ephraim

Climb: Mt. Jefferson-SW Ridge solo Date of Climb: 7/30/2004 Trip Report: I'd heard the southwest ridge was a serious slog up from Pamelia Lake, and it was. It's supposedly the easiest way to get up to the summit pinnacle, but it involves gaining 6500 feet of vertical over some frustrating terrain. I couldn't find the climber's trail that heads straight up from Pamelia Lake (has anyone else?), so I took the connector to the PCT and headed up a small canyon along a dried up creek bed. There is hardly a trail at all, and I had to bushwhack to eventually get onto the southwest ridge. From there it was an exhausting climb up a lot of loose rock and pumice, though there were a few snowfields on the south side of the ridge that could be climbed instead. I noticed 3 or 4 small bivy sites available on the ridge between maybe 6000 and 8000 feet. After the south ridge joined the southwest, I had to make a traverse on steep snowfields around the south side of an outcropping on the ridge. A short climb up snow and scree brought me up to the red saddle. The "terrible traverse" under the summit pinnacle was pretty scary, as the snow was still hard and the slope very steep. Luckily I avoided any rockfall, though I heard big rocks crashing off the east side of the mountain several times. Once I reached the north side of the pinnacle, it was an easy scramble to the summit, which is basically a jumble of big rocks in a precarious-looking pile. I made the top at 12:20pm, 6.5 hours after leaving camp. It was a blast to be standing at the point I saw so many times from Hood. The view was great - I could see quite a bit of the cascades in either direction. There was no summit register that I could find, though there was an empty metal pail that looked like it might have contained the register. (Anybody know what's up with that?) The trip back down the mountain wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, as there was some good glissading and easy plunge stepping down the scree (boy was I glad I had gaiters). When I got down I jumped in the lake, packed up, and hiked the easy trail out to the trailhead. Gear Notes: Crampons, axe, helmet necessary. Protection on the traverse under the pinnacle would have been nice, but not required. Approach Notes: Very easy hike in to Pamelia Lake. At the lake, don't leave any food unattended at your campsite for any length of time!! A chipmunk left me with a nice hole in my pack.