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Backpacking Trips: Mt. Adams, WA
Tuesday, August 18 @ 11:38:12 PDT by Drew (0 reads) |  Vicinity Location:
About 73 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. Directions:
From Portland, Oregon, drive about 60 miles east on I-84 to Hood River. Take exit 64 for White Salmon. Drive about .3 miles, turn left at the stop sign, and continue straight at the flashing red light. Proceed to the toll booth and pay the $.75 for cars. Drive about 1 mile across the steel grate bridge over the Columbia River. Turn left at the traffic light onto Hwy 14, the Lewis and Clark Hwy.You are heading towards WA-141 alt. Drive 1.5 miles and turn right onto SW Pucker Huddle Rd(Hwy 141 alt.). Drive 2.2 miles and turn left onto Hwy 141, towards Trout Lake. Follow Hwy 141 for 19 miles to Trout Lake. At the Chevron gas station, turn right onto Forest Service Road 23 and drive 1.3 miles, turning right onto Mt. Adams Rdfor .6 mile. Turn left onto Forest Road 80, following the South Climb signs. Drive 3.7 miles on Forest Road 80 and turn right onto Forest Road8040. Follow Forest Road8040 on the bumpy, rutted gravel road for 8 miles to Cold Springs Campground. The gravel road has washboard sections and ruts that could high-center low-clearance cars. There are outhouses at this trailhead as well as metal containers for disposing of human waste. Pack animals and pets are allowed on this trail. Hazardous connditions of ice, cliffs, and abrasive rocks exist year-round on this trail. A Cascades Climbing permit is required to climb Mt. Adams. The one-time permit includes a parking permit which must be displayed on the car windshield. A Northwest Forest Permit may also be used for parking. The Cascades Climbing Permit is $10 for weekdays, $15 for weekends, and $30 for an annual permit. When you fill out the permit, you can just use 183 for the name of the trail. Solid waste, including all feces, must be carried off the mountain. Bags are available at the Trout Lake Ranger Station and may be dropped off in the metal bins next to the double outhouse at Cold Springs Campground. Length and Elevation:
6.8 Miles roundtrip, Elevation gain 6,676 feet and loss 14 feet to the summit. Total gain and loss is 13,380 feet. Trailhead elevation is 5,600 feet, summit elevation is 12,276 feet. Trail:
South Climb Trail #183 with connections to Trail #9 - Round the Mountain Trail. Trail Maps:
Topo Map, Forest Service Map, Download Garmin .gpx file History:
The building on the summit was first a fire lookout that was begun in 1918. It took three summers to haul materials to the summit and construct the building. The lookout was staffed for only two seasons before it was abandoned. Arthur Jones, the lookout guard, inscribed rocks at Pikers Peak. In the 1930s, the lookout was used as the base for sulpher mining. Sulfur was mined and hauled down the mountain on pack mules. When the price of sulfur dropped, the mining was abandoned. Today the lookout is covered by glacial snow and ice most of the year. The inside is filled with ice and never melts out. You can smell sulpher while on the summit and it the summer the snow on the north side of Mt. Adams becomes yellow from the sulpher. There is a climber's register located on top of the building. Several people have died on this trail during inclement weather and many others have lost the correct route on the way down from the summit. Do not assume this trail is suitable for a casual day hike. Before August, much of the route is covered in snow and ice and crampons and and ice-axe are required for a save trip. Follow this link for information from Gifford Pinchot Nat'l Forest about climbing Mt. Adams Review: August 22, 2009
The South Climb trail is heavily used on weekends by people climbing Mt. Adams. This is not a technically challenging climb when the snow melts and exposes the rocky soil, but it takes climbers at least 6 hours or more to gain the nearly 6,700 feet of elevation to reach the 12,276-foot summit of Mt. Adams. Though this can be done as a day hike, the safety gear and clothing needed for a safe trip should make your pack heavy enough that a few extra pounds for a tent and an overnight stay won't much matter. From the trailhead, the trail follows an old road for 2 miles to about timberline and the trail is wide and sandy. After the 4-way intersection with Trail #9, the Round the Mountain Trail, it enters the Mt. Adams Wilderness. From here the trail gets rockier as it steepens and gains elevation. The trail crosses over to the Morrison Creek drainage and leads up the ridge on the west side of the creek. The trail winds up through the very rocky terrain to the toe of Crescent Glacier. Be sure to look back the way you came to help find the route back down. There are a number of rock-walled camp sites along this section of trail and this may be the best choice early in the season. The trail is maintained to the 8,000-foot level on Crescent Ridge, then an unmaintained trail continues to Lunch Counter. Early in the season much of the trail will be covered in snow. At Lunch Counter there are dozens of cleared camping sites spread across the edge of the plateau. There are campsites right on the south edge, at the south edge of the large flat area of Lunch Counter, across Lunch Counter, and just above and to the north of Lunch Counter. These campsites have C-shaped rock walls built of varying heights to shield tents from the wind and snowstorms. There is a nice stream that flows across Lunch Counter that usually flows from June throughout the season. The stream freezes most nights and in cool weather so be prepared to melt snow for water. From Lunch Counter it is about a 3 hour walk up to the summit of Mt. Adams. As the snow melts throughout the summer, a footpath appears to get to Piker’s Peak, at 11,600 feet in elevation. The long rock patch on Suksdorf Ridge is the easiest way up and down Piker's Peak if you don’t want to use an ice axe and crampons. At about 11,000 feet, look for user paths leading up and to the west to the south side of Piker's Peak. From Piker's Peak, walk across a mostly level .5 mile section of the trail to the final ascent to the summit. The trail climbs steeply up the south side for the remaining 600 feet to the summit. The summit has a large flat area and people occasionally camp on the summit. There is the old forest service/mining shack on top and there is a U.S.G.S bronze marker embedded in a rock on the summit. Walking around on the summit provides views of the mountains to the north, the dry Columbia Plateau to the east, the Columbia River Gorge and mountains to the south, and mountains to the west. In the summer you can see sulphur on some of the snowfields and you can smell the sulphur wafting through the air on the summit. It smells like someone is lighting matches. The journey back down needs to be taken with care. Remember that you need strength in your legs to get back down the steep mountain slopes safely to the trailhead. Be very careful on the steep snowfields because they most all end with big rocks at the bottom. Losing control on the snow and sliding into the rocks spells disaster. Be very careful of the weather conditions because Mt. Adams will make its own clouds at a moments notice and there is very little protection from thunderstorms above timberline. Be sure not walk directly above anyone else in case you dislodge rocks. The rocks need to roll past people, not roll down and hit someone. This trail is not recommended for dogs because of the abrasive volcanic rocks above timberline and dogs can get altitude sickness too. Enjoy the photos!! Gallery PicsSwitchback Steve
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Backpacking Trips: Northern Loop, WA
Thursday, July 30 @ 12:21:46 PDT by Drew (449 reads) | Vicinity Location:
About 58 miles southeast of Seattle, WA in Mt. Rainier National Park. Directions:
From Seattle: Follow I-5 South for 25 miles and take exit 142A to merge onto WA Highway 18 East towards North Bend/Auburn. Drive 4.4 miles and take the Auburn Way/WA Highway 164 East exit toward Enumclaw for 0.2 mile. Make a slight right at 6th St SE then turn left at Auburn Way S/C St SE/WA Highway 164. Continue to follow WA Highway 164 for 14.7 miles then turn left at Roosevelt Ave E/WA Highway 410. Continue to follow WA Highway 410 for 37.3 miles. Make a slight right at Sunrise Park Rdand follow it for 15.0 miles. From Portland: Take I-5 North towards Seattle and drive for about 75 miles. Take exit 68 for US-12 East. At the top of the off ramp, turn right onto US-12 and travel about 71.8 miles. This takes you past Morton and through Packwood. Make a slight left onto WA Highway 123, driving for 16.1 miles. This road is seasonally closed. Continue straight onto WA Highway 410 for 3.5 miles. Make a sharp left onto Sunrise Park Rd and follow the road for 15 miles to the Sunrise Visitors Center. The road to Sunrise is usually only open from July through September. There are bathrooms and water at the trailhead. Pets are not allowed on the trails in National Parks. A permit is needed to enter the National Park. Trail:
Sourdough Ridge Trail, Wonderland Trail, and the Northern Loop Trail with connections to Huckleberry Creek Trail, Burroughs Mountain Trail, Lake Eleanor Trail and various other trails. Trail Maps:
Topo Map, National Park Service MapLength and Elevation:
About 40 miles round trip. Elevation gain of 8,500 feet and loss of 8,500 feet roundtrip. Elevation at the trailhead at 6,400 feet, highest point is at 6,770 feet. Lowest elevation is 2,840 feet. Ipsut Creek Campground is 2,320 feet. Review: July 19th, 2009. Park at the Sunrise Visitors Center Backpacker Parking area and perhaps take in the exhibits at the Visitors Center. 7/19 - We requested our permit back in April and we got the dates and camps we wanted. I took our confirmation and showed up at the White River Ranger Station to get our permit. I found out that you could not get your permit at Sunrise because the rangers aren't there very often anymore. I talked to the ranger about our hiking plans and he said that though the bridge was out over the White River, there were enough fallen trees to cross on. I provided the rest of the information to the ranger and was given our hiking permit to attach to my pack or tent. There were a number of parties registering to climb Mt. Rainier. I guess the good weather forecast for the next week brought them out for a try at the summit.
The rules for getting a permit issued for a reservation is that you have to pick up your permit in-person no later than 10am on the first day of your scheduled trip. You get to make one set of changes free, then the next change is $20. As long as you have the printed confirmation, it can be a different person picking up the permit than who the reservation was made for.
