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| Mt. Jefferson Summit Cone, with Washington in Distance |
Last September, our best laid plans for a
hut-to-hut traverse of the Presidential Range summits were washed out by horrendous weather. One year later, my brother and I decided to take advantage of a super forecast for Columbus Day weekend and finally tackle Mount Jefferson. He'd tried unsuccessfully twice before; I'd tried it once. So we were both eager to make it happen once and for all.
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| Day Break on Caps Ridge Trail |
We chose the Caps Ridge Trail, the shortest route to Mount Jefferson. Despite the minimal mileage, the age old adage of there being no "easy" 4,000 footers held true. Covering only five miles round trip, one still needs to negotiate the so-called "Caps," three lichen-encrusted rock outcroppings that require sure footing and hand-over-hand scrambling. Our hour of departure - daybreak - meant that we would also have to deal with slippery frost on the summit boulders.
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| The Caps and Jefferson Summit, from VCD Rock |
We made quick work of the lower reaches of the trail, where it ambles through low pines and soon opens to a picturesque boulder overlook with vistas up to the summit. We named it "VCD rock," as we had picked up sandwiches from
Vermont Country Deli the day before and the boulder would serve as our lunch spot on the descent. Next up, clambering over the caps.
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| APC Ascending the Caps |
Once above treeline, the decent weather afforded splendid views of the just-past-peak foliage and the higher summits of the Presidential Range and beyond. The cog railway and garish, red-and-white-painted Omni Hotel at Bretton Woods also feature prominently on the landscape.
Too bad for that.
The wind had picked up by the time we reached the frost-encrusted summit boulders, so we only stayed for a few minutes. While enjoying our thermos-full-of-coffee break, two hikers with three dogs arrived at the summit. One of the dogs, a feeble greyhound, followed its master up to the true summit and found himself stuck and unable to turn around. Shivering from the cold and whimpering from its precarious position, the poor animal's fear and awkwardness will forever be burned into my mind when I think of Mt. Jefferson.
Does the ASPCA have a North Country mountain chapter?
Peak: Mount Jefferson
Elevation: 5,716 feet (Gain: 2,700 feet)
Distance: 5 miles
Route: Up and back, Caps Ridge Trail
Conditions: Partly Sunny, 35 degrees F
