Three Fingered Jack Standard Route 

Mt Jefferson Wilderness

The Obsidians -  August 22nd, 2009

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* Wayne Deeter - Trip Leader  Wayne's Photos * Mark Slipp - Assistant Leader * Bob Kaminski * Roy McCormick * LiLi Weldon

Trip Report:

At 7,841' Jack is not an impressively high Cascade peak but it was not climbed until 1923 due to it's exposed nature and lots of rotten rock near the summit. When the "Boys from Bend" finally made it to the pinnacle on Labor Day they reported it vibrated in the high winds! As if to demonstrate the unconsolidated nature of the rock, the original climbing route later collapsed.

The five of us got an early start (04:19) from the Pacific Crest Trailhead near Santiam Pass and hiked by headlamp up the PCT for two hours to the cairn marking the start of the climber's trail. We made good time up to the start of "The Crawl" where the pace slowed while Wayne and Mark fixed ropes across this very exposed section. Another rope afforded protection up a shallow chimney to the summit pinnacle. One at a time, we were belayed out to the true summit by Wayne. None of our party elected to duplicate one of the first ascenders feat of a handstand on the summit.

Everyone made it safely back to the trailhead just after 15:00. Wayne and LiLi headed to Sisters to refresh for a Mt Washington climb the next day (whew!) and Bob and I began the most dangerous part of the climb - the drive home. A tree across the highway and later, a kayak in the road reminded me why I call it the "McKenzie Highway of carnage".

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Our GPS track. Note the track stops just short of the summit since I did not take my pack past "the crawl"

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