I got the permit and went day-hiking because Drew, Zach, and Sarah were to meet me that night, Sunday, at the Sunrise walk-in camp. I finished my day-hike and had dinner at the Sunrise restaurant about 4:30pm. The grill closes at 7:30pm, so I didn't hurry to get my food order in. When I went back to my car, there was a crowd of people milling around. It took me a minute to realize they were in line to use the stinky vault toilets. I waited around and finally enough day-trippers cleared out of the backpacking parking area so that I could park in the area designated for backpackers.
I checked my food again to make sure I had enough for the trip and added a little extra for a safety buffer. I left a note for Drew and Sarah, put on my 35 pound pack, and headed to the payphone to call my wife and check-in with her. Then I remembered some directions for the trail that I had left in the car and I had to go back and get them.
Finally, I was off to camp, but first I stopped by the overlook of Emmons Glacier and took some pictures. I walked along the dusty trail to Sunrise Camp, passing lots of day visitors who were headed back home. There were flowers blooming along the entire trail. Mid-July is the best time to see flowers at Mt. Rainier.
I went to the west end of the camping area and found a spot, leaving a good place for Drew and Sarah to pitch tents. I walked up the Burroughs trail for a great view of Mt. Rainer and saw a family of Mountain Goats on the way back. It felt good to get in my tent away from the mosquitoes.
Drew and Zach showed up about 9:30pm and said that Sarah was too busy to come. I was sorry she was going to miss the trip along with the flowers and our company. I will have to wait to catch up with her on events.
If you start from the Sunrise Visitor’s Center, the trailhead is on the north side of the main parking lot. Follow this uphill and after .1 mile, keep left at the next two junctions leading to the Sourdough Ridge Trail. Follow the signs west towards Frozen Lake, passing the junction with the Huckleberry Creek Trail. This first part of the trail is the busiest, still you may see a marmot along the trail gathering food for the long winter. Winter in this part of the park can last from October to July or longer and the marmots hibernate through the winter in groups of up to 10, waking up now and then throughout the winter.
This first part of the trail has a continuous view of Mt. Rainier and views down into the shallow valley below the trail. There is a very rocky portion of the trail but trails near the visitor’s center are wide, well maintained, and heavily used.
1.4 miles from the trailhead, continue straight, past the 5-way junction at Frozen Lake, towards Berkeley Park. This is the highest elevation on the trail and a good spot to start looking for mountain goats on the hillsides and marmots along the trail. Frozen Lake is fenced off because the lake is the water supply for the Sunrise area. This is a turning-back point for many tourists and from here the foot traffic really drops off.
7/20 - The mosquitoes were waiting for us and wanted breakfast. We didn't want to serve them and put on bug spray, jackets, and I put on a bug net. I found out that you shouldn't peek at your stove burner with he big net on. Lucky for me only a tiny hole was melted in the netting.
We finished breakfast, packed, and left about 7:45am. The first part of the trail from Sunrise Camp is fairly gentle, but it gets pretty steep once the trail reaches the hillside. We navigated our way over a few large snow patches, then passed Frozen Lake. , down to the campsite at Berkley Park. I made sure to stop at my favorite spring along the trail, dump out that city water, and fill up on the wonderful cold water.
From the 5-way junction, the trail heads down an old road that has been converted to a trail. You may see people hiking along the tops of the cliffs on the Burroughs Mountain Trail up on the left. The Northern Loop trail descends moderately to the junction of the Wonderland Trail and the Northern Loop Trail at 2.4 miles from Sunrise. Take the right fork for the Northern Loop Trail and descend more steeply, keeping an eye out for marmots and ptarmigans.
In the summer, the next couple of miles of the descent offer fields of wildflowers along the sparkling Lodi Creek. Along the way, stop at the large spring next to the trail and sample the icy-cold water. Mt. Fremont is on the right and Skyscraper Mountain is on the left.
Continuing down along the creek, the trail enters trees and after 3.9 miles you reach Berkeley Camp. At Berkeley Park, the campers told us the bugs would get worse as we continued to Grand Park. You have to put up with the bugs to see all the flowers carpeting the ground.
The trail continues down through the forest, leaves the creek and climbs up to Grand Park. Near Grand Park, enjoy the views at an overlook of the West Fork of White River and Mt. Rainier.
When we got near the cutoff to Grand Park, Drew hurt his calf muscle and we walked slowly to Grand Park for a snack break. At 6.9 miles from Sunrise is the junction to Lake Eleanor on the right. Grand Park is a 3 mile long flat pumice plain with spectacular views of Mt. Rainier. The only water in Grand Park is the early season melt pools, a couple of small lakes at the north end of Grand Park, and Lake Eleanor. Watch for elk and black bears in this part of the park.
We walked into Grand Park on the Lake Eleanor Trail for about .3 mile or so for spectacular views of Mt. Rainier. We found a shady spot to sit and the mosquitoes buzzed all around us. It has been several years since I saw so many blood-thirsty mosquitoes swarming. The insect repellent held them off, but they quickly pierced any unprotected skin. We had our snack and took in the views of Mt. Rainier, but didn't linger. As long as you were moving, the bugs weren't bad, but they were waiting for any slow or resting hikers.
Just a little past Grand Park on the Northern Loop trail is a fantastic overlook of the West Fork of White River with Mt. Rainier as a backdrop. Later, we were told that you can see Natural Bridge from here in the morning. From Grand Park the trail goes for 6.3 miles and drops down switch-backs a few thousand feet from about 5,650 feet down to 3,150 feet to the West Fork of White River. We encountered a lot of deadfall on the trail and walked by the junction to Fire Creek Camp. Some of the downed trees you could slide over, some crawl under, and others you just had to detour around. The only water available between Van Horn Creek and Berkeley Park Camp is to take a side trail and drop down to Fire Creek Camp.
Eventually we made it to the crossings for the West Fork of the White River and saw the flood damage. After picking our way, we found the river had cut a new main channel very near to Van Horn Falls. Luckily there was a trio of fallen trees to use to get across the river. You can now see Van Horn Falls from White River because of the river flooding.
From Van Horn Falls, the trail climbs many, many steep switchbacks. About a mile from Lake James, the trail crosses a level bench and then climbs more steep switchbacks. There are only trickles of water between Van Horn Falls and Lake James. The trail pauses on the edge of a lightning caused forest fire that closed the trail in 2005.
The fire was burning slowly and the terrain was too steep to fight so it burned until the fall rains put it out. Once the trail finally levels out, Lake James Camp soon appears on the right. Two of the sites have partial views of the lake. We liked site number two the best. Only the bear pole near the group site had been put up because the base for the other pole had only recently melted out.
We went to the lake and looked up to the Natural Bridge. Fish were jumping as we filtered water and sat in the sun. There were less bugs at the lake than there were at camp. Lake James Camp used to be here at the lake about 10 years ago.
7/21 - We broke camp and filtered water, then headed up the trail. The trail gains about 1,300 feet to Windy Gap. After about a mile of steep Switchbacks and deadfalls, we came to the junction to the junction to the ranger cabin. The trail to the cabin is an avenue of destruction. A large storm blew down dozens of trees on the trail and in the area. The cabin is undamaged and Zach checked on the outhouse. I took a picture of a waterfall on Van Horn Creek as it drops down the mountainside across the valley from the cabin.
Back on the trail, we climbed multiple switchbacks for 1.3 miles to the junction for Natural Bridge. The trail leaves the trees after about a mile from the cabin and there are good views of Sluiskin Mountain on the left.
We had hid our packs in a little grove of trees and walked the .9 mile to the overlook of the Natural Bridge and Lakes Ethel and James. The Natural Bridge is about a 120 foot wide arch of volcanic rock. The Natural Bridge is only about six feet wide. You can see where some people have walked down the hillside and out onto the arch. There was no way we were interested in taking a show-off risk like that. From out last trip, we had forgotten the trail drops from about 5,550 feet down to 5,200 feet, but we still thought the views were well worth the trip.
We filtered water at the small lake at Windy Gap. The lake was only about 1/3 melted out in late July. This is the only water along the trail until Carbon River Camp or Ipsut Falls, unless you make a side trip into Yellowstone Cliffs Camp. From Windy Gap you can see Tyee Peak and Yellowstone Cliffs up above on the right. At Windy Gap we took about a .8 mile side trip up to a beautiful overlook of Crescent Lake and Crescent Mountain. From the gap the trail starts dropping from about 5,400 feet down a bunch of switchbacks, re-enters the trees, and passes the junction to Yellowstone Cliffs Camp, 1.4 miles away.
At the junction to the camp, you are directly below Yellowstone Cliffs. Drew said that there are 52 switchbacks through the increasingly dense forest down to the north junction across Carbon River, 2.7 miles away. This is the lowest point on the Northern Loop trail at about 2,900 feet in elevation. None of us want to do the Northern Loop clockwise and have to go up these switchbacks. The last time we backpacked this trail, we met a guy going up the switchbacks with a full-sized aluminum lawn chair strapped to his backpack and enough fuel to boil all of his water.
Down at the river, we made the .3 mile crossing over the untamed Carbon River using several brand new log bridge crossings. The freshly hewn logs and railings smelled very nice.
The Wonderland Trail between this crossing and Carbon River Camp is closed until mid-August because of a washout.
Our camp was at Ipsut so we walked two more miles and lost 700 feet in elevation to about 2,350 feet above sea level, the lowest point on the Wonderland Trail. Ipsut Campground is no longer accessible by car because the Carbon river has washed out the road in a few places, including at the entrance to the campground. The streambed at the bridge is totally jammed with logs, the ranger cabin was taken to Longmire, and the campground is reservation walk-in only.
We found a spot, filtered water near Ipsut Falls, and had dinner. The bugs weren't bad here, but we were tired and soon went to bed anyway.
