tricky in spots. We eventually started hearing vehicles below on route 302 and made our way to the trail head. We excitedly ran together to the trail sign that marked the end of a trip across three revered peaks. We then walked up route 302 until we reached the Highland Center. We grabbed some cold drinks and Quinn hung out for a bit while I biked back to retrieve the car.
When I returned, we relaxed in the Adirondack chairs out front and enjoyed the surrounding mountains and warm sun. Then we packed up and headed over to the Ammonoosuc river for a refreshing swim. What an extraordinary day!!!
Quinn's Take
The weather was cool and sunny for our whole trip today. We started off on an easy trail and it gradually got steeper and steeper.
Overall, this hike was not even close to being as difficult as our Wildcat trip! My Dad and I met our new friend, Inchy the Mountain climber. He was an inch worm who was climbing up the mountain inch by inch!
Overall, this hike was not even close to being as difficult as our Wildcat trip! My Dad and I met our new friend, Inchy the Mountain climber. He was an inch worm who was climbing up the mountain inch by inch!
The views were amazing on this trail! We could see the Mt. Washington hotel.
At the top of Eisenhower, we had a great 360 view of mountains and lakes! This is where we saw the most hikers of the day.
We started our way up to Pierce. Pierce had some good views, too. Here we celebrated completing our 12th peak.
On the way up Jackson, we came across a hut where we saw a picture of some birds that are often seen at the top of Jackson. When we got to the top, we saw some of these birds and we tried to feed them some granola. No luck!
The steepest part of the hike was on the way down Jackson. I was really tired at this point!
At the end of the trail, we walked on the street to get to the AMC Highland Center. After my dad got the car, we drove to a nearby river to take a swim in the cold water.
I would recommend this hike because it has great views and it is not too difficult.
No comments:
Post a Comment