Mt. Jefferson, considered one of if not the hardest summits in the state or Oregon to make it to. Having climbed (and activated) a lot of the big things that the Oregon cascades have to offer at this point, I can definitely confirm that this mountain isn’t a joke and requires a lot of serious mountaineering skills and conditioning in order to even be attempted since the combination of factors makes it a real challenge. This mountain has been a dream of mine to climb since being a little kid and this goal has only been realized due to a lot of work on my end recently in order to make sure I was adequately prepared for this challenge. If you are going to attempt this one, make sure you are prepared for it and know what you are getting into with approximately a 20 mile round trip and 7,500 ft elevation gain.
I took the standard approach. Go in at Pamelia lake, hit the PCT down south to about Shale lake, go up the south ridge to where you hit the red saddle and then across the glacier traverse and around to and up the backside of the summit block. Be aware that Pamelia lake trailhead is within the central cascades wilderness permit area for day/overnight use. Also need a standard vehicle NW forest pass or equivalent for parking at Pamelia trailhead which is on an easily accessible gravel road. (I got there in a sedan) Additionally, while cellular service was excellent on the actual mountain itself as you would imagine, for most of the approach to the mountain I did not have usable service (Verizon)
It took two attempts this season in order to finally make summit. On my first failed attempt on July 14, 2024, I made it to the red saddle (approx. 300 ft below summit so well outside of the activation zone) and I was unwilling to traverse across the glacier due to its condition when I was there. It was too late in the day when I got there and the snow was very soft. I wasn’t willing to risk it that day especially solo so that’s where I turned around.
Fast forward 7 weeks to August 31, 2024, this was my opportunity to actually make it to summit. I hiked into Shale lake the afternoon before in order to camp and get an early start at the base of the mountain. I had a saved gpx track I was more or less following up the ridge both times while making my own route-finding decisions as I saw fit. The ridge is pretty steep, the scree is really loose, and there isn’t exactly a singular obvious trail up it like you would find on south sister for example. Regardless, I found my way both times up to the red saddle, taking variations each time up the ridge. As long as you stay on the ridge it's fairly forgiving and more or less the same.
At the red saddle I stashed my pack with my phone and HT (trusty old VX-8) in my pockets. I made a decision to not put on my crampons but I clipped them onto my belt just in case and with ice axes in each hand I set out for tackling the traverse. I stayed directly on top of what was left of the glacier and found it fairly easy to get across what was left of it. I could have made it without the axes but they helped me make a couple moves across since the rock is super loose and the snow was more dependable. On the other side of the traverse, I stashed my snow gear and went around the backside of the summit block. From here I found what I considered a relatively easy route from a climbing perspective. There were a couple additional rappel stations along this backside of the summit block besides the one on top. You do have to be extremely careful along here because of how loose everything is up there. It would be about the worst place in the world to experience a seismic event. I found my way up to the summit and got the activation on 2 meters with my HT. No HF this time.
I didn’t bring rope to rappel off of the summit directly down to the traverse so I just downclimbed the way I came which was fine. I made it back to my snow gear and back across the traverse to my pack at the red saddle. From there it was just going back out the way I came which was slow going but all in all made for a great trip.
View from summit looking south towards CM-002, 003, 004, 008, 010, 033 (among others)
View from summit looking north towards CN-001
View looking back towards red saddle from summit
Finally got my picture at this rock
A goat was also out on the mountain
Traverse conditions and red saddle on 8/31/2024 (successful attempt)
Traverse conditions and red saddle on 7/14/2024 (failed attempt)
View looking north up the south ridge of Jefferson 8/31/2024
