Mount Jackson Day Hikng

We climbed another peak, Mount Jackson, which is one of the mountains of the Presidential range in New Hampshire. 

At the trailhead

 As you can see in the left picture at the trailhead, it is 2.6 miles to the summit of Mt. Jackson. Elevation change is about 2100 feet. It is not too long and not too much elevation gain. It is good for winter day hiking. 

We hiked here at the end of April. However, it is still in the snow in White Mountains. Indeed it snowed a day before.

Near the trailhead

First 1.4 miles until junction is not much covered with snow. Mostly there is monorail, which is hard snow portion made by hikers in the winter. So we hiked with microspikes. You can get an idea from the picture in the left. Around the monorail is muddy and snow is melting. Monorail portion is melted last. Actually it was better to walk on the monorail, otherwise it is muddy or you will posthole. 

Stream with brown water

The first 1.4 miles, it will cross stream several time. One point, the biggest one had brown water as left picture. It might be melted snow from a day before. It was icy on the rocks near the stream, so I crossed carefully.

 

 

 

Snow Forest

 Then after the junction at 1.4 mile point, the forest was getting more covered with fresh snow from previous day. It got much more quiet and I felt like I was in the deep snow forest. I love trees covered with fresh snow. It is beautiful. 

When I was looking at pretty trees, suddenly a dog appeared ahead. The doggy ran to us and wagged tail and barked. Then the dog was called and ran ahead again. It was a hiker's dog ahead. I really like to see excited doggies on the trail. 

Last part to the summit

Then pleasantly trail is getting steep and finally get out of tree line. From here, it was very windy and cold. It was only around 0.3 mile to the top after passed tree line.

The last part is rocky and icy. It was a little tricky, but not bad. On this day, the top was in the clouds, so not really open view, but still nice feeling to stand on the top. This is my third peak in the Presidential range (Washington, Madison, and Jackson). 

Near the summit

In the summit area, I saw many ice hanging from branches. It was pretty. 

On the trail we saw 3 parties in addition to us.  It was always nice to see some happy hikers and dogs, but it also nice in winter not too many hikers, because I like to be in the wilderness peacefully.

 

Near the summit

 To be honest, I got disappointed when I saw clouds on the mountain tops in the area at the trailhead, but it turned out to be a nice hike. 

 

 

 

 

 

４月末のとある日曜日にジャクソン山へ登った。 ジャクソン山はニューハンプシャー州にあるプレジデンシャル山脈にある山のうちの一つだ。プレジデンシャル山脈は歴代のアメリカの大統領の名前がそれぞれの山に付けられている。ジャクソンもアメリカの大統領だった人だ。

最初の写真はトレイルヘッドにあるサイン。ジャクソン山までは２、６マイル。約４、２キロ。行き帰りで８、４キロ。上りは２１００フィート（６４０メートル）。

４月末といえども前日に雪が降ったりとまだまで山は雪の中だ。

まず最初の半分は雪が溶けてぐしゃぐしゃに泥になった部分とモノレールと言われる冬の間にハイカーに踏み固められてレールのように残っている部分とでトレイルは成り立っていた。モノレールの周りにも多少雪が残っている。この周りの柔らかい雪を歩くと”ポストホール”といって足が膝ぐらいまでズッポリ雪の中にはまってしまうことが多い。雪が溶けて柔らかすぎるからだ。なのでこの時期はこの踏み固められた部分のモノレールを歩くのが安全だ。もちろんマイクロスパイクは必須。

さすがに４月末になっただけあってトレイルヘッドの近くでは小川が流れていた。前日の雪の影響下水は茶色だった。

そしてさらに登って行く。勾配は徐々にきつくなっていく。それとともに前日の雪に覆われた雪の森の中へ。木はフレッシュな粉雪に覆われてとても綺麗。静かで綺麗な雪の森（４枚目の写真）。すごくいいハイクだ。 

そしてさらに登りやっとツリーラインを超えた。そこからは強風。その中凍った岩を登っていく（５枚目の写真）。やや大変だったがこの部分は０、５キロ程度だったので難なく終了。そして頂上。うーむ。この日の頂上は雲の中だったため特に景色を見渡せたわけではなかったがやはり頂上に着くというのはいいものだ。

頂上近くでは木に付いている氷や雪の形が綺麗だマクロの写真をとった。厳しい雪の中にある美しさがいい。

正直、トレイルヘッドで山の頂上辺りは雲の中というのがわかった時は若干がっかりしたが、意外にも雪の森や雪の中の木の氷が綺麗で満足のいく俳句になった＾＾