Trekks and Travels: PCT to Three Fingered Jack 4 August 2015

Bethany and I set out to hike from the hwy to the viewpoint on the PCT for Three Fingered Jack. It is about a 10ish mile hike through the 2003 burn. The flowers were mostly finished, though the pearly everlasting and yellow bracken fern made the under-story colorful. We made good time to the viewpoint and as we were arriving at that spot we met some guys aiming to summit the peak. They told us about the climber's trail so we decided to check it out. We saw that we could get up to the ridge with some perseverance in the loose sand, so we went for it. They guys had headed straight up on the most obvious trail but we took the one to the right (on their advice- they shouted to us as they were struggling up). It took 35 min to reach the ridge, about 0.3 mi and 800 to 1000 ft up. We took the route around the back of the first two rocks on the peak and perched just below one of the fingers. Didn't have 360 views because the rest of the peak obstructed that, but we could look down to Duffy and across to the ridge that is accessible from Canyon Creek Meadows. It was breezy and the exposure was extreme so we didn't move around too much. The way down was aided by loose sand and gravity.
PCT through hikers were out in force as well. We met 4 southbound hikers and many more northbound hikers. Most of them were willing to stop and share about their journey. We talked to some guys from Dallas who traveled 30-35 miles per day and others who kept it to 17 or so. Most were solo, a few in pairs. All men, young and old.

It was a beautiful day and thanks to Bethany for being willing to go up the hill!

map
11.7 miles 2468 ft gain