20.5 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain • 2 nights
Left PDX Friday night and camped at Breitenbush Campground. The next morning we set out to do an overnight loop to Jefferson Park. Starting at S. Breitenbush trailhead, we hiked 5.5 miles up the wooded flank of Park Butte Ridge. As we neared the top, the trail passes through some small meadows and a talus slope and descends into Jefferson Park lakes area. After lunch near Park Lake and a quick swim, we set out for Bays Lake where we would spend the night.
We grabbed the last designated campsite and watched scores of backpackers pass by in search of an open one. After setting up tents, we walked over to Scout Lake where lots of people were scurrying to set up camp or search for an open site.They really should make this area Permit Only to limit use and curb illegal camping, in my opinion. There are not enough sites and too many campers.
After a peaceful evening with a beautiful sunset on the face of a huge Mt. Jefferson towering above us, we went to bed. It was a mostly sleepless night for this hiker, as the wind continued to gust and blow, though the skies were clear, and I tossed and turned. The sun rose through a red sky around 7am. Clouds began to roll in and it threatened rain. After breakfast, we broke camp and decided to explore Russell Lake. The skies cleared as we hiked out the PCT through the huge meadow of Jefferson Park to the now deserted lake. Where did all the campers go? Then we headed back to Park Lake for an early lunch and a swim. After enjoying the sun for a bit, we decided to start the hike out.
Hiking South along the PCT, we passed several thru-hikers on their way to Canada. I hope they make it! We took a turn onto the Whitewater trail which descends along Whitewater creek, so named b/c of the silt from the glacial runoff turns the water a milky white, which it was. The trail slowly descends a long ridge with incredible views back to Mt. Jefferson and the huge Whitewater Creek valley far below. Eventually we reached the Triangulation Point trail, where we split off and ascended a ridge on a scarcely used trail. Some blowdown to contend with, but it was pretty smooth until we reached the Crag "Trail" which is signed as unmaintained. This was an understatement.
The "trail" follows some orange flagging through the forest, with mostly good tread but extremely overgrown vegetation on all sides of you. It descends the ridge steeply, losing almost 2000 feet in about 2.5 miles. Some sections the Rhododendrons had made it almost impassable, but we fought our way to the Breitenbush river where we promptly lost the trail. We bushwhacked through thick alder and maple and realized we needed to cross the river. Frustrated, we turned back, found a giant tree across the river and found it is actually part of the trail. It's marked and slightly worn by tracks across it. We finally made it back to the car and celebrated our "off trail/on trail" return trip w/ Coronas from the cooler! Great weekend all in all.