7/22 - We realized we barely had enough food for our trip, so we started pooling our food to last until we got back to the restaurant at Sunrise. We walked the two miles back to the crossing and I talked with a woman on a trail crew about the trail washout. She also told me they saw a black bear along the trail the day before
Back on the Northern Loop, we walked the 1.1 miles upriver and walked across the suspension bridge for our 10am break. We sat on the glacier gouged rock at the west end of the bridge and listened to the thundering sounds of rocks rolling down the river while we ate. From ere, the trail climbs steeply for .8 miles and passes some exposed areas, and leads up to Dick Creek Camp. We took a bathroom break here. The toilet spot has a good view of the Carbon Glacier and a unique sign on the toilet for the guys. The Wonderland trail also has a wonderful stream to filter water right at the junction to the camp.
From Dick Creek, at 4,140 feet, the trail climbs steeply until Moraine Park, at about 5,700 feet. Be sure to look for marmots hanging out in the meadows and hope for a clear day for a spectacular view of Mt. Rainer as you pass through the park. From the south end of Moraine Park it is another short slog up to a saddle at 6,100 feet. Early in the summer, make the short side-trip to a nice pond just to the right of the trail in the saddle. You'll see plenty of tadpoles or frogs, depending on the passage of the summer. This pond pretty much dries out in late summer.
From the saddle, drop steeply down switchbacks to a meadow and Mystic Lake at 5,700 feet. You can take the .2 mile walk to the ranger cabin, but it isn't much of a view compared to the top of the saddle. Drop down another .3 mile to Mystic Camp, which is only 3.6 miles from Dick Creek Camp, but feels much farther than that. Deer always seem to come by the camp so keep a lookout for them in this area. Remember not to leave food out or unattended because black bears are also commonly found in this area. While we were at Mystic Camp, Zach and I put moleskin on our toes that were taking a beating from the downhill portions of the trail. By the fourth day my socks could just about stand up on their own. I bet the bears could smell my socks 5 miles away.
We stopped here to make our breakfast and went down from 5,600 feet at Mystic Camp to 4,600 feet at Winthrop Creek. The trail washed out along the White River several years ago and the re-route is the nicest section on this Northern Loop/Wonderland route, outside of the Sunrise area. The re-route rejoins the old trail and comes to a washout by Winthrop Creek. You have to go partway down the slope to the creek bed using a rope to hold onto. The trail crosses over raging Winthrop Creek on a log bridge and past Garda Falls, start the long climb through the forest to Granite Creek at 5,850 feet and 4.1 miles from Mystic Camp. This is another great stream for filtering water and it is a pleasant place to take a break and listen to the stream splashing down through the semi-open forest. The trail continues to climb fairly steeply up another 800 feet in elevation to Skyscraper pass at 6,650 feet, and about a mile from the crossing at Granite Creek. We took a break just below Skyscraper pass and finished off the last crumbs of our food.
Zach was thinking about getting a cheeseburger at Sunrise and was setting a sweat-off-the-brow pace. There are more great views from the pass and some people make a .5 mile side-trip up Skyscraper Mountain. We were now psyched for burgers and there would be no more side trips today. Sometimes there is a marmot that hangs around the pass, but not today so we dropped down to the junction of the Northern Loop Trail at 6,400 feet, 1.3 miles from Skyscraper Pass.
It is an easy .7 mile climb up to Frozen Lake at 7,000 feet. The wind was blowing about 30 miles per hour and you could see several tourists in their cotton T-shirts and shorts, unprepared for a cold wind. We hurried past them for the last 1.2 miles, gaining a bit more elevation, passing by one more exposed scree slope area, and then quickly dropping down at a rate of a tourist per every foot of elevation lost down to Sunrise at 6,400 feet.
We finished about 2pm and ordered our well-deserved bacon cheeseburgers and sodas. The smell of cooking bacon wafted through the dining area and we knew our orders were almost done. We placed our orders just in time because as we were savoring our burgers the kitchen ran out of cheese.
Now we had returned to civilization and now our hike was quickly becoming a memory that becomes fonder with time.
This is a fantastic wildflower backpack in early to mid-July. It is a “Must” hike during the peak season of the Lupines and Avalanche Lilies flowering. There are steep slopes and exposed scree fields along the trails, so hikers must know their limits and stay back from cliff edges. Enjoy the photos!! Gallery PicsSwitchback Steve
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Backpacking Trips: Pacific Crest Trail - South Sister / Obsidian, OR
Tuesday, December 09 @ 08:31:10 PST by Drew (427 reads) | Vicinity Location:
The Pole Creek Trailhead is about 83 miles Southeast of Salem OR, and about 102 miles Southeast of Portland, OR, in the Deschutes National Forest.
Directions:
Pole Creek Trailhead: From Sisters, Oregon, drive to the Southwest side of town and find Forest Road 15. Head west, then southwest on Forest Road 15 for about 10 miles and follow the signs for the Pole Creek Trailhead and park in the dusty parking lot.
A Northwest Forest Pass is required to park at this trailhead.
The trail enters the Three Sisters Wilderness Area shortly after leaving the trailhead.
Wilderness Permits are required for both day-use and overnight travel in the Wilderness from Memorial Day Weekend until Oct. 31. Permits are free and available at the trailhead.
Link to Three Sisters Wilderness Area Camping and hiking regulations.
Outhouses are available at the parking lot.
Length and Elevation:
50 Miles roundtrip, Elevation gain 11,000 feet and elevation loss of 11,000 feet. Trailhead elevation is 5,300 feet. High point is 1,0363 feet (3159 m).
Day 1 - Pole Creek Trailhead to Golden Lake: +1,800, -600, 7 miles.
Day 2 - Golden Lake to Moraine Lake Camp: + 950, -1,200, 7 miles.
Day 3 - Climb South Sister: +3,900, -3,900, 3.25 miles.
Day 4 - Moraine Lake Camp to James Creek Shelter: +920, -1,550, 7.1 miles.
Day 5 - James Creek Shelter to Minnie Scott Spring: +2,300, -1,600, 9.5 miles.
Day 6 - Minnie Scott Spring to Pole Creek Trailhead: +1,300, -2,100, 12.7 miles.
Trail:
Pole Creek Trail #4072, Green Lakes Trail #4070, Sisters Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, Scott Pass Trail #4068 with connections to various trails.
There is at least one geocache along this trail near: N 44° 12.000 W 121° 52.000. Info at Geocaching.com
Trail Maps:
Topo Map
Review: July 16th, 2007.
This is one of the classic Oregon backpacking trips.
Before the hike we met to discuss food and gear. I always advise taking between 24 and 32 ounces of dried food per full day of hiking. I also like to take 2 water filters for the group in case one filter breaks or clogs. We talked about how to split up the weight of shared tents and the importance of breaking in boots by walking while carrying a pack. We talked about equipment and what works well. I think most packs on the market work pretty well when you follow the manufacturing guidelines and most any pack will last for a 50 mile hike if it isn't overloaded. For clothing, I told them I take one pair of zip-off pants, one pair of running shorts, one long-sleeved shirt, and a lightweight short-sleeved shirt. The next layer is a thick fleece and a lightweight hat for the sun, with a flap to cover my neck. I always use liner socks and a pair of chushioning socks. Usually they're a wool-synthetic blend. I've been pleased with the Fox River liner socks and Ultimax socks for cushioning. These socks usually last me about 3 seasons of hiking before wearing out. An outer shell should consist of breathable rainpants and raincoat and gaiters. Gaiters really help keep the forest duff out of your boots. I've spent too much time picking tree needles out of my socks when I've forgotten them. In the Pacific Northwest, having boots that are waterproof or mostly waterproof is important because weather systems can move in and rain for a day or two quite commonly. The last thing I think is essential when backpacking is a pair of trekking poles for the freedom they provide while walking. With trekking poles, I can look up from the trail more often and catch myself for the times I do trip over a rock or root. Usually I take some sort of camp shoes.
It was an easy drive to Redmond, where we stopped for snacks, gasoline, and a bathroom break. The road to the trailhead is mostly paved and the potholes were mostly avoidable. We arrived without getting lost, assembled our gear, and weighed it for the trail. A couple of the Scouts had too heavy of a pack so we went through them and pulled out some extra clothes and extra food.
Our group consisted of Drew, Zach, Dennis, Lucas, Mark, and myself when we started out at the Pole Creek Trailhead under a blue sky and pleasant temperatures. The first part of the trail is very well maintained as it goes through the forest. The soil in this whole area is volcanic, there isn't a lot of undergrowth, and the dry climate discourages the fallen trees and branches from rotting quickly. The trail gently gains elevation or is flat almost all the way to our first night's camp.
The first junction is after 1.4 miles and we turned left. The streams we crossed were bordered by wildflowers and I stopped to take pictures. We kept a good pace until the trail climbed to our junction to camp. We looked hard to find the junction to camp and finally found it with the help of our GPS. As the trail climbed, the wind increased. The wind was really blowing by the time we dropped down to the lake and chose our camp for the night. Golden Lake doesn't have many trees to break the wind, so we were happy to get into our tents for the night.
The next day dawned clear, calmer, and colder. I was glad that I brought gloves to function as potholders while cooking and gloves for when it is cold. We had our breakfasts, broke camp, and went back to the trail junction for Golden Lake and headed southeast towards Green Lakes and Moraine Lake. The trail went through a meadow that had great views of Broken Top and I stopped to take pictures. We broke for lunch at one of the crystal-clear streams and I looked at Steven's blisters. He had huge blisters on both heels and he had worn off the top layer of skin. He said they didn't hurt, but I knew that his raw skin would be tender soon. I was unhappy that he had let his feet get in that condition. He told me that he hadn't noticed it, which I found hard to believe by the size of the blisters.
