Tag: Pamelia Lake Trail

Hunts Cove – 11/08/2026

Due to the warm and dry 2026 some hikes that would normally be snow covered in November remain accessible. We did get some lower elevation snow at the end of October, but warm and dry conditions returned during the first week of November. A partly sunny forecast for Saturday called me to the mountains for what I hope is the last mountain hike until early Summer 2027. It’s not that I don’t love hiking in the mountains, but we badly need a good snow year.

Heather opted to be responsible and stay home to prep the house for some work being done later in the week. I decided to head to the Pamelia Lake Trailhead and head toward Hunts Cove. We had visited Hunts Cove in 2013 on an epic 18.2-mile loop (post). I know I am not physically up to a hike like that and wasn’t sure if I would be able to make the 6-plus mile hike to Hunts Cove but there were several good turnaround points along the way.

There were just a couple of cars at the trailhead when I arrived.

A NW Forest Pass is required to park at the trailhead, and a Central Cascades Wilderness Permit is required to hike from June 15 – October 15.

The Pamelia Lake Trail leaves the trailhead following Pamelia Creek through a beautiful forest and into the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.

This is one of a few remaining areas in this wilderness that hasn’t burned in the 2000’s.

After 2.2-miles of gradual climbing the trail arrives at a junction just before Pamelia Lake with the Grizzly Peak Trail (post).

At the junction I detoured down to Pamelia Lake where the water level was evidence of how dry 2026 has been.

I walked to the right around the lake to get a view of Mt. Jefferson and some of the recent snow.

Morning sunlight hitting the mountain and ridge below.

I returned to the junction and took a right back onto the Pamelia Lake Trail and followed it another 0.2-miles uphill to the Hunts Creek Trail.

A left at the junction would have taken me to the Pacific Crest Trail (post) while a right turn heads to Hunts Cove. You can also reach the PCT from Hunts Cove as we did in 2013. I turned right and followed the trail around the lake passing numerous use trails down to campsites.

Grizzly Peak

The trail crossed several unnamed streams and creeks, one of which was flooding the trail.

The wetlands behind Pamelia Lake that the creeks from both sides of the valley flow into.

Hunts Creek flowing toward Pamelia Lake.

The prettiest of the side creeks.

The trail briefly used this downed log.

Makeshift bridge across one of the streams.

Approximately 1.2-miles from the Pamelia Lake Trail junction the Hunts Creek Trail arrives at the bridgeless crossing of Hunts Creek.

I used the two logs to the right to cross dry footed.

After crossing Hunts Creek the trail climbs over 1000′ in 1.8-miles to a junction with the Hunts Cove Trail. The climb is gradual with just a couple of sets of switchbacks.

The tread got a little narrow crossing this slide, but it wasn’t too sketchy.

I believe this is a Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus).

Orange peel fungus

At one point I spotted a huge waterfall, or series of falls on the opposite hillside.

There were occasional views of Mt. Jefferson too.

There is a waterfall on Hunts Creek just off the trail from the first switchback of the second set (1.6-miles from the creek crossing).

I saved the side trip to the waterfall for the way back down and continued up to the Hunts Cove Trail junction.

Here I did take a side trip and before heading to the cove kept right on the Hunts Creek Trail for 50 yards to visit a talus field where I could hear the “meeps” of pikas.

I hung around for several minutes while meeps rang out from all directions, but I was never able to spot one. I returned to the junction and followed the pointer for the Hunts Cove Trail where I quickly encountered some patches of snow.

Mt. Jefferson came into view across the meadows below and while I was looking at the mountain, I noticed a suspicious looking white spot on the rocks across from me.

Typically, when I spot things like that it winds up being a rock or weathered stump, but this time it was a mountain goat.

(I couldn’t get a decent picture from the distance.)

It’s a fairly level 0.4-miles to Hanks Lake where I detoured right along the shore to get another view of the mountain.

I turned right just before reaching the outlet of Hanks Lake.

The Cathedral Rocks from Hanks Lake.

Common mergansers

Ouzel (American dipper)

I had planned to take a snack break here but the amount of snow along the shore convinced me to wait until Hunts Lake so I headed back to the trail and crossed the outlet creek. It was another 0.4-miles to Hunts Lake where I had more views of the mountain goat, who was not watching me from atop a rock outcrop.

Another makeshift bridge kept my feet out of the creek.

I stayed left at the junction with the Old Hunts Cove Trail, the route we’d taken out of the cove in 2013.

Based on the size and shape this may have been bear tracks, but the snow had melted and refroze enough times that the details for me to make that determination had been lost.

Hunts Lake

The goat watching me watch it as I was having my snack near Hunts Creek and the lake.

Hunts Lake from my break spot.

