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I used to maintain the Mt. Clay Loop Trail for the AMC but had not been there for a few years. On this nice August day Peter Wyatt and I started from Jefferson Notch on the Caps Ridge Trail, and did the Jefferson-Clay ridge before dropping down to the Jewell Trail and back to Base Road where I had left my car. This is a route that maximizes time above treeline. Great views from Jefferson looking toward Mt. Washington (left), and heading toward Mt. Clay above treeline (right).

We got to Sphinx Col (left) from which we had dropped down into the Great Gulf a few years ago to find tiny Spalding Lake. We continued on the ridge and got to the base of Mt. Clay (right). Climbing up the two peaks of Clay I was pleased to see that the trail was in really good shape and that I could still recognize some of my trailwork. From there we cut down to the Gulfside Trail below and back to the trailhead.