Tim Seaver
Well-known member
Looking for a something slightly different, my friend Jon and I spent a day picking our way up the Castle Trail on Mount Jefferson. We had a feeling it would be a challenge given the conditions, and were not disappointed! The deep, unconsolidated snow heaped upon the swiss cheese-like network of treacherous gaps, ankle-snapping cracks, hiker-swallowing caves, and steep rock scrambles that characterize the ridge made for slow going. Just finding a way around the first castle took a good 1/2 hour as we floundered about. A broom would have been very helpful in uncovering the hand and footholds in the many areas where steep scambling is required among the Castles.
On the ridge above the Castles, the going was a bit easier as the windblown terrain allowed bit more rock hopping. Snowshoes would have been helpful for the sections of deep snow between the rocky bits, but the time spent diddling around taking them on and off would have been substantial considering the schizophrenic nature of the conditions. Given the tough travelling, we were quite glad to have a sunny, warm, and virtually windless day - and the 5:30 am start didn't hurt either!
Arriving at the Cornice Trail junction at about 1 pm, we decided not to summit Jefferson, so we boogied on down to Edmands Col and picked up the Randolph Path, which was untracked but navigable, with more of the same type of conditions - rock hopping interpersed with random deposits of deep snow. Finally, at the Israel Ridge Path junction, we met up with the tracks from a fellow hapless barebooter, who apparently turned around where they stumbled onto a rather unfriendly area of spruce traps; the broken branches and needles sprayed about suggested a bit of a thrash.
We arrived at the Quay just as the sun set, looking forward to hiking on a packed trail after 8 hours or so of unsure footing. A quick tromp down Lowe's path got us to the road at about 6 pm.
Although we did get a taste of adventure today, I can't really recommend this route in it's current state - just way too many holes covered by unconsolidated snow, and a lot of those gaps are in areas where one might not be wearing snowshoes. I seriously doubt that this route would be any easier under full winter conditions, but at least the gaps would be less of a hazard once properly choked with ice and snow.
A few pics from the day . ( the 5th one is my favorite - Jon's expression suggests that he finally realizes that the day isn't getting any easier!)
On the ridge above the Castles, the going was a bit easier as the windblown terrain allowed bit more rock hopping. Snowshoes would have been helpful for the sections of deep snow between the rocky bits, but the time spent diddling around taking them on and off would have been substantial considering the schizophrenic nature of the conditions. Given the tough travelling, we were quite glad to have a sunny, warm, and virtually windless day - and the 5:30 am start didn't hurt either!
Arriving at the Cornice Trail junction at about 1 pm, we decided not to summit Jefferson, so we boogied on down to Edmands Col and picked up the Randolph Path, which was untracked but navigable, with more of the same type of conditions - rock hopping interpersed with random deposits of deep snow. Finally, at the Israel Ridge Path junction, we met up with the tracks from a fellow hapless barebooter, who apparently turned around where they stumbled onto a rather unfriendly area of spruce traps; the broken branches and needles sprayed about suggested a bit of a thrash.
We arrived at the Quay just as the sun set, looking forward to hiking on a packed trail after 8 hours or so of unsure footing. A quick tromp down Lowe's path got us to the road at about 6 pm.
Although we did get a taste of adventure today, I can't really recommend this route in it's current state - just way too many holes covered by unconsolidated snow, and a lot of those gaps are in areas where one might not be wearing snowshoes. I seriously doubt that this route would be any easier under full winter conditions, but at least the gaps would be less of a hazard once properly choked with ice and snow.
A few pics from the day . ( the 5th one is my favorite - Jon's expression suggests that he finally realizes that the day isn't getting any easier!)
