Jays, Midterms, and Mt. Jackson 1/31/2016

Jackson

5.2 Miles Round-trip

2,150 Elevation Gain

A different friend, Samantha Brady, came with us for this one.  We hiked up Jackson-Webster Trail.  We couldn't hike something long today.  I had a lot of schoolwork this week--including some midterms!

Up we go!

An action shot of Sage...

Ahh...beautiful winter scenery.

Mom and Samantha were having a conversation...

Rabbit tracks!

Onward...

Hi, Sage.

The trail was pretty similar to the other trails I have posted about...packed and icy at parts.

Ta-da!  Intersection!

Selfie...

Gray Jays!  Of course.  They are so adorable (and very fat)!

Here come the silly pictures...there's Mom and Samantha...

...Sage...

...And me.

Sage and I were discussing what we learned in our science classes (the first segment).  I had a biology midterm coming up, so it was helpful to talk about what was in the first four modules.  Phospholipids, biological macromolecules, microscopes, etc.

Continuing...

Walking quickly...

A little difficult getting past this part here--it was pretty icy.

The sky was nice--not as blue as usual, but nice all the same.

And we're still having that conversation...

Pretty...

Almost...there...

And...we're out!

Beautiful.

Up-close snow picture.

Loads of views coming up...

A super ice close-up!

Going up to the summit.  I had expected it to be way colder up there--it was so warm for winter hiking weather!

Sage!

Lots of pictures!

The sign looked new, but the cairn had been moved from where it used to be on the summit!  We found the rocks scattered to the left of the original place of the cairn.

Me.

It was so gorgeous up there!

Going to the actual summit now...

Interesting close-up of snow on a branch...I think this photo turned out pretty well.

Very white...

There are the Presis!  Mt. Washington is there too.

Summit picture!

Oh...there are the Gray Jays again.

Hair...

Gray Jays!  There were two of them.

Flying...

We put some French Toast flavored Goldfish on top of our heads for the Gray Jays.  Samantha Brady took the following photos (with my phone)!  For some reason, the Gray Jays would only go to Sage's head at first.  They came to mine eventually, though.

Part of my delicious snack...yum.

Our bird friends were eating some crackers we threw for them--there was one Gray Jay that kept making cute noises!

There's Mount Washington...

Sky and clouds...

Alright...now we're heading back down the mountain.  I didn't take many photos on this part since I took so many coming up.

Done!

That was brief but nice!  I really enjoyed the views.  It was also nice that Samantha came along.  After the hike, we got something to eat and went back to the house to start schoolwork!