Trail Report: Seek the Peak Hike 6

By Chris Nichols

July 11, 2025 – Summit 6 of 17

On my last climb, I was expecting warm temps and sunshine when I got to the summit. Today, I started in the fog, climbed in the fog, and it was foggy when I took my summit photo…then the sun came out!

Since the West Side is easier to get to when I’m doing a day trip, I once again climbed the Jewel Trail. This time I went up and down Jewel, which was a first for me. That makes for a long hike (10 miles by the book, 9.62 by my watch), with about 4,100 feet of elevation gain. The one complaint I have about the Jewel Trail going down is that it is long and seems to never end. However, when you go up and down the same trail, it isn’t quite as bad as you remember all of the landmarks along the way.

The climb was uneventful, other than the fact that I was in a cloud virtually the entire way up. I did set a personal best of 3 hours and 10 minutes, including breaks along the way to the summit. I even beat the first Cog Train by about 5 minutes. I was able to go right to the summit sign and take a photo before the crowds started to arrive. Total hiking time was 6:08.

I did stop in at the Observatory, but everyone was in a meeting.

Seek the Peak weekend is coming up this weekend. I won’t get to 17 in time, but I will be climbing on the 16^th and the 19^th for numbers 7 & 8, and will complete my quest over the next month or so.

When your hiking in the clouds, the signposts and the cairns are your only source of information and directions.

The Cog and a Mesonet Station for monitoring conditions at specific altitudes along the tracks.

The Northern Presidentials. 

Looking out to Nelson Crag with the clouds lifting.

Summit photo.