After my break I said goodbye to my new friend and headed back the way I’d come.

Pamelia Lake from just below the Hunts Cove Trail junction.

The switchback with the spur trail to the waterfall.

Heading for the waterfall.

I can’t remember noticing this colorful outcrop before.

Candyflower

A semi-ok photo of a varied thrush.

Coral fungus

When I got back to Pamelia Lake, I took the first left and veered toward the lake past a sign reminding people not to camp within 100′ of the lake.

I’d only seen one other person all day, another hiker as I was leaving Pamelia Lake in the morning. I didn’t see anyone during this pass either with all of the campsites appearing empty.

I made my way around the lake shore one more time to get a last look at Mt. Jefferson before returning to the trailhead.

Geese hanging out at the lake.

Bunchberry leaves

Arriving back at the trailhead.

With the several detours this wound up being a 13.1-mile hike with approximately 2100′ of elevation gain.

If this was my last hike in the mountains for the next 6 to 8 months it was a great one to end on. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hunts Cove

Tags grizzly peak, Hanks Lake, hiking, Hunts Cove, Hunts Cove Trail, Hunts Creek Trail, Hunts Lake, mountain goat, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pamelia Lake, Pamelia Lake Trail, Waterfall

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Grizzly Peak – 08/20/2022

While we completed our goal of hiking portions of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s 4th edition of “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Central Cascades” in 2020 (post) there remain a few “loose ends” that we’d like to take care of. We have established some guidelines for considering a featured hike “done” allowing us some wiggle room. For instance we might start at a different trailhead than Sullivan’s description but still visit the main attraction(s) he describes. It might also mean starting at the trailhead described but due to closures might cut the hike short. The two most common dilemmas we faced though were featured hikes with a short and long option and featured hikes that included multiple stops/destinations. Regarding the short vs long options we’ve tended to opt for the longer option assuming the distance is reasonable, under 16 miles (maybe not reasonable to all), but when the longer options are close to or more than 20 miles we’ve settled for the shorter.

For the featured hikes where there are multiple stops/destinations we allow the hike to be checked off once we have completed either the longest option, and/or visited the hike’s namesake. A perfect example is Featured Hike 23 in the Central Cascades book (4th edition). The hike is titled “Pamelia Lake & Hunts Cove” with three options given, all beginning at the Pamelia Lake Trailhead. The shortest is a 4.4 mile out-and-back to Pamelia Lake while the longest is a 12.4 out-and-back to Hunts Cove. Sandwiched in between is a 10 mile out-and-back hike up Grizzly Peak. We had been to Hunts Cove once (post) and Pamelia Lake twice (once on the way to Hunts Cove and the other on an attempt to reach Goat Peak (post)) so going by our self-imposed rules we checked the hike off, but we had yet to visit Grizzly Peak. To put a ribbon on the featured hike we obtained a pair of Central Cascade Wilderness Permits (required at this trailhead) and once again set off for Pamelia Lake.

This was at least the third posted notice so there is no claiming you weren’t aware that a permit is needed.

The roughly two mile hike to Pamelia Lake never disappoints.

Pamelia Creek

Fireweed along the creek.

We turned right onto the Grizzly Peak Trail at its junction a short distance from the lake.

The trail crossed the dry outlet creek and then began the nearly 2000′ climb to Grizzly Peak.
Pamelia Creek only flows underground here much of the year.

Heading up.

The trail climbs for two and three quarters of a mile to a former lookout site through a nice forest with limited view for the first two miles.
A glimpse of Mt. Jefferson.

That might be Woodpecker Hill, it was hard to tell exactly which ridge we could see with nothing else visible to help orient.

This looked like it might be a nice little waterfall with enough water.

That’s not enough water.

Heather below one of several switchbacks.

Just over two miles from the junction the Grizzly Peak Trail we came to a viewpoint on a ridge. Here the trail made a sharp right and followed the ridge SE. There were multiple views along this ridge, the one issue we had though was it was still fairly early and the angle of the Sun was catching all the haze in the air.
Turning up the ridge.

The haze was probably a combination of morning cloud/fog and smoke from the Cedar Creek Fire near Waldo Lake.

Pinedrops

We were too late for most of the flowers but there were a few pearly everlasting going.

There’s that pesky Sun again.

After following the ridge for 0.4 miles the trail veered to the right leaving it and traversing up a forested hillside with views north towards the Bull of The Woods Wilderness where we got our first good look at the fire scars from the 2020 Labor Day fires.

Aster

Lousewort

Lots of burnt forest out there.

Triangulation Peak and Boca Cave (post)

A quarter mile after leaving the ridge the trail came to another ridge and made a hard right following this ridge up to the summit. This section provided views south to Three Fingered Jack, the Three Sisters, and Broken Top.