The rest of the group caught up as I was bandaging up his blisters and everyone stopped and had lunch along the Fall Creek. In the distance we could see sunlight glittering off the Newberry lava flow. Plants grow slow in this dry climate and the lava flow looked like it had happened only a few years ago. There must be a lot of obsidian in the lava and the sparkling and twinkling of the light on the lava made for quite a sight. The trail went just above a stream that had been rerouted by the lava flow and the lava looked like a giant pillow rising from the stream. Up to this point, the trail hadn't been crowded, but now e passed a junction to a popular trailhead and saw more people. It was a Friday and we met people who were coming in to camp and climb South Sister the next day. From the junction, the trail climbs up to Moraine Lake, which has quite a few secluded campsites. The Forest Service tries to minimize the visual impact of campers be locating campsites away from the lake and in the trees. We split up to scout out campsites. We liked a spot on the northeast side of the lake, but it sloped too much for our liking.
We found a nice flat campsite on the south side of the lake that would fit all our tents without a problem. The campsite had a view of the lake, through the trees, and a fine view of Broken Top to the east. Once we finished setting up camp and rested for a bit, we went down to the lake to check it out. The lake wasn't very cold and it felt good to soak our feet. The Scouts made up a rock-throwing game and we had a contest and kept score on who could knock a certain rock into the lake by throwing small rocks at it. We played long enough to where it was hard to get any more small stones to throw. Mark knocked the rock into the lake the most times and was declared the winner.
While we were having our rock-throwing contest, some hikers walked over to the far side of the lake, peeled off all their clothes, and went for a swim. We finished our game and walked farther along the lake while the skinny-dippers whooped and hollered. I was feeling grimy myself so later in the day I went back to camp, put on some shorts, and went back the lake for a swim. By then clouds were moving in and I didn't spend a very long time in the shallow lake as the air was cooling down. I got out of the lake during a sun break and dried off. While I was walking along the lake, I saw a woman who was visibly upset. She had gotten lost from her group and had now idea what trail to take back to the trailhead. Drew and I tried to calm her down so she would stop crying and start thinking. She had no map, no food, no water, no flashlight, and no clue as to which trailhead she had come from. Drew was eventually able to puzzle out that she had not come along from the Fall Creek Trailhead, so she must have come from the trail just west of Moraine Lake. We gave her some water and she went on her way to meet her group.
I went back to camp to get dressed and met the Scouts down by the lake. They had been throwing pieces of pumice into the lake to see which ones would float. We walked along the lake and when we stopped and I got out my camera to take some pictures, I found out my hydration bladder wasn't screwed down tight and water leaked into my backpack. i reached in and pulled my camera out of a pool of water. I pulled out the batteries, shook water out of it, and dried it off as best I could. I waited a while, put the batteries back in, and turned it on. The camera acted funny, but after a few on-off cycles, it seemed to work. There was a little LED that glowed all the time, when before the dunking, it only glowed when the camera was turned on.
The next morning brought more of the same weather, but we were still planning to climb South Sister, called "Charity". A trail along the east side of Moraine Lake to South Sister is now closed to prevent erosion. We headed west from our campsite for the summit trail that skirts the south side of the lake, then climbs up to a bench above Moraine Lake. This area has a volcanic sand soil and not much can grow on the flat, dry areas, so we had a perfect view of South Sister.
After about a mile, the trail begins to climb the lower slopes and enters a grove of trees. After a short walk through the trees, the woods become more open and the trail gets rockier. It isn't long before we were walking up barren slopes and seeing volcanic rocks in shades of reds and browns.
The increasing elevation exposed us to the elements. Today it is a layer of high clouds and gusty winds.
The walk is quite steep now and sometimes we grab rough, pumice-like rocks to steady ourselves. We see a couple of people who are already on their way back down. They make clouds of dust that blow past us, and on us as they scurry down the mountain.
About halfway up, we met and talked about safety. Hypothermia is a danger in this kind of weather and if conditions deteriorated much more, we would turn around and head back to camp. The cloud ceiling was still above the mountain and it wasn't raining yet, so it seemed safe to go on. So many people climb South Sister that the trail easy to find, even in a dense fog.
Now we were noticing the thinner air and climbing was getting harder. As usual, Drew led with the fast group while I brought up the rear.
We reached a small snow-rimmed lake, at about 10 am, and joined the groups of people lounging around. There is a low ridge between the downslope and the lake, which made a nice windbreak. it was even warm sometimes when the sunshine weakly came through breaks in the clouds. After a good rest, we left the lake and picked our way along the rocks and climbed the last 1,000 feet or so to the top.
The top of South Sister is a crater rimmed with craggy rocks. A rugged path goes most of the way around the rime edge. The wind was intense and blowing about 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph or so.
We trudged to around the rim and onto a snowfield that filled the crater. Off to the west side, the crater drops down to an icy-blue melt-water lake. We walked counter-clockwise, picking our way among the broken crags while admiring the steep slopes and nearby mountains. The clouds slid by like ice on a cookie sheet and the peak of North Sister was plastered by one cloud after another. It was hard to stay warm in the gals and Lucas and I found Mark in his sorts and jacket, looking a little cold. We found a hand-stacked rock wall and hunkered won, somewhat out of the wind, and had lunch. We walked a but farther and stopped for pictures on a promontory, then turned back and took a shortcut across the snowfield to the descent route.
We found Drew and headed back down. We passed a lot of other people heading towards the summit and we were glad to be heading down, especially while we watched the weather slowly deteriorating.
It took a while to get back down because we wanted to be careful not to fall and get cut on the rocks or blown off the trail by a sudden wind gust. We could see rain falling out of the sky but most of it evaporated as it fell. On the way along the plateau overlooking Moraine Lake, we saw some people cutting the trail, but we were good hikers and stayed on the trail.
Moraine Lake is the only source of water in the area, so we stopped to filter water out of the crystal clear lake and saw that Sooth Sister was mostly covered in clouds. In the evening, the mountain came out a little more and we agreed going up early was the best choice.
The next morning was a Monday, and it was one of those Mondays that you would like a do-over for. The weather was windy and damp and didn’t look like it would get better any time soon. We broke camp after breakfast and shook as much water as we cold off our tents. We dropped down to the trail along the lake and filtered water for the morning. No one will be swimming today, I thought. The wind picked up as we climbed up the trail and over a saddle. There were few trees for shelter and the farther on the trail we went, the harder the wind blew. It drove home every tiny and not-so-tiny raindrop falling from the gray sky. The trail crosses a couple of pumice plains and there is no shelter of any kind from the elements. We had to stop and look at the map tor a while at one of the trail junctions on the plains because the map seemed to show the trail going on a section of the trail signed as closed. We decided the trail had been re-routed and headed northwest.
All of us were grateful whenever the trail passed through trees and it seemed to take an eternity to see the trail climb out of the pumice plains and into the wooded hills. We stopped under a big fir tree for snacks and to get away from the wind and rain a bit. Mark looked wet and kind of cold. Dennis had a jacket and a thin plastic poncho, which was ripped, and the rest of us looked like our raingear was working okay. Thankfully, the rain and wind were light and the wind wasn’t blowing very hard in the trees.
From here the trail gradually climbed through the forest and was well maintained with just small puddles to negotiate. When we reached the junction to James Creek Shelter, I was confused in my directions and wanted to continue up the Pacific Crest Trail. Luckily Drew and Lucas pointed out the right direction. We walked about a mile past the junction and stopped at the log shelter.
There was a lone backpacker there with his dog, but they were getting ready to leave and head south. We talked about the trail and the rain. It hardly rains in Central Oregon in the summer, but we were pretty wet. The 3-sided shelter was a welcome relief. Hikers before us had left a supply of dry wood which made it easy to start a fire to warm up and dry out. My camera was dead and I was sad that I couldn’t take any more pictures.
We gathered more wood for the fire; there was plenty to be found. We all brought wood from the forest to the fire. Drew and I fixed the loose cedar shakes on the roof of the shelter as best we could. There were still a couple of leaks, but they were small and didn’t let much water in. We hung up our wet stuff to dry out and Drew and I set up our tents. Zach and the Scouts planned to stay in the shelter for the night.
We had a great time talking and getting dinner ready. Of course the Scouts played with the fire by sticking in branches and waving them around once they caught. There isn’t a lot else to do when a light rain is falling outside.
I had about four ounces of water pooled in my tent from setting it up, but I used my handkerchief to sponge it out. I went to sleep hoping for better weather and that I didn’t have a leak in my tent.
The next morning was still cloudy and drizzly. We filtered water from the stream by the shelter and started on our way. Our feet were still a little wet from yesterday and it didn't look like we would have dry feet today. I had been checking on Steven's heels to make sure the blisters didn't get worse. Now his heels hurt him when he walked. Thank goodness we didn't get them bandaged up later. The trail is mostly in the woods on a hillside and I wished the weather was clear so we could have views from the mountains towards Salem.
We continued walking along the mountain slope until around lunch when we met some hikers with their dog. We warmed ourselves near their fire, but they built their fire over tree roots. I could only hope the fire wouldn't smolder in the roots and then spring to life and cause a forest fire later in the summer.
We reluctantly left the warm fire and forged ahead, hoping for a break from the wind and maybe see some sun. In the afternoon we came to the obsidian area. It is amazing to see shards of obsidian all over the ground. We found a small spring there and helped ourselves to the spring water. The trail passed out of the trees and into the grips of the howling wind.
The wind blasted us without relent as the landscape became a surreal moonscape. The landscape became more jumbled with every step towards Opie Dilldock Pass, though it should have been called Blow Down Pass. The volcanic rocks here are like a pile of giant granola. We marveled at the effort taken to carve a trail through this desolate landscape. We looked up towards the pass and couldn’t see where the trail was. The hiking guide book we looked at warned about heatstroke climbing this pass in the afternoon. We were more worried about hypothermia.
Mark and I saw a marmot checking out the weather but it quickly went back under cover. I wished we could have gotten out of the wind and mist. Thankfully the rain was barely falling, but it was driven by 50 mph winds with stronger gusts. There was one gust of wind that blew me towards the edge of the trail. I was able to get control before I was blown off a ridge and down the hill.
