Sage asked to ascend Mt. Jackson this weekend. Though Alex had informed her of the beautiful views from the top, and I had told her about the ledges near the summit, I suspect her reasons for choosing this particular peak had everything to do with Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society. She's a big fan of the series, and she thinks it amusing that this mountain shares a name with one of the juvenile antagonists.
The weather forecast called for a strong probability of rain in the afternoon, therefore we hit the trail early in the morning.
The path never become more than moderately steep, though it was a bit rocky.
It took us about an hour to reach the intersection with the path that leads to Mt. Webster.
After a short food and water break, we headed up the second half of the trail. Conditions began to change...within half a mile, we were dealing with this:
Time for microspikes!
Up the slippery slopes we went...
...stopping every once in a while to check out whatever caught our eye.
Onward...
Upward...
Views from the top!
The bold and brassy gray jays stole some of our food...
Unfortunately, the dark clouds looked like they were arriving ahead of schedule, so I didn't think it safe to linger. We ate our summit chocolate quickly, then descended before the raindrops fell.
On the way down, Sage snagged a few icicles....
....and took a picture of this "X Tree."
Sage was looking pretty tired when we reached the trailhead, though she hadn't once complained. As I took her picture, I realized we had only stopped three times during the entire day. She never asked for a break and she always appeared content, so I didn't insist on rest stops. In the future, I'm going to have her take a break every hour or so, just to make sure she never accidentally overdoes it.
It was a good day. To say I enjoy Sage's company would be an understatement. She's a great kid -- smart, funny, sweet, and full of interesting questions. I look forward to our next adventure, whenever that may be.
Another wonderful report. I can relate to that last pic. :>
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