Broken Top to the far left blending into the haze and Three Fingered Jack to the right with the Three Sisters in between.

Just below the summit.

Pamelia Lake below Mt. Jefferson.

We spent a little over half an hour at the summit checking out different views and watching several butterflies and some large black flying insects.

Hunts Creek flowing into Pamelia Lake.

Had to hunt for a view of Three Fingered Jack.

A hard to make out Mt. Hood beyond the far ridge which consists of Bear Point to the left (post) and Dinah-mo Peak to the right.

Mt. Hood

Beardtongue

A fritillary butterfly.

A skipper

We returned the way we’d come opting not to visit the lake on this trip since we have permits to return next month for a second attempt at Goat Peak.
Goat Peak is to the right of Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Jefferson and Pamelia Lake from one of the viewpoints along the ridge.

Cascade toad

One more of Pamelia Creek.

One other hiker had arrived at the summit a bit before we headed down and that was the only other person we saw until we were headed back down. We encountered one couple coming up the Grizzly Peak Trail and a number more on the Pamelia Lake Trail. It was a little surprising because the trailhead parking lot had looked nearly full when we had arrived that morning. The hike was nice and the well graded trail kept the 2700′ of elevation gain from ever feeling steep. It also allowed us to be home before 2pm which gave us time to unpack and clean up before heading of to a friends house for their annual margarita (and dinner) party. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Grizzly Peak

Tags Central cascades Wilderness Permit, grizzly peak, Grizzly Peak Trail, hiking, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pamelia Lake Trail, pamelia Lake Trailhead

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon

Pamelia Lake Overnighter

As I mentioned in our recent Table Lake Loop Trip Report (post)we had plans to visit Goat Peak, a 7159′ peak just south of Mt. Jefferson. We had obtained a Pamelia Limited Area Entry Permit in May when they became available for September 8th and 9th. It was a roll of the dice not knowing what the wildfire or weather situations would be four months down the road but it ensured that we would be able to go if conditions permitted it. Aside from a slight chance of showers the morning of the 8th the forecast looked good so that morning we drove to the Pamelia Lake Trailhead and set off.

We had been here once before in 2013 on a long loop to Hunts Cove (post).

From the trailhead the Pamelia Lake Trail travels just under two and a quarter miles to the lake. Along the way the trail passes through some very nice forest scenery with several views of Pamelia Creek.

Just prior to arriving at the Pamelia Lake the trail veers left at a junction with the Grizzly Peak Trail which heads to the right.

Our original plan for this trip had been to take the Pamelia Lake Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail via the Hunts Creek Trail and follow the PCT up to Coyote (aka Mud) and Shale Lakes where we would set up camp before attempting to reach Goat Peak. After some additional consideration though we decided that setting up camp at Pamelia Lake might be a better option. Setting up camp there would eliminate the need to haul our heavy backpacks up the PCT while also leaving us with a hike out the next day of less than two and a half miles. It did mean we would be adding nearly 4.5 miles to Saturdays hike, but on paper it would still only be around 15 miles. The designated campsites at the lake were all along its left (north) side so we followed a use trail straight ahead from the junction and started looking for an open site.

We wound up choosing site #3 which kept us relatively close to the Grizzly Peak Trail junction as well as the Hunts Creek Trail junction.

After setting up camp we briefly visited the shore of Pamelia Lake then we headed up to the Hunts Creek Trail.

We turned left onto the Hunts Creek Trail and followed it around a ridge for nearly three quarters of a mile to its end at a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail gaining a view of Mt. Jefferson along the way.

On our loop to Hunts Cove I had taken the short side trip north on the PCT to see Milk Creek but Heather had not so we turned left at the junction and followed the PCT for a tenth of a mile through vine maple donning its fall colors to a viewpoint above the creek of Mt. Jefferson.

After checking off the viewpoint we turned around and headed south on the PCT which climbed gradually through a varied forest.

Along the way some movement in a fir tree caught our attention. At first we thought it might be a medium sized mammal of some kind but it turned out to be a squirrel harvesting cones that were crashing down through the limbs after being detached.

Approximately four and a quarter miles from the junction we arrived at Mud Hole Lake. (On some maps it is identified as Coyote Lake but on the USGS Topographic Map the name Coyote Lake is assigned to another lake on the west side of the PCT.)

We turned off the PCT just before the lake on an unsigned but clear trail leading NE through a meadow.

We were using “75 Scrambles in Oregon: Best Non-Technical Ascents” by Barbara I. Bond as our reference for the hike. This was our first time using this particular guidebook but so far everything was going smoothly. The book did not mention that there was a clear trail to follow but we were headed straight for Goat Peak and we’d turned off the PCT at the right spot so we figured we were good to go.

