15 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain •
[Video added!] Drove to the Breitenbush trailhead via Salem, rather than Estacada, due to the 36 Pit Fire burning along 224. That might've added a little time, but - good grief - that last little bit on FR4220 is unreal. Six or so miles that take nearly 50 minutes! Yikes.
At any rate, once we got there, all was well other than the pall of smoke to our north. Hiking in over Park Ridge was a wonderful recollection of a trail last hiked long, long ago. There is a short burned segment nearer the trailhead, but it's an easy stretch. Soon enough, you're above timberline and traveling along a massive lava flow. And then, the big reveal! As you crest Park Ridge, Mount Jefferson looms large.
We diverted west at the crest, and lunched near the highest point on the ridge, enjoying the magnificent views in all directions. After lunch, we traversed along below the ridgetop, towards Park Butte, before crashing cross-country down into the Park itself. Somewhere along the way, one of the dogs accompanying us managed to injure a paw pretty badly. He took a good rest at Russell Lake, while I wandered around exploring Scout and Bays Lakes.
When it came time to return north again, we chose the PCT to reclaim the ridge. Max, the injured dog, made it a bit more than halfway up before he simply gave out. We shifted all the gear into one backpack, and put him in the other. This slowed us down greatly, of course. But we did all make it back to the TH before sunset, which was our goal to avoid driving out that terrible road after dark.
All in all, a pretty darn good day out in the woods! And a fairly good story to tell for it. We survived. :-)
PS - I'm told that Max is doing just fine, now!
Roman
September 17, 2014
Your pictures 12 through 14 is where we lingered for quite a bit. Looks like you were 2 hours earlier than we were, at most. Awesome day up there, sorry for Max.