Jefferson Notch Road is closed, gated, as it usually is at this time of year, so this was going create a problem as they knew. Ideally the team — consisting of Redline Guide Chase Hall and an oft-returning Gridding Guest — wanted to hike up Caps Ridge Trail to the Mt Jefferson summit. They felt going up Jewell or any other route was going to be a challenge. They were trying to avoid challenges on such a fine day. Instead, doing something new, they decided to legally walk Jefferson Notch Road to the Caps Ridge trailhead. Problem solved — the least challenging option to the rescue. This didn’t account for the deep snow they encountered in places, however.
A closed gate is not going to derail our mission to grab Mt Jefferson. In a Grid life you need to throw some change ups. Gated Forest Service roads won’t stop us. —Chase
