Backpacking In Central OR - 6/30/11

I am unable to write as completely detailed trip report as I would like, but I wanted to share this trip report with others because many people enjoy reading them.

Goal: Do the 37 mile round trip from Cultus Lake to Mink Lake, then to Irish Lake, then back to Cultus Lake. The National Forest Service had info that in this area the snow level was between 5300'-5600'. My friend, Chris, and I were going to find out.

·        Left the Winopee Lake TH (4700') at 2PM on 6/30/11. Very few mosquitoes.

·        No snow or blow-downs on the trail along Cultus Lake to the turn off to Winopee Lake. Very few mosquitoes except for one small creek crossing.

·        No snow or blow-downs on the trail up to the Teddy Lakes turn off. Very few mosquitoes.

·        No snow and minor blow-downs on the trail after the Teddy Lakes turn off up to Muskrat Lake (4880'). Mosquitoes increased, but tolerable with protection. Old shelter at Muskrat Lake.

·        Small patches of snow and more blow-downs from Muskrat Lake to Lake Winopee. Some blow-downs require climbing over or walking all the way around. Mosquitoes about the same.

·        Increasing patches of snow and steady blow-downs from Lake Winopee to Snowshoe Lake (5060'). Mosquitoes about the same.

·        Due to the extra time it took to navigate over the patches of snow and blow-downs, we decided to camp at Snowshoe Lake. BTW, the campsites at this lake are awesome! We also came to the conclusion that doing the full round trip would not be possible due to the increasing snow and blow-downs. The round