Our intended route would lead us up above a talus slope to the north (left) of Goat Peak where we would then bend to the south at about 6800′.

It was a lovely area with red huckleberry leaves and a few butterflies still flying about.

The tread petered out for a bit in one meadow in particular but small cairns helped lead the way.

The unexpected presence of the well marked trail got us off our guard and we weren’t paying enough attention to the fact that our heading was drifting further north than we’d intended. In the meadow where the trail grew faint the cairns led to the left of a rocky ridge end. In order to reach Goat Peak we should have veered to the right here to find the correct gully uphill.

Instead we continued to follow the trail as we now were hearing other voices ahead. The trail began to climb away from the meadow passing more rock covered hillsides.

Three Fingered Jack

It started seeming really odd that we seemed to be heading directly at Mt. Jefferson but kept thinking that maybe the trail would bend right around some geologic feature.

I really started to question things when we caught up to the group of gentleman who were ahead of us. They asked how high we were planning on going which is when I became fairly certain we were on a climbers route and not the scramble route to Goat Peak. I replied “as high as our legs will take us”, knowing that if this wasn’t the right way to Goat Peak we’d gone to far to correct it by then. Shortly after we crested a rise and left the tress. We were now at the bottom of a boulder filled gully.

There wasn’t much we could do at that point other than go back or continue on so up we went.

Cliffs on the right side of the gully.

As we gained elevation the views to the south opened up and the Three Sisters joined Three Fingered Jack on the horizon.

We were well above the summit of Goat Peak by the time we reached the lip of the gully where stunted white bark pines clung to the steep slope.

Anxious to see what spectacular view awaited I charged up the final pitch only to find a second albeit smaller gully.

At least it had a view of Mt. Jefferson. There were a couple of bivouacs here and I waited for Heather to decide our next course of action. When she reached the second gully I decided to continue on and told her I would wave her up if I thought there was something that she just had to see. From where we were I could already see the top of Goat Peak below to the south as well as The Table and Cathedral Rocks.

Goat Peak

The Table

Cathedral Rocks

Getting out of the second gully was much easier than the first and I soon found myself walking along a snowfield.

Later research would reveal that we were indeed following a climbers trail to the South Ridge Route up Mt. Jefferson. I ended my climb at the top of the snowfield but did a little exploring to the high points on either side of the gully.

Climbers trail continuing up Mt. Jefferson

View south from the ridge to the north of the gully.

Looking out along the ridge.

Where we had intended to be.

View from below the snowfield.

Paintbrush below the snow.

Looking south from the opposite ridge top.

Wildflower atop the ridge.

Bear Butte along the nearest ridge.

Looking back at Mt. Jefferson

The views were nice but I didn’t think they warranted waving Heather up so I headed back down to where she was waiting. After a short break and a snack we began the half mile decent down the lower gully.

We passed the other group, who were still on their way up the lower gully, just after starting our descent. When we’d finally gotten back to level ground in the meadow we decided to check out the other side of the ridge to see if we find any sign of a trail we’d missed. IMG_2128_stitch

There wasn’t anything we could see, but based on all the information in the book including the map and GPS coordinates we definitely had wanted to be on this side of the ridge. Once we had gotten into the area we noticed that there were several ponds/lakes showing on the map to the south. The terrain appeared to be level enough to make a cross country jaunt inviting.

We used the map and GPS to locate several of the ponds but they were all dry save one unnamed lake. We did get some really nice views of Goat Peak though.

IMG_2149_stitch

We took another break at the lake.

There were some tents set up nearby in the trees so we thought that there might be a trail somewhere nearby and set off looking for it when we left the lake. It didn’t take us long to spot the clear tread.

This path led us west between Mud Hole and Shale Lakes and back to the PCT.

Mud Hole Lake

Shale Lake

We turned right on the PCT and continued a short distance until we spotted another use trail heading further west. We followed this path past more dry (or nearly dry) ponds to Coyote Lake.

Our urge to explore was now satisfied and we returned to the PCT and headed back to Pamelia Lake, which looked like it was way, way down below us.

It was closing in on 6pm when we finally made it back to camp. We went down to the lake to get water then cooked dinner and relaxed in our camp chairs.

Ouzel

Marty, a wilderness ranger, stopped by to check our permit and make sure we were aware of the campfire ban. She seemed relieved that we had a permit and knew about the ban. We got the feeling that a fair number of folks aren’t as friendly as we were which is a shame.

Even though we hadn’t made it to Goat Peak and we’d hiked much further than originally intended (19.4 miles) it had been a great day. It helped knowing that we only need to hike 2.5 miles the next day to reach our car.

The next morning we were up before 5am and on the trail by 6:30.