Monday, 14 August 2006
A bouldery climb early in the day
Chelsea's first 4K peak would have been Waumbek had we not encountered thunder when we attempted it some weeks ago. So, with Chelsea visiting for a couple days and a very favourable forecast we chose to hike the Webster-Jackson loop. Since clear skies and fairly low humidity were expected I figured we should try for some views. Nothing like sweeping mountain vistas to hook a kid on hiking...
A dry bit of ledge at a stream crossing
Since the loop is a pretty straightforward 6.5 miles I figured we could sleep in. We hit the trail at about 11 a.m. The trail climbed steadily from the beginning, sometimes over big chunky rocks but so far Chelsea didn't seem to mind. We had bypassed the spur to Elephant Head but since Bugle Cliff was not far off the trail we took our first break there while taking in a good look at the valley we'd recently started from. After chugging some water we resumed our hike and soon crossed Flume Cascade Brook on a flat ledge. From there it was a half mile more climbing, and sometimes descending, to the point where the Webster and Jackson branches split. We set out for Webster first, wanting to save the more open summit of Jackson for last. The trail descends STEEPLY over boulders to a crossing of the Silver Cascade Brook just below where a cascade drops into a lovely and inviting pool. We didn't swim today but did take some time to enjoy this beautiful spot. Chelsea had seen a picture of it in an earlier trip report of mine and was excited to view it in person. From the cascade to the ridge is a mile's steep grind. After an hour of huffing and puffing and stopping and drinking we came to the Webster Cliff trail which runs along the ridge connecting Mts Webster and Jackson. We took a well deserved break and drank some more water. The summit of Mr. Webster is 0.1 mile out of the way and Chelsea opted not to go for it today, figuring this was a big enough hike already.
Chelsea's first 4-k!
So, we set out on the ridge toward Mt. Jackson, 1.3 miles off. It is a wonderful ridge walk with very little loss of elevation before leveling off. Because it is on the flat side it is also quite moist making for lush vegetation and requiring many bog bridges. Along the way I encountered a plant that I was unfamiliar with. It had a base of variegated leaves and a spike about 15 cm tall with tiny flowers only on one side. At home I was able to identify it as Dwarf Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera repens). We continued on and came to a short, wet stretch that had been opened up by dead trees. Further along I saw a leaf of a low plant that was already anticipating the coming fall. Before long we were gaining elevation as we approached Mt. Jackson. Much of the gain came over ledges that were fun to scramble up and sometimes required good handholds. The top of each ledge usually afforded a nice view back to Webster or other peaks to the South. A few last ledges and we were on top of Jackson. Chelsea was pretty excited to be standing on her first 4000-footer. We ate lunch where we could take in the view of Mt. Washington and the southern Presidentials.
Cooling off at a stream crossing
The way down was steep and ledgy at first but eventually it eased up a bit. Chelsea seemed happy to be going down instead of up. When we came to recross Flume Cascade Brook we took more time to appreciate it than we did on the way up. There were many miniature falls and some small, shallow pools in the ledge where we could cool off. The last mile went quickly and when we came again to the spur to Elephant Head we decided it had been a enough of a hike and we were ready to head home.
