Backpacking Jefferson

Attendance: Cheyenne, Mielie, Audrey, Satine, Devlan, Mitchell, Indiana. Adults: Kris and Sam

This trip was another trip of a lifetime. It's always an honor to take kids out on big adventures and this was no disappointment. Of course, there were challenges, hard times, unexpected outcomes, but isn't that part of the journey? Isn't it part of the lesson to learn? Isn't that part of life? This is what I love about backpacking. Everything that Scouts teach becomes relevant in backpacking, especially during the 5 days. It all starts to make sense. The 10 essentials you will need, the knots, the gear, how to handle those challenging times, merit badges such as wilderness survival, forestry, fish and wildlife, emergency preparedness, they all start to have meetings. Every kid I have ever taken on the 30mile backpacking trip has matured a little bit. You really have no choice, well, you do, but you know what I mean. 

This trip started at the Triangulation Peak Trailhead. Our willing parents dropped us off and away we went. Jim Denman decided to join us for the hike up to Triangulation Peak and Bocca Cave, and then head back from there. We hiked the first couple of miles to turn off up to the peak, dropped our packs, and up we went. It was a great way to start off our trip, everyone enjoyed it. After a few pictures, Satine (aka Silver Lining) lead us to Bocca Cave. It was a sketchy hike down through a dusty slippery burned out trail but it was worth every bit of it. The kids climbed everything in there, took pictures laughed, and enjoyed every bit of it. From here it was a quick race down the peak back to our packs on onto our adventure of 4 nights on the trail. 

The rest of Day one was filled with an unmaintained trail that was rocky, overgrown, and narrow in some places. Many storms have been through knocking down trees, branches, and making a mess of things. This trail needed some serious love and it's definitely on our list to repair. We made it to our first camp with tired youth. The carrying of two days worth of water was worth it because as predicted there was no water in the area. Unfortunately, that wore the kids out quick. Good thing we made a good day of it and made it to camp in a reasonable amount of time. We found the beautiful overlook where we made camp near Cheat Creek Trail jct. We set up camp, made dinner, and still had enough time to offer an hour's worth of service cleaning the trail east and west of camp. 

The next morning we started our climb up the Sentinel Hills to the whitewater creek burnout from 2016. I have seen many a burn out in my years but nothing like this one. The trees were twisted and curled up. The views were very different since I had been here 5 years ago. The trails were dusty and the sun beat down us while we climbed up to the PCT. Most of the kids had run out of the water by the time we reached Whitewater Creek. They did a good job of being prepared, sharing, and rationing. I was very impressed. They survived the first two days with enough water. 

After refueling with water it was hard to tear them away from the river but we went on our way with excitement to see Scout Lake. The view was beautiful and just how I remembered it. Unfortunately, the kids were exhausted, tired and they did not get a warm welcome. We set up camp in a beautiful area but were quickly notified that they had set up camp spots and this was not one of them. This was new to me, as it was not set up like this the last time I came through. I can completely see why they did it, and I believe it was a good choice on their parts, but because we were not prepared the kids were upset about moving camp. To make matters worse, there were only two large areas that were designed for group camping and both of them were being occupied by one or two tents. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. As it leaves no room for groups to camp. It's selfish and not thought out at all. The first campsite was unwilling to move to a smaller campsite made for them. The second campsite moved willingly. Sadly, this site did not treat us well. As soon as we set up and got dinner made the wind kicked up and started to really blow. It didn't let up all night and by about 4am it started raining. It didn't rain hard, but all of our gear was damp. 

I've told the kids many times this is their trip, they just have to meet the requirements of 30 miles, 4 nights, 5 days, and three different camping sites. From their, they could make any part of the hike their own. It's their adventure. So, come morning they discussed what they wanted to do, and they chose to move on and head to Breitenbush lake instead of stay at scout lake for two nights. This meant their day of rest would be postponed a day, but they were done with the weather and the unhospitable people. it should be said they did love the views and enjoyed being a Scout Lake, but they were eager to move on. 

Day three was going to be a hard day and they knew it.. Upon leaving Jefferson Park they were climbing up and around Park Butte and up Park Ridge. After they left Scout Lake it was a short hike up the PCT, a small detour to Russell Lake and then a steep climb of 1200ft in about a mile to a mile and a half followed by a 1400ft elevation drop over four miles.

