⊕Mount Jefferson is our third highest peak in the Whites. It's a rugged and exposed place and is spectacularly beautiful. As I said before "Please be prepared before you enter this area!"
THE TRAILHEADS
Most people used to take ♦Lowes Path from RT-2 nears Lowes
store where you can still park for around $5 a day. Some use one of the RMC shelters high on the
shoulder of Adams and do it in two days. Edmunds Col at the junction of
♦Gulfside and ♦Mt Jefferson Loop Trails is a tricky area.
Weather can close in very fast and it is incredibly exposed. From any of the
trailheads, Jefferson is a fairly strenuous dayhike.
♦Caps Ridge is also very exposed but very popular. It starts at the
highest elevation for a Presidential Peak at 3,000 feet and is located at the height
of land on Jefferson notch road (closed in winter.) This is probably the "easiest"
way up Mt Jefferson but is rugged.
♦Jewell to ♦Gulfside is another
route which also starts out relatively high at over 2,600 feet. Trailhead can be
found right across the RR tracks from the building at the parking lot on Base road. Overall
this is now the most popular route all-season to Mt Jefferson.
♦Castle Ravine Trail is a rugged route, I took this down from the summit on a warm summer day. It connects to the Link to get back to Appalachia. ♦The Link is one of the boggiest, muddiest, root infested trails I've ever been on.
♦The Castle trail runs alongside it and joins Castle Ravine Trail to it's own trailhead which is west of Appalachia just off RT2. This route gets you below treeline quickest should the weather turn bad.
♦Six Husbands trail is the most rugged route. It rises from the Great
Gulf and ascends via ladders and steep rough sections.
THE MOUNTAIN
⊕Mt Jefferson is named for our third President, Thomas Jefferson.
My first trip to the summit was after a night's stay in Madison hut back in 1993.
We had hazy but clear views from the summit that day. With Base road being plowed starting
in winter 04-05 it opens up a Western approach on the Jewell to Gulfside trails.
I hiked this on December 31st, 2005 to make Jefferson my 25th winter peak.
Bill Swaffield and Jeb Bradley completed their Winter journey on
Mount Jefferson
Here's a Summer Trip report
Here's a Winter Trip report in photos
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