Cheryl and I hiked this PCT route to a view of Three Fingered Jack in August. The 10.4 mile in and out trail travels gradually up from 4840 feet at the Santiam Pass off Hwy 20 to 6280 feet at the viewpoint. The scenery is fantastic! The first 3 miles of the trail take you though a burned forest (2003 fire). You might think this would not make for a nice hike, but because the trees are bare, the views pop out and the black and white trunks set among the lush green undergrowth of wildflowers and beargrass is an amazing contrast. Cheryl and I spotted over 12 varieties of butterflies and enjoyed hiking among them fluttering all along the trail. We saw countless types of grasses and wildflowers, most in bloom. In the distance we could see the Sisters, Broken Top, Mt Washington, and over the saddle we could see Black Butte and of course Three Fingered Jack. On the last bit of trail we encountered about 4 snow fields and the last one was a bit dicey. But we persevered and made it to the viewpoint. The trail continues on to Wasco Lake and north!
Forest fire in 2003
lupines abound
a little pond
Mt Washington and the Sisters (background)
first view of Three Fingered Jack
lupine
Sisters and Mt Washington
Black Butte
one of the snow fields
at the Three Fingered Jack viewpoint
the dicey snowfield (it was on a slope, though it is hard to tell)
Broken Top, Sisters, Mt Washington
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