First, this hike is a cinch to get to! A good amount of milage to be sure, but all paved and well maintained roads until your last mile which is an equally well maintained gravel stretch which just about any vehicle could tackle easily. I arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 and was the third vehicle there. I would later discover the other two vehicles must have belonged to the two sets of tents I would come across.
So here we go...
There were a few bugs out and about, but nothing like what I expected. With four lakes and an equal number of unnamed ponds along the route, it surely could have been worse. My 40% deet held up just fine and I didn't need to reapply.
But for all the attention I didn't need to pay to the insect population, I was forced to focus on my feet. Albeit intermittently, a good deal (50% plus) of this trail has become melt-off/lake overflow stream bed...making for a trail of stones that wears out the insteps and threatens the ankles.
Most of you elevation gain here is in the first mile and in a significant quarter mile push at the end. After only a mile and a half you get to your first body of water, Red Lake. I'd like to officially point out that the lake really is more of a greenish brown...
Look close and you can see Jefferson peeking over that tree line to see what I was up to.
the next two miles of this hike are relatively flat and will take you past no less than 6 more bodies of water...and while, in truth, they all look the exact same, I am still going to show them to you!
Averill Lake is up next, and was distinguishable by the fact that its bottom was chock full of mountain-spewed lava chunks. That, and it was the only one with a sign that said "Averill Lake". BTW, that is ginormous Olallie Butte sticking up back there...we have not seen the last of her.
I'm assuming Wall Lake is so named because it sits on a shelf 200' higher than its first two siblings. Climbing the trail, one minute you are looking at a wall you're about to crest...after a few steps and a little climb...voila! A lake. That's our destination, Potato Butte sticking up back there...but we have another half mile forward and one mile back to get to her. Note the large boulder patch on the upper right flank; that is where the Jefferson views can be found.
Let's check back in with the trail and see how that is going... Ya, still rocky.
This here is Sheep Lake, so named because...well, I don't really know why. I DID however spend a few minutes studying the shoreline to see if the lake was shaped like a sheep. My official answer is: I dunno. BTW, these are not all pictures of the same lake, I swear. You can tell because now Olallie is closer!
There were fantastic camp sites at every lake, with spur trails leading to sites on all sides. Each site I passed was smooth, litter free and featured a safe and well built fire ring.
Just at the base of Potato Butte's 400' climb sat this unnamed pond/lake. I stepped to the edge to snap this shot of Jefferson in the background and when I turned back around I noticed the trail was gone. What was once a clearly defined cut through the countryside was now a 10' dirt patch with faint trails leading in at least three directions...none of them where my GPS said they should be. I took the one that pointed off toward Potato and managed to get about 500' before it too was gone completely. Well, the hill was obvious, so bushwhack it would be...up and around yet another nameless pond I went, eventually reconnecting with the original trail exactly where it was supposed to be. Hmm, odd.
Regardless, a short calf-warming climb up a loose rock trail brings us to the summit, where I noticed with all my grade school humor that I had just joined the mile high club.
Looking north from the summit brought Mt. Hood into focus, proudly reminding us all who the queen of Oregon volcanoes is...
But a short side trip out onto those boulders I mentioned earlier gave the great views south...and made it apparent that Jefferson was up to Hood's challenge.
Of course, ugly step-sister Olallie showed everyone that just because your only 7200' tall, you can still be three miles wide!
One more shot of the surrounding area shows off a few of those lakes and ponds, as well as Jefferson showing up Double Peaks Mountain.
Oh and on the way back I figured out the mysterious missing trail situation. Turns out the very pond/lake that I was standing next too when I noticed the path went missing...is the one who ate it. So if you are heading up here anytime soon and don't want to bushwhack...bring your waders. Actually a small detour along the waters edge will do just fine.
It was a great day to be on the trails today! This one logged in at right around 8 miles (counting side spurs and detours), with 1700' of total gain.
-aaron
