Sat. July 2      PCT miles today: 23.9      Total so far: 897.4             Oregon Section F

We woke up to a chilly morning and treetop level clouds.  After less than half an hour of hiking, we realized we were NOT on the alternate route we’d thought we were on, but on the OTHER alternate route, which was longer.  “Oh well, we’ll get back to the PCT eventually,” we said.  And it turned out that this particular alternate has really great views, including some “Yosemite-looking” dramatic rock formations.  Finally it dropped down into a very lush, green forest, with lots of wildflowers and even wild rhododendrons in bloom!  (Now I KNOW I’m in Oregon, when I see those “rhodies”!) 

Niiiice--steppingstones across Hunt's Creek

 We reached Hunt’s Creek, which had a well-marked crossing (large rock cairns) and choices of steppingstones.  And down in the creek’s valley, there were some REALLY HUGE Douglas fir.

We finally made it to very pretty Pamelia Lake, where we took a short rest.  I was worried, though, about Russell Creek, 4 1/2 miles away.  The guidebook warned to cross it before 11 am, because in the afternoon, the snowmelt volume off the glaciers above becomes considerable.  Several people have died trying to cross Russell–knocked down and swept away into the gorge just below the trail.  We had a long, steep climb ahead of us to get there. 

So we huffed and puffed up the hill and reached the crossing right at 11:05.   It didn’t look too bad; only a little bit “roary.”  Bill does not like to get his feet wet, so he went quite a ways upstream looking for a “dry” crossing, but I just wanted to get across, so I looked for a place that was slightly less “roary” and waded carefully across.  Whew!  (And thankyou, Lord!)  By the time Bill got across and got back to where I was, I’d already wrung out my socks and was letting them dry on a rock.

Creek near Jefferson Park

On we went, still climbing (and meeting many weekend backpackers) up to spectacularly beautiful “Jefferson Park.”  It’s an open, lush, green, wildflowered, well-watered valley just below Mt. Jefferson.  I heard one hiker saying, “Wow, I feel like I just stepped into “The Sound of Music!”  And that says it perfectly.  (Note: when Bill and I finished the PCT, and people asked us, “What was the best part?” we always said, “The most beautiful part of all was Jefferson Park.”  And it is true!  This place looks like paradise on earth.)

Our noontime gear and spectacular Mt. Jeff

Jefferson Park was the perfect place to stop and cook dinner and just soak up the beauty. So we did.  We lingered as long as we dared before beginning the climb up to the shoulder of Mt. Jefferson. 

 A backpacker we met along the way warned of megasnow  beyond the Park, and he was right.  But it wasn’t hard to see where the trail went, with so many footprints to follow, and we climbed steadily till we reached the top.  Wow!  To the south lay a still-frozen lake, and of course towering Mt. Jefferson with the green Park below.  To the north, we got our first view of Mt. Hood on the horizon. 

Bill climbs the shoulder of Mt. Jeff

The “trail” down from the ridge shoulder was not a trail at all.  There is so much snow that hikers must simply head down, following a “line” of rockpiles, and thankfully, we also had plenty of footprints to follow, also.  I took a picture looking back up, once we’d made it through the worst part.

Finally we were below the snow at last, on a trail that went up and down, and was often very rough and rocky.  At sunset, we took a very short detour off the PCT to camp by pretty Ring Lake.  If the SOBO’s are right, this means we shouldn’t have any more snow problems after this!  And seeing Mt. Hood was really encouraging.  We are within sight of the end of the PCT in Oregon!

Fri. July 1     Miles today: 25      Total so far: 873.5      Oregon Section F

A bright sunny morning meant lots of mosquitoes looking for their breakfast–so when we stopped for OUR breakfast, we had to eat it under headnets in the PCT trailhead parking on Highway 20.  Granola-munching done, we headed up on the climb to our first goal–Three-fingered Jack mountain. 

So THAT's what the Sisters look like!

 After awhile we were high enough to look back and see the Three Sisters where we had so much grief a few days ago.  Then we began to run into snow again, but it was melting fast–often turning the trail into a creek. 

"Manageable" snow

 The snow got deeper and more extensive, but we always managed to find our way.  Meanwhile, we had endlessly fascinating views of Three-Fingered Jack, and when we “came around the corner” to the north side–surprise! 

There it is--Mt. Jefferson!

There was Mt. Jefferson, our NEXT goal!   However, most of our attention went to admiring the dramatic north side of Three-Fingered Jack.  Wow!

The PCT took us down into “forest” again (or rather, what used to be a forest–it was devastated by a huge fire in 2003).  We were pleased to see that there were a few signs of regrowth.  Bill was looking at the enormous size of many of the burned trees and annoyed that no effort was being made to replant the trees.  We saw no seedling trees at all–only wildflowers and the beginnings of a few bushes.

Shortly after we passed pretty Rockpile Lake, we met our first real, live, SOBO’s!  (That’s trail lingo for “SOuthBOund thru-hikers”. )  They told us the snow was “pretty bad” at Mt. Jefferson, but after that it was OK.  After a good time chatting, we wished each other “Happy Trails” and hiked on. 

No sense walking the trail when it's a creek

 We passed South Cinder Cone.  It was a very warm day, so the trail frequently was just a “linear lake” of snowmelt.  But as we drew closer to Mt. Jefferson, the snow got steadily worse.  Pretty soon we were losing the trail and having to hunt for it.  (Not again!) 

But by suppertime, we managed to find the trail and ate with a great view of Mt. Jefferson for “ambiance”.  Hiking on, we lost the trail AGAIN, found it, and most important, found a vital trail JUNCTION.  But (grrr, snarl, growl!!) all there was to mark this crucial place was a large pile of rocks and four trails going off into the snow.  There was not a single written sign to tell which was which.  Not even the PCT was marked. 

Hmm, where's the trail? Well, there's Jefferson!

 After much map-consulting, we chose an alternate route (not PCT) which was lower in elevation, which hopefully meant less snow.  It was getting late at this point, the sun was touching the horizon, and it was quite cold, so we didn’t walk too far before making camp by a small grove of trees way downhill from the trail (it was the only flat place we could see!).  And hooray–there were no mosquitoes!  We were pleased with our mileage, considering how much trail-hunting we’d had to do.