Pamelia Lake and Grizzly Peak - Mt Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon

Katie and I spent the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend hiking in the Jefferson Wilderness to Pamelia Lake and Grizzly Peak. It is still early season and we expected to encounter snow, so we packed accordingly. The weather was forecasted to be sunny and warm.

The Pamelia trailhead is approximately 62 miles East of Salem on Hwy 22 past Detroit Lake. The trailhead is off Forest Service road 2246 just past milepost 62 on the left. The parking lot is about 3.7 miles down the road (paved, but bumpy most of the way). There is an outhouse at the trailhead.

Pamelia Lake trail # 3439 is a very popular 2.3 mile hike (one-way) into the Jefferson Wilderness. It only gains about 800 feet in elevation and is a relatively easy hike. A special limited entry permit is required from the Friday before Memorial Day weekend through October 31st to combat overcrowding of the area. Pamelia Lake was formed by a landslide that blocked Hunts Creek, creating a natural dam. The bottom of Pamelia Lake is lava rock, so during the summer the water slowly drains out, causing the lake to shrink by late summer. There is a good population of small Cutthroat trout that make fishing a popular activity at Pamelia Lake.

Grizzly Peak overlooks Pamelia Lake from the Southwest. This 2.8 mile trail # 3428 (one-way from Pamelia Lake) gains about 1,900 feet to the summit and affords outstanding views of Mt Jefferson. Combining the two hikes makes a 10.2 mile round-trip adventure.

Download route (one-way) as shown in map above in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format or GPX format for use with GPS units and mapping programs. Disclaimer.

We began our hike from the Pamelia Lake trailhead just before 9 AM Saturday morning. It took us just over 2 hours to drive there from Portland with a couple quick stops (we forgot our NW Forest Pass and had to buy another one). There were a couple very small patches of snow on the side of the road near the parking lot that will likely be gone in a couple days. Other than that, the trail was completely snow-free at the start. We set off and were soon hiking within the Jefferson Wilderness along Pamelia Creek. The weather was sunny with a temperature in the upper 40's F.

   

About 3/4 to 1 mile up the trail, we encountered patches of snow. They were only 6-12 inches deep on most occasions. About a mile from Pamelia Lake, the snow became more constant, but still only 6-12 inches deep on average. The trail was mostly forested and shady, so the snow was fairly firm and icy in spots. We decided to put on our Hillsound Trail crampons (similar to Kahtoola MICROspikes®) for a little extra traction. They ended up working very well and we were thankful to have them.

   

After about 50 minutes we made it to Pamelia Lake and the Grizzly Peak trail junction. We decided to head straight for Grizzly Peak with the intention of checking out Pamelia Lake on our way back. There was no snow around the NW corner of the lake where the trail junction is. We observed two hikers camping nearby, enjoying the warm sunshine. They were the only people we saw all morning. The temperature had warmed into the mid to upper 50's F. We had to navigate across a swollen Pamelia Creek to continue up the Grizzly Peak trail # 3428. It was completely snow free as we traversed West.

   

As the trail started switch-backing East and West before heading SE to Grizzly Peak, we started to encounter deep snow patches. Soon the trail entirely disappeared under approximately 2-5 feet of consolidated snow.

   

The trail was obvious in some places, and obscure in others. With the aid of my GPS, we made our way up toward Grizzly Peak. Some of the snow traverses were steep 30-35 degree slopes. We decided to stick with our Hillsound Trail crampons instead of putting on snowshoes since the snow was firm most of the time (there was a partially open stretch of trail where we sank down about 8-10", but we just powered through it).

   

As we started up the North ridge of Grizzly Peak, we had our first view of Mt Jefferson. It was still very snow covered, with the summit covered in rime ice. The trail steepened and we pushed on, taking a break every now and again to enjoy the views of Mt Jefferson.

   

Closer to the summit of Grizzly Peak, the trail normally (when not covered in snow) traverses to the SW and then heads East on the West ridge to the summit. Since there was a lot of snow and I love to climb, we decided to take a shortcut and head South, straight up the North ridge to the summit. This worked well, but we did encounter short distances up slopes of up to 50°. Katie was a real trooper and followed up the steps I kicked into the snow.

After almost 3.5 hours from the parking lot we made it to the summit of Grizzly Peak. We were the only ones and hadn't observed any sign that others had been up in quite a while. The views of Mt Jefferson were amazing. I was able to see most of the West Rib route that I intend to climb later this Spring.

   

We could see Three Fingered Jack through the trees and also Mt Hood off in the distance. We took a few more pictures before heading down lower to stop for lunch. It was a little breezy on the summit and we wanted to find shelter from the sun and wind to enjoy our lunch.

   

   

After lunch we headed back down the trail, retracing our foot prints. It was much easier going, but I ended up slipping and falling twice on the steep slopes directly below the summit. I was a little overconfident with the Hillsound Trail crampons, treating them more like my regular climbing crampons (which they are not). Luckily I was stopped by crashing into a tree on both occasions. Unfortunately I ripped my pants on the second fall when my legs crossed and the spikes on one of the trail crampons brushed across my leg.

   

Back at Pamelia Lake, we stopped to filter some water and enjoy the lake. It was very warm and I wished we could have stayed the night. It was very beautiful. We saw another pair of hikers go by (the only other people we saw all day besides the backpackers already at the lake).

   

We made it back to the car just after 3:30 PM. We had a fantastic day in beautiful weather. I saw only two mosquitoes all day, but I am sure that will quickly change as the snow continues to melt and temperatures remain warm.