The Best View in Oregon

Since mid-September, I've been saying the same thing every weekend—"Welp! This is probably our last hurrah before the snow covers all the trails and closes the forest service roads!" This made perfect sense, since Tom and I got snowed on down on South Sister (near Bend) on September 28, 2007.

We were still waiting for the snow to arrive this year until mid-December. So, we decided to take advantage of a sunny warm weekend in October by exploring a place that we haven't spent much time so far—the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.

This hike to Jefferson Park follows the Pacific Crest Trail and gains about 1500' of elevation. You can see Jeff peeking out of the trees. Coop sniffs around.

Most trail descriptions said the view from Jefferson Park Ridge was the best in Oregon and called the hike "possibly the most worthwhile hike in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area". Now there's motivation!

Cooper had a fun time running around. We weren't on the trail long when we started hitting patches of old snow.

As we reached timberline, we passed a few little frozen ponds. The terrain here was amazing and felt like the moon.

Cooper tries his luck on the little pond. Cool cairn!

The hike was challenging, but very worthwhile. We earned our lunch—peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—and then wore our tin foil as a sun visor.

My invention in use.

Bah-BAM!!!

The view from Jefferson Park Ridge is truly epic. From here, you can see Bays, Scout and Russell Lake at the foot of Mt. Jefferson. We decided that we need to backpack in here for a long weekend next summer. :)

After the hike in, Cooper was pooped and needed a little rest in the sun.

Cooper and Dad enjoying the quiet of our outstanding perch.

Red, red wine for dessert.

There's always time to play with a stick. It's a ding bat!!!

Dad and Cooper lookin' cute.

"You comin', mom?"

On our way out, we took a few minutes to climb a snowy hill so we could run down it. Cooper ran around like a bat out of hell. He gets extra crazy on snow, sand or gravel.

Rocket dog!

Up!

Cooper gets a lot of air.

Very awesome hike. We'll be back in 2009!