White Mountain Hike 2004

July 2-7

Saturday, July 3


All our trails into Mizpah Spring Hut began within an easy walk of the Highland Center, but first on Saturday morning, the drivers shuttled their cars to a parking lot in Pinkham Notch, which we would hike by on Tuesay before our climb into Carter Hut.  One car brought the drivers back to start the hike.  The rest of us chose one of the three available trails and started our hikes in groups of 2 or 3.  I chose the Webster-Jackson Trail including the option to go over Mt Webster, hiking with Bob Ashenfelter.



About half way up to the ridge, the trail branches to go directly up Mt Jackson or angling south to go over Mt Webster and then along the ridge to the north and over Mt Jackson.  We choose the longer route over Mt Webster.  After the fork, the trail drops steeply and crosses Silver Cascade just under a lovely cascading waterfall and small pond.





At the top of Mt Webster we stopped to eat part of our lunch and enjoy the views.






Although it was partly cloudy with a little haze, we could see the historic Mt Washington Hotel (white with a red roof) in the Notch north of the Highland Center.



And looking north along the ridge, we could see the white roof of Mizpah Spring Hut, our destination for the day, a little to the right of a saddle in the ridge.



On the ridge toward Mt Jackson we hike over some rocky areas but often in the saddles we find swampy stretches where the trail maintainers sometimes provide wooden beams or logs to allow walking above the mud.  In on wet area, Bob spotted a fat toad so well camouflaged that I had missed it.



The trail sign at the top of Mt Jackson shows that we have only 1.2 miles to the Hut.



While enjoying the view from Mt Jackson, we meet some of the group (Bob Spiller, Rob and Meg McCracken) that have hiked the shorter Crawford Path, dropped their packs at the hut and hiked back along the ridge to Mt Jackson.



Most of the day it has been partly cloudy with Mt Washington lost in the clouds but on the hike down from Mt Jackson the clouds lift for awhile and we get a nice view of Mt Washington (with the antennas on the top) and even see the smoke of the cog railway engine as it climbs the ridge left of the peak.



After we arrive at the hut the sun comes out and we enjoy sitting on the rocks, reading, checking our feet for blisters and drying our socks in the sun.



Several areas near the hut are covered by lovely yellow & orange blossoms that none of us remember from previous visits.  The hut crew tell us that they are Canadian Hawkweed (aka Devil's Paintbrush).



After enjoying the wonderful dinner prepared by the hut crew, we retire to our bunks, hoping that sleep will come in spite of out aches.

Go on to July 4