Home > Trip Reports > July 13/14 Mt Jefferson Jefferson Park/Whitewater

July 13/14 Mt Jefferson Jefferson Park/Whitewater

7/15/09
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Posted by Kyle Miller on 7/21/09 5:39am
First off this Trip was hand written so it turned out to be way longer then expected

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 €œwould 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 while . 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. 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 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 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

The next day I woke up early both to watch the sunrise and get an early start on the trail so hopefully I would be back to the car in the afternoon and meeting up with a friend in hood river by that night to celebrate. I watched the early morning sun crest over the cascades for one final time in my journey as I packed my bag for the long day ahead. Soon I was back on the
. The climbing route is a traverse over a mile long on low angled glacier before reaching the south facing scree ridge that borders the icy slopes. After stuffing my face with rice krispy treats and enjoying fresh water from the glacier I was skinning across the long traverse. I had looked at Jefferson from the high alpine of the southern Washington Volcano€™s and Mt hood so many times it felt oddly rewarding to look back and see them 2000 feet above. Little did I realize that the route I was taking happened to be the longest. Starting off on the lower NE flank then I would have to do a complete circumference of the mountain to gain access to the final 200 foot scramble to the summit pinnacle. Once arriving at the southern ridge I ditched the snowboard and started climbing the steep scree field until reaching the highpoint referred to as the from three fingered Jack to Diamond peak with the Three Sisters wilderness in-between and to the North was a sketchy

If I was going to do the traverse I would have to put in the bootpack and carefully cross the 300 feet of near vertical slopes all while looking down a 3000 foot gulley filled with cliffs and rocks knowing all to well that any fall had a substantial chance of being fatal. I knew that the traverse was going to be sketchy but at the same time I felt confident with my climbing abilities so I switched over to crampons and Ice axe and pushed forward. Each step was a process as I placed the Ice axe as deep in the snow as possible and kicked the frozen slope until it became a platform then I would pack down the snow all while being extra cautious of my  other foot slipping out. Each step took a few minutes and what would normally take 15 minutes took around two hours. My feet were bleeding and in a lot of pain as I finally reached solid ground and the top 200 feet of technical rock climbing above me. I carefully took off my crampons and put my Ice axe in my backpack then attempted the last 200 foot rock face between me and the summit.  For my first attempt I tried the north ridge proper with careful foot and hand placements I found myself dead in my tracks with a ten foot Ice wall above, after a few minutes of attempting the Ice wall I down climbed the rock all while looking at the


I only stood on the summit a few minutes taking in views of 12 different volcano€™s 9 of which I could see my ski routes. I was happy to have a moment to celebrate my accomplishment but I was also sketched and I truthfully just wanted to get down. I carefully down climbed the rock wall on the route that had the least amount of Ice and quickly found myself back at the traverse. I was very happy that I took the extra time putting in the steps as heading back was almost effortless as I would place my Ice axe in its previous trench and carefully place my feet on the steps. Once arriving at the red saddle I was relived knowing all to well that the technical climbing was over with and from here on it was easy slopes. After being on exposed terrain the south ridge was a breeze as I climbed, jumped and slid 1000 feet down to where the snowboard was waiting at the edge of the glacier.

The ride down the
for the final 500 feet. After climbing 12 hours I was back at camp throwing all my gear in my backpack preparing for the last 7 mile push to the trailhead. I got on the trail around 8:30 as the with more Pics
here a
Nice work, Kyle, that's an impressive summit to have soloed.
I'm glad you toughed it out and met your personal goals for the season! 


 
      8)

awesome kyle .. riveting and well-told story .. congrats on your amazing accomplishment .. jefferson has always intrigued me  ... i mean just the area for backpacking .. and now if we ever go i will have your adventure to inspire me ...  again great effort this season .. way to go!!

obtw did you catch these recent shots taken by kyled on nwhikers of the dakobeds from fortress? another epic trip of yours:






Sweet Kyle!  Impressive list of climbs completed this year - Congratulations!  Soloing a mountain like that takes an impressive amount of mental stamina.  Good work!  This "Oregon Local" is impressed.

Really impressive!  Thanks for sharing all the trips this season - they were great reads!

Yeah dude, you did it!  Nice work!

Congrats!  Inspiring and motivating.  Thanks for sharing the photos and stories along the way.

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july-13-14-mt-jefferson-jefferson-park-whitewater
Kyle Miller
2009-07-21 12:39:54