Day Twelve Alone

Day 16 on the trail today, day 12 solo since I left Mark back at Odell Lake. I was indeed all alone in Jefferson Park last night. However, I did meet up with two other locals that were hiking out today. Jefferson Park is a very popular weekend backpacking destination for local Oregonians. I didn't hear or see them at all last night. Although I would pass them climbing out of the park they would catch up with me as I ate lunch on Park Ridge above the park (Pic 1 below). Good thing, because in my usual haste heading down hill in the snow, I would venture a little off course and they would steer me back on the right track.

I have been very lucky to hit my big milestone spots on just the right days. In this case on Sunday/Monday avoiding the big crowd. Today was originally planned to be a short 6 mile day due to a planned 2000+ ft climb, the biggest of the trip. I was going to skip Jefferson Park and stay on Park Ridge above looking south at Mt Jefferson and north at Mt Hood, my final destination. Because I was forced to tackle the first half of that climb yesterday evening, I would only stop at the ridge for lunch and a couple of pictures. From the number of Pics I took climbing out of Jefferson Park, I was obviously in awe, for good reason, of Mt Jefferson (Pic 2-10) Unfortunately, due to the haze from the Oregon fires, I could barely even see Mt Hood to the north (Pic 11-13). If you can pick it out you have a better eye than I.

127 Goodbye Jefferson Park

129 Climbing toward Park Ridge 1

130 Climbing toward Park Ridge 2

131 Climbing toward Park Ridge 3

126 Jefferson Park

134 Snow below Park Ridge

132 Interesting Red Rock

133 Climbing toward Park Ridge 4

135 Park Ridge looking South

136 Park Ridge looking North

137 Park Ridge looking North

138 Mt Hood

With my plans changed, I picked out Breitenbush Lake on the Warm Springs Reservation as my next destination. Still only a 6 mile hike since I was now ahead of schedule. By the way, I found the permit kiosk at the trail head just before Breitenbush and was again legal on the trail. After Park Ridge the majority of my hike was downhill and I knocked it out in no time. The Pics below are on the hike down just below Park Ridge before I turned off my phone to save battery. Someone was just a little too zealous building the rock trail marker.

139 Down from Park Ridge

140 Trail Marker Excess

141 Looking back to Park Ridge

Venturing off the PCT onto the reservation, I found the drive-in campgrounds at Breitenbush. It was a pretty big campground and completely and utterly empty. The whole vibe was a little creepy being off the PCT and on the reservation alone. The campgrounds were at the poor end of the lake as well.

Only 4.2 miles further, I had heard of a pretty nice campsite at Upper Lake, 2.5 miles above tomorrow's destination, Olallie Lake. I decided I didn't want to hang at Breitenbush alone and my nice short 6 mile day was now going to be 10.2 with another significant climb at the end of my day. Although still early, the last climb would be in the heat of the day. This was another good decision among many on this trip because my Upper Lake campsite was very nice (Pic 17 & 18). And Yahoo, another wet campsite, which meant I could drink plenty of water, cook with water and get re-hydrated.

142 Upper Lake 1

143 Upper Lake 2

I shared my site above with a 20 something guy from England. Like other International hikers, because they automatically get 5 weeks vacation by law, he had quit his job to thru hike the entire trail. When he gets back he will find another job and immediately have another 5 weeks of vacation for the next year.

Tomorrow is another decision day, with only 2.5 miles to hike to Olallie Lake, where I had planned a layover or zero day. The hike would already be like a day off. I decided to sleep in until 6:30 am and take my time getting back on the trail. I get a Trail Surprise tomorrow!