Drew was bringing up the rear and when he caught up, he told me that Dennis had wanted to stop before the pass, but he would have just gotten colder until hypothermia set in. Sometimes you have to keep moving even though resting seems like a good idea.
We grouped together in a sparse grove of trees just after getting over the pass. We were all getting cold but the place we planned to camp was only about a mile away. We passed a stream fed by Minnie Scott Spring and stopped at the spring to decide what to do. We split up into two groups to find a good campsite. We eventually found a large level area, though I would have liked a few more trees to shelter us from the wind.
We were supposed to meet Mr. Beatty and his son that afternoon. They had driven down to hike with us on the last two days. We had looked for them when we were scoping out campsites, but though we saw about four other campers, they weren’t among them.
We worked together to start a campfire in an existing fire ring but the blowing rain and wet wood made starting a fire challenging. The fire almost went out a couple of times however we had found some dry, punky wood and finally got the fire going.
Our next problem was that Dennis had a broken tent pole. Drew lent his pole repair kit to Dennis and he fixed his tent pole as best he could. Drew had tent pole issues too. The end of one of his pole sections for his Half-Dome tent splintered and he made a barely serviceable repair.
I heated up water for the Scouts to make hot chocolate, or just drink hot water to get warmed up. This was the first time that Mark looked pretty cold in his shorts.
Mr. Beatty and Nicholas showed up later in the afternoon and they helped heat water as they set up camp. The weather was finally calming down, but we didn’t linger outside. We got in our sleeping bags as soon as we could. I was acting like I was running in place inside my bag to warm up. The next morning Drew asked me what the heck I had been doing because it sounded like someone sawing.
Most everyone was chilly during the night, but no one was really cold. Steven got water in his tent during the night, but no one could figure out where that much water had come from. It hardly rained during the night and it wasn’t very windy.
The next to last day of our hike dawned clear. At last, nice weather again. My camera was dead but with all the clouds there hadn’t been much in the way of scenic vistas to photograph anyway.
We had a meeting to decide about the rest of our backpacking trip. Drew and I wanted to stay and hike in the area and push out on the last day, but most of the Scouts were ready for home. Since it was a Scout rip, we agreed to push out a day early and backpack all the way to Pole Creek Trailhead. Mr. Beatty and Nicholas decided to dayhike in the area, stay the night, and return to there car.
We said goodbye and headed up the trail through another section of volcanic boulders. With the sun out and our feet wet, I made sure to take breaks every hour to dry out our feet. The sun felt good on our wrinkled toes. I talked about how easy blisters form on wet, wrinkly skin and I didn’t want people to get blisters on the last day.
By lunchtime were had been travelling in the open forest for a couple of hours, heading downhill most of the time. Our feet were looking almost normal and the weather remained clear. I was sad we didn’t stay and see some of the cinder cones near last night’s camp. During the lunch break, Dennis had pulled stuff out of his pack. He still had a whole lot of food, and he had some dry socks in plastic bags. He hadn’t thought to put clean socks on to help dry out his feet and boots. Lucky for him that he didn’t’ get blisters.
We made good time as the trail was mostly downhill and the Scouts were motivated hikers, wanting to get back to the truck, drive to a hamburger place, and get home.
The trail breaks out of the thinning trees and passes over a section of rubble. Some places seem washed out but it is just the way this area of volcanic terrain is. There are views of Middle Sister, but we don’t pay much attention because we’re focused on getting back to the truck.
Our group has strung out along the trail as we near the end of our hike. Zach has turned out to be a strong hiker. Sometimes he is in the lead group and other times in the rear group. l Dennis and Lucas also switch back and forth during the day. Mark is always in the lead group. Leading the hike during many segments of the trail.
We pass into an open forest of second-growth trees and reach our final junction. From here the trail descends over vaguely familiar territory and we talk about getting off the trail and what food we want to eat. We make it back to the dust-covered truck and car about 4:30 in the afternoon, which leaves us plenty of time to stop for burgers and get home before dark.
We all learned a lot on this hike or reaffirmed things we once knew but had forgotten. Staying dry to avoid hypothermia on our rainy, windy trip; setting up camp to avoid dead trees that could blow down on a tent; carrying enough matches and tinder to save us from having a cold, miserable evening at the cinder cones was nice. Properly breaking in footwear is critical to the enjoyment of a backpacking trip, and finally, having a group that cooperates and enjoys each others company helped get us through the bad weather that we encountered along the way. This trail should be on every backpacker’s “must” list who lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Enjoy the photos!!
Gallery Pics
Switchback Steve
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Backpacking Trips: Pacific Crest Trail - Little Crater Lake to Jefferson Park, OR
Tuesday, December 09 @ 08:29:45 PST by Drew (418 reads) | Vicinity Location:
Little Crater Lake is about 52 miles Southeast of Portland, OR in Mt. Hood National Forest.
Directions:
Little Crater Lake Trailhead: From Portland take I-84 East to the Wood Village, exit (16A). Head south and turn left onto NE Burnside Rd. Heading East, Burnside will merge into Highway 26. Follow Hwy 26 to Government Camp.
In Government Camp, drive 11 miles past the junction of US-26 and Timberline Hwy, then turn right, onto Forest Road 42, Oregon Skyline Rd. Drive 1.2 miles and turn right onto Forest Road 2660.
Follow FR 2660 for 2.5 miles and turn left to continue on FR2660 for another .9 mile. Turn left onto FR 58, Abbott Road and drive 1.8 miles to Little Crater Lake Campground. Turn right, into the campground, and find the trailhead to Little Crater Lake on the west side of the campground.
Whitewater River Trailhead: From Portland, drive on I-5 South about 45 miles to the Salem area and take Exit 253 for Hwy 99E and Detroit Lake/Bend. Keep left, following the signs for Bend, Oregon.
Follow Hwy 22, North Santiam Hwy for about 59 miles and turn left onto Forest Road 2243. Follow FR 2243 for about 7.4 miles to the trailhead.
There are bathrooms and water at the Little Crater Lake trailhead. There is no bathroom or water at the Whitewater River trailhead.
A permit is needed to park.
Trail:
Pacific Crest Trail, Whitewater Trail with connections various other trails.
Trail Maps:
Topo Map
Length and Elevation:
51 miles one-way. Elevation gain of 7,500 feet and loss of 6,600 feet. One mile side trip to Mt. Jefferson, elevation gain of 1,400 feet and loss of 1,400 feet roundtrip. Elevation at the Little Crater Lake trailhead is 3,245 feet. Elevation at the Whitewater trailhead is 3,000 feet. Highest point on the trail is at 6,900 feet. Lowest elevation is 3,000 feet.
Day 1 - Little Crater Lake Campground to Dry Camp: +500, -250, 7 miles.
Day 2 - Dry Camp to Seeping Spring Camp: +1,400, -1,000, 9 mles.
Day 3 - Seeping Spring Camp to Jude Lake: +2,300, -1,500, 14 miles.
Day 4 - Jude Lake to Breitenbush Lake: +1,700, -800, 9.5 miles.
Day 5 - Breitenbush Lake to Scout Lake: +1,400, -1,100, 6 miles.
Day 6 - Day hikes: +1,400, -1,400, 2 miles.
Day 7 - Scout Lake to Whitewater Trailhead: +200, -1,970, 4.6 miles.
Review: July 6, 2003.
50 Mile Hike on the PCT – Little Crater Lake to Whitewater Trail
I had been planning this trip with the Boy Scouts for several months. The schedule was to leave in early July, which ruled out a lot of trails because of snow. I needed to find a location within a reasonable length drive for someone to shuttle us to the trailhead and back again. I also wanted a scenic hike without thousands of feet of elevation gain. I decided on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon. I had hiked part of it in the past and I knew the trail wouldn’t be unreasonably steep. I wanted to make sure we hiked 50 miles and looked for places to end our hike. I saw the Whitewater trail out of Mt. Jefferson Wilderness was a good ending spot. That would make the last day mostly downhill. Other possible locations were a loop on the eastside of Mt. Rainier National Park and the Northern Loop in Mt. Rainier National Park. As I analyzed these other trails, I decided there was too much elevation gain and too much snow early in July to make these trips successfully. I made my suggestions to the troop and we agreed on hiking the PCT from near Timothy Lake to Jefferson Park in Oregon. We had one scout drop out due to scheduling conflicts and two scouts decided not to come because their schedule was too busy.
The week before the trip, we met at Mr. Gourlie’s house and brought along everything we intended to wear and pack. We talked about how much fuel to use and how much food to bring. I estimated each person needed about 1 ¼ pounds of food per day. If we were running way low on food then we would be able to buy extra at the lodge on day four. The Scouts shared a stove and a 4-person tent that weighed about 10 pounds and my tent, which Mr. Gourlie and I shared, weighed about 6 pounds.
It was a misty Sunday morning when we left our house on July 6th. We arrived at the Home Depot, which is north of Orchards, at 8:30 am. When we got there, we saw a ferret running around the parking lot. The other backpackers soon arrived and Cedric drove us to our trailhead at Little Crater Lake. The closer we got to the trailhead the better the weather got. By the time we were dropped off the sky was perfectly clear. We took pictures of us five intrepid hikers, had some snacks, and said goodbye to Cedric. We were alone and on our own. I felt a little overwhelmed and worried if I’d left anything important behind.
The trail soon turned into a boardwalk across marshy ground. In about a quarter of a mile, we came to Little Crater Lake. A sign explains how a geologic fault and gravelly soil conditions have made a small lake, which is about 20 feet deep with the edge of the lake dropping straight down to the bottom. The water was a beautiful turquoise and a sign explained the water temperature is always 34 degrees. Soon after passing the lake, we joined the PCT and tuned south. The trail is in deep forest and looks well traveled. You could see bicycle tire tracks on this part of the trail though it is not permitted.
