Also on this trip

Trails Used

Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop, Webster-Cliff Trail, Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

What a GREAT day for these. The winds were lovely and pushed me around just enough and the skies were gray and angry looking for a good portion of the day. BEST weather! The trails are in fine shape if you don't mind wet and muddy feet and legs, which I do not. The rocks were still a little wet in places requiring care but overall conditions were good for making quick time. I had every summit to myself which is crazy. The hut is open and was busy so I cruised past. Most of the time I saw no one on the trails at all. I saw the most people on Webster-Jackson and folks seemed to really be having a lovely day.

Parking

I parked off Mt Clinton Rd. $5 to park or the WMNF pass. Lots of room. I was the second car in the lot.

Water Crossings

Easy rock hops even for those of us who are vertically challenged.

Wildlife

It was plenty windy enough to blow them away.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop, Monroe Loop, Gulfside, Jewell Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

No snow/ice on the trails all day (there were a bunch of people who drove up the auto road and then hiked down to a chute on Clay into the Great Gulf and they said it was great. Mitzpah hut was open and had water and the usual items for sale. Nobody was around. Sherman Adams cafeteria on Washington was open (kitchen was not open) but you could get water and snacks and sweatshirts, etc. Things I saw today: A glider using the thermals over Monroe. A guy doing a Presi traverse looking for tape as the sole of his shoe was coming off. (he was trucking) A guy trying to do a triple Presi in 24 hours. (Appalachia-Crawford-Appalachia-Crawford). Yikes! Mt. Clinton Rd and Jefferson Notch rd still closed.

Parking

Parked at Cog ($10/person/day). There is a credit card machine in the hiker lot. Rode bike to Jackson TH.

Water Crossings

Nothing remotely challenging

Wildlife

None.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Webster Jackson Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

As you can imagine, the trail conditions are a mix. Really nothing all that unbearable or that you can’t get around. Not much to say about Webster Jackson trail, wet in spots.. but the monorail that was left was short enough distance and reasonably easy to navigate without traction. Any exposed rocks towards summit were bone dry. Webster cliff was not a swamp. It was actually not super muddy, could get around any wetness if you pay attention.. I found this section surprisingly enjoyable per others personal aversion to their previous experiences.. not bad at all for my first full send between these two peaks. The only part of Crawford path with monorail is just as you get into trees (coming down from summit) it was pretty built up but solid and didn’t require my spikes. Rest of trail is wet in sections.. dry down low. Just want to say, overall just keep an eye on the rocks as you place feet and otherwise assume if you step in the mud it could consume your foot. Overall not incredibly poor drainage but there could be some work done to help this out a bit.. I’d bring the rock spikes just in case but likely just end up mostly carrying them. Have fun, be safe & happy hiking 🥾 ❤️ traildad

Parking

Looped from the Crawford train station

Water Crossings

Not a problem on the Jackson crossing

Wildlife

We speak not of these

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

A few muddy sections down low, maybe one hundred feet or so of monorail left just before the final pitch up to the summit, and some glaze ice covering rocks that you can pick your way around it. no spikes needed anymore for this one. Cold but comfortable early morning. Good views of the Willey Range and Carrigain from the summit, all the higher peaks were in the clouds.

Parking

Plenty of parking available across the street from start of trail

Water Crossings

Easy rock hop at the moment

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Installment #3 for the banged up knee. The start of Webster-Jackson is wet and muddy in all the usual places. There are some areas of ice and packed snow here and there but it was pretty easy to get around it. About .5 from the summit I just put the spikes on to deal with the monorail. As soon as I got the scrambles, it was clear of ice so I took them off. The slabs were dry and grippy. Heading down Webster Cliff trail, the first ledge was clear but from there on out there was some ice. Not enough to warrant spikes but I did get creative with my descent. Back into the trees the snow started so I put on my spikes only to round a corner and see they were no longer needed. This pattern continued all the way to the Mizpah junction. The monorail is defined in places, and not defined in others. Sometimes it's stable and sometimes it's not. There is plenty of water and mud on the trail. Conditions just were slow through this stretch. The ascent from the hut was clear of snow and ice and pretty easy for about .5 miles. I did wind up putting the spikes on (and left them on because I was so tired of the on and off) for that stretch that descends. The summit of Pierce was clear of ice and snow. As others have said, the monorail on Crawford Path is steep and narrow. I took my spikes off at the junction for the Mizpah cut off only to put them back on again for a little longer. The ice in that stretch is soft and nice and grippy. I finally took the spikes off for the last .75 miles or so back the Crawford Connector. Glad to have gotten these before the rain.

Parking

I parked in the Mt Clinton Road parking lot and walked the road to start at Webster-Jackson. $5 to park or the WMNF pass. Restrooms were open and well stocked. Love that!

Water Crossings

No issues with the crossing on the Webster-Jackson trail. Levels were low and I gracefully crossed with the skills of a water buffalo.

