[pct-l] (Long) Trip Report - Ollalie Lake to McKenzie Pass (8/31 to 9/4)

[Barry Teschlog]

The 63 miles between Ollalie Lake Resort and McKenzie Pass in central Oregon is among the best of the Oregon PCT.
 
This section was closed by forest fires in 2006 when I thru hiked.  So, I along with Treehugger (06) and Marmot headed out to pick up these missed miles.
 
On Sunday, 8/31, we drove out to Ollalie Lake after having stashed a vehicle at McKenzie Pass.  We had intermittent showers on the way, never really heavy, but it was quite cool.  At the resort while gearing up, we got hit with light hail.  We also heard from a weekend camper that it snowed the night before, with big, fat flakes.  We could see fresh snow dusting Ollalie Butte just to the east, but none at the resort.  Right before setting out, we were told that a ranger had come by the resort area and warned all tent campers to go home as a "big" snow storm was coming.  That explained the stream of cars and trucks leaving the Ollalie Lake area we had passed on the way in.
 
Undaunted, we hit the trail.  Pretty soon, we were getting snow on and off.  The wind picked up as we headed toward higher elevations.  Our goal was to make 12 miles or so, but as we approached the viewpoint (mile 2043.0, about 10 miles south of Ollalie) we were in pretty steady light snow, 30 MPH winds and low clouds started rolling in.  Snow obscured the trail, both fresh and a big patch left over from the previous winter.  Combined, the wind, snow, worsening visibility and cold temps called for discretion in lieu of valor.  We decided to turn back a few hundred vertical feet from the 6920' ridge top view point to a campsite at a tarn we had seen 10 minutes previously.
 
Arriving at the campsite, all three of us were quite chilled, with numb hands.  We managed to set up our tarps in a semi-sheltered spot and crawled into sleeping bags to warm up.  The wind continued to blow and the snow / rain / freezing rain / sleet / ice crystals / hail (what ever the heck it was) fell on and off while the gusty wind continued to blow about 20 to 30 MPH.  I warmed up pretty quick, but Tree and Marmot got more wet than I did and took quite a bit longer to stop shivering.
 
Long story short, we got through the night and awoke to cloudy, still windy, but no precipitation conditions.  Temps overnight were in the mid to upper 20's to about 30.  Both Tarptents had ice on them, but held up fine due to the semi-sheltered spot.  The sun eventually broke through the clouds and we set up to dry gear before hitting the trail.
 
The morning also revealed a winter wonderland.  While the accumulation of snow was pretty minor, the steady wind had caused all of the trees to be frosted on one side.  I think we took some Communicator quality pictures of the results.
 
As we climbed back to the view point, I was glad we had turned back.  The views we would have missed were astounding.  Mt. Hood was visible to the north, protruding from the low clouds and well lit by the morning sun.  Upon reaching the viewpoint about a mile from where we camped, BAM, Mt. Jefferson was in your face with the fresh dusting of snow making for a spectacular view.  The frosted trees on the descent into Jefferson Park were some quality eye candy in the morning sunshine.  
 
The rest of the hike, we went into improving weather.  Temps were never really cold at night - being around 40 or so, with highs in the upper 60's.  This made for pleasantly cool walking the shade and equally nice warmth in the sun.  Views were great as the air was clear.
 
Other highlights from the section:
 
 - Flowers were out in force.  The paintbrush was the most vibrant red I had ever seen.  It was spring time at the beginning of September.  Some areas looked as if the snow had only melted off within the last week or two.
 
 - Blue / Huckelberries abound.  Some are full on ripe, while others are still little green buds.  These are probably the most common shrub / plant in this section.
 
 - At Russel Creek (mile 2038.6), some of the slide alder down in the gully had yet to leaf out, indicating that the snow had only recently melted.  It was an easy rock hop at about noon.
 
 - The creeks off of Mt. Jefferson Yogi indicates are milky (Milk, Russel, Whitewater) were all running crystal to mostly clear, at least when we passed.  I'd guess that this is probably an artifact of the unusual snow conditions in Oregon this year.
 
 - We passed a bit over 20 thru hikers, starting only a few miles out of Ollalie on Sunday the 31st and seeing them all the way to a few miles south of Big Lake Youth Camp on Thursday the 4th.  The most we saw in one day was ~12 on Monday the 1st, from just below the above mentioned view point all the way to our camp at Shale Lake (Mile 2029.5) where we camped with 2 NOBO's.  We also saw multiple thru's in both Bend and Sisters on Thursday and Friday the 4th and 5th.  These folks are looking at roughly a very late September to early-mid October finish date, depending on their rate of progress and where / when we saw them.  Here's hoping for a dry fall through mid October for them.
 
 - This section is a study in contrasts.  The amazing views of Mt. Jefferson, 3 Fingered Jack and Mt. Hood are mixed with the utter devastation of incinerated forests.  Long stretches are through burned areas.  Burned areas are visible for miles and miles, with patches of green that survived.  In places, this grey / green contrast gave the forest the appearance of a mist or fog hanging over it, especially toward sun set.  The areas that burned in 2003 are clearly distinguishable from those that burned in 2006 based on the vegetation regrowth.  Some of the burns were absolute - nothing but large charred logs remain, with practactly nothing in the way of branches and sticks on the floor.  Other areas appeared to have only flashed over in a fast moving canopy fire, killing the trees, but otherwise leaving a completely littered forest floor, carpeted with a near solid layer of branches, sticks, logs and other debris, ready to burn yet again.
 
 - Big Lake Youth Camp had closed on September 1st (no meals available).  Camping, showers and water were still available as were the very well stocked hiker box and mailed parcels in the HQ building (self service on both as the caretaker staff was off the day we were there).  They let us stay in one of the cabins near the HQ building (a staff member stopped by briefly and pointed us to this cabin). 
 
 - Washington Ponds (mile 1997.1) water was available and good per NOBO thru reports.  The trail was marked by stones that spelled out H2O.  In the future, you can locate this water as follows (NOBO):  At the north edge of a 2006 burn, the trail will turn right.  ~100 to 200 yards into the unburned forest, there is a shallow gully and very faint trail that leads up and off to the right.  Look up this way to find the ponds.  We didn't go there ourselves as we carried plenty from BLYC.
 
 - Bugs were minimal, with only a couple of spots where I'd describe them as annoying, but not reaching the level of bad.  A few sprits of DEET took care of the situation at these spots.  My bug head net was in the running for the 'most useless gear' of the trip contest.  The suffering through the cold and snow we did on Sunday night probably had something to do with this.
 
Bottom line:  It was good to get out and stretch the legs on the PCT yet again.  This is a worthy section that I can highly recommend.  I suggest waiting until the flowers are out, as they were a highlight.  The logistics of getting to / from Ollalie aren't that bad (the directions previously provided on the list in response to my earlier query are spot on), especially if you have two vehicles in your group, one to drive to Ollalie and one to leave at McKenzie.  A key swap in the middle might be in order for this section.  Sisters is still a great trail town.  The little burger drive in on the west end of the main part of town has killer shakes.
 
TC