July 1-4, 2011, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Michelle, Buddy, and I headed into Mt. Jefferson for some backcountry skiing and camping last weekend.  We decided to try coming in from the North, via Skyline road, which I think is a more scenic route but a bit longer than Sentinel Ridge.  The road was blocked by snow around 5,000 ft, so we hiked in a bit from there along the road and then bushwhacked in from the bridge crossing through patchy snow and some burn areas up to Pyramid Lake.  From there, the snow was continuous and we joined the general route of the PCT, donning skins once things started to open up on the other side of the Pyramid Saddle.

We camped for three nights on Park Butte Ridge, which gave good access to ski some of the short slopes nearby as well as the opportunity for a day trip across Jefferson Park and up the snowfields on Mt. Jefferson to Jefferson Park Glacier.  We didn't ski the glacier itself but it is looking in great shape.  Snow coverage is outstanding all around the area with good skiing on the steeper slopes, especially northish facing aspects.  Suncups and runnels are getting pretty deep on some of the flatter areas, and I made an ungraceful faceplant on the ski out trying to jump one with my full pack (didn't make it!)