I'm sorry Mt. Jackson, but where's the snow?

Trip Details
Date: January 11^th, 2016
Total Distance: 5.81 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S)
Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Total Elevation: 2291 ft gained
Click for more details.

Well the snow has not really come yet and on Sunday it rained a ton so there was even less snow in the mountains. Driving up to Crawford Notch it was blue skies and sunny, but as soon as I approached Conway you could see a wall of snow coming down. Not too far from the Crawford Depot I hit this wall of snow and at one spot the roads were covered and it was really coming down. The weather forecast had only a very small chance of snow, but in Crawford Notch it was snowing with strong wind gusts. I pulled into the parking lot across the street from the Webster-Jackson Trailhead and started my trip up.

The snow levels were very minimal. Ice was present throughout most of the hike so microspikes were a big help. Thankfully, I ditched the snowshoes prior to starting the hike and left them in the car. Due to the recent warm temperatures the ice was thin in a lot of spots and I was breaking through it frequently. All the water crossings were flowing strong as nothing had frozen up yet and may not if this winter stays the way its going.

It looks like a dusting you would expect to see during late fall!

Flume Cascade is flowing strong.

This is a pretty straightforward trail and in a little time I approached the summit. The snow that had fallen up on the slabs actually filled in the areas around the edges so that I did not have to climb up the icy slabs. The wind was gusting at the top and it took your breath away and made it hard to stand. After passing the sign for the junction with the Webster Cliff Trail, I headed over to the summit cairn area and thankfully the wind was a bit shielded on that side. The clouds and snow had subsided a bit so I was able to take a few photos.

Looking towards the Presidential Range. Mt. Pierce is visible, but the rest are in clouds.

Looking down US 302 towards the Omni Mount Washington Resort.

Mt. Webster and the Willey Range shrouded in clouds.

The cliffs of Mt. Willard are on the right.

Mt. Isolation and the Dry River Wilderness

Mt. Washington is hiding as usual.

Omni Mount Washington Resort

Mizpah Spring Hut

The snow covered summit cairn.

Looking good!

So after taking some photos I looked around and saw this creepy guy just staring at me. I was insanely creeped out so we starting acting like men and throwing punches. Eventually, I had the upper hand and ripped his mask off. Come to find out it was my buddy coming out of retirement. Welcome back BishopX! We then hugged it out.

On the way down we stopped at Bugle Cliff to take in the views from there. I had never been up that spur trail and it has some nice views and a pretty crazy slanted drop off you can get quite close to.

Looking back up from the edge of Bugle Cliff.

Looking down towards US 302.

Looking towards the AMC Highland Center.

AMC Highland Center

After that we made quick work back to the trailhead. It was a quick hike to warm up for more intense winter hiking and fit the narrow afternoon time frame we had, but sadly due to the minimal snow the fun of butt sliding down this trail was not able to happen. Hopefully, we will get a big storm or two in the coming weeks before I head back up to the mountains.

The mileage was only about a half of a mile off this time.