Mt. Jefferson revisited, feat. alpine lakes

Nick and I took a last minute wilderness trip over Labor Day weekend to the Mt. Jefferson wilderness in Santiam pass, just beyond Detroit Lake (reservoir). The total drive: 2 hours. This is why we live here! We were afraid it would be packed over the weekend, especially with the spot being so close to town. A little uphill effort later, we were in full sight of Mt. Jefferson, swimming in our "own" alpine lake. I claimed several temporary landmasses as SHERMAN ITHSMUS, or SHERMAN SANDBAR, or SHERMAN ISLAND. (Nick tried to claim but I was in boots, he in tennis shoes, and I got the fearless wading jump on him.)

Midday on Saturday, my plan to drive 6+ hours to eastern Oregon was beginning to seem like a bad idea. Nick pulled out his Mt. Jefferson map from his climbing attempt (see post below from Labor Day last year), and we made a call to the Forest Service ranger station. A lot of the wilderness was closed due to fire. (A note: while we were hiking, the views were hazy from the fire's smoke. A local ranger said that the lightning detection equipment they use can pinpoint strike locations within a 1/4 mile (whoa!) and that one was unaccounted for. Originally they thought that unaccounted strike caused the fire, but at the center of the blaze they found a campfire. Listen to Smokey the Bear, people!)

But, they said, you can definitely access the northern 1/3rd. We made a plan: reach Mt. Jefferson Park, a 6000+ elev. suite of natural swimmable alpine lakes with designated campsites and the best close views of Mt. Jefferson around. We packed food and gear in three hours and hit the road. The Willamette valley heat wave dissipated as we drove up to ~4100 feet, losing our catalytic converter on the way. We roared into the parking lot for the trailhead at 7PM, and took the advice of a couple who had enthusiastically been here "nearly 200 times!" about where to camp on the trail, since we would not make it up to Mt. Jefferson Park before dark.After placing 30-40 lbs on my back, we began to climb. BOO. I was not into the 1000 foot elevation gain hiking in the dark for 2 miles as an intro. But, when we reached the ridgeline, excellent campsites were available. Duke managed to freak us out over a late dinner by pointing, hairraising, and growling at something in the woods that seemed to be growling right back at us. We stood up and prepared to shine lights and throw something (while wimpering - because something that's growling at you isn't likely to be easy to scare), but it was only the buzz of a plane engine. It took all of us a while to get used to the planes that regularly flew overhead, the low roar of the engines.

Next morning, we packed up and ascended another 1000 feet. The trail is pretty much exclusively uphill, but the fall colors, occasional streams, and well-maintained trail made the hike feel relaxed. Duke, naturally, was all over the place. Was agility class paying off, or does his tightrope-like walking on angled logs come naturally?

We pressed on. Astonishing views of Mt. Jefferson and the valley floor dotted our climb. The lakes, however, blew us away. We did have a small episode on a treacherous and utterly unnecessary rock scramble, where Duke lost his footing and fell down two boulders, barely hanging on with his front paws. Nick dropped his pack and rescued him, but from that moment forward the pup lost some of his mojo. At our lunch spot, Duke was unwilling to jump into the water, fearing another bad fall. Evidence shown here.

We did not lose our mojo. Finally locating a decent campsite, we broke out the camelback and left our big packs behind. It was only 2PM, and there was a whole park to explore. The ranger says: "just don't walk on the heather, it grows back too slowly." We tromped down hills, to a wildflower heaven called Breitenbush River. We climbed up to Park Lake and had a good swim all to ourselves. We let Duke take a nap, set up camp, and prepared a wonderful dinner, complete with sunset.

Did I mention the temperature was perfect? That our effort was perfectly timed? That we had the right amount of food and gear? Couldn't imagine a more perfect trip. Except that catalytic converter, as we zoomed back to Portland, deafening ourselves.

Duke was pooped - need I say more? Well then how bout a bunch of pics.