July 3, 2022

Start/End: Crawford Notch, Rt. 302

Peaks: Jackson (4,052'), "Webster" (3,911')

Elevation Gain: 2,200 ft

RT Mileage: 6.4 mi

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

One week after taking on Jefferson, I returned to the Presidentials, only this time for a much easier peak. Mt. Jackson is by far the easiest Presidential and one of the easiest NH 4,000ers as a whole. Although Mt. Webster is shy of a 4,000er, I decided to throw it in as well.

With another late start of around noon this time, I began to make my way up to Mt. Jackson first. The first bit is sort of on the steep side, but well below treeline and not very rocky, so progress was quite fast. Around 1.5 miles in, the trail actually flattens out a bit, and the trail forks between Jackson to the left and Webster to the right. Obviously, I took the left and continued on the relatively shallow grade up.

After another 0.8 miles, the trail began to steepen just below the summit of Mt. Jackson. While Mt. Jackson doesn't fully break above treeline, the area just below the summit does have some solid rock. However, most of this isn't very steep and with good hiking boots I was able to walk straight up. And at 2:00 PM, I was standing on my second 4,000er of the summer.

The summit of Mt. Jackson is broad, flat, and rocky, with some trees scattered around. Views were decent, particularly of the more prominent Presidentials looming in the distance. Conditions bore a stark contrast to the previous week with gusty winds this day, despite only being at an elevation marginally above 4,000 ft.

The mile and a half between Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster was underwhelming, generally flat with little elevation gain/loss. Descending to 3,700 ft at the beginning, the remaining mile was just a slow incline of 200 ft to the 3,911-ft summit of Mt. Webster. The summit was well below treeline, and views were unimpressive, but a steep drop-off to the south of the summit allowed at least something. It was also significantly less windy compared to the summit of Jackson.

The descent from Webster was very straightforward all the way to the fork with the trail to Jackson, and the remainder was even easier. This allowed for a relatively fast descent and I was down back at the trailhead around 4:30 PM, allowing me to arrive home well before dark.