Given the forecast, we had no intention of going all the way up Jumpoff Lookout, instead, decided to hike from Louie Way/Pickle Prairie #609 from the west and check out this area.
We parked on FR 1202 right before it looked like the road was going to become much worse. But after walking on the road, I think we could've driven all the way to Sleepy Park Meadow in our Rogue without too much issue.
After a little bit of road walk, we turned onto trail #609, which is a ATV/ORV trail eventually linking up with the Lost Lake Road. Turns out, hiking an ORV trail wasn't the best idea (but I guess I'm into obscure trails too much), with deep ruts, ditches, muddy and loose trail surface created by motorized use, the going was difficult. Using Gaia gps for route finding was necessary due to all the confusing branching of the ORV trail. But the Pickle Prairie Meadow area was beautiful, which made the slog worthwhile.
A small section of the Lost Lake Road connected #609 with the trail down to Long Lake. There we saw two large groups of people car camping near the lake, who were the only people we saw on this hike.
After Long Lake, we finally picked up a trail that somewhat resembled a hiking trail, and hiked up to a vista point just below Louie Way Gap to stop for the day. The sky wasn't as overcast as forecasted, and the view north into the Bethel Ridge area was breathtaking.
I think I'll come back here at some point to do the Jumpoff Lookout hike the regular way.
9.3 miles/1220ft total elevation gain
Comments
Dslayer on Louie Way, Long Lake
Enjoyed your pictures, inspired me to get up to Long Lake and fish it. I usually try to get there before the end of May and the combination of weeds and lily pads make fishing difficult. Looked fairly clear from your photo which surprised me. The hike above the lake to Louie Gap and then over to Jump Off Joe is spectacular and you won't feel cheated out of your workout.
Posted by:
Dslayer on Jun 20, 2023 08:10 AM