MOUNT JEFFERSON WILDERNESS

MOUNT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST

WILLAMETTE NATIONAL FOREST

Activity: Backpacking

41 miles, 7,014 elevation gain, 21 hours moving time, rated Moderate to Hard

Date: 8/25-30/25

Day 1: Olallie Lake to Park Ridge

After a night of reunion and getting to know new friends, morning had dawned and it was time to hit the dusty trail, in this case it was ashy. Soon as we moved away from Olallie Lake, traveling along the Pacific Crest Trail, we were in wildfire devastation. It seems nowadays it is difficult to find beautiful hiking areas that are untouched by wildfire.

This place of great grandeur and natural splendor was now laid waste, ravaged by wildfire caused by lightning strikes 5 years prior. Our friend and team leader, PCT Through Hiker Veteran Anthony, had longed to get back to the place, something that he wished to share with us. However, this was not the woodlands that he remembered. We had been forewarned of the damage, but until you see it with your own eyes it is hard to fathom the ruin.

On we pushed even though it was heartbreaking. Adding insult to injury it started to rain. I couldn’t help myself, mind drifting off, as we trudged on through the charred timber, to a rather dark place as the rain ran down my face like tears of sorrow for this once pristine forest. What am I doing here? This is surely not what I had in mind when I thought of Oregon and it’s most beautiful forests, mountains, and streams. Hour after hour of nothing but apocalypse.

As you will see from the pictures I display, I concentrated on the beauty rather than the beast. It felt like a struggle between Darkness and Beauty. It seemed that we were forced to take the Good with the Bad.

Later in the day we would come across a green area, a sweet little oasis in this desert of destruction somehow spared the catastrophic fire event.

I worked hard to celebrate this break and feel the joy of this tiny island of life.

But it was not long until we stepped back into an ocean of ravaged landscape.

We moved on into a different ecosystem as we climbed to higher altitudes, less forest lands and more sand, grit, and rock.

We were headed for the ridge line. That is where we would camp for the evening. It had been a long, and for me an exhausting day. My pack weighed heavy on my back and the destruction of immaculate wilderness weighed heavy on my mind. Both of which were making this drudgery. My pace was labored, slower than the rest, I suffer from Altitude Sickness, however we were not at the high altitude that would bring that sort of thing on. This led to discussions and nitpicking of how much I carry in my pack, maybe I should go ultra-light, perhaps I should eat more and higher quality foods while hiking. I started doubting my preparation. I trained pretty hard and even tried to work my way up to this epic event with increasingly difficult hiking and backpacking, but perhaps I should have trained even more? The answer escaped me. Perhaps it is as simple as the struggle leads to a deeper appreciation of the gain.

So when we crested the ridge adorned in the greenery of higher altitude type trees and brush and then…

BEHOLD Mount Jefferson like a heavenly vision. It was magnificent!

We had paid so dearly slinking through the ugliness of destruction to now stand in the presence of glory. Wow, just wow! It was stunning the complete polar opposite of what we had been experiencing throughout the day. It was a very moving sight. What a place to call home for the night.

After taking a long moment to capture the rapture of what stood before us, it was time to set up camp. As usual since I was bringing up the rear the best tent spots with wind protection, level ground and wonderful views had been claimed.

I was not about to settle so I searched further. What I came up with was utterly outstanding, and the view my camp spot commanded was unmatched, even if it was a little more exposed. Perhaps a little more than a little, but the views were to die for. (That thought will have more relevance in a moment.)

Once we had our tents all staked out it was time for some grub. While Anthony, Katie and I poured boiling water into a pouch for our backpacker dinners my sister Peggy and her husband Dale feasted on a fine supper of Peggy’s Salmon Curry Couscous Backpack Meal. She is a wonderful cook and brings that talent right out on the trail with her. She prides herself in making delicious trail cuisine that she prepares herself and packages for their backpacking excursions. All the rest of us could do was choke down our freeze-dried backpacker stroganoff and look on jealously drooling over their gourmet spread.

All of us were utterly transfixed on the sight of Mount Jefferson. This was exactly what Anthony wished to share with us, beauty beyond compare. Easily one of the most beautiful things any of us had ever seen and that is saying a lot when you are considering that is our hobby, getting to enjoy what few can.

We couldn’t take our eyes off the mountain as the light continued to change and the sun sunk slowly into the West. We also couldn’t stop taking pictures of this incredible scene, lol.

As the light waned and the air chilled it was time to retire. From the warmth of my sleeping bag, in my tent perched precariously on the exposed side of the ridge, I stared out my unzipped threshold at the impressive mountain until finally it faded from sight.

I was awaken in the middle of the night by a strange noise. Little by little this rumbling grew ever closer with little flashes of light. Anthony had given us an updated weather report as we closed in on the ridge from his Garmin GPS device. After it had rained on us most of the day, he said that the rain had passed. But this is the mountains, it seems all bets are off when you are talking about mountain weather. Because it wasn’t long before the rain was coming down in sheets, the wind was picking up and lightning bolts were coming down- first a few miles away and then right on top of us! Since we didn’t die, it became all part of the Adventure.

Anthony, Katie, Peggy, Dale, and I set off into the Wilderness on the Pacific Coast Trail at Olallie Lake in beautiful Oregon- our goal? ‘Pursing Balance Through Adventure’. We learned straight off that Nature while beautiful, can be a bitch. In 2020 the Lionshead Fire, which was ignited by lightning strikes, became one of the most destructive fires in Oregon history pretty much wiping out the small town of Detroit. What was one of the most lush, beautiful and pristine forests was no more and it will be generations until it will return. So our journey taught us Nature is tough. Our beautiful wildlands are birthed by wildfire, it is part of the cycle. Some trees have built in defense to fire, but this fire was so hot that it literally scorched the earth. Still some pine cones are built so that they do not reveal their seed without fire. Sort of a Phoenix literally rising from the ashes. I suppose that lightning strikes and wildfire is part of Natures plan, but it is a brutal plan. An already difficult hike is made even harder when all you see is ugliness. The rain and the somber sight damped my enthusiasm. We endured the struggle of this land of disappointment, charred timber, destroyed natural beauty. But when we crested that ridge we were stunned by the most blessed sight. There is much more to share of our Mount Jefferson Wilderness Adventure. (Here is Mt Jefferson Wilderness Day 2) Stay with us for more mountain trekking all you have to do is: LIKE, COMMENT, FOLLOW and SHARE.  Don’t forget to visit my Online SHOP APPAREL for top quality adventure wear that carries the mantra, the banner, the message, the logo: ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’. Profound Experiences in Nature is what we seek to Balance home/work life with peace and harmony. The menu showcases the many locations that PBTA travels. Each location is a separate website and thus needs to be FOLLOWED independently.

Happy Trails-

Roger Jenkins

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure