Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/2014

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aircooled
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Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/2014

Post by aircooled » July 29th, 2014, 10:17 pm

Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop

Distance: 30.5 miles
Elevation gain: 4893
Max elevation: 5700
Min elevation: 4500
Bugs: a few, but not bad.

Blowdown: Some between Bowerman Lake and Minto Pass. Minto Pass has just been cleared! Annoying amount of blowdown between Jack Lake and First Creek, but we met a crew at work there so conditions may improve.

I've seen several Three Fingered Jack loops described on PH and in some of Doug Lorrain's books, but I wanted one that included lots of lakes so I could include some recon for future backpacks. This loop is longer and we did it as a two night backpack.

A full description of the loop follows the photos.

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The hike begins on the PCT in an open burn area.
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Views of North Sister, Middle Sister and Mt. Washington
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In a few miles the trail greens up
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This stretch reminded me of Wikiup Plain in the Sisters Wilderness
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Santiam Lake
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Santiam Lake
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Beargrass as we approach the Eight Lakes Basin
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Duffy Lake
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Duffy Lake
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Sandy beach at Mowich Lake
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Alice Lake
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Mt Jefferson
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The forest coming back! All this green was a relief to the eye.
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Signs were good everywhere on this loop
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Jorn Lake. There's a small island in the middle.
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Jorn Lake
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Jorn Lake
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Jorn Lake
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Bowerman Lake - I think I liked this little lake the best of all.
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Bowerman Lake
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Bowerman Lake
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Bowerman Lake
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Pearly everlasting
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Dropping down from Bowerman Lake you enter a vast burn zone with views of Marion Lake (not shown) below.
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Perhaps somebody knows what this was used for and the story behind it? We saw no other like it.
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Minto Pass Trail
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Fire closure signs at the junction with the PCT
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It was hazy and humid when we arrived at Wasco Lake
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Jack from Wasco Lake
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Wasco has one green shoreline left
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Canyon Creek
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Arriving at Canyon Creek Meadows we saw wildflowers everywhere!
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Hiking out from Canyon Creek is shady and green at first, but then you hit more burn. At least the bare trees allow a peek at Jefferson.
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Jack Lake
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After Jack Lake there's no shade. 7.5 miles of open burn and only one stream crossing. It was beastly hot that day too. We saw only one other couple backpacking.
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The saddle where you can do an off trail traverse
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First Creek
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In case you haven't seen enough burned trees yet, here are a few more
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Booth Lake. The water was clear and cool :) A true oasis on a day like this.
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Interesting burned tree. The eye of the needle?
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After Booth Lake the views get more interesting
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These sole survivors could make a good candidates for some inspirational poster. :roll:
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Square Lake comes into view
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A nice shady break spot at Square Lake
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We watched thunderheads building
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Square Lake
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Square Lake
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Back at the PCT parking area we met PCT thru hiker "WhyNot"
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Complete loop description


The loop begins where the PCT crosses highway 20 at Santiam Pass. Follow the PCT north and after about 1.5 miles take a left at the junction with the Santiam Pass Trail # 3491/ Follow this to #3422, the Blue Lake Trail and head east to the junction with Bowerman Lake Trail # #3492. Take #3492 north to #3437, the Minto Pass Trail, climb to the PCT and drop down to Wasco Lake. From the lake, go south and follow signs to Canyon Creek. An "unmaintained" trail continues up from the junction into the canypon, but it gets so much use you could drive a car up some sections. Explore the Canyon then head back to the junction and turn right, following #4010 to Jack Lake. (A sign says it's a one way trail but we left early in the am and stopped to let all otherhikers pass.) From Jack Lake a long hot slog takes you back to Santiam Pass on #4014, the Summit trail.

The hike begins in an open burn area with great views of Mt. Washington, North Sister, Middle Sister and Broken Top to the south. After a couple miles you enter green forest on a gently rolling trail. You'll get a few glimpes of the top of Jack, but nothing too exciting until Santiam Lake, where everything opens up and you see the expanse of Jack and Porcupine Peak. Santiam has several good camping options but it's very popular with campers - a swimming and fishing spot. Don't expect solitude.

The loop takes you next to Duffy Lake, also popular but with several good campsites on the south shore and one tucked a bit away up from the east end of the lake. Next is Mowich, where we only saw one group. Mowich has a nice sandy beach and good views of a red cinder cone to the north. Hiking from Mowich east you pass a small tarn called Alice Lake which had one good campsite. When reaching Jorn Lake you can leave the loop and head north to Blue Lake. We'd been before and didn't visit on this trip, butthere's a great campsite on the east side of the lake.
Jorn Lake has several good campsites on the south shore, and all were taken by the we arrived. Special thanks to the group of teenagers who kept us up that night making loud animal roaring shouts and screams and the jackass who carved their initials into a tree at the campsite.

From here it's a short hike to Bowerman Lake, a smaller but very pretty lake with great views of Mt. Jefferson to the north.

All of these lakes were hit hard by the B&B Burn back in 2003. Most have one modest stretch of green with the remainder of the lakefront open and covered in white or charred limbless trunks.

From Bowerman Lake we hiked down through an unattractive burn with views of Marion Lake below to the junction of the Minto Pass Trail. Or so we thought. It seems the real junction is .3 miles further north than the juncton shown on Garmin's 100K maps. We followed what looked like an overgrown trail and after 1.2 miles of "fun" bushwhacking (some through tall, dense snowberry) found the real Minto Pass Trail. Minto climbs to a junction with the PCT and from here you drop quickly down to Wasco Lake. This lake is also popular with day hikers who park at Jack Lake. There are several nice campsites in the strip of green on the north shore.

