[pct-l] Mt. Jeff. Wilderness -- current information?

[Judson Brown]

Russell Cr. isn't that bad. Try not to hit it in the afternoon. There are
certainly worse crosses on the PCT. It probably is the toughest crossing in
OR, though. South to Santiam Pass, the primary thing you'll notice is a lot
of burned territory. It starts southbound at North Cinder Peak and continues
off and on- more on than off- until Santiam Pass. Expect blowdowns unless
they've cleared them out since early Aug. when I was there.

Also, water is not nearly as abundant as you would think. Stock up at Shale
Lake. There is no ON trail water from there until Rockpile Lake, and from
there, really nothing all the way to Santiam Pass. There are some sources
close to the trail: a pond 200yds E of the trail just north of N. Cinder
Peak; a few scuzzy ponds just past Minto Pass; and a few even scuzzier ponds
just before Santiam Pass. Unless you're willing to go farther off trail at
Minto Pass to some larger lakes, or cross-country to Martin lake just south
of Three Fingered Jack, that's about it.

On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Susan Virnig <susan at newstories.org> wrote:

> This is the last section of the WA & OR PCT remaining for me!  (Started
> section hiking in 1977 and finished WA by 1983, then took 20 years off to
> get 2 graduate degrees and raise a child.  Been working on Oregon for 6
> summers and am about to finish!)
>
>
>
> I only have the stretch from Santiam Pass to the ridge just north of
> Jefferson Park left.  I'll be going in up the Whitewater Trail to Scout
> Lake, then dropping my back to hike north up to the ridge - have to hike
> the
> WHOLE trail! - and then head south to the pass over several days.
>
>
>
> Can anyone give me any information about trail conditions?  I assume
> there's
> plenty of water and that the mosquitoes will be long gone by Sept. 30 when
> I
> start this.  One person has told me that the Russell Creek ford was no big
> deal, but the guidebook makes it sound pretty scary.
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>
>
>
> --Susan from Spokane
>
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