Mount Jefferson

Trail: Caps Ridge Trail, Jefferson Loop, Gulfside, Edmands Col Cutoff, Randolph Path, The Cornice, Castle Trail, The Link

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail

“This was an interesting day nice weather, wild fire smoke and then big wind, hail and rain. We decided to do trail work clearing the nearly completely grown in Edmands Col Cutoff. Hike up Caps was good, rocks dry and the sky was weird with haze sometimes the sun would come out and then it was gray and weird. We saw a few dozen people up and over Jefferson, people making their way to Lakes of the Clouds from Madison hut too. The trail is now clear from the Col for about 600 feet. The spring was running well. The trail is overgrown the footbed in not visible, thankfully some big rocky areas give a hiker a moment out of the scrub. We dreamed of making it to the scree field but that is going to take another 2 or 3 hours to get it done. Everything was dandy and we were watching the weather and made the decision to leave to get back by 3. Well no surprise weather arrived early and we were on The Cornice when it hit and hit hard. 50mph gusts and steady hard rain starting with hail and then rain, it was difficult to and we questioned what kind of idiots would go hiking in this weather. Instinctively we headed down Castel Trail to get the heck below treeline asap. Castle Trail and The Link were in nice condition and under the tree cover we still often found dry rock. We were happy to see that The Link is being well cared for (this was our first trail recovery clearing project we did together). It was dark in the trees. Back at the car we were glad we had towels and a change of clothes. We carpooled together from Cannon's Peabody Lodge parking lot and upon our return we discovered that the Cannonball Pub is open friday thru Sunday. We made it inside just before last call at 5 pm! What a day in the mountains.”

Trail: Caps Ridge Trail, Gulfside, Westside Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant

“When a friend asks you to join them for a special anniversary to mark exactly one year since they hiked their first 4K in the Whites, you always say yes. We put together a plan to grab Jefferson for my G2 and then make our way over to Monroe for his anniversary hike but bypass Washington because I was dying to check out the Westside trail. It was a most excellent plan. Caps Ridge was dry for our ascent. The winds really picked up at the summit and it began to rain. We said goodbye to 2 of our crew at that point and the 3 of us continued on. Gulfside was mostly dry as the rain was light and the rocks were still grippy. By the time we hit the Sphinx Col, the rocks were wet. We were cautious ascending and going around Clay. The rain stopped again as we reached the Westside Trail junction. This was the jewel of the day. We saw no one and the views were endless and the winds were enough to push us around without knocking us sideways. Once we reached Crawford Path the rain began again and the trails were much busier. The footing was still good and there were only a few slips on the wet rocks. We quickly grabbed Monroe with a stop at the hut. The rain picked up again as we descended Monroe and by the time we were headed down Ammo, it was raining harder and everything was very wet. The rocks and slab were super slippery and required careful footing and slow going. We made it the Gem Pool in one piece. The remaining portion of Ammo to the parking lot was a mud fest. The mud was deep in places and incredibly slick. We all agreed we missed the old Ammo trail a lot today. The re-route has terrible footing and seems to take forever. Fortunately the company was great and we laughed and told stories and it was a great day despite the tough conditions and the weather. I am so grateful for good friends who can embrace the suck for these kind of days.”

Trail: Castle Ravine Trail, Castle Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable

“Very foggy and windy near summit late morning, but eventually became clear and sunny by early afternoon. Chilly on summit with high winds and temperatures in the mid to high thirties. Saw total of about ten other hikers above tree-line over the course of the day.”