In a couple of miles, we reached a stream that flows into Timothy Lake. The lake is a beautiful blue color and the weather was perfect with blue sky and a light breeze. We saw five swimmers at one point along the lake. We passed several nice campsites which would be accessible by hiking a few miles north from Timothy Lake. We saw several boats on the lake and I wondered if motorboats were allowed. My question was soon answered when I heard a gas powered motorboat on the lake. About 12:30, we followed a path down to the lake and had lunch. Mr. Gourlie remarked that if we were in Eastern Washington there would be a lot of rattlesnakes in all the rocks. We filtered water and finished lunch. The trail became dustier as we passed around the south end of Timothy Lake. Usually the breeze kept the dust-clouds away from us but sometimes the dust swirled around us. The trail remained fairly level throughout the day. We passed a junction to the historic ranger station at Clackamas Lake and the trail passed the southern end of Timothy Lake. The trail climbed gently upward and we passed by the spot where I thought there would be water. We reached Wilson Road and we were almost out of water. The map showed a stream crossing the road. We scouted around for water but only found a dry streambed. We decided to backtrack, set up camp, and backtrack further to find water. Tyler was discouraged but we found an adequate but dry campsite in about a mile. We made camp, hung up our food, and then went for water. Back at the junction, we turned left and soon saw Clackamas Lake. We headed towards the lake and found a trail that led to prolific springs that fed the lake. Tyler accidentally sat on an ant nest while he filtered water. He really jumped when he saw them crawling all over him. We filtered 12 liters of water and hoped to have enough water for the next day so we wouldn’t have to hike back to the springs again in the morning. We got back to camp and fixed our dinners. We retired early to the tents because there were lots of mosquitoes. We had seen a total of four hikers today. Lance, Tyler, and Vernon cracked jokes and did other things that 13 and 14 year old boys do. Other than having to backtrack, this was a wonderful hiking day. The sky was blue and the temperatures were in the mind 60’s. The Scouts are getting along well together and Mr. Gourlie and I are quite comfy in the two-man tent. We hiked a total of about 12 miles the first day.
I got up about 6:30 am on July 7th. I could hear different birds enjoying the clear dawn. One woodpecker sounded musical tapping on a distant tree. We had suspended our food between two trees the previous night. I was glad to see it was untouched. Pretty soon, I hunted out my hat and gloves as it was jut below 40 degrees in the camp and I was getting cold. I got the food down out of the tree and waited awhile before I started waking people up. We made breakfast and then broke camp. We decided that we had enough water to go forward and that there was no need to backtrack to the springs where we had filtered water yesterday. We all hit the trail about 8 am and found the place where we turned around the previous day at about 8:30am.
The trail climbed steadily from the road crossing. The trail was pretty shady and the dust got less as we gained altitude. We passed under crackling power-lines that had towers so tall the lines were way above the treetops. After a mile or so, the trail started dropping down to the Warm Springs River. We met two hikers who told us how nice the Warm Springs River was. When we reached Road 4245 Mr. Gourlie needed to change out of his boots. He thought he had broken-in his boots by wearing them around the house but it was a different story once he started carrying a heavy pack. His boots had been hurting the tendons on the sides of his ankles for some time. He had tried using gloves for padding but it wasn’t helping enough. He changed into his Teva river shoes and we continued through the forest. Soon the kinds of plants were changing to what you would see near a river. I had some concerns about getting across Warm Springs River. I’ve seen the river on the way to Bend, Oregon and it is quite a large river. Just before we got to the river, we saw a deer in a meadow. We watched it for a short time before it walked into the woods. We made a sharp descent down to the river and it was only 20 feet wide and about 12 inches deep. There was even a log bridge over the river. It was about 12:30 so we stopped for lunch and soaked our feet. Brrr the water must have been about 35 degrees or colder. While we were having lunch, we noticed a bunch of butterflies landing on a sunny part of the moist riverbank. I walked over and nudged one to onto my finger. It seemed to be looking for something to eat. I put some water on my finger and it lapped it up. I showed Vernon and he got a butterfly to crawl onto his finger too. Lance was moving too fast and they kept flying away from him. Once he slowed down, he could get one too. Pretty soon, Tyler had a couple on him and later he had five on him. It felt weird when they flew around your head and ears. One tried to fly up Lance’s nose. We stayed there for an hour before we left for the long climb south out of the valley. I was getting worried that I would miss where we were planning to camp for the night. I was worriedly scanning the trail for a sign or side trail for the camp. Relieved, I finally saw rocks marking small side trail. Lance and I went down the trail and when I saw the campsite, I knew we would be okay. We found the seeping spring and the water barely flowing from it. We set up camp and the boys started a fire right away. We set up our tents and then Mr. Gourlie and I moved our tent to a level campsite about 50 feet uphill from the fire ring. I found a giant cricket near the fire ring. It was about 1 ½ inches long and ½ an inch fat. It was so big it could barely hop. Speaking of hopping, we found a frog in the spring. We were happy to eat our dinners while sitting around the fire. Vernon was very interested in anyone’s leftovers. We started our after dinner chores and it was a lot of work to get our food bags suspended. After several tries of getting the bear rope into the trees, we got the food bags about eight feet off the ground and hoped it would be high enough to keep it from any varmints.
I noticed thin high clouds in the sky. They were the first clouds we had seen on our hike. I could hear the crickets chirping near our tent. I wondered what change in the weather the wind and clouds would bring in the morning. There were fewer mosquitoes than last night’s camp but they were still plentiful. Tomorrow there won’t be any water available for the whole day and there is over 1200 feet in elevation gain. We hiked almost 12 miles on our second day.
I awoke to the sound of wind in the trees and temperatures in the high 40’s on July 8th. I went over to the Scouts’ tent and woke them up by loudly rattling their Tyvek ground tarp. I brought down the food bags and set them next to the fire-pit. After breakfast we took plenty of water from the spring because there wouldn’t be another source of water until Trooper Spring, which was about 8 ½ miles away. We packed and left camp about 7:30 am. The trail climbed steadily and by 8:30, Vernon was begging for part of the beef sausage I’d brought along. By 9:30, I’d given him his half and he hungrily began devouring it. I didn’t think the sausage would last for long.
We continued to climb the trail and were moving pretty well until we hit the switchbacks. Every time we stopped to rest, the mosquitoes urged us on. The trail hadn’t been cleared yet and we had to negotiate quite a few fallen trees. We passed breaks in the trees that our guidebook said had great views of Mt. Hood but all we saw were clouds and fog. We passed a tree that had been shattered by lightning. There were giant splinters that had been thrown dozens of feet away from the tree. Mr. Gourlie took some pictures of the devastated tree. As we continued hiking the lightest of mists was falling and we wondered if the rain had arrived. We met two hikers as we passed the Pinhead Buttes. They were hiking about 55 miles from Olallie Lake to Timberline Lodge. We realized we had blasted by our 1200 foot elevation gain and it looked like we would reach our campsite shortly after lunch. We took a break about noon and Trooper Spring was only ¼ mile away according to my GPS. We reached the spring about 12:30 and had lunch among the mosquitoes. We talked and decided to push on to the next night’s campsite which was about 6 ½ miles away with another 300 feet in elevation gain. Vernon and I grew tired and lagged behind. After a couple of hours we heard that Mr. Gourlie’s feet were getting really sore from wearing his river shoes. The pace slowed and we caught up once the trail started heading back downhill. The trail crossed several rocky sections which made Mr. Gourlie go very slow. We made several rest stops and late in the afternoon we found a wonderful campsite on the southern shore of Jude Lake. During the afternoon the clouds had burned off and the weather had turned sunny. Lance made new friends with the carpenter ants and had one crawling over his hands. Most of us got into the lake to clean up a little. There were dozens of salamanders in the warm lake water. The bottom was pretty muddy and you had to be careful not to get tangled in the underwater weeds. Later, I started a campfire and boiled water for our noodle dinners. Mr. Gourlie and Lance had spaghetti with meat sauce and Tyler had Turkey Noodle. After dinner we sat around the campfire and turned in early because we were all tired. Mr. Gourlie is going to try his boots on again tomorrow because his toes are so tender from walking in his river shoes. He fears he has bruised his toes enough that he will lose some toenails.
Everyone hiked really well today. We covered over 14 miles and over 2000 feet in total elevation gain. Tomorrow we’ll decide how far we want to hike.
July 9th I woke up at 12:30 am and it seemed pretty warm outside even though the stars were out and the sky was clear. I woke up again about 5:30 am to the sound of a bird fluttering just outside the tent. I got up and the air was perfectly calm and the lake had mists slowly moving across the water. I filtered water for breakfast as I sat on a log bridge at the west edge of Jude Lake. I went back to camp and had to try four times before I got the fire started. I must be really out of practice. The others soon got up and I cooked oatmeal over the fire while Mr. Gourlie heated water for himself, Lance, and Tyler. Mr. Gourlie had modified his boots at the start of the day by lacing them up halfway and tying open the tops of his boots. We talked about hiking to Horseshoe Lake for our destination that day and headed off towards Olallie Lake Lodge. The Scouts zipped down the trail with visions of buying candy bars and sodas at the lodge. We reached the lodge a little after 10 am and bought candy bars and sodas along with hot dogs and buns for the night’s dinner. Tyler was going to call home from the lodge but they were charging $5 for a five minute call. At the lake, Mr. Gourlie met someone he knew from the Hood –to-Coast races. His name was Vic Carlson and he was with a group of Scouts who were hiking from Horseshoe Lake to Scout Lake in Jefferson Park for an overnighter. One of the men in his group tried to use his cell phone to call home for Tyler but the call wouldn’t go through.
