Round trip, this hike is only 5 miles but Mt. Jefferson is the 3rd highest mountain in the Whites. While researching this hike, the notes online said not to underestimate this one as most of the hike would be above treeline. I guess some people are uncomfortable with that but with the fantastic weather we had, we didn't have to worry about lightening or rain/snow. We planned to meet at the trailhead for Caps Ridge Trail at 8:30. I woke up at 3:30 and was fighting a cold. It was hard to get out of my warm bed, especially since it was close to freezing outside. The road to the trailhead was so cool. It's the highest highway in the White Mountains, or so the sign on the road said, and it was just a dirt road in the woods. I missed a turn earlier and had to stop a couple times and ended up being an hour late. I got my boots on and was ready to go really fast though. We left around 9:45 and the beginning of the trail was cold in the shadows of the pines. We came out of the woods pretty quickly. Not long after we did, there was some steep rocks to climb. A couple with 2 dogs passed us. We could see way up to what looked like the summit of Jefferson. Of course, once we got up there, there was a lot further to go.
The first part was really steep but closer to the top was just really rocky. It looked like a big pile of mossy rocks. I thought the top looked like what I've seen of Everest without the snow, although there was some ice.
We could see the summit of Washington clearly. In fact, the weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in sight. I got a little bit of sun burn on my nose. For some reason the cog railroad wasn't running. Maybe because it was after Labor Day?
Gwen wasn't feeling great either. She thought at the time she might have asthma (that has since been verified!). She had an inhaler in the car and wasn't sure how to use it. She had to stop once to let her lungs calm down. I could hear her wheezing from where I was sitting. I can't imagine how scary that must be gasping for breath at 5,000 feet and knowing you have to get yourself down still.
The distance to the summit was deceiving. Being able to see the top made it seem closer than it was. We finally summited at 2:00pm.
There were a lot of people on the summit including a large group of middle aged women. Gwen and I actually lost each other at the summit. I was scouting out locations for our summit picture and she was with a family on the true summit. Mt. Washington seemed so close. On the way down, Gwen said she was feeling tired but that she felt better going down. It was tough going down all those rocks and it took a lot longer to maneuver over them then I thought it would. I love my hiking boots but I really need some new ones. The sides were starting to come unglued. By the end of the hike I was tired and cranky :( Probably because I underestimated this hike (I was warned not to do that!) We finally got back to the cars at 6:00 and there was a group of people drinking in the parking lot. One of the guys who was carrying a pit bull tried making small talk with me. My intuition was telling me this was a bad guy. I asked Gwen what she thought that was all about and she said "they're casing the joint". I think she was right. We didn't do our usual going out to dinner this time because we had to work in the morning. We were both wiped out from this one for a few days.
