Beginning September 5, we headed up the Clackamas River Canyon towards the Breitenbush/PCT trailhead for our first-ever visit to Jefferson Park. We'd read "save this hike for September when the crowds start to thin out." Well, spoiler alert - if this is thinned out, I think I'll save the hike for October next year.
The road to the Breitenbush trailhead lived up to its reputation. For context, I'll say that we used to drive our 2000 Kia Sephia up to Elk Lake above Detroit, and that used to be my standard of a bad road. Well, no more. Our Forester did OK but I was a bit of a nervous wreck by the time we reached the trailhead. A few times I made my husband get out and scout the best route around a particularly large boulder so as to avoid 1) bottoming out or 2) scratching the car on surrounding brush. We managed to make it without either problem, so we must have done something right. We saw a passenger vehicle at the trailhead, so someone made it. But I wouldn't recommend that traverse without all wheel drive and a bit of clearance. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it if you care about your paint job overmuch.
By now you've gathered that I was the one driving, which explains why I have no photos of the drive up. I also have no photos of the trailhead - I've got to learn to start taking those for these reports. Suffice it to say that the trailhead parking is well signed (not to mention spacious!) and there are several routes from the parking area back to the trail.
We arrived at the trailhead late in the afternoon (early in the evening, actually) and decided to head on up, carrying enough water for a potential dry camp. The PCT is well graded and a fairly easy climb for the first few miles. We clearly hadn't read enough trip reports, however, as we were surprised when the trail fairly quickly entered a burn area. As usual, the burn area was not without its own beauty.
And the people! Did I mention the hordes of college-aged folks? By the time we were rounding Scout Lake, I felt like I was at a city swimming pool. We passed something like 20 young people in one spot on the west side of that lake alone. Back at Russell Lake, the hordes were beginning to arrive in earnest. It appeared that people were hiking up the Whitewater trail, making their way past all the other lakes and realizing no designated spots were open, and arriving at our little haven hoping to find their home for the night. One group of six young people settled in about 50 feet from our tent.
I'm sure they were very nice young folks. They were also louder than we liked, at least at that close range, so we moved camp well back away from the lakes - per Forest Service websites, carefully researched in advance, camping is legal away from designated sites if one is at least 250 feet from one of the major lakes. It was a lovely little spot, though far from being out of earshot of our neighbors.
OK, enough about the people for now. The smoke cleared a bit in time for sunset, yet still hung around enough to create some beautiful red glows over the mountain.
Our return route was unremarkable and still more smoky - Mount Hood had disappeared completely. We found ourselves pretty grateful for all the cairns, though we'd made fun of them on the way up the ridge. They certainly made the route easier to follow on the way down. (And they are undoubtedly very valuable to PCT hikers who come through earlier in the season before most of the snow melts.)
Why are humans obsessed with making so much NOISE when they're outside? I encounter this all the time both car camping and backpacking and I'm dumbfounded by the people who go out into these beautiful places only to ruin the experience of others by being obnoxiously loud. 