After our sugar hit, we reached consensus to continue hiking towards Horseshoe or Breitenbush Lake. The trail was rocky and started climbing steadily. We reached Cigar Lake and had lunch. The mosquito population had slowly been increasing which caused our breaks to be short. We climbed a really steep part of the trail and came to a fantastic viewpoint of Mt. Hood and Olallie Lake. The lake was far below us and far away. The trail had been pretty rocky all morning. After we left the Many Lakes Viewpoint the trail was level for awhile and then started climbing again. Everyone was tired but kept pressing forward because of the mosquitoes. The trail climbed up and up and finally broke out onto a rocky slope with an incredible view of Mt. Jefferson and the Breitenbush River. We stopped for some pictures and then climbed up another ¼ mile and crossed a couple of snow patches. The bugs finally let up and then we descended down towards Breitenbush Lake. We found a great looking campsite but it was filled with mosquitoes. We tried another spot and it is almost as bad. We swatted at the mosquitoes constantly and the Scouts went wading to try to escape the bugs. They found the lake bottom really muddy and there was some flailing of arms as the Scouts worked to keep their balance. Once out of the lake we got the fire going for the hot dogs. I couldn’t find any willow or alder branches but I did find some weathered cedar branches to skewer the hot dogs. We cooked our hot dogs over the open fire while we swatted mosquitoes. We just couldn’t put on enough repellant to keep them away. We hung up the food for the night and got into out tents by 6:30 pm. Later the Scouts got back out and filtered water for the next day. We were all entertained by the mosquito bite tally. Vernon had 135 bites, Tyler 41 bites, and Lance was the winner with 219 bites.
In the tent the Scouts recounted Harry Potter books and Tyler had to keep protesting that he didn’t want to hear how the latest book had ended. Mr. Gourlie and I talked about our families and jobs we had done in the past. We went to sleep about 10 pm with little clouds of you-know-whats circling above our tents leaving no doubt we would be leaving camp early tomorrow.
Late that afternoon a truck had pulled into the otherwise empty campground. We were surprised the next morning to see that they had stayed the night. We hiked about 11 miles on our fourth day.
July 10th found me awake at about 6:45 am. The sun was just rising across the lake. It was another perfectly clear day. I dressed and headed down the lake for some pictures of the lake with Mt. Jefferson in the background. I followed an old trail for awhile and then went down to the lake for pictures. When I got back to camp the mosquitoes were almost as bad as the day before. Mr. Gourlie and I were kind and let the Scouts eat in the tent. After breakfast we filtered water for the day. I looked for a place where there were less mosquitoes to filter water. There were hundreds of mosquitoes that soon swarmed me and I my filter plugged with silt. I hurriedly went back to the bridge, cleaned my filter, and got some water. I didn’t discover until much later in the day that I had left behind the bottom cap to my filter when I ran away from all the mosquitoes. We headed out about 8 am and stopped at the outhouse for our morning constitutional. The trail was uphill immediately from the lake. Mr. Gourlie ran into Vic Carlson from Troop 119 again. Vic told him that they had lost the trail, had camped along the trail on the snow last night, and were coming back. That worried us a bit but we were ready to take on the challenge. We hiked upward and started encountering small snow patches. The snow got deeper and the patches got a lot bigger as we slogged upward. We stopped at the first really big snowfield and consulted our map and GPS. We sighted a distant landmark that the trail passed, took a bearing, and headed across the snow. We found the trail again after several minutes and saw there weren’t any tracks from yesterday. The snow was just right for walking on. It wasn’t icy and it wasn’t too soft. We continued across several more large snowfields and found the trail again each time using our orienteering skills. The views kept getting better and better as we approached timberline. About 10:30 we found a neat campsite and the Scouts set up their tent and we began to explore the area. I got some great pictures of the scenery and the Scouts broke icebergs in the lake next to camp. The icebergs made great targets to throw rocks at. The mosquitoes were pretty bad but tolerable. I found a slope for the Scouts to go sledding on and we used the Tyvek ground cloth from the tent for a sled. While we were sliding down the hill we met a woman who was hiking with her dog from Mt. Bachelor to the Columbia River. I asked about mosquitoes at Scout Lake and she said there weren’t any. That was good enough to make us decide to move camp. We ate lunch in the tent to avoid the mosquitoes, packed up the Scouts’ tent and took off. The views became better and the snow fields more frequent the higher we went. We spotted some rock cairns, old footprints, and occasional patches of the trail. At about 1 pm we reached the high point of the trail at 7,010 feet. The views were spectacular. We saw Mt. Jefferson to the south, Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Adams to the north. We left our packs by the trail and climbed another 200 feet to an unnamed peak. It was hard to believe how beautiful the panoramic views were. The only thing higher that we could see was Mt. Jefferson. We stayed in the area for an hour then began our descent down the rocky trail to Scout Lake. There was still a lot of snow on the trail for the next mile. We stepped over many snow melt streams and passed small fields of wildflowers. A lot of the streams ran down the trail then went on down to the valley. We passed Russell Lake which looked like it had just melted out. We continued to have incredible views of Mt. Jefferson and Park Butte. We reached Scout Lake about 3:30 pm and we were tired but happy. We checked out several of the campsites around the lake and then eliminated some because of the camping rules. One of the rules is that if you camp closer than 250 feet to the lake then you have to tent within 15 feet of a designated camping marker. Another rule is no campfires in Jefferson Park. We ruled out a couple of campsites because there was melting snow and big puddles in them. We set up camp near the lake and discovered there were mosquitoes at Scout Lake even though snow went right to the edge of the lake. The Scouts entertained us all by counting their mosquito bites again. Lance had 219, Vernon had 135, and Tyler had 41.
We fixed dinner and Tyler only had a little bit of leftovers that night. This made Vernon very disappointed as he had been taking care of leftovers throughout the trip. I saw that my food was getting used as planned and I didn’t think I’d have any leftover by the time we reached the end of the trail in two days. I thought the others would have a fair amount of snack food leftover. We cleaned our dishes then hung the food up for the night. We then got ready to filter water and rinse ourselves off at the lake. The water was too cold for some of us to get our hair wet. We were all done getting wet once we started shivering a bit. We got a little warmer in the sun and then changed and got into our sleeping bags for the night.
The Scouts have done so well hiking today. This was the fifth day our and we backpacked about 6 miles and had over 1500 feet of elevation gain. They got a real sense of accomplishment when we passed the spot where the other Scouts from Troop 119 had lost the trail. They had great satisfaction when we reached the high point of the trail and could see everything below us. I was surprised they had the energy to do the extra climb up to the summit at the pass. I know they are impressed by the beauty of the area around Jefferson Park. We now only have about 4 ½ miles to go to the end of the trail and tomorrow we’ll spend all day in Jefferson Park and not have to move camp.
July 11th Tyler and I got up about 5:45 to see the sunrise on Mt. Jefferson. The weather was perfectly clear again. We watched the shadows change on Mt. Jefferson as the sun rose. We could hear finches, meadowlarks, and robins singing their songs. The rest of the group woke up and we went through the routine of getting the food out of the tree and fixing breakfast. I put on more mosquito repellant and now I’ve just about used it all. It was such a beautiful day we decided to hike over to a small stream near camp. I grabbed my pack and we were off. We hiked by meadows abloom with wildflowers. There were still large patches of snow on the ground in Jefferson Park. When we got to the stream we decided to see where the stream came out of the snow. The snow was just right for walking so we continued up the slopes of Mt. Jefferson. We came out to a flat spot where the stream first came out of the snow. We dunked our water bottles into the stream and filled them with the crystal clear cold water. We looked up the mountain and saw a safe route up to a ridge higher on the mountain. As the snow got steeper, we moved off the snow and over to a rock ridge. The five of us spread out so we wouldn’t knock rocks loose that could slide into someone. We stopped to rest frequently and the route along a ridge above continued to look safe from anything that could come from above us. Lance decided to stay at the tree-line. The rest of us continued on up the ridge. We could tell we were getting higher because we seemed to be breathing harder and we could see Mt. Hood in the distance behind Park Butte. We eventually reached the ridge we were aiming for and saw some rock shelters climbers had built for wind protection. We took pictures of the Whitewater Glacier and of the top of Mt. Jefferson. The sky was very smokey to the west because of a forest fire near Black Butte in Central Oregon. We got out the GPS and it showed our elevation to be 7425 feet. Then we had a game of tossing rocks onto the snowfield below so see whose rocks would roll down the farthest. After a time, Mr. Gourlie and Tyler started back down the ridgeline while Vernon and I stayed for a few more rock rollers. Vernon started running in place and managed to knock loose a sizeable rock which quickly gained momentum. It bounced off a rock down the snowfield and kept going to almost the bottom of the snowfield. That was by far the longest roll. I went out on the snow to check for safety and found the snow was nice and soft. Vernon and I started running and glissading down the snowfield at about 11:30. We soon caught up with Mr. Gourlie, Lance, and Tyler. The snow still looked safe so Tyler, Vernon, and I went on down the snow. Tyler made a couple of sitzmarks in the snow but was soon slipping and sliding with confidence. Pretty soon the Gourlies were running down the snow slopes too. On the way down we saw pattern on a snowfield above us where one or two people had snowboarded down. We wondered who would hike up that far to do that. There was one spot where Tyler wretched his knee. We stopped for awhile and rested and Mr. Gourlie cleaned out his snow-0filled boots. We had to look for snowfields to walk down now and we came back down to the small glacial fed stream we had started our trip from. The time was just approaching noon and we had really worked up an appetite. What a blast that was out on the snow! We were just about back to camp when a man asked us if that was us who had just been coming down the mountain. We said it was, and he introduced himself as Roy Gault from the Oregon Statesman Journal. He planned to write an article about people’s impressions of visiting Jefferson Park. We said we would be glad to talk to him and invited him to our camp. He interviewed us for about 15 minutes and we took a group picture together, just before he left to interview other people. We talked about how exciting it would be if our comments were printed. We also reflected again how it was really too bad more Scouts didn’t come on this trip. After lunch Mr. Gourlie and I went for a hike around Bays Lake which is right next to Scout Lake. When we got back the Scouts were in their tent talking. After a snack I went for a walk to take pictures of the wildflowers and Mr. Gourlie took a nap and hung around camp. After I returned we went over to the less windy side of the lake to freshen up. I waded in first and Brrr the water seemed colder than yesterday and the lake got thigh deep awfully fast. Tyler and I went completely in the water twice and the others washed off to varying degrees. We went back to camp and fixed our last dinners of the backpack trip. During dinner an overweight man came puffing by with an overloaded backpack and a small ice-chest in hand. We found it hard to believe the things people would pack 4 ½ miles uphill. After dinner we talked about Jamboree in 2005. Lance, Tyler, and Vernon all want to go to Jamboree. The final mosquito bite totals were: Lance 257, Tyler 50, and Vernon 200. We went to sleep just before 10 pm.
