Volcano Raid Round 3:part 3 of 4 Mt Jefferson
After an eventful day of hiking through a storm on Three fingered Jack I was happy to be back in the warmth of my car driving towards my final destination. By now I had visited Oregon four times this season simply for ski mountaineering and after a few trips I almost felt like I was a local. As I drove over Santiam pass for the sixth and final time this season I noticed that the Mt Jefferson area was over taken in dark clouds. I had hopes that the last afternoon sun would burn off the clouds overhead as I entered Mt Jefferson wilderness via the White Water road but this was not the case. The rain slowly misted as I drove up whitewater creek progressing to a downpour as the road gained elevation finally reaching my destination the whitewater trailhead. My original intention was to camp here so I could get an early start but I chose instead to camp much lower where it was barely a drizzle.
I tossed and turned all night with the now constant downpour amplifying as it hit the tents rain fly with my mind pondering the question “would the rain delay my plans once again?” After what felt like less then an hour of sleep the ear piercing noise of my alarm verified my fear. The rain had not yet let up and I would have to wait if I wanted dry gear on the trip. Every hour or so I would awaken to check the status on the weather and by 11:00 it let off and the occasional patch of blue skies gave hope that I was in store for better weather. I used the sun to my advantage as I dried the last of my wet gear and after a quick breakfast of Oatmeal and Instant coffee I packed my backpack and drove up towards the trailhead. I had originally planned to summit Jefferson via the Whitewater glacier then on my return I would climb and snowboard the Jefferson Park glacier allowing me a few hours to return back to the trailhead around the time of the setting sun but now it wasn’t feasible to obtain my goal it would have to be a overnight trip.
After carrying 100 pound packs for a week at a time a 50 pound bag seems like nothing. I kept a consistent pace for the 6 mile hike out to scout lake hiking in running shoes on the well maintained trail until reaching the final mile stretch which was buried under a foot of well consolidated snow. Once arriving at the snowpack I followed the almost chaotic footprints that seemed to head more towards snowless terrain then the trail so I abandoned the track and started heading directly towards Scout lake. Within ten minutes of abandoning the trail I found myself on the northern shore with Mt Jefferson’s north face reflecting on the lakes surface, within seconds my pack was off and I was setting up camp. From my camp I had a perfect view of Jefferson Park Glacier and within a half hour I was off to tackle it.
Mt Jefferson from the Whitewater trail
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Scout lake
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From Scout Lake I cramponed up a steep permanent snowfield for the first 1500 feet until reaching a saddle that allowed me access to the Jefferson Park Glacier. From a distance the glacier looked all broken up but with closer examination I could see an obvious route that led all the way up to the shrunds 2000 feet above. I started off cramponing but quickly switched over to skinning up the low angled slopes. After around 500 vert I skinned up to my first obstacle a few crevasses on the left hand side of the Glacier. Curiosity got the best of me as I skinned up to the edge and looked in to find solid ground 4 feet below. Feeling disappointed I kept skinning up the glacier slowly traversing towards the gut. Soon enough I found myself staring into the deep bottomless abysses in the heart of the glacier cautiously skinning in the path of least resistance. Once arriving at 9000 feet the slope angle dramatically changed from low angled to a 40 degree consistent pitch. Without crevasses below I would usually stick to skinning but this time it was not the case so I switched over to crampons and started kick stepping up the sun softened slopes. I was alone so I had to use extra precautions traveling on the glacier so I carefully probed the path ahead of me searching for covered crevasses exposing only one lurker. The last 500 feet was by far the slowest but within an hour I was stopped dead in my tracks by a massive shrund that extended across the whole slope. I was unroped and solo so this would be the end of the road for me as I looked at the 3500 foot run that would take me to within a few minutes of camp with only one quick carry over.
Looking at the Jefferson Park Glacier from the saddle
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Looking west into Oregons Old Cascades
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Looking North at Mt Hood
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I sat at the edge of the shrund for 10 minutes taking in the views of the landscape below glowing in the late afternoon sun and Mt hood dominating the skyline to the North all while getting my gear situated. With Ice axe in hand for potential self arrest I ripped into the Jefferson Park headwall carefully following my ascent route. The sun had softened the snow dramatically delivering conditions that ranged from deep soft corn to solid Glacial Ice. Within five minutes I was at the bottom of what took me hours to climb and crossing the saddle that would allow me access to base camp. Earlier in the day when I climbed the slope I made two observations, first it didn’t have a single crevasse and second the suncups were minimal. With prime conditions I made huge arc turns down the final 1500 feet before hitting the uphill on the opposite side of the slope. Somehow I was able to extend my final hike of the day from 10 minutes to an hour as I ran in circles searching for Scout Lake. Once arriving back at camp I changed over to dry clothes and cooked the now standard dinner consisting of Macaroni and cheese and the local stream water. After a quick overview for the day ahead I fell asleep under Jefferson with the final rays of light illuminating a bright red on the Ice covered slopes of Jefferson Park Glacier.
Looking west from the headwall
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The shrund that stopped my progress
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My tracks down the Glacier
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MT Jefferson and the Jefferson Park Glacier from Scout Lake
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