Wildlife

I saw fewer flying creatures today than I did yesterday. They are out but not bothersome.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Webster Jackson Trail, Webster Cliff Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Trail between Jackson and Webster had intermittent monorail but not much ice. See trail report from 4/29 for more updated trail conditions on the Jackson side of the trail.

Water Crossings

All rock hoppable

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Edmands-Crawford-Webster Jackson

Trail Conditions

Notes

Wanted to warn people not to use Edmands Path for the next few weeks. Major logging operations with a few hundred trees felled across the road from Crawford Connector all the way to Edmands Path. It’s a jungle gym sometimes five trees deep. Monroe to Jackson dry or walkable snow until 1/2 mile after Mizpah towards Jackson from there spikes a must with steep monorail and ice. The summit cone is dry but Webster-Jackson side has an ice path for a mile down. I recently built a free toolkit with route data for aspiring gridders in summer and winter see link below.

Parking

Mt Clinton Rd completely blocked see below

Trails Used

Mt Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Trail isn’t super dry, can get around the mud mostly with hugging side trail, wet rocks/ roots.. basically ice scattered lower elevation. Water crossing was high, I opted to cross the log instead of hurdling across the rock. Had bareboot until junct where Webster / Jackson split & went rock spikes. Mostly Ice / solid monorail heading up & where trail starts to become exposed, its bare rock. Great day to beat the rain, no gnats yet. Couple gentlemen out today also in spikes. Trail was warming up and getting softer but not considerably but one guy said he postholed so maybe stay center as much as you can. Happy hiking 🥾

Water Crossings

Went up beyond trail & went over the log since water was high, for the big one.. other little ones can hop

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Cog Railway, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, Trinity Heights, Crawford Path, Mt. Monroe Loop, Mt. Eisenhower Loop, Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Barebooted most of the way up the Cog until the just before the Jacobs Ladder section. Upon meeting Gulfside, there was a section of hard ice that was sketchy at first, and softening up fast when returning. Over to Jefferson was mostly icy trail with rocks poking through and rime ice on the boulders that was melting fast in the sun. I barebooted from around the Jewell Junction to Jefferson and stayed that way until the sketchy side hill spot before meeting Great Gulf on the way up to Washington. There’s enough exposed rock to just rock hop around all the ice, just pay careful attention your foot placement. I honestly barebooted 95% of my above treeline travel today, but I like to walk on the wild side, rather than destroy my spikes in one day. Everyone I passed had spikes on. Spikes were useful for the descent down Washington in places, when coverage was more consistent, and the climb up Monroe. I took them off at Monroe and kept them off until the climb up Pierce, save for maybe a couple brief soots. Firm monorail in the scrub sections, and grippy frozen granular. You could bring snowshoes for here, but you won’t want to use them, the monorail is too narrow. From the hut to Jackson was an absolute highway. I did use spikes here, and was able to make easy work of the ledgy flow ice spot. Jackson summit and ledges were bare. I took spikes off when the snow became inconsistent at the Webster-Jackson split. From there, any remaining snow/ice was avoidable or low consequence enough that it could be bare booted. Beautiful day, where the heck was everyone? I only saw about a dozen people and had every summit but Pierce to myself.

Trail Conditions

Notes

Perfect hiking conditions with no breeze at the top. Boulders towards the top were slippery. Suggested to hike before snow melts too much.

Parking

Parked directly across from the trailhead

Water Crossings

Water crossings were only tricky in one spot, but manageable with careful steps

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Mount Webster and Jackson Loop

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Summit ledges were bare rock. Grey jays observed.

Wildlife

Grey jays visited during hike.

Trails Used

Webster/Jackson trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

The trail is deceiving. Thought I would be able to bareboot further up the trail. Decided early on to put the spikes on and keep them on. There were bare batches off and on but eventually it turns into snow covered trail and quite firm for 60 degrees. Summit was devoid on any snow or ice. Beautiful views. Coming down was fine and was able to skirt most of the icy sections. All in all a quick 3 hour jaunt.

Water Crossings

Not a problem especially if you use the rotten tree to cross the big one.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Mount Jackson trail, Webster Cliff trail, Crawford path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Barebooted first 0.2 then spikes until mile 2. Snowshoes up to final ascent to Jackson then back to spikes because of the new snow. Coming down to go to Pierce I used an axe to help otherwise it would have been a problem. Snowshoes all the way to Pierce summit. Switched back to spikes to go down. When the snow started melting, I went bareboot to the car because of it clumping immediately on my spikes. Thankfully I didn't fall on any ice the rest of the way. All the snow at the bottom was gone when I got back. Ten degree start forty degree finish.

Parking

Free plowed parking at Jackson TH

Water Crossings

No issues going up to Jackson

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Bare ground, rocks, ice, and patchy snow until the Webster-Jackson split. Above the split, the trail transitions from a dusting of snow on ice to complete snow coverage around 3200'. The trail is firm but a little choppy from freeze-thaw cycles. Some icy spots just below the open ledges, ledges are mostly bare rock and easy to navigate. Started off in studded winter trail runners, then put on rock spikes at Bugel Cliff until the ledges, where I removed them. On the descent, I wore sharp Hillsounds to the Webster-Jackson split so I could move faster, but it would have been fine with rock spikes on, just slower. From the split, I put the rock spikes back on and removed them after the water crossing (studded winter trail runners). Cold morning, conditions are not great, but not awful, just on the slow side with ice hidden underneath the new dusting of snow. Snow above 3000' in the woods will be hanging around for a while until it really starts to warm up at elevation. Great views from the top before the snow squalls came through.

Parking

Decent sized pull off lot across from trailhead on 302

Water Crossings

Downed tree about 20' upstream you can cross, or you can rock hop across, watch for glaze ice on rocks.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Cog, Crawford Path, Mount Eisenshower Loop, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

After climbing up the Cog in snowshoes, it is boney or fully open enough from 5,500’ on up to bareboot all the way across the summit of Washington. Between Washington and Monroe, crampons were definitely good to have on. I went with full crampons (Grivel G10s) this time of year given the hardness of the ice. You can get by with micros, but the actual purchase of crampons helps a lot. There are many fully open sections on southfacing trails, but plenty of ice and still a significant snowfield. The northeast side on Monroe is still very snowy and steep, but bare on top. We took off crampons after the summit of Monroe and barebooted all the way to the northeast side of Eisenhower. There are a few sections of deep snow amongst the trees, but it’s not that bad and has a firm monrail. The summit cone of Eisenhower is totally bare. Once back in the trees on the south side of Eisenhower there is still plenty of deep sections of snow. Snowshoes are still very helpful here and make moving a lot easier. Except for the summit of Pierce, it was snowshoes all the way to Jackson. For the most part the summit of Jackson is completely free of snow and ice, but as soon as you are back in the trees on Webster-Jackson, crampons are very necessary and we kept them on until we could see the road in Crawford Notch. It was definitely good to get these done while there is a decent amount of snow and monorail left, but things are going to get very messy soon!

Parking

First and last car in Crawford that day

Water Crossings

Things are melting quickly, but still crossable

Wildlife

Starting to emerge at Lakes of the Clouds :-(

Trails Used

Webster Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Trail starts off mostly bare with patchy ice. It quickly changes to mostly covered with exposed rocks. Mix of a lot of ice and hard packed snow. The exposed rocks at the summit are almost completely free of ice and snow. Micro spikes did the job.

Parking

We were the only 2 cars in the lot

Water Crossings

Still some ice/snow bridges hanging on. The bigger crossing is open but easy enough to cross. Water level was ok

Wildlife

None

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Trail was packed and fast today. Icy at steep sections around Bugle Cliff. Last push before summit was not an issue today.

Water Crossings

All still bridged

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

I started in my Hillsound spikes until I reached the junction with the Webster turn off (trail was a bit boney) and then put on snowshoes. There was plenty of ice on the lower section, but there was about a half inch of fresh snow covering most of it making it much easier to navigate. About half way up from the junction, there was running water under the trail. You could see it bubble up in areas and in those areas there were several postholes. Snowshoes kept me afloat. Heading up the cone, once again the snow covered any ice. However, the wind gusts were strong making it difficult at times to maintain balance, but I managed. Heading down the cone, I used nearby trees or my poles to help prevent losing my balance or sliding. Overall, the conditions were much better than I expected. With cool days ahead, it will be a great hike over the weekend.

Parking

Parking lot had plenty of room with 3 cars present. I chose to park on the side of the road near the trailhead due to the icy conditions of the parking lot.

Water Crossings

Snow bridged

Trails Used

Webster-Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Only one other person out before me today, and he did a great job breaking trail. Huge thanks. I started in bareboots, but quickly threw on snowshoes as the snow got deeper and the ice underneath it got more slippery. With two sets of snowshoes the trail is clear and getting packed, but could use a few more folks to really get it in nice condition. There are post holes here and there, but all are snowshoe sized and fairly obvious. Trail is in very decent condition for March and should get faster over the next couple of days.

Parking

4-5 cars at the lot closes to the trailhead all afternoon.

Water Crossings

Bridges across all water...for now

Trails Used

Webster Jackson Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

After the freeze thaw cycles, and with new snow, the trail has a thick layer of ice. Most people were in microspikes, but I chose to switch to full crampons and I was so glad that I was carrying them! The summit had very little ice to grip into, but wasn't an issue at all. The monorail is very narrow, and there are tons of deep postholes on either side, but with the cold temps everything was very stable today

Water Crossings

No issues

Notes

Winter summit attempt with pastel sunset. First winter ascent for this hiker. Post appears to be a retrospective reflection on winter photos.