At about 12:45 some guys came by with their headlamps blazing and woke us up. A couple of minutes later two more guys came by looking for the first group. The stars were out and the full moon was just about to set. We later found out that these guys had started from the Whitewater trailhead at 10:30 pm.
July 12th, this would be our last day on the trail. I got out of the tent about 5:45 am. The fist rays from the sun were just lighting Mt. Jefferson with a clear blue sky above. I took some pictures then went back to camp and Mr. Gourlie was just waking up. I got my journal and found a nice rock to sit on. I caught up on my journal and enjoyed the view of being at the foot of Mt. Jefferson among all the flowers. I took a slow walk back to camp where we had our last breakfast together and we made ready to leave. I filtered water one last time and we started out on the last five miles of the trail. We made sure to take frequent breaks to look back at Mt. Jefferson. This part of the trail was the busiest we had seen. We left the PCT and started on the Whitewater Trail about 9 am. After taking several short breaks to admire the views we reached the end of our trail at 11 am. At the trailhead there was a very tame butterfly and I picked him up onto my fingers for a time.
The Scouts were anxious to see Mrs. Gourlie as they were pretty sure she was bringing sodas and sandwiches. The Scouts eagerly awaited every vehicle until Mrs. Gourlie arrived about 11:30. We were all thankful to get the delicious giant sub-sandwiches and the sodas. There were M&Ms and candy bars for snacks too. We stopped at the Tualatin REI and some of us bought more repellant for summer camp which started the next day. I asked about a cap for my water filter and they were able to give me an extra one they had. After that we rendezvoused with Vernon’s mom at Beaverton and the Gourlies went to a soccer game. We dropped Tyler off at his house and then we went back home to unpack.
This was such a fantastic trip. It was great to see how well everyone interacted and made decisions together. We all learned many new things and we gained confidence in many aspects of backpacking and wilderness camping. I’m really glad to have had this opportunity to go on this backpacking trip with this group of people. I’m looking forward to planning another 50 mile hike next year.
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Backpacking Trips: Lake Eleanor, WA
Tuesday, December 09 @ 08:26:41 PST by Drew (399 reads) | Vicinity Location:
About 58 miles southeast of Seattle, WA in Mt. Rainier National Park. Directions:
From Seattle: Follow I-5 South for 25 miles and take exit 142A to merge onto WA Highway 18 East toward North Bend/Auburn. Drive 4.4 miles and take the Auburn Way/WA Highway 164 East exit toward Enumclaw for 0.2 mile. Make a slight right at 6th St SE then turn left at Auburn Way S/C St SE/WA Highway 164. Continue to follow WA Highway 164 for 14.7 miles then turn left at Roosevelt Ave E/WA Highway 410. Continue to follow WA Highway 410 for 37.3 miles. Make a slight right at Sunrise Park Rd and follow it for 15.0 miles. From Portland: Take I-5 North towards Seattle and drive for about 75 miles. Take exit 68 for US-12 East. At the top of the off ramp, turn right onto US-12 and travel about 71.8 miles. This takes you past Morton and through Packwood. Make a slight left onto WA Highway 123, driving for 16.1 miles. This road is seasonally closed. Continue straight onto WA Highway 410 for 3.5 miles. Make a sharp left onto Sunrise Park Rd and follow the road for 15 miles to the Sunrise Visitors Center. The road to Sunrise is usually only open from July through September. There are bathrooms and water at the trailhead. Pets are not allowed on the trails in National Parks. A permit is needed to park. Trail:
Sourdough Ridge Trail, Wonderland Trail, Northern Loop Trail, and Lake Eleanor Trail with connections to, Huckleberry Creek Trail, Burroughs Mountain Trail, and various other trails. Trail Maps:
Topo MapLength and Elevation:
18 miles round trip. 9 miles to Lake Eleanor. Elevation gain of 700 feet and loss of 2,140 feet to Lake Eleanor. Elevation gain of 2,840 feet and loss of 2,840 feet roundtrip. Elevation at the trailhead at 6,400 feet, highest point is at 6,770 feet. Lowest elevation is 4,960 feet. Review: August 24, 2004. Park at the Sunrise Visitors Center and perhaps take in the exhibits at the Visitors Center. The trailhead is on the north side of the main parking lot. Follow this uphill and after .1 mile, keep left at the next two junctions leading to the Sourdough Ridge Trail. Follow the signs west towards Frozen Lake, passing the junction with the Huckleberry Creek Trail. This first part of the trail is the busiest, still you may see a marmot along the trail gathering food for the long winter. Winter in this part of the park can last from October to July or longer and the marmots hibernate through the winter in groups of up to 10, waking up now and then throughout the winter. This first part of the trail has a continuous view of Mt. Rainier and views down into the shallow valley below the trail. There is a very rocky portion of the trail but trails near the visitors center are wide, well maintained, and heavily used. 1.4 miles from the trailhead, continue straight, past the 5-way junction at Frozen Lake towards Berkeley Park. This is the highest elevation on the trail and a good spot to start looking for mountain goats on the hillsides and marmots along the trail. Frozen Lake is fenced off because the lake is the water supply for the Sunrise area. This is a turning-back point for many tourists and from here the foot traffic really drops off. Shortly after the 5-way junction, the trail begins to descend under the cliffs of Burroughs Mountain. You may see people hiking along the tops of the cliffs on the Burroughs Mountain Trail. The trail descends moderately to the junction of the Wonderland Trail and the Northern Loop Trail at 2.4 miles from Sunrise. Take the right fork for the Northern Loop Trail and descend more steeply, keeping an eye out for marmots and ptarmigans. In the summer, the next couple of miles of the descent offer fields of wildflowers along the sparkling Lodi Creek. Along the way, stop at the large spring next to the trail and sample the icy-cold water. Mt. Fremont is on the right and Skyscraper Mountain is on the left. Continuing down along the creek, the trail enters trees and after 3.9 miles you reach Berkeley Camp. The trail continues down through the forest and then leaves the creek and climbs up to Grand Park. Enjoy the views of the West Fork of White River and Mt. Rainier. At 6.9 miles from Sunrise is the junction to Lake Eleanor on the right. Follow this into Grand Park, a 3 mile long flat pumice plain for spectacular views of Mt. Rainier. The only water in Grand Park is the early season melt pools, a couple of small lakes at the north end of Grand Park, and Lake Eleanor. Watch for elk and black bears in this part of the park. Continue through Grand Park, taking time to turn around for those spectacular views, and step past a marshy area along the trail. From here, the trail re-enters the forest and gains about 50 feet in elevation before dropping down to Lake Eleanor. The campsites at Lake Eleanor must be reserved ahead of time and the weekend reservations usually are snapped up. Staying at Lake Eleanor can create a quandary of choosing between wildflowers and bugs. Lake Eleanor has mosquitoes and black flies in July and they peak about the same time the wildflowers do. Lake Eleanor is a nice-sized lake with the rugged face of Scarface Mountain behind it. Lake Eleanor is lower in elevation than Grand Park and the nearby mountains block any view of Mt. Rainier from Lake Eleanor. A possible option is to continue past Lake Eleanor and descend for about 1.5 miles and camp outside the park. Still another option is to make this a shuttle hike by using Forest Service Road 73, just outside the northern boundary of the park and a unmaintained trail from the Forest Service Road to Lake Eleanor. Check with the ranger station in Enumclaw for closures if you plan to use Forest Road 73. The return trip gains about 1,900 feet back up Frozen Lake, but your pack will be lighter and you can replenish water along the way. This is a pretty safe trail for small children, though the distance and elevation gain on the return trip are daunting. Even though the elevation gain is only 300 feet to Frozen Lake, it feels like a lot more because the first part of the trail is steep, then the trail climbs continuously to Frozen Lake. The trail is above timberline and large sections of the trail can be seen climbing the hillside. Enjoy the Photos! Gallery Pics
Switchback Steve
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| Previous Articles | | Sunday, August 24 | | · | 2008 John Muir Trail Adventure! |
| Tuesday, June 19 | | · | Three Sisters Wilderness Backpack |
| Thursday, August 18 | | · | Eagle Cap Wilderness Adventure 2005! |
| Tuesday, August 10 | | · | Back from the Wonderland Trail! |
| Wednesday, August 04 | | · | Timberline Trail, OR trip report 7/30/04 – 8/1/04 |
| Monday, March 15 | | · | New Elevation Profiles for the Wonderland |
| Tuesday, October 28 | | · | Box Canyon to Panhandle Gap, WA |
| Monday, September 29 | | · | Wonderland Trail 2002 excerpt (Day Seven) |
| Friday, July 11 | | · | Timberline Trail - Timberline Lodge to Ramona Falls, OR |
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| Trivia | One Day like Today...
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