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Some
distance above the "streambed", we stopped for a snack
and water break in a flat area. Just as I finished my snack, we
were surround by a "gang" of gray jays looking for a
handout. Unfortunately for them, I had nothing left by the time
they found us. I did manage to get a picture of one though.
The
new snow was now about 6 to 8 inches deep, and the balsam firs
were even more thickly plastered with white fluff. Muffin was almost totally
abominable, with ice balls clinging to her legs in addition to her
ever-present icy face. Sometimes I wonder whether Muffin gets
liquid on winter hikes by eating snow, because she rarely takes a
drink of water when I offer it to her.
Finally,
the trail leveled off and the icy summit
cone appeared beyond a last hoary stand of trees. I figured that
we home free now, and that the rest of the ascent would be a mere
formality. The last time I climbed Mt Jackson, I had encountered
chest deep snow and a posthole hell. At that time, I, as well as a
couple of groups of climbers ahead of me, had lost the trail and
made our way up through the scrub on the west side of the peak.
This time, it was obvious that the trail approached the summit
from the south.
Suddenly,
we came
upon a large steep ledge at the bottom of the summit cone. Muffin
hopped right up, but I kept slipping back down, no matter how hard
I tried. Before I could think to put on my crampons, a group of
hikers appeared behind me. One of them managed to make it up after
a few tries. He then used his pole while another hiker pushed from
below, to help the rest of us up. I then let them go on ahead of
me, and stopped to put my crampons on.
After
struggling up a couple of smaller ledges, Muffin and I climbed the
last angular approach next to a line of low scrub and were at the
summit. We had finally made it. The sky was
sunny and the views were clear, something not seen too often in
the summer. |
Gray
jay. During a snack break, we were surrounded by a group of
several gray jays. Unfortunately for them, I had just
finished eating when they arrived. |
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