Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trailhead

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forestkeeper
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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by forestkeeper » September 17th, 2014, 10:46 pm

:) Nice trip report and excellent photos. It's nice to see black and whites for a change too. After a burn, forest communities are quick to sprout back with life. Hopefully your backs didn't get out of whack driving up the bumpy 4220 road.

aircooled
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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by aircooled » September 18th, 2014, 9:04 am

Great TR! I love your writing style. And nice that you got one night of solitude.

I was last at Jefferson Park in mid August. I solo backpacked up on a Friday morning the day after torrential rains had dumped hard all up and down the Cascades. I circled Bays Lake and there wasn't a single camper in site. Not one! But there were some campers at Scout and Russell, where I met a few friends. By the next morning the lakes were packed with campers of all ages - beach blankets, folding chairs, big car camping tents, laundry lines ... one noisy group had a portable stereo. grrrr We hiked out on Saturday and counted 60 people coming up Whitewater! I have no idea where they would camp.

I can see why some would want a permitting system, but I wonder if part of the problem here is that nearby Pamelia Lake has a limited entry permit system in place. Once we couldn't get permits for Pamelia and ended up in Jeff Park. Limit Jefferson and the masses will move on to Santiam or Duffy or Marion. The "solution" could create a new problem.

We met a USFS intern up there doing body counts and studying how many sites could be seen from other sites. You can bet some restrictions are in the works.

If you follow use trails west of the lakes, you drop down into a lovely valley with a good stream. I've never camped there but have considered it. You'd get away from the noise and the crowds.

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drm
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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by drm » September 18th, 2014, 9:16 am

aircooled wrote:Limit Jefferson and the masses will move on to Santiam or Duffy or Marion. The "solution" could create a new problem.
Very possibly, but land managers will never take the position of essentially sacrificing one area to let others escape the problem, at least as long as both are their responsibility.

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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by mcds » September 18th, 2014, 9:38 am

Actually, that is one of the strategies being contemplated. And it is analogous to how the USFS, back in the day, and perhaps now, was selling the idea of the recently enacted Wilderness Act.

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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by AAdamsPDX » September 18th, 2014, 4:59 pm

Thank you all for the great responses, comments, and more info on your recent and past trips. I'm feeling like I need one of those "like" buttons at the bottom of each post so I can acknowledge and appreciate each individually. :)
justpeachy wrote:Trees are slowly taking over the meadows at Jefferson park: http://archive.statesmanjournal.com/art ... ic-meadows
This is really cool as it gets at a question we're always asking ourselves when we're in meadow land: "What are the factors that keep meadows from being overgrown with trees?"
Paul2 wrote:We were another of the first timers up at Jefferson Park on the September 5th weekend. It was so beautiful, but just like a city swimming pool as you mentioned. It is amazing how many people made their way up there. We showed up late afternoon Saturday and we must have taken your vacated Russel Lake designated campsite. We took the last one on the east side, I saw a group that had been nearby clear out. We were lucky not to get bothered by baying at the moon that night, we must not be as sensitive to noises of loud people! It was also amazing how many people were on the way in on Sunday as well, quite a few.
Interesting! We wondered who would wind up with "our" spot. Glad you enjoyed, and that you weren't bothered by the noise. It was a little difficult to tell where the actual baying was coming from - we could have been blaming the wrong group. Maybe it was one of the groups further to the east, as a number of them passed our little camp back in the trees.
"The world begins where the road ends." ~Eddie Vedder
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Paul2
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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by Paul2 » September 18th, 2014, 9:32 pm

Interesting! We wondered who would wind up with "our" spot. Glad you enjoyed, and that you weren't bothered by the noise. It was a little difficult to tell where the actual baying was coming from - we could have been blaming the wrong group. Maybe it was one of the groups further to the east, as a number of them passed our little camp back in the trees.
There were a ton of people camped on the west side of the lake that evening, and they had a ton of drinks out, so it was probably them.
I've been wandering early and late, from New York City to the Golden Gate, and it don't look like I'll ever stop my wandering.
-James Taylor

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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by justpeachy » September 19th, 2014, 7:38 am

A permit system was put in place for the Enchantments because the place was being loved to death. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing eventually happens at Jefferson Park. It is already at the "loved to death" stage.

elmay
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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by elmay » September 24th, 2014, 11:53 am

I was up there Friday and Saturday night, camped at Scout Lake, last weekend. I went in on the Whitewater trailhead -- that Breitenbush road just sounded too scary :).

Sunday morning, around 7am, I took my cup of coffee down to the lake and didn't see or hear a soul. Unfortunately, about an hour later, the folks who were illegally camped right by the lake the afternoon before and who had been chased off by the ranger, decided to move back in :twisted: . I hope they got a ticket!
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15139289569_43b98ceeec_z.jpg
Picture of camp

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Re: Oh, the humanity - Jefferson Park from Breitenbush trail

Post by aircooled » September 25th, 2014, 3:11 pm

elmay wrote:I was up there Friday and Saturday night, camped at Scout Lake, last weekend.

Sunday morning, around 7am, I took my cup of coffee down to the lake and didn't see or hear a soul. Unfortunately, about an hour later, the folks who were illegally camped right by the lake the afternoon before and who had been chased off by the ranger, decided to move back in :twisted: . I hope they got a ticket!
They will if they get caught! I know a group that was told to move camp and didn't. For good measure they even rebuilt the fire ring the ranger had dismantled. $300 ticket!

Last time I camped near Scout Lake we saw ramen noodles lying intact on the lake bottom. Ramen noodles are so highly processed they have trouble breaking down in the gut (proven using a small pill-shaped camera) let alone an alpine lake. Poor Scout Lake. :( Glad to see rangers are doing what they can.

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