Summer Vacation

 We had a plan to avoid the crowds during a climb of Mt. Jefferson with some NH friends on a weekend evening, and then come down guided by flashlights.  Geoff is part of a mountain rescue team so if he was willing to take his kids on such an adventure, we were up for it.  Due to another change of plans, we did it in the daytime on our own, and at no time during the hike did I think, "Yeah, I wish I were doing this in the dark."

We went up the Caps Ridge Trail, which has the highest trailhead in the Whites other than a couple along the Mt. Washington Road.  That makes it a short trail, but it goes up and over a set of rock outcrops (caps). After the second or third one, Gail decided she'd had enough of going up slabs that she wasn't looking forward to coming down, so she said she'd wait for me to summit and return.  After all, I was the one chasing a list of peaks, and she'd already been up there before.  It was a beautiful day to be on the mountain wherever you were.

Nice view of the Lakes of the Clouds Hut where we spent a night in 2015 after climbing Mt. Washington.

Gail had a nice rock outcrop to hang out and assess others heading up.  We encountered some people that day who made us wonder how the rest of their day went.  I suggested to a couple groups to take a route that was a bit longer to get to the summit on a more gradual grade.  I had done that for a different reason: I wanted to see more scenery, but when I came down the direct route on the Caps Ridge Trail, I was thankful I hadn't gone up it.

On the summit, my last in New Hampshire of the highest 25 in the northeast.  This is looking over at Mt. Adams and Madison, numbers 2 and 4 on the list.  Jefferson is #3.

A cool section of trail: don't go on the wrong side of the cairn.