I was looking for a hike to do with the whole family that would be challenging, accessible, and worth seeing. I came upon Canyon Creek Meadows and I wondered why I had not visited there before. It was only an hour and a half drive away from our house in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness near Three Fingered Jack. I shared it with Jacqueline and she agreed to go check it out with me. The kids had no choice but to join along and we were off. The drive took us up over Santiam Pass, then down a paved back road heading toward the Metolius area. We split off at some point until we were on a fairly well maintained dirt road that eventually brought us to a trailhead. It was always amazing how we would see no cars at all on the road and think that we were out there by ourselves, but when we get to the trailhead, it is filled up with cars.
This made sense, because we were required to get a permit to do this hike. It started from the Jack Lake Trailhead. Jack Lake was right there and it would not take long for us to see it. Our goal was to head out to Wasco Lake. This sent us off in a northerly direction through burnt forest and dry, hot slopes. The trail was pretty quiet because most people went right for the highlight of the hike which was Canyon Creek Meadows. We wanted to make the hike a little bit more challenging, so we would do another loop with the PCT heading up toward the Minto Pass area. The trail had sweeping views and even a creek or two to cross. Eventually we made it down to Wasco Lake. The lake was really nice and quiet, but it was tough to find a good spot to sit down and have first lunch. Some people were hungry and others weren't, so some of us ate a sandwich and others would wait.
We continued on the trail until we ran into a big group of workers. There were a couple of forest service people with a big volunteer group. They were clearing the trail of blowdowns. We thanked them for their work and then went on our way. From there the trail became very thick with downed trees. This was a burned section of forest and it had been a rather snowy winter. That meant that there were a lot of blowdowns to cross over. We thought that this would improve as we got to the PCT, but there were still a lot of blowdowns there which made the hiking much slower. We eventually made it past the PCT section. I was only one week away from starting the PCT and I would be back to this section of trail in just a few weeks if all went according to plan. I expected it to be much clearer of blowdowns in a few weeks though. The PCT section was only about a mile or so and then we were heading back down to Wasco Lake. Here we would have second lunch for the part of the group that was not hungry the stop before. This time, we found a nice spot with a log to sit on right by the lake. We even saw a deer wading through the lake. It was quiet and very enjoyable.
We spent some time at the lake, then it was back the way we got there. This was only a short way back, up the trail until we came to a junction. This junction would send us off to Canyon Creek Meadows. The trail became much more difficult at this point. There were huge sections of blowdowns and using the GPS on the watch became a necessity. We ran into a couple of older guys that we talked to at the trailhead. They warned us that the way beyond was rather difficult. They were right. There were huge clumps of downed trees that made hiking through certain areas impossible. Instead we would be forced to go around them and forge a new way through.
Eventually we came upon some meadows. There was a quiet little stream flowing through a comfortable forest and grassy area. The wildflowers were not quite out yet, but the area was still really enjoyable. We talked to some people and they said they were turning around because of the snow. This convinced my wife right away that we should also do this. I was not convinced. We went up until we found the snow and she let me go a little bit further. I went up and realized that we could continue to hike in this section. She was not so sure, but I eventually convinced her to continue with me. This was the right decision, because after a short section of snowy trail through the woods, it opened up to amazing views of the mountains.
We came upon an awesome meadow that was only partially snow covered. From there on out, it became an experience where we would just see what was around the next corner. We did this for quite some time until we ran into too much snow to continue upward. Luckily, this brought us to an amazing view of the mountain. This side was so steep and rocky. This was not the way that climbers accessed the mountain as it looked rather perilous from this direction. The views were fantastic, though, and even though there were not a plethora of wildflowers out, we still felt good about this. There were a couple of people who continued on further than us, but they fought deep snow the whole way. I felt like we went about as far as we felt comfortable going on this day.
Jacqueline let me scramble on down to the valley below where I could get a good picture. Then it was back up where I met my family and we were finally all convinced to head back. This required more walking through snow and more beautiful meadows with overflowing mountain streams. The trail back was different, though. This trail had been cleared from blowdowns and was in much better shape.
It was a much more enjoyable hike on the way back. Easy trail, slightly downhill most of the way, through a forest that was not burnt and did not have many blowdowns. We enjoyed our smooth sailing and were back to the trailhead in no time. We took a minute to admire the collection of bumblebees on the bathroom roof. There was just an odd collection of bees there, not threatening, just enjoying the concrete hangover for some reason. It was back in the car for the trip home after that. All in all, it turned out to be a very enjoyable day doing many miles with the family.
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