About 3/4 of the way up the Ridge we spotted a new fire called Lionshead fire. It was about 4 miles to the east of us and definitely showed some concern. Mainly because of the winds we had the night before, they had come on fast and fierce and I was worried they would do it again and head in our direction. It did ease my fears that the winds were headed in the opposite direction of where we were going. But I wanted to make sure, so I messed in about the fire location asking our emergency team to keep an eye on it for us. We made it to the top of Park Ridge, had lunch, and descended down. The kids loved Breitenbush Lake campground.

The smiles and the excitement were worth every bit of this journey. We met a couple of people that were camped in what they referred to as the Indian Camp, a camping spot over by the boat dock. They were older but very nice and informed us that they were staying with a Medicine Man from the Warm Springs Tribe. He loves to tell stories and invited us over to hear them. The kids loved the idea but the weather had warmed up so I reminded them that they needed to get their gear out and dry it out. We could see the smoke from the fire coming up over the ridge to the East of us, but it wasn't showing any threat to us. It was amazing to watch and had our attention. That night we could see the red of the fires and it was magnificent. 

Day Four we decided to day hike to Horseshoe lake to swim and fish. The PCT was fine with trees down and narrow trails. But there were lots of huckleberries. I had brought a bag to collect along the way knowing that was what I was going to do with my day. I was distracting with trying to fill my bag while trying to keep up with the kids. There were some beautiful small lakes along the way and the kids stopped at each one asking if this was the lake. I had to laugh because that meant that not one of them listened to my description of our day hike. At had already asked them to pull out their maps of which the only one had brought one. So by the second lake, I refused to answer their questions about where to go and if this was it. I would only say Yes or NO and they had to figure out where they were going. They did however follow the buddy system and waited at every junction before anyone made any moves. It was a good thing too because we would've ended up at Olallie Lake at the rate they were going. Lol. The hike down to Horseshoe lake was insanely steep, thankfully it was all downhill, but the kids decided once they got to the lake that they wanted to take the road back because they didn't want to climb out of there. 

Horseshoe lake was very relaxing, they swam, sunbathed, had fun. I picked berries, filled my bag half full, at them, and refilled my bag. Indy and Sam did some fishing, but not for very long. Chey and Mielie went and checked out the other side of Horseshoe lake. After lunch, we cleaned up the campground with a slight competition on who could collect the most. The winner would receive frozen treats from the Olallie Store at the end of the hike. The boys won! I have to admit I was surprised, but they did a great job and Horseshoe looked beautiful when we're done. We hiked up to the Viewpoint just up the road from Horseshoe, of course, Devlan and Mielie tried to give me a heart-attack with their crazy antics. Over the years I have done a great job of keeping scouts alive and there was always one that was testing my heart, this trip there was two. I think that's my max. They did however enjoy the views looking North to Olallie and Monon Lake. They loved that they could see the end of the trail that they would reach the next day. 

We walked the short walk back to camp following the very Unimproved road. We met a couple of men walking back to Olallie that were looking for Breitenbush campground. Sadly, they turned around just before it and never got to see it. After our day hike, it was an evening of sitting around talking. Satine had earned her Trail name of Silver Lining. Mitchell was renamed Chatterbox (very fitting). Now there was only Indy, and Sam who needed names. We had made dinner and as we were cleaning up I saw the older gentlemen that we met the night before, he was coming through the camp to get water, I immediate asked Chey and Mielie to offer to take their water back to camp when they came through again. They were glad to help and assisted them with their water. After about 20mins I went to go check on them since they had not come back. As I walked into camp I saw Mielie standing there with her hand up in the air, her whole body was stiff as a board, except her feet which were wiggling in excitement. She was feeding the birds. Chey was standing there watching and the people of camp quickly came up to assure me that the kids were ok. They asked if it was ok they were feeding the birds, I explained that we usually don't feed the birds human food, but they were quick to let me know they were feeding them birdseed of which they had brought a very large bag. I was delighted and Mielie was over the top excited about feeding them from her hand. Heidi the medicine man's wife offered us a book that they had written together and asked us to read it to all the kids back at camp. The medicine man Tuck'ush was very pleasant and had a lot of questions. We talked for some time. It didn't take long for Heidi and I to realize that we knew shared some of the same friends, mainly Mitch Turner our Scoutmaster. It turns out that Heidi had officiated one of Mitch's daughter's wedding and that they knew the entire Turner family well. Mitch really had come on our trip Virtually. Lol. ( Mitch had mentioned that he was joining us on our trip virtually with his virtual backpack). A few minutes later Devlan had shown up. A laughed because Sam and I joked that if I was not back shortly she was sending a kid over every 15mins until we all made it back. Tuck'ush picked up on this quickly. No surprise. :) We left a few minutes later to allow Tuck'ush to celebrate his 87th birthday. All of us that made it to his camp were sad to leave. But were happy to come back and share his story. Every one of them were delighted to hear the story of the Bear and his brother. Tuck'ush and Hiedi sent us back with a small bowl of birdseed inviting us to feed the birds and chipmunks. 

