Three Sisters snowshoe - James Creek shelter
Posted: May 18th, 2013, 7:32 pm
Generally the snowgate at Dutchman Flat (Cascades Lakes Hwy - Century Dr) doesn't open until the end of May. But I got a press release saying it would open at Noon, Wednesday, May 8th, so I was there at 11:00AM as the road worker swung the gate open. In I drove 7 more miles to the Devils Lake Trailhead, stuffing my car into a small snow surrounded opening. After donning snowshoes, I climbed the guardrail onto 4 feet of snow and headed northwesterly toward Wickiup Plains and the PCT. After passing through small pine thickets views of the South Sister began to appear. At the three mile mark I crossed over the cascade crest going from Deschutes County to Lane County, and then onto the PCT just west of Le Conte Crater. During the entire trip I only saw one tree blaze and one PCT marker; the rest of the time I had no idea where the actual trail was. I did have a GPS and had to cheat a few times to be certain of my route.
Snowshoeing north along the PCT offered sunny blue skies and views of The House Rock, The Husband, Rock Mesa and Middle & South Sisters. The elevation along this trip ranged from 5600' to 6300' and snow depths from 3' to 6'. Never was there a sign of anyone else having been here since last fall. The trickest part was a steep downhill to Mesa Creek. After crossing the creek, the route follows the PCT another half-mile, to a junction with the old Oregon Skyline Trail (now called Linnton Meadows Trail), at this junction you turn left, leaving the PCT and within another mile (total trail distance 7.1 miles) my goal came in sight- James Creek shelter.
The old 3-sided adirondack built by the CCC in the 1930s, looks very much like the shelter at Elk Meadows-Mt Hood.
I spent two night here taking a day hike in between and gathering firewood, taking pictures, etc. Each day started beautifully, then in late afternoon came distant thunder, followed by rain and then the second night, very heavy hail. Luckily I was snug inside the shelter whenever it was wet. Soon the sun came back out and the nights were clear and dry!
Friday morning I packed up and headed back to my car; the 7.1 miles taking almost 5 hours. I'm glad I took my short MSR snowshoes, without them I would have postholed too much.
All in all, I can now check this off my bucket list. I was lucky to have generally great weather, but I'm not sure I'd be up for a mid-winter trip here.
Jerry
Snowshoeing north along the PCT offered sunny blue skies and views of The House Rock, The Husband, Rock Mesa and Middle & South Sisters. The elevation along this trip ranged from 5600' to 6300' and snow depths from 3' to 6'. Never was there a sign of anyone else having been here since last fall. The trickest part was a steep downhill to Mesa Creek. After crossing the creek, the route follows the PCT another half-mile, to a junction with the old Oregon Skyline Trail (now called Linnton Meadows Trail), at this junction you turn left, leaving the PCT and within another mile (total trail distance 7.1 miles) my goal came in sight- James Creek shelter.
The old 3-sided adirondack built by the CCC in the 1930s, looks very much like the shelter at Elk Meadows-Mt Hood.
I spent two night here taking a day hike in between and gathering firewood, taking pictures, etc. Each day started beautifully, then in late afternoon came distant thunder, followed by rain and then the second night, very heavy hail. Luckily I was snug inside the shelter whenever it was wet. Soon the sun came back out and the nights were clear and dry!
Friday morning I packed up and headed back to my car; the 7.1 miles taking almost 5 hours. I'm glad I took my short MSR snowshoes, without them I would have postholed too much.
All in all, I can now check this off my bucket list. I was lucky to have generally great weather, but I'm not sure I'd be up for a mid-winter trip here.
Jerry