I horse-traded for this destination at Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery at least nine years ago with a fellow Cascade traveler; he shared one of his secret favorites and I shared one of mine. It languished on my list for years, mostly for lack of a willing travel partner. I finally decided to go on my own, and Labor Day weekend seemed like a good time to get off the beaten track.

Having finally visited this area I think I can safely say that I got the better part of the trade. Jerry lakes is a beautiful basin plopped between two climber destinations, Crater and Jack. This place shows historical but gentle usage, mostly by climbers from what I can tell.

The first day’s effort included 4000’ elevation gain to Crater “lake”, more like a shallow puddle, but the cirque is magnificent. It was here I enjoyed watching a black bear bumble about (cue tuba music) wallow in the lake, and snuffle about for berries. After an hour, the fun ended when the wind shifted. The bear shifted its attention from berries to the delicious smells coming from my 5 day supply of food. As if a dab of peanut butter had been applied to the end of its nose, it began tasting the air with a long pink tongue. If that wasn’t enough to alarm me, it also began to drool profusely. In the side lighting I could see long strands glistening in the sun. I suddenly realized that this trip could end before it had really begun. I announced myself politely thinking that it would run like all the other wilderness bears (2 dozen) I had encountered. As a response it clamped its jaws at me, which I know to be a warning to all pink/soft bipeds. I understood that I could watch this bear eat the food I humped up 4000’, or I could try to salvage the situation. I retrieved the food bags and my trekking pole for a standoff, no yelling, just staring. The bear watched and drooled for another 5 minutes or so, before, much to my relief, it abandoned its notions of freeloading and went back to the business of blueberries. I did hang the food lines higher in case it had ideas of a night raid.

The next day Ceili and I racked up another 1000’ gain on the abandoned lower Crater LO trail. This trail is in good shape and the views dramatic into the rest of the Pasayten. Go ahead, look; you’ve earned every square mile of that scenery. The crux of this route is the descent from ridgeline into the shadow of Crater. There is one place where there is a class III scramble down a short cliffy section. The balance of passage is over a quarry of loose boulders, polished domes, and scree. The mile behind Crater took 1.5 hours of careful stepping. The rock was sharp enough to require my dog’s use of her booties. The glaciers have greatly retreated from those represented on the USGS quads.

The lakes were magnificently quiet, with only two parties of seven climbers passing through. Each afternoon I would watch with fascination as the Pasayten fires exploded into great cauliflower hammers. One afternoon they greatly resembled nuclear explosions rising close to 30,000’, creating their own lenticular caps; silent natural disasters. Another bear rambled about the basin but was never worrisome. There were a few gnats and mosquitoes in the morning mostly. Did not use the tent at all; I think I am ready to switch to a tarp for the balance of this month.

After 3 nights at the lakes we hiked out in a smoky murk, forest incense. The sun rose strangely dim and red, like an otherworldly planet. I found, once back at the TH, that the whole of the Pasayten had been closed due to deteriorating fire conditions.

Time for me to play house instead of mountain man for awhile, eight nights out in the past 2.5 weeks has me really appreciating civilization for the moment. Mmmm, sweet sloth, beer, and modern conveniences…

This report is for the hike to Crater Lake on Crater Mountain. See my June 30, 2006 report for Devils Dome Loop for information on the Jackita Ridge Trail (#738). To the lake it is 0.9 miles and 500 feet elevation gain. We did not go to either of the lookout sites.

The trail takes off from the Jackita Ridge Trail at a junction just before a small creek crossing. The trail sign is missing this year, it was still up last year, so look closely. Several of the crew didn’t notice the junction even though we were using the stream crossing as our water source for the camp we had just around the corner. The trail leaves the wide spot on the uphill side through an opening in the brush. The trail to the lake was mostly in OK shape with a few brushy places. There may have been one log across the trail but if so, it apparently wasn’t enough of a problem to stick in my memory. Just before the lake is a campsite on the left. I suggest you go down for a visit and then continue through the trees to the open rock slope for an uninterrupted view to the south. There are probably better views from the lookout sites up higher but if 4000 feet gain is all you want in a dayhike, stop here for a while.

As you approach the lake there are several branches in the trail. The first is by the camp, go the right. After that, always choose the left. This will lead you into the open lake basin where we had multiple waterfalls dropping down the surrounding cliffs. After the snow melts out, the falls will dry up so I would suggest a July trip as opposed to coming up in August.