Day 5. Some of us were very sad this was our very last day. A few of us were over the top excited to be done. All of them were surprised it went by so fast. I giggled at that because I knew this is how it is and was delighted that they enjoyed themselves so much. We had a short day so we took our time. All of us were up early with the sun (it happens to us all on the trail), we made breakfast, packed up slowly and were still early. The bird came by and they all had a chance to feed the birds out of their hands. Every single one of them was excited! We talked about who were the winged people in our group. Devlan, Satine, and Mielie definitely were, as the birds took to them first and visited them most. Mielie is natural with all of the animals. After the birdseed ran out and all were packed we all agreed we must swing by and see Tuck'ush and his people on the way out. We thanked him for the birdseed, the book, and all that he had to offer. They all fell in love with him immediately and talked of him for quite some time. I hope Tuck'ush knows how much of an impression he has made on these kids. 

The kids decided to take the road out to Olallie Lake, mainly because it was wider and they could all talk to each other. They found on the day hike back to camp that the time went by so much faster when they could walk side by side and talk. They really enjoyed that. So it was the downhill walk down the road we went. We left camp at 10am and were to the Olallie Lake Store by 1230pm. The parents weren't due to arrive until 4pm, so we had a lot of time to kill. We left early to beat the heat that was expected and it felt good to hike in the morning.

Overall the hike was successful. A few of the kids really connected with Breitenbush Lake Campground. They talked about coming back again. They talked a lot about Tuck'ush and the Lionheads fire. They all said the hike was beautiful and we're so grateful to have gotten to see this area. Overall, I would say the hike was a success for all but one. 

Another story: This is my third year teaching backpacking. I have only had two kids so far that have not enjoyed backpacking. I completely understand it is not for everyone. But due to the COVID circumstances, this year made teaching the merit badge a little more challenging. There was no opportunity for pack checks, so I had asked the parents to do so. There was no opportunity to teach them how to make their own food, which makes purchasing meals hard for those who can not afford to purchase premade meals. 

Sadly, there was one kid who I will leave nameless who did not enjoy this trip. There were a lot of circumstances that lead to his lack of enjoyment. One is that he likes to do things his own way regardless of how the merit badge is taught. I completely understand, because I know that some people need to learn that way (I'm one of them). Sadly he made a lot of bad choices, first was lack of food and the refusal to take anyone else's even though I brought extra because I knew he would do that. Second, he brought 8 cans of soda (Arnold Palmer & Powerade), this extra weight caused his pack to break. Three he was not prepared for the cold weather we had at Scout Lake which meant he didn't sleep more than 2 hours that night. He lost his favorite ball on the trail. He wore slides on the hike down to Horseshoe lake and fell numerous times, he didn't catch a single fish the whole trip. I talked with his dad after the hike and he explained that is just how that boy is. He always wants to do things his own way. The kids had planned a dinner together to celebrate the finish of the big trip, and sadly this boy did not want to attend. The last two days is all he could think about was getting off the trail. He had distanced himself with all of the kids intermittently since Scout Lake. He had asked if he could call his dad to pick him up early, but there was no cell service. The last day he practically ran down the trail to the trailhead. It was really sad to watch. Of course, I know there was nothing I could've done about it. But it was heart-wrenching to watch.