Monday February 19th, President’s Day, my friend Jen, Reba and I hiked Jackson and Pierce which are the southern most mountains in the Presidential Range.  The weather couldn’t have been better that day, blue skies, warm temps and just a little wind.  We started on the Webster/Jackson Trail all the way to the summit of Jackson.  The trail was hard packed which made for a fast hike up to the summit.  Once we hit tree line we did encounter some ice on the rock slabs.  That along with an increasing wind made for a few tricky moments.  When we reached the summit the wind had died down so we where able to stay for a few minutes at the summit to have a snack and enjoy the grey jays trying to get us to feed them.

 

From the summit we followed the Webster Cliff Trail to the summit of Pierce.  This trail had not been traveled as much as the prior trail so we had to use snowshoes.  On this trail there where great lookouts over the northern Presidential’s and many other beautiful views.  The trail also brings you to the AMC Mizpah Spring Hut.  From the hut the trail climbs up a very steep section then levels out and makes for an easy, fast hike over to the summit of Pierce.

 

 

 

 

 

We were all alone on the summit of Pierce which was very nice.  Again the grey jays where waiting for a hand out.  For our descent we took Crawford Path, which is said to be the oldest continuously used hiking trail in the US.  This trail like Webster/Jackson Trail was hard packed making for a quick descent down.  This hike was 8 miles long and took us 5 hours to complete.  This was Reba and I’s second time up Jackson and Pierce but Gumby’s first time.