The
Cap Ridge Trail is located in Jefferson, NH off of the Jefferson Notch Rd (so this starts you off at a good elevation). My 15 year old son and I arrived here at 8AM and the parking lot was alredy 3/4 full on a bright and sunny but crisp saturday morning. Parking is limited so get there early. There is a self pay station which cost a modest $3 to park (cash/check only). The trail begins in deeps with a rocky and moderate climb. Also at the very beginning there are a few small foot bridges and believe it or not there was some water (even through its been really dry in New England). If you are not careful you may slip and fall into the mud (ask my son - fortunately this happened on the return trip). After a 1/2 mile or so the path evens out and narrows for a while and eventually comes to the clearing (about 45 minutes in) with a great view of
Bretton Woods ski resort and the Mt. Washington Hotel (picture shown below).
The hike then resumes a more moderate climb (with small trees and brush) for what I would guess for another 1/4 mile or so. Then the fun begins! The trail gets VERY VERY steep. At the time that we arrived it was very windy and chilly too. You need to be super flexible to bend in the positions to make it up this section of the trail (I am not, so it was difficult to get up this part and probably took 1 hour to go only a 1/2 mile, I'm guessing). From here on very little trees and brush.
Once we got past the steepness of the Cap Ridge we took the Cornice crossover trail which is a route to the Gulfside Trail (Appalachian Trail). Our goal was to make it to Mt. Washington by noon (which both my wife and I did accomplish when we were much younger and "more in shape"). The Cornice trail is open was easy to moderate when compared to the steep part of the Caps Ridge. About a 1/2 hour later we reached the marker that stated distance for Mt. Washington was still 2.1 miles away. We then realized we would make it to Mt. Washington at 2-3PM instead of noon and then potentially not make it back until after dark. At that point we both decided to reach the Mt. Clay summit. The climb to the summit was moderate to difficult (and took about 20 minutes). It was difficult to find the summit marker (and we actually walked past it at first). The top of Mt. Clay appears to have 2 or even 3 peaks. After the second peak we decided "we were at the top" and ate lunch. When hikers passing by us confirmed that peak 3 was a lower peak we went back to peak 1 and found the marker.
Bring lots and lots of water with you. There are no natural water sources on this trail. We had plenty and went through a great deal (and had some to spare). At the top of Mt. Clay we watched 3
Cog railroads(2 bio-deisel and 1 coal) climb and descend Mt. Washington. One appeared to stop just before the summit and let its passengers out to take pictures. On the other side of Mt. Washington we could also see many many cars drive up the
Mt. Washington Autoroad.
After our lunch we started our long descent. Now normally the hike down take less time (e.g., 4 hours up / 2-3 hours down). Not the case with the Cap Ridge trail. Due to its popularity, narrow trails, and steepness there was a wait to slide down the rocks.
This trail is not for the beginner or for those that are not in excellent physical shape. Some people turned around 1/2 way up and some paid for it days later ;-> Overall we had a great time but definately chewed off more than we can chew. Next year some smaller mountains for us and then Mt. Washington in the late summer again (perhaps the Jewell trail).
