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11.86 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •

I made a spur of the moment decision to go day hike Jefferson Park on Sunday - glad I did! I hiked from the Whitewater TH and it had a decent amount of cars parked there. The hike was very foggy the whole way. There's not really much snow until Jeff Park, where it is mostly snow covered, but varies from a couple feet to a smattering of patches of bare ground. I brought microspikes, but didn't use them. There seemed to be a number of campers out at the various lakes. I skipped Scout and Bays Lake to get further out and stopped at Russell Lake. I saw one group of campers there. All the lakes were still pretty much snow/ice covered, but thawing out. I sat at Russell Lake for a while and the skies cleared pretty well, giving me fantastic views of Mt. Jefferson. Good times! On my drive out from the trailhead on Whitewater Road, a bear ran across the road in front of me. It was almost the exact location that the same thing happened the last time I visited last fall. These are the only times I have ever come across a bear in Oregon, on the road or trail.