Crater Mountain had been on our list for a long time, and finally the weather and scheduled coincided for it to come together. Our group met up at the Canyon Creek TH, and after sharing tales with the Ranger, headed up the trail. Trail was steep but not formidable. Excellent bridges in place, but it could use (in addition to some logging out, which thankfully keeps the horses out at the moment) a sign at the north end of the Canyon Creek bridge, as we first went downstream wrongly. AND, the short stretch between the bridge and the horse ford/ signage needs to be reworked as it's slipping into the creek.
We set up camp at the established camp a few minutes below Crater Lake. It was a great site, with breezes coming downstream to help with the bugs, a nearby stream, and awesome views from the rocky "terrace".
Saturday morning, we set out to tackle the summit. Trail could definately use some brushing, as I think the trees in the tred date from when Gary Snyder was there in 1952. But, with ever-increasing views, it was a joy to hike. Eventually, as described elsewhere, the trail turns to engineered switchbacks, then traverses level at 7500', then fades away at the gully. Gully still had some late snow in it, so made traversing to the other side a little dicey. From there, we followed the occasional cairn and climbed up some scree-filled gullies, sticking to the sides where the rock was more solid. Eventually, the route dropped down to intersect witht the main gully, and we were then able to follow the yellow-painted marks. Most of it was class 2 climbing, with two class 3 moves, better for the longer-legged members of the party. At one point, we doubted the obvious "left" arrow, but it was correct, and brought us up to the top of the old haul station. From there, the trail gently contours to the tiptop, and awesome views all around. We ate snacks and read some Gary Snyder poetry, before heading back down, which went easily then we had imagined.
Before heading back down from camp, we also went up the East Peak to that old lookout site. They seemed to be yin and yang summits, with very different characters. That trail does have a number of logs down across it, but nothing horribly difficult.

September 13, 2008: Jerry Lakes

Sparkling lakes under blue-bird skies, strung together by rocky slopes, tarns and snow-melt pools…this was hiking at its most rewarding.

I took off from the Jakita Ridge/Canyon Creek trailhead at 5:15am. After crossing Granite Creek and then Canyon Creek on bridges I took a wrong turn: rather than turning right, immediately after the Canyon Creek bridge, I took a left (not seeing the fork heading off to the right in the dark, despite my headlamp). 20min later, after having been unable to spot any sign of a trail heading uphill and meandering about alongside Canyon Creek, I knew that I had missed the turn-off somewhere. I turned back; another 20min and I had located my blunder and was on the correct trail. (None of the trail junctions on this hike are marked.)

The trail ascended moderately steeply up for the next 4mi, but the tread was excellent for the most part so the going was quite smooth. At the next (unmarked) junction I headed left towards Crater Lake. Three-quarters of a mile later I was at the extremely unimpressive lake. The setting was impressive though, with the 2 jagged peaks of Crater Mountain looming high.

Since I had bigger fish to fry (figuratively speaking only), I headed uphill on a trail just before Crater Lake, towards the former site of Lookout #2 near Crater Mountain’s east summit. Soon I moved out from the trees and beautiful views of Devils Park, Jakita Ridge and enticing green valleys grabbed my attention. Reds tinged the meadows, harkening the onset of fall. Another 2mi and I was on the summit ridge crest and the end of the trails’ section of the hike. Spectacular views here, with the rest of my journey laid out before me: Crater Mountain’s 2 summits and Jack Mountain beyond them, a wall of peaks to my left - the wonderful un-named lake at 6,380ft right below me, with other spots of blue amongst the rocky terrain indicating tarns and more watery goodness - and finally, Jerry Lakes off in the distance.

Skirting some cliffs, I dropped down steeply on somewhat crumbly footing to Lake ‘6,380’. The jade colored lake is just gorgeous and I had a great time enjoying it. Small pools of water amongst the rock slabs ringing the lake were delightful little jewels.

As I eventually headed off towards Jerry Lakes a pretty little tarn held my attention as well as more pools. The Jerry Glacier to my left was the reason for all this beauty: magical streams and small shimmering waterfalls ran down from the heavily crevassed glacier to frolic amongst the rocky slopes.

Finally, I crested a small saddle and was able to look down on Jerry Lakes. From the Lookout #2 site on Crater Mountain these lakes had not looked that impressive. From here, they were absolutely smashing! I dropped down to them quite steeply and had a great time exploring various little niches. Unfortunately, my earlier snafu to begin the day meant that I reached my turn-around time all too soon and was not able to spend more time that these lakes merited. Reluctantly I turned back and painfully made my way back to the car.

Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/72157607294897222

Stats:
- Distance: ~21mi (not counting 2mi on the wrong trail)
- Elevation gain: 7,720ft
- Hiking time: 14.5hrs
- Total trip time: 20.5hrs

Conditions report:
- All trails in excellent shape – only the trail heading to Crater Lake has a few minor blowdowns
- All trail junctions were unmarked