Jefferson Park and Park Ridge - August 7-9, 2015

[justpeachy]

We were in Jefferson Park three days and we ran across Eric the wilderness ranger all three days. He's enforcing the campfire ban and checking permits, so be prepared if you go. He told us he also patrols Marion Lake and that people abandon broken tents and rafts there all the time. The previous weekend he had hauled out 40 pounds of garbage from there and ran into a hiker who also had picked up about 40 pounds worth of other people's trash. WTH, people! Rangers and fellow hikers are not your maids. Pack out your damn trash.

On to the photos.

We got a later start than usual and crossing Whitewater Creek later in the day is VERY different from earlier in the day. The creek was high and full of glacial sediment.




On the PCT just before reaching Jefferson Park is a sign with an EXTREMELY bad map showing where the campsites are. (Before you go, print out this much better map.)




There are now signs throughout Jeff Park so it's easier to find your way around the maze of trails. It's about time! This idea is LONG overdue, especially since the use trails around those lakes are not on any map.




Extremely low water at Scout Lake:




We got a really nice campsite with a view of Park Butte and Rock Lake.






A lovely evening at Bays Lake:








Milky Way over Mt. Jefferson:




Peaceful morning at Bays Lake:




Since we had never been there before, we stopped by Park Lake on our way up Park Ridge:




Crossing the outflow of Russell Lake. Bone dry!




Park Ridge straight ahead:




Looking north from Park Ridge at Mt. Hood and Olallie Butte:




View of Mt. Jefferson from Park Ridge:




The snowfield just north of the ridge is all melted:




Attempting to follow Park Ridge over to Park Butte. We had hoped there would be a boot path, but there wasn't, and the sandy rocky terrain made for slow going:






We gave up on that and descended to the unnamed meltwater pond below:






Looking back up at where we were:




Heading cross country back to the trail:




Saw a buck!




Just about all the wildflowers are done and gone, but some gentian are still hanging around.




We stopped and hung out at Russell Lake for awhile:






Back at Bays Lake Greg decided to go for a swim:




It was pretty windy that evening, so there were no lake reflections, but we had a great sunset:








Heading out the next day under overcast skies. We'll be back!

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Beautiful pics! The only time I was there I checked out the lakes but didn't get up to Park Ridge, looks like I definitely need to do that if I find myself there again. Looks like the sky wasn't smoky at all while you were there.

[retired jerry]

hmmm,... another possible place to go, so many choices...

I thought fire bans were everywhere, not just Jefferson Park

those look like sideways cairns. How do you knock those over?

[Crusak]

Great pictures and report! Bays Lake is a great spot for swimming but burrrr! Very cold.

[kelkev]

Great pics! A swim in Bays Lake is mighty chilly if I do recall.....brrr!!

[justpeachy]

Nope, we didn't have any smoke. That fire on the Warm Springs Reservation hadn't started yet.

I thought fire bans were everywhere, not just Jefferson Park

True, but a fire ban doesn't stop a very determined campfire-obsessed backpacker. The wilderness ranger we saw at JP last year said he once encountered a group of backpackers on a rainy evening huddled around a "campfire" (which of course wasn't burning well due to the rain). He asked them if they knew that fires weren't allowed in Jefferson Park and they said they had started one to get warm and dry, apparently not recognizing the fact that by sitting out in the rain they were not in fact getting warm and dry. They did have tents, too, and why it didn't occur to them to seek shelter there is anyone's guess.

[adamschneider]

We gave up on that and descended to the unnamed meltwater pond...

Sprague Lake!

By the way, it IS possible to go out to the end of Park Butte without too much trouble, and I thought there was a decent boot path.

[BurnsideBob]

I admire your sunset photos!! Such tremendous color.

So much difference year to year. Photo: Jefferson Park and Ridge, 5 August 2012.

[justpeachy]

By the way, it IS possible to go out to the end of Park Butte without too much trouble, and I thought there was a decent boot path.

We knew there was a way to do it because we remembered seeing at least one post about it here. But since we hadn't done research on it ahead of time and we weren't finding a boot path, we decided against going further. Plus we couldn't stay on the ridge top when there were big rock outcrops to get around, and it was challenging navigating the steep scree slope to get past.

[nwfotobug]

Was just out there this last week, what a difference in pics already. It was so smokey you couldnt see very far. There was no view of Olallie Butte for us. I think we saw the same deer though. Lol. Great photos

Also, i dont know if anyone has said this already but at the trailhead at Whitewater they are announcing that next year Jefferson Park will be on reservation status only. Just thought I would share.