Mt Jackson (NH) 4,052'

In February of 2005 I summited Carter Dome (4,832'). That was nearly 7 years ago and I have not climbed a 4,000 footer in winter since. I have climbed a couple of peaks in winter conditions, but not 'officially' between the solstice and the equinox, which is the only way they qualify.

The reason for this extremely long span of time between winter peaks was simply due to my getting lazy and packing on enough pounds to sink a small ship. But finally, about 7 months ago I began working diligently on getting myself back into hiking form. So far I have dropped nearly 60 pounds, and while another 40 is my goal, I have finally reached the point where I can get back out on the trails.

This past October I climbed Mt Moosilauke (4,802) with some friends of mine. I was pretty surprised at how well I managed and especially by how well I felt after the hike. Here's some pics from that hike.

One thing that I had just about resigned myself to was the thought that I would never be back in the mountains in winter. The added effort it takes to trudge through snow and ice to reach a summit - compounded by the extra weight of gear and additional clothing - seemed something that was all in my past. But things have changed....

My son, Gunn, and I shut off our alarms at 3:30 this morning, brewed some coffee, packed up the car and headed north. While the snow had stopped here at home by the time we got up, we ended up running into near white-out conditions as we journeyed only 20 miles or so up route 93 in NH. Driving was slow, and it was made even worse by the snowplows we got stuck behind. Why do those guys drive at only 15 mph?!?!

We had hoped to stop for breakfast in Woodstock at Peg's - my favorite spot. But after spending 45 minutes behind the same plow, we got off at the Tilton Diner in hopes that the plow would be well in front of us by the time we finished eating.

The plan was to hit the trailhead by 7:30. but with all the road delays we didn't manage to reach the start of the Webster-Jackson Trail until 8:30.

The one upside of the delay in starting was the fact that the precip had ended by 8:15. And we we able to do the entire hike without anything falling from the sky.

The trail was broken out beautifully - no snowshoes required. The heavy snow had all fallen further south, and this trail must have seen a lot of traffic over the long weekend. We needed crampons the entire way, but not a single swear word rung forth to curse any postholing.

The air temp when we started was about 22, which is perfect for winter hiking. We each had three layers top and bottom including snow pants, but we left our winter parkas in the backpacks until the summit. Within 10 minutes of hiking we were taking off a top layer, and 10 minutes later we were removing hats and gloves.

The trail being so well packed meant we were able to keep a good pace. We were keeping up with the summer 'book time' for the trip and reached the halfway point in 90 minutes.

As we gained elevation the snow totals, not surprisingly, became pretty impressive, even though this has been one of the worst seasons for snow. The trees down below had minimal snow on them, but those up higher were pretty well caked.

As with a lot of the NH peaks, when the tree height begins to dwindle, you can be sure you're nearing the summit.

It was here that we (finally) felt that it had become cold enough to put our hats  back on. But still, zero wind. Not until we broke through the treeline did we even begin to feel a breeze, and I would estimate it at less than 10mph.

Gunn lead the whole way up and was the first to reach the summit of Mt Jackson. It took us 3 hours, which was nearly an hour faster than I had planned on.

We hiked over to the actual summit and were able to spend about 15 minutes after putting on our parkas. We enjoyed our traditional summit cookies - Pepperidge Farms Double Chocolate Milanos - and I even enjoyed a bit of pipe smoke.

Of course we also made sure that we performed our traditional "Hail to the Mountain Gods!"

We even spent a few minutes relaxing on top of the frozen ice and snow up against the summit cairn as I smoked my pipe.

When the time came to head back down, we kept our parkas on but only until we reached treeline. Once below there it felt as if the temp shot up 15 degrees. We moved along pretty quickly and returned to the base in about 2 hours.

At the base the air temp was 32 degrees - shocking for Crawford Notch in January. And not 1 minute after getting in the car, it began to rain. It's all about timing.

A great day spent in the White Mountains of NH. And one of the best ways to end it is to stop for a pint at the Woodstock Inn. This time of year brings around my favorite of their's - "Wassail Ale". (Even though its in a "Pig's Ear" glass.)

Here are all the pics from this hike.

Now some (less exciting, but absolutely necessary) stats..........
For Gunn:
2nd winter peak.
62nd successful summit.
NH. = 47/48 (2 winter)
ME. = 2/14
VT. = 1/5

For me:
24th winter peak.
206th successful summit.
NH. = 48/48 (24 winter)
ME. = 14/14 (0 winter)
VT. = 5/5 (0 winter)
NH in all four seasons = 15/48