Outdoor Diversion: Hiking Up Into Spring On Mount Jackson

After a weekend of frigid windchills and reading trail reports of deep snow and summit attempts I decided to postpone my hiking. A check of the forecast on Monday indicated beautiful weather for Tuesday with lots of sunshine and tolerable temps. My hike today would take me up the Webster-Jackson Trail to the Mt Jackson Branch and onto the summit of Mount Jackson (4,052'). Trail reports indicated this was well broke out. With today being the vernal equinox I would be hiking up in Winter and descending in Spring. I have already hiked this summit in Winter but needed it for March.

It was a cold, brisk morning as I was leaving the house. The scenery on my drive to the trailhead was spectacular. There was brilliant sunshine with snow-capped summits against a deep blue sky and not a cloud to be seen anywhere. The weather was certainly cooperating so far and I was hoping it would continue until I reached the summit.

I arrived at the parking lot on Route 302 around 9:15 and was the first one there. Another vehicle pulled in just after me then a third one. I was faced with the usual dilemma of what traction to wear. Knowing that the trail had been broke out I was thinking maybe parts had been blown back in by the wind from previous days. I decided to go with snowshoes.

The snowbank beside the road was piled high but had been broken through and I was soon on my way. The trail was broken and well packed with just a little loose snow. The snowshoes were a good choice but microspikes would probably have worked just as well. I had Hillsound Trail Pro crampons in my pack. There was a lot of snow and I was hiking in a well worn snow trench that was one to three feet deep. It was plenty wide for the snowshoes and it was a pleasant hike up.

The water crossings were buried in deep snow and had solid snow bridges over them. It would be difficult if not impossible to know they were water crossings if I had not been here before. On the upper part of the Mt Jackson Branch just before reaching the summit ledges there is a series of small ledges that usually require hand holds. Today they were easily walked up with little indication that they were even below the snow.

At the start of the summit ledges I changed to my Hillsound Trail Pro crampons. I preferred to walk around the summit without snowshoes although it would have been just as easy hiking up with either type of traction. The wind was howling and I added another layer. The views were spectacular as I made my way to the top. I had the summit to myself. This would not be a day for lingering and basking in the sun. There was a cold wind blowing. I got my photos and video and began my descent at 12:15 PM, the start of Spring.

It was an easy and quick descent with the trail crampons. I met many hikers on their way up. Most were wearing snowshoes and some with microspikes. Bare booting would've been tough in the loose snow and quite slippery in the steeper sections of the trail. There was no postholing in the middle of the trail but a step to the side was a different story. A hiker saw me coming and stepped to the side of the trail and instantly sank to his waist. There is a lot of snow in the woods!

When I reached the trail junction to Mt Webster Branch I decided to drop down to Silver Cascade to see what that looked like. There was a few old tracks and even fewer as I got down to the cascade. It was tough going as I sank down to my knees. Just before I got to the water crossing I sank down to my waist and was still sinking until my backpack stopped me from going further. That was very unnerving!

Silver Cascade was completely buried in snow. Beyond this point the trail to Mount Webster was not broken out. That will have to be for some other hiker or hikers to break out. A few photos and I was ready to get out of there. I managed to roll out of the hole I was in and crawled on hands and knees back up the trail to where I could stand. It was a short walk to the trail junction and I was back on solid snow.

It was a quick hike down to the trailhead from here. When I got back to the trailhead I noticed the snowbank beside the road was higher and the passage through it was no longer there. A plow truck had come by and winged it back. With the amount of hikers behind me I'm sure it was be broken out by the end of the day.

Spring has arrived but make no mistake, it is mid-winter conditions up here in the White Mountains!

Enjoy the photos and video!