I found a trail with so many blowdowns it was actually rather exhausting. Having been on this section of trail in June, I thought when I saw the trail crew here, that they would have this nice and cleared out by the time I found my way here. Instead, it was blowdown central. The blowdowns were a place that I held an advantage over many people because I was taller. I ran into the French couple that I had seen many times so far and this was the one time that I was able to out hike them because of the blowdowns. In fact, at one point, I seemed to find my way to a different trail after having to use the GPS on my watch to navigate. The trail must have been rerouted in this section, but it did not seem to matter as there were blowdowns everywhere.
Eventually I made it past the blowdowns only to experience new challenges. I stopped near Rockpile Lake to get some water. By this point, I could discern a good campsite when I saw one on the PCT and Rockpile Lake probably saw its fair share of campers each night. The north side of the lake was forested and shady, while the lake provided water and a place to clean off. The mosquitoes were not great, but they were not horrible either. There were quite a few people stopped here and talking. Sometimes I felt a little left out because so many people seemed to know each other well. I was always friendly and pleasant, but never made any long lasting friendships. The trail continued, this time through some thick woods onto an exposed ridge. I was past the fire scar, which was great, but now I got to look at Mt. Jefferson looming so far off. The trail was quite exposed in this section near and past South Cinder Peak until North Cinder Peak. The views were spectacular and Mt. Jefferson was showing why it was one of Oregon's most beautiful places.
The trail hit a pass just past North Cinder Peak at the junction with the Hunt's Cove Trail. This was an area that I visited previously having backpacked out to Pamelia Lake last year. I day hiked here and ran into quite a bit of snow in late June. This time the snow was gone and the trail slowly descended to Shale Lake. Here I ran into most of the other people that I had been seeing all day. They were having lunch by the lake. I found a nice shady, quiet tree to sit under and had myself a mid day meal. I finished it off filling some water down by the very shallow lake.
Having been here before, I got a little careless and thought I knew the right way to go. Turned out there were a lot of camper trails around here that went off in directions that were away from the PCT. I thought I was following one trail and then it ended. I thought I knew the way the trail would eventually come out, so I headed cross country over difficult terrain. This turned out to be the wrong choice and eventually I had to stop, reorientate myself, and throw the towel in. I headed back down the steep, rough terrain I had just fought to climb up. Getting lost is frustrating, but I only added maybe a mile to my day and an extra 20-30 minutes of hiking. I didn't let it bother me and soon I was back on the trail.
This section of trail was right above the shores of Pamelia Lake. It was so hot and dry. The trail really felt like a tinder box that could go up at any time. There had been no rain for quite some time and this was one of the few long stretches of unburned forest I would see in Mt. Jefferson. This really is a pretty area around Pamelia Lake, but I felt like it was overwhelmingly warm while I was there. This seemed like a place where people could just fly through the section of trail and I saw many people that were at lunch pass me including the French couple. They were quickly becoming my closest friends on the trail, which honestly was not that close.
I was soon to pass the junction down to Pamelia Lake and the trail began to climb back up to Woodpecker Ridge. Having been to this place the previous year, I knew the trail was still closed here last June, so I expected some rough, exposed terrain. I got what I expected as this area was so amazingly scarred from fires. These fires were around the same time as the fire that we experienced in 2020. I believe this one was the Lionshead fire. Regardless, it was torched and it made for some very warm, desolate terrain. Luckily, there were some streams around, so water was not an issue, but it still had a very eerie feeling. I knew I did not want to camp around this stuff for the night. That meant that my only choice was to push on through to Jefferson Park. There was a water crossing right before the burn that had been a place on the map that could have been a problem for fording the stream. It turned out to be a piece of cake, but up ahead I knew there was another. It became more apparent when I saw someone heading south and he asked about the water crossing I had passed. I figured that meant that his water crossing had not been so easy. I also saw a very strange site near this when I passed a group of 3 girls with balloons on very heavy backpacks. I had been so exposed to PCT hikers with their minimalist gear that I knew they must have been hiking for a short distance to have extras such as this.
Eventually I made it to the fordable river. It did not look fordable and instead looked rather formidable. Luckily, one of the French couple was sitting right across the river proving that she had made it across. She pointed me to the place that she had crossed and even handed me her trekking pole to help with the crossing. It all went rather smooth enough as the water flowed over steep waterfalls below me. I was happy to have that crossing done and over with, but now I was walking with wet shoes and it was starting to get closer to camping time. I knew I had to make it to Jefferson Park for the night.
I was moving rather slowly by this point, but going up the hill, I found myself finally starting to emerge from the burn area to a spectacular meadow filled breathtaking park. The term park gets thrown around rather haphazardly, but this felt like it. Huge and open and dotted by large fresh water lakes, this place felt like it could fit many a weary traveler and still have room for everyone to enjoy it. I loved the small creeks flowing next to the trail and even though the fires had impacted this area, it still was living inside of a piece of artwork.
I made my way to the largest lake in Jefferson Park which was Russell Lake. I camped along the southern shore of the lake in a bare patch of ground with a little bit of tree cover and a few mosquitoes to keep me company. The views of the mountain from my tent site were fantastic. After getting up the energy to take a cooling dip in the lake, I made some dinner and put my shoes out to start the drying process. I was lucky because there was a nice breeze. I took the soles out and aimed my open shoes with the wind blowing right in. With any luck, they would be dry by morning.
I had only put in 23 miles today, so I had a little more daylight than normal. I needed that extra hour tonight as 50 miles in two days seemed like plenty. I was able to get my phone and watch charged back up and even got a good chapter into my book. With the cleanliness of the dip in the lake to revive me, I was able to get a full night's sleep. Something about being in Jefferson Park really made me relax and just enjoy myself for the night. It may have been my favorite place and favorite campsite on the whole trip.
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