Jefferson Park

On May 17, Mark and I went on a hike toward Jefferson Park, a really beautiful area on the North/Northwest side of Mt. Jefferson. We hiked through there on the PCT, and are excited that there is a trail nearby that will allow us to access it. Everything you read about the hike we did says that the trail is open mid-July to October, so we knew May 17 was really early, but we gave it a try and we were stopped in our tracks by a huge wall of snow that we didn't have the time to really traverse safely. Last week we gave it a go again, and this time, since it truly is mid-July, we had much better luck and were able to hike the full 5.1 miles (10.2 mile round-trip) back into Jefferson Park. Here are a few comparison pictures:

These weren't taken in the exact same spot, but they are in the same general area.

This is the exact spot. Amazing the difference a couple of months can make!

Once again, these aren't the same exact spot, but in the same general area. The drop-off down to the right is pretty steep (even though you can't tell in the picture), so even though we climbed up on top of the snow, we didn't feel comfortable risking it. To fall was to equal major injury. This time we just sailed on through.

And this was our reward! A view of Mt. Jefferson from the trail.

Does the view get much better than this?

The Whitewater Creek Trail connected with the PCT about a mile outside of Jefferson Park. It was so fun to reconnect with our old friend (the PCT). From here into Jefferson Park was about 90 percent snow.

The view from Jefferson Park. We didn't get to stay very long. We basically took a few pictures and turned around and left. It was getting late and we had 5 miles to hike back out. Next time we may try to hike up and camp overnight.

We had to cross Whitewater Creek on our way up and down. There is a "bridge" over the creek, that, as you can tell, is pretty washed out. We were able to make it across on the way up by using a combination of rocks and the "bridge" and then making a big leap onto the snow (hiking poles are awesome helps for times like this!). We knew that hopping onto a snow bridge was much easier than hopping off of a snow bridge (the snow is much more likely to break from the force of hopping off of it). So on the way down, Mark went first, and sure enough, the snow bridge broke as he launched off of it. Luckily he made it safely to the rock, but got a bit of a wet foot in the process. This was fine for him, but left me with a huge gap that I wasn't willing to try to jump over. The circle above is where the snow used to be :). Plan B: ford the ice cold creek.

This is me making my way over to really the only easily accessible place to the water that wasn't a complete snow bridge.

It was about half way through that my feet realized how cold the water was.

This was my "my feet are so cold it's painful" face. I had to hop around, go find sun, and just get hiking again to warm up.

It was super fun, even though I had to walk through ice water :). Next time, I hope we can leave earlier and stay overnight, giving us more time to enjoy the amazing views and gorgeous surroundings! Also, maybe by then the bridge will be fixed :).