Backpacking

I have always found Mt Jefferson (Oregon's second tallest peak) to be one of the best looking of the cascade volcanoes when it is snow covered. This weekend I decided to take an exploratory trip up the SW Ridge climbing route. My goal was not to summit, but possibly get as high as the "Red Saddle" a couple hundred feet below the summit pinnacle. The weather was forecast to be warm with winds around 45 mph. I hate wind, but decided to go anyway. It has been a while since I last climbed and I have been eager to get out again.

This weekend Jason and I backpacked to Jefferson Park in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness in Central Oregon. Jefferson Park is a gorgeous area situated at the foot of Mt Jefferson boasting large meadows, gorgeous lakes, and breathtaking carpets of wildflowers. Our 6.3 mile (one way) journey gained approximately 2900 feet in elevation as we hiked along the South Breitenbush Trail #3375 to Bays Lake. We began our hike at a trailhead off FS Rd 46.

On Friday Jason and I met up with our friends Kyle and Tiffanie for a backpacking trip in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area. The weather forecast was great and we were excited to do some backpacking with good friends. Our intended destination was Sheep Lake, a 2.3 mile hike in on the Red Lake trail #719. The main trail begins off spur road 380 from FS road 46. In the interest of cutting off some elevation gain on our hike, we intersected the trail off spur road 076 thanks to Kyle's navigation and 4x4 driving skills (high clearance 4x4 vehicle required).

Mt Rainier is the 5th tallest mountain in the Continental United States and highest in the Cascade range, standing at 14,410 feet tall. It is about 54 miles Southeast of Seattle, Washington. Mt Rainier is the most topographically prominent peak in the lower 48 with 13,211 feet of prominence, even more than that of K2! It is also the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 and considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.

Martin Lake, located in the Southern end of the Mt Jefferson Wilderness at the base of Three Fingered Jack, was our planned backpacking destination over Memorial Day weekend this year. Unfortunately due to lots of snow and poor weather, we never made it. Now that the weather has warmed up and the snow melted, Katie and I decided to backpack to Martin Lake this weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend traditionally kicks off the camping season for many across the country. Growing up, my family always spent a full week at Yosemite National Park camping and enjoying the outdoors. While I always had a great time, I prefer to get away from the crowds these days. This year Katie and I planned a backpacking trip into the Jefferson Wilderness. Our plan was to hike a few miles up the Summit Lake Trail # 4014 from the Pacific Crest Trail off Hwy 20 just South of Three Fingered Jack.

On Saturday morning Matt, Louis, and I drove to Pole Creek Trailhead for a weekend of ski mountaineering in the Three Sisters Wilderness and hopefully a summit of Middle Sister. Middle Sister (10,047') is the shortest of the Three Sisters, located in Central Oregon. The Hayden Glacier North Ridge route starts from Pole Creek Trailhead near Sisters, Oregon. It's about 14 miles round-trip, so it makes a nice overnighter or a very long day trip. The trek starts off on Pole Creek Trail # 4072 and then follows Camp Lake Trail # 4074 before heading above treeline West toward Middle Sister.

Katie and I took the day off Friday to spend the weekend at Hall House, part of the Fish Lake Remount Depot. It's a historic site with a handful of structures including two cabins (Hall House & Commissary Cabin) which can be rented during the winter. The first building on the site was a roadhouse built in 1867. Hall House was built in 1924 as a summer residence for forest supervisor C.C. Hall. The area was used as a remount depot by the Forest Service from 1905 until 2005 when the last packer and pack string came through. Today it serves as an interpretive site.

We booked two nights at the Clear Lake Lookout Tower six months ago as dates fill up very quickly. The Forest Service opens it up for reservations in the winter months only, as it is still an active fire lookout during the summer. Clear Lake Lookout is located Southeast of Government Camp, Oregon. The trail starts from the Skyline SnoPark. It's about 3.6 miles from the SnoPark along FSR 42 and then up the 240 spur road. It's popular with snowmobilers, snowshoers, and cross-country skiers, so be sure to share the road.

Instead of climbing Mount Shuksan in Northern Washington, Matt and I went backpacking in the Eagle Cap Wilderness to Ice Lake. Ice Lake is located in the North Central part of the Wallowa Mountains in Eastern Oregon. It is a productive 46 acre Brook Trout lake sitting at approximately 7,849 feet in elevation with a depth over 190 feet (deepest lake in the Wallowas).

We headed to Washington state this weekend for a summit attempt on Mount Adams. The weather forecast was not stellar, but we were hopeful that a weather break would allow us to make a push for the summit. Mount Adams is the second highest peak in Washington, standing at 12,276 feet. We opted for the easiest and most popular South Climb Route, which begins near Cold Springs Campground on the South Climb Trail # 183. This route gains over 6,600 feet in elevation over approximately 5.7 miles.

Despite a forecasted that included rain showers, we decided to go backpacking with our friends in the Badger Creek Wilderness over Memorial Day weekend. We had originally planned on a three day/two-night trip, but the weather Saturday was not favorable. We instead opted to leave Sunday morning for an overnight backpacking trip. Badger Creek trail #479 begins near Bonney Crossing Campground off FS road 2710 (about 2.5 miles North of Rock Creek Reservoir as the crow flies). The trail closely follows Badger Creek for approximately 11 miles to Badger Lake and then continues another 1.5 miles around the lake and up to FS road 4860.

Cascade Huts LLC has three huts for rent in the White River Valley and along Barlow Ridge. We had the opportunity to snowshoe two miles to the Barlow Butte Hut and spend the night Friday. We started at the Barlow Pass SnoPark around 5:15 PM just as the sun was setting. The temperature was about 26° F and there was no wind. One to two feet of fresh snow had blanketed the area during the week.

We began snowshoeing a little after 8 AM on Saturday in about 18 inches of snow. Our hike was about 3.5 miles uphill to 3,000 foot elevation near Shellrock Creek in the Upper Clackamas, Oregon. My brother-in-law Scott and I had been looking forward to this snow camping trip for a couple of weeks. The weather was calm with off-and-on snow showers and a temperature around 30°F. We chose this location for the relative solitude.

The weather Thursday in the Northern Oregon Cascades can only be described as perfect. The sun was shining, wind absent, and temperature around 20°F. John and I headed to Frog Lake SnoPark (SE of Government Camp on Hwy 26) on what turned out to be one of the busiest days of the year. The traffic was so bad it made the news. After about an hour delay, we finally made it to the SnoPark and set off on snowshoes to Twin Lakes.