Ahead of us, we could see a gradual descent that ended in a pronounced notch that cut across the ridge. This feature is known as Grassy Notch, and it was the only place that I thought might pose a challenge in the winter. There was a possibility that it might be a bit sketchy climbing down into or out of the notch with snowshoes if there was excessive ice.
Western edge of Grassy Notch
Climbing out of the notch
Grassy Notch turned out to be quite fun on our snowshoes. The entry into the notch was a straightforward and fun snow-slope, and the climb out on the other side was a very steep but short snow wall that led up to a rocky ridgecrest. This snow-wall had just the perfect consistency of snow to allow us to front-point up it on our snowshoe crampons.
Beyond the notch, we continued climbing and scrambling up a very gravelly section of ridge, soon reaching another minor bump. There's a large flat area here dotted with big cairns and other stone structures. Ahead in the near distance, we could see the last two bumps of rock, with the farther one being the actual summit of Jay.
Another dip into a col and another short but steep climb over mixed terrain brought us to the final sub-summit. We were all getting a bit peckish, so we decided to stop here and have lunch rather than wait for the actual summit. There was a very slight breeze here, and it was suddenly quite chilly. A reminder that even though it was bright and shiny out, it was still winter, and it was still a fair bit below the freezing mark.
We caught up to and passed the group of four from Quebec on the sub-summit, and continued on down into the final col between us and the actual summit. As a result, we now had to break trail again. That, combined with the less well-defined nature of the route near the summit, meant that we had to bushwhack around a bit more to find the right way. Even so, about twenty minutes later we emerged onto the small open patch that contains Jay Peak's summit cairn.
We dallied for a very brief period of time before turning back. Jenn and I had a dinner engagement back home, and we were on a schedule that we had very slightly fallen behind on.
A bit of snowshoe wandering
The way back was as interesting and varied as the way in. We chose a few alternate paths through the patches of forest on the way back, enjoying the feel of breaking tracks through fresh snow. We efficiently clambered our way back down into Grassy Notch. After that, it is less technical and more straightforward walking, and we made excellent time back along the ridge towards the westernmost sub-summit. Above us, the clear sky had finally started to give way to some high cloud - the first signs of a change in the weather that had been forecast for later in the afternoon.
