September is by far the best month of the year. The heat of summer lingers, the crisp nights of fall begin to slowly take hold, leaves are changing color, fish are biting, and last but certainly not least it is the month when I celebrate another 365 day journey around the sun (Jess if you haven't caught on by now this is Jake).
For the past two years I have been wanting to take Kari on her first backpacking trip. But, as life goes other things often took priority and it never aligned. However, with my work schedule cooperating, and deciding to forgo my annual birthday fishing trip, 2012 looked promising. We tentatively blocked out an extended weekend in September before I left for Chile and then let the idea sit idle for the months I was away. The winter of Chile proved to be a great motivator and I returned full of planning vigor and ready to explore Central Oregon's Three Sisters wilderness.
With only a few days to go, I happened to be checking the national wildland fire situation report (old habits are hard to break), when I noticed a large fire reported near where we had planned to go backpacking. Further investigation revealed the Pole Creek fire to be burning very near our intended location and precautionary closures were in effect that prevented us from reaching the trail-head where we had planned to embark on our adventure. I was more than a little bummed to say the least. Enter Google, and within a few hours I had identified a Plan B. Reason #1,576 why Oregon is awesome, Mount Jefferson wilderness and Three Fingered Jack; all was not lost! We ended up hiking in and camping at some meadows near the base of Three Fingered Jack (TFJ) on the first day. The second we based out of our camp and climbed as high onto TJF as you can go without technical gear, then after lunch connected with another trail and checked out some nice lakes in the area. Day three we hiked out, finishing the loop, and headed home.
Below is our trip in pictures. We had a great time, although I might have damaged my chances of getting Kari to do another trip like this. Seems a 20+ miler, with 3 solid days of hiking might have been a little bit too much for a first timer. But, she is a champ and stuck it out even through the off trail scrambles and steep climbs. But now that she has done this one, the next will be that much easier!
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| Our route, hiked counter-clockwise. We camped near the camera closest to the name Three Fingered Jack. |
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| The first day was a 9+ mile hike mostly through an old burn. |
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| Old burn = great views. TFJ peaking over a ridge. |
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| Old burn = very little shade. Kari taking a break in the shade provided by some skinny snags. |
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| The Pole Creek fire continued to burn, reminding us we made a good decision to not try an alternate route into that area. |
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| On the lower slopes of TFJ. Looking south you can see Mount Jefferson. A small moraine lake is visible below us. |
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| Some of us can't resist going where others will not dare. |
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| Mount Jefferson |
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| TFJ catches the morning light. |
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| Kari kicking ass and taking names as she powers up the slope to the ridge line. Part of the trip involved some off trail trekking to get from the meadows at the base of TFJ to the PCT on the ridge. |
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| From the ridge top, TFJ in all it's glory. |
