Mount Jackson (4052')

Overview:

Amy, Tim, and I (no Leela!) climbed Mount Jackson (4052') starting from Route 302 via the Webster-Jackson Trail (retracing our steps to get back):

• TIME: 4 hours, 40 minutes (with breaks)
• DISTANCE: 5.2 miles (round trip)
• ELEVATION GAIN: 2,150 feet
• DATE: 7/3/2011

Here's an interactive Google Map I made of the trails we used.  Routes and distances are approximate (I did them freehand while looking at a topo map).  Note that I did not bother to show intersections; the trail was easy to follow.  The map is fun to view in Earth mode (will require plugin).


View Mount Jackson in a larger map

Trail Conditions:
The trail was fairly wet and often muddy, even before it rained. Though this hike was short, it was made somewhat difficult with the fairly steep sections and lots of rocks/boulders to deal with along the way. The last segment to reach the summit on this trail was a bit tricky, forcing us to pause and calculate good ways to navigate up the rocks. It started raining on our way up, so coming back down required some more attention, but I suppose we were being overly careful. The brook crossings were some of the easiest we've encountered.

Comments and Photos: 
Unlike our last hike up Isolation, this hike was very short (our shortest 4k so far). We were originally planning to loop over to Webster to make it more substantial and provide new, different views, but the rain made us reconsider and we headed back into the woods for cover. And even though it was a short hike in comparison with all other 4ks we've done, it was still a good, tough day out.

Trail was immediately steep, and climbed continually almost the whole time.

The only significant crossing, and it was easy.

Junction to go up Jackson or Webster (and continue on to other points).

Thought we were almost done, but we had about 45 minutes to go I think.

The final push was even steeper than it looks here.

It was raining!  But the views weren't really that bad.

Looking East from the summit of Mount Jackson

For a little while, we could see Mount Washington easily.

Someone left this on the summit cairn.

Headed back down in the rain.

Amy was trucking ahead of us the whole way down like a pro.

Elephant Head is right off of 302 off of the Webster-Jackson Trail.  A 0.2 mile hike that we should do someday.

Final Thoughts
This is a relatively short hike that I feel like the general population can enjoy, and get some fairly difficult climbing under their belt without being stuck in the woods all day.  It confirmed that all of the Presidentials have great views for me, and I'm excited to do more!  Plus, being on the trails that would be used for the end of a Presidential traverse planted that idea in my head again.  The rain was kind of a bummer, and our bags are still drying out in this humid weather, but hey, it's just water.