[TR] Three Finger Jack, Mt. Washington - South Ridge, North Ridge 6/16/2012

[Cobrien1125]

Trip: Three Finger Jack, Mt. Washington - South Ridge, North Ridge

 

Date: 6/16/2012

 

Trip Report:

 

 

Both north and south of highway 22, just west of Sisters, OR, lies a patch of forest scorched by fire within the Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Washington Wilderness areas. At the foot of two extinct volcanoes, now falling apart from old age, winds the Pacific Crest Trail. Leading through charred forrest in Oregon's second largest wilderness area you arrive at the southern ridge of Three Finger Jack or the north ridge of Mt. Washington depending on what direction you follow the trail.

 

Arriving at the trailhead for Three Finger Jack on saturday morning about 10:00am we found ourselves quickly searching our stores to fill our packs and head out, trying to put a few miles behind us before noon. Our goal over the weekend was to climb both Three Finger Jack via the south ridge route and Mt. Washington via the north ridge route in one fell swoop. Unspoken, but subconciously known to the three of us at that point was the fact that this would entail aprox 8 to 9,000ft of vertical hiking over mostly snowy trail-less terrain for approximately 20 miles rouding out to almost exactly 20 hours of hiking. But we had just started the trail and lost the trail for the first of many times as after the first two miles or so the trail dipped ever so quietly underneath the snow. Following boot pack and using a combination of a compass and our last known location we found the south ridge of Three Finger Jack. Unbeknownst to us, our intuition had lead us to believe the trail would climb this ridge and directly ascend the southern route up the mountain. When, after a lofty inspection at the precipice of the ridge we saw the boot pack take a much easier route along the foot of the ridge and then slowly gain elevation up to the eventual scramble that was to be our climb, we looked at each other laughing at the extra effort we never needed to expend to gain the ridge.

Eventually and finally crawling out of the snow and following the saddle up to the pile of loose steep volcanic rock we took a moment near the base of the southern route to empty our packs. Before walking up rock that looked like the classroom example of elemental decay, somewhere between sand and pebble, some of us decided to bring our jackets, helmets and axes along for the ascent. Those who later shivered at the top of the catwalk in 30 mile an hour winds were reminded of how quickly a few hundred feet of elevation can bring on large changes in both temperature and wind. With the steep scree ascent quickly becoming part of the trail we put behind us we gained the ridge and made our way quickly to the catwalk where the winds made the loose footing on the exposed edge even more inhospitable. Having momentarily roped up for the short walk across the catwalk we sat at the foot of what was referred to as the scariest and most exposed part of the climb, "the crawl." Supposedly, in the great pantheon of Oregon mountaineering is a refernce to "the crawl" being named as such becuase during its earlier years one would have to actually crawl through a space to reach the rest of the ascent whilst staring back down the 2000ft of exposure that laid below them. Fortunately for us, the crawl like so much of the mountain had disappeared through the forces of erosion though that did little to inspire confidence as we pulled ourselves around the corner grasping crumbling rock to stare down the almost vertical slopes below.

 

After clearing what seemed to be the hardest part of the climb we made our way to a ledge and checked our watches as we regained our composure. We had been hiking for 7 hours and had a minimum of 3 hours to hike back out. With it being 6:30 and having had an issue finding the trail under the snow on our way in, we made the decision to turn around at aproximately the 7600ft (3FJ is7841ft) mark. Down climbing the crawl and following the ridge back to where we had left our packs, we followed the south route until we ran across the spot where we had spotted the easier bootpack ascent around the foot of the south ridge. There, we followed the trail back through the burnt woods arriving at our vehicle around 10:00pm.

 

 

After driving directly south across hwy 22 and finding a campground around the edge of Big Lake we cooked a full meal, stoked up a mean fire and snuggled three men to a tent falling asleep and waking to begin day 2 around 7:30am. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and of course french pressed coffee, we made our way to the Big Lake Youth Camp where we parked the car and followed the horse trail to the PCT. Once again the dusty trail started in the burnt woods somewhere around 4 miles from the north ridge which was to be the start of our ascent. Having made a few turns that lead us marginally off track on day one we wanted to be confident that we did not do the same on our second day. With aprox 1.5 miles behind us the trail again started to dip under the snow as the tress became thicker and the burn out was no longer apparent. Finally finding the ridge a few hours later we discovered that we had in fact found "a" ridge but unfortunatley the bootpack we followed lead us to the eastern ridge of the mountain, about 1.5 miles out of the way. Finding a clearing in the trees and waiting for the wind blown clouds to clear we spied the north ridge and began the traverse through what looked like a fairly new avalanche in the col. With temperatures being as warm as they were and the sun beating down on the snow, the crampons would have been even heavier on our feet than they were in our packs. We opted to make the slushy traverse with our boots and ice axes. Reaching the top of the ridge about an hour later we all sat at 6900ft to break for lunch.

Seeing the much more straight forward ridge climb ahead, we made great time up the last of the snow an onto the scree where the winds speeds made the walk a little more harrowing. Here, the path was much less exposed than the Three Finger Jack south ridge route. Reaching the first of the roped climbs, we checked our watches and realized that it was nearly 4:00pm. Knowing, again, that we would have a good 3 hour hike back to our car and a 3 hour drive home we decided to sit and view the surroundings before heading down the mountain on our descent. Choosing to turn around at aprox 7500ft (Mt. Washington 7794ft) we made our way back down the mountain and again found a much more straight forward ascent. Reaching the car around 6:30 we all took a swig of whisky removed our wet socks and drove back to Portland.

 

check out more of our trips at looking in other directions

 

 

Edited July 3, 2012 by Cobrien1125

[cja]

 

 

Reaching the car around 6:30 we all took a swig of whiskey removed our wet socks and drove back to Portland.

 

 

 

For peat's sake, Connor, when Ryan brings out the good stuff, it's "whisky!" I thought we'd gone over that.

 

Apart from that I would only add a valuable lesson that some may have learned from a certain fabled race between a hare and a tortoise:

 

Finding someone else's former bivvy, built up with stone windbreaks high on Washington's north ridge, is indeed a wonderful excuse for a stop, but adding a 45-minute nap to that stop will not bolster one's summit bid. It might, however, still be recalled fondly.

 

[Cobrien1125]

Chris,

 

I do apologize for my assault on such a fine tasty liquor. The nap was splendid!