From Wasco we hiked to Canton Creek and as it was getting late we camped in a wooded area up from the junction and day hiked without packs to the canyon where you are treated to stunning views of Three Fingered Jack.

The trail from Canyon Creek toJack Lake is very pretty at first with excellent views of Jefferson, but soon you drop into another burn zone. Jack Lake had a coupole good camping options but with the huge parking lot right there I wouldn't choose it unless I was starting a hike from here and wanted to get an early start. It was the least attractive of the lakes on this tour. There is a very nice outhouse at the parking lot though.

Heading south from Jack Lake, it was beastly hot and there was zero shade to be found on the trail, but a good breeze and super views of Jack made up for that. We also encountered a fair amount of blowdown, most of it step over or walk around, but shorter hikers may do some climb overs.

A handful of trees at Booth Lake was our first shady break and chance to soak our feet. The trail becomes much more interesting between Booth Lake and Square Lake, winding up and down through some very cool rock formations. We took another dip at Square Lake and found several nice campsites on the green stretch of shoreline. The two mile hike from Square lake to Santiam Pass is now free of brush and blowdown. You get nice views of the Sisters again and of Mt. Washington.
Last edited by aircooled on July 30th, 2014, 11:02 am, edited 6 times in total.

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BigBear
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by BigBear » July 30th, 2014, 8:36 am

The story behind your insulator is that it once belonged to a telegraph from a fire lookout. I suspect it was Mowich Butte since your loop included Duffy and Santiam Lakes. If it was somewhere else, the lookout was likely on the nearest hilltop.

aircooled
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by aircooled » July 30th, 2014, 8:46 am

BigBear wrote:The story behind your insulator is that it once belonged to a telegraph from a fire lookout. I suspect it was Mowich Butte since your loop included Duffy and Santiam Lakes. If it was somewhere else, the lookout was likely on the nearest hilltop.
It was on the trail heading down from Bowerman Lake. The precise location: N44° 31' 21.2" W121° 50' 35.9"

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miah66
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by miah66 » July 30th, 2014, 10:31 am

Jeff, that stretch between Booth and Square lakes I remember being hellish high snowberry bushes and no discernible trail for long stretches. I don't remember the rock formations either. :?
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kepPNW
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by kepPNW » July 30th, 2014, 10:53 am

miah66 wrote:Jeff, that stretch between Booth and Square lakes I remember being hellish high snowberry bushes and no discernible trail for long stretches.
Hellyeah. Miles of this...
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miah66 wrote:I don't remember the rock formations either. :?
I remember those, but they were difficult to capture. Little buttes that would've been invisible (like The Pinnacle north of Hood) from the trail were it not for the fire.
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aircooled
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by aircooled » July 30th, 2014, 11:04 am

miah66 wrote:Jeff, that stretch between Booth and Square lakes I remember being hellish high snowberry bushes and no discernible trail for long stretches. I don't remember the rock formations either. :?
The rock formations are just before dropping down to Square Lake, and there are a few after Square Lake as you climb toward the ridge over Highway 20.

We got to play in the snowberry on our Minto bushwhack. Some blackberry too.
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guernica
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by guernica » July 30th, 2014, 12:42 pm

kepPNW wrote:
miah66 wrote:Jeff, that stretch between Booth and Square lakes I remember being hellish high snowberry bushes and no discernible trail for long stretches.
Hellyeah. Miles of this...
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Agh! I remember HATING that section of trail. Lots of cursing that day from me (did that loop in 2011, I'm acting like a toddler and giving the trail the finger in this picture). Really thought they were abandoning that trail- nice to hear it's been brushed out some.
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rainrunner
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by rainrunner » July 30th, 2014, 12:56 pm

You sure succeeded in getting to lots of lakes. Thanks for the great report. Kevin's been wanting to head over there and now he has more info.
I've been following Why Not at www.nancyhikes.com and am jealous you got to meet her.
Ann
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aircooled
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by aircooled » July 30th, 2014, 1:23 pm

rainrunner wrote:I've been following Why Not at http://www.nancyhikes.com and am jealous you got to meet her.
Ann
Thanks for the link! We had just reached the last junction and mistakenly went left instead of right to the parking lot. We bumped into WhyNot and a friend and chatted for a brief moment. I was stepping away when Cindy asks "Where are you going" and she says "Canada!". It turned out we both knew Erin "Wired" Saver as well as New Zealand thru hiker Kiwi (John Craig) and she had stayed at his home in Wellington. (We camped with Kiki in 2010 at Minnie Scott Spring when he was doing the PCT). Well, we had to get a picture, right? :)

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rangerchick
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Re: Three Fingered Jack lakes and canyon loop July 26-28/20

Post by rangerchick » May 3rd, 2015, 2:45 pm

Looks like you hit the Minto Pass trail just days after we cleared it! I was on the crew last year that cleared much of the fallen trees in the Minto Pass, Marion Lake, Bowman Lake, eight lakes basin area. On July 22nd we started from the top of Minto Pass at the PCT junction and worked down towards the bowerman junction and cleared 113 logs with two crosscut saws. It's refreshing to see people enjoying the trails we worked hard to bring back to life!
"Everyone summits, unless you don't want to. I won't drag you." -R.Posekany

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