Mt Jackson and Mt Webster

A day later ... this was a fantastic hike ... during the hike ... it was very, very painful!

I found Mt Jackson by going to Google maps and looking around the Crawford Notch area. There are several ways to get to Mt Jackson and I chose what I thought would be the quickest ... starting at the north end of Crawford Notch on the Jackson - Webster trail. A little research at a few websites and the trail was listed as "moderate/difficult."
I left the house early by kissing Kathy on the cheek and getting her usual sleepily mumbled response of "make sure you call me when you get off the mountain ... and BE SAFE ... zzzzzzzzz"
The RX-8 purred along rt 93 as the sun rose. A favorite breakfast spot for Matt and me is the Tilton Diner but I just didn't want the delay of a sit down breakfast. There was a Dunkins there and after thinking about it, I just ate a granola bar from my bag. Across the way was a Subway sandwich shop. Since I was stopped already and it is nice to have a sandwich at the top, I headed over. It's part of a gas station which is not the best situation ... I don't know why anyone would associate a gas station with food ... but there I was marching into the store anyway. The woman behind the counter stopped me with a cold stare ... "I don't open until 7am." 
I looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:50 and thought about waiting. I said nothing but looked at her again but before I could say anything, she rudely pointed at the clock which now read 6:51 ... "not until 7am." I left. That's not a great way to start my day! 
Thankfully, there is a Subway a few miles up the Kangamangus where I ordered a ham and swiss for consumption at the summit of Mt Jackson.

I got started at 8:30am and in checking my gear ... which I should have done before leaving ... I realized that my camera's battery was mostly dead. Ah well, there won't be many, if any, water falls or good views according to the website I read ... just your basic New Hampshire hike in the White Mountains .. drab and boring. 
Armed with my cell phone, I headed up the trail. So, please forgive me for the pictures below!!

 Ready for a boring hike with maybe a waterfall or two, I came across this small waterfall. 

 Wait ... what? Another pretty little waterfall?

 Hmmm ... somebody lied! This is a gorgeous cascade sliding down the side of this mountain!

So, about this time, my ass was killing me from kicking myself for not having my camera and my tripod! I decided that I could continue to kick myself or I could enjoy the sound, the sight, and the cool mist ... I chose the latter.

 The trail was tough. It angled up steeply in several sections containing ankle-breaker rocks and of course, my all time favorite - roots at ridiculous angles.

 Trail markings were great but these mileage markers give no indication of the steepness! I guess I should have gotten the hint from the term "cliff-trail."

 The moss on these rocks ... stunning ... of course the vibrancy just doesn't come out with a camera phone ... but again ... a gorgeous little waterfall / cascade!

 As I approached the top, a fellow on the way down chatted with me. "It's cold up there," he said. "Windy too." Thankfully, I had not completely botched this trip and remembered my wind breaker. He went on his way and I realized that my breath was showing ... as if it was a dark November evening. My breath was showing in the shady pine confines of Mt Jackson. I don't know the temperature but he was right ... it was cold ... and windy. Is it really August?
I've been in a fair amount of wind due to my sailing experience and it was blowing 35 to 45 mph and gusting higher. I had a hard time holding my phone straight and have already deleted several blurry pictures. Note the weathering of signs in the picture below. 

Throughout the trip up, I had been thinking about that Ham and Cheese. In some ways, I had used it as an incentive to push up the steeper parts. Suddenly I lacked any desire to sit on a cold rock blown by icy wind and eat a sandwich! I had an option at this point, I could head back down the path I came up (short) or cross to Mt. Webster (long). I chose to go to Mt. Webster. The trail took a sharp turn down and I was soon scrambling down on all fours going from cracked rock-face to cracked rock-face and thinking about that ham and cheese sandwich calling my name. Finally, I found a spot that was out of the wind and below is the view I had while gobbling down my ham and cheese ... 

The slight downward slope and a full belly made me feel good so I trotted much of the distance between the two mountain peaks. The top of Webster looks over Crawford Notch. It is an incredible site. 
Puffy clouds made their way across the sky and the cars that looked like ants helped me to ponder this existence we call life. Greg Castle was a colleague at Fairpoint Communications and his existence here ended last week after spending 62 glorious years meeting people and sharing stories. He worked hard, cared about the company, and cared about the people in the company. I was told that after finishing his often twice a day swim that he died of a heart attack while driving to his apartment. I imagine that as the pains came on, he recognized what it was and found a way to pull over to ensure no one would be hurt ... he was that kind of guy who put others first and cared about people. 
Beauty can be found in many places and I don't need to go to the mountains to find it. I choose to go to the mountains to remember that beauty is around me every day. With that in mind, I ignored my creaky knees and resumed hiking. 

Below is a picture from Mt Webster looking back to Mt Jackson (right) and Mt Washington (left)

 I stayed at Mt Webster for about 20 minutes just sitting and watching the cars pass by 2,000 feet below. I began my descent and realized that this was the steepest part of the trail as it just went down, down, down jarring my ankles and knees with each step. There's not much left for support in my ankles and knees and that kind of pounding causes sharp pains that shoot vertically down my kneecap. Each step became a moment of pain that I came to expect and could do nothing about. I had to get down the mountain and this was the shortest way down.  
With frequent stops, I eventually made it down to more level ground and the pain lessened. The mushrooms helped me stop ... I took pictures of them. I'm not sure I'll ever look at english muffins the same way again.

As I neared the last 1.5 miles I came across another cascade/waterfall ... I felt like it was there to wish me well.

My knees ached for the rest of the day but as I looked at these waterfalls today, I realized the pain was gone ... maybe I'll hike again some day.