|

August 14, 2012 / Comments (2)

Mount Jackson

Written by:

Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

I decided to throw Mount Jackson in as the last final peak of a busy hiking weekend. After all, it just makes it over the 4000 foot mark at 4052 feet and stretches 2150 feet of elevation gain over 2.6 miles. The numbers are a little deceptive as much of the trail alternates between steeper/rocky sections and mild stretches. There’s also a nice scramble thrown in right before you hit the summit!

See, it doesn’t look as mild as it sounds!

There are two bigger stream crossings that normally won’t be an issue at all, but the day I hiked Jackson, there was a stream of water running down a good portion of the trail. The streams were very healthy and flowing fast, but with careful route planning, the streams are still moderate.

Mount Jackson is considered part of the Presidential Range, but actually isn’t named after the president Jackson. The mountain is named after Charles Jackson, a 19th century geologist in New Hampshire. In case you were wondering, Jackson is made of metamorphic rock!

Above is the final climb to the summit. The views are definitely worth the energy!

I don’t like to spend less on a mountain than I spend driving to the Whites so it was good that I hiked this mountain along with a few others. It is a pretty quick hike as book time is 3:40 via the Jackson-Webster Trail. I took me 1:25 to hike up so I hung around on the summit for a while.

The summit was a nice resting spot for hikers and Gray Jays alike! We both enjoyed some lunch and the views. After spending quite some time at the summit, I decided I ought to make my way back to my car. While hiking down a woman asked me how I hiked up so fast. I replied “lots of practice.” We then chatted for a little bit. It made me remember how astonished I was when I first began my quest to hike the 4Ks to see people saunter by without even breathing hard. At number 45, I can do the same. Every mountain challenges me, but with practice and experience the things that used to be difficult aren’t so bad anymore.
Over the past year, I have definitely learned a lot. One of the biggest things I noticed is how different hikers are. You have young men struggling up while 75-year-old couples are doing their third round of the 4Ks. You also run into a good deal of four legged hikers. One of them is Sebastian. He is a miniature Dachshund. My parents have a dog the same breed, but she is 14, probably blind, and is called “meat tube” and “pleasantly plump”. I don’t think she’ll be doing any hiking in the near future. The only time Sebastian seemed to slow down was when people (like myself) take a picture of the little guy.

Last modified: November 28, 2014

2 Responses to :
Mount Jackson

  1. Jesse says:
    August 16, 2012 at 2:13 am

    Thanks Allison! Wanted to do this one this past winter but never had the time. I would probably have a stroke trying to keep up with you..lol

    Reply
  2. Arkie_in_CT says:
    August 17, 2012 at 2:14 am

    What a great trip report. As usual, Allison, your photos are beautiful. From descriptions, I had envisioned this as a pretty trail. Glad to see how nice it is. I’m just starting on the 48, so not sure when I’ll get to this. Have set a goal of summitting the 10 highest before the fall is out – have done #’s 1, 6 and 10. Northern Presi’s soon is the hope, probably as an overnight.

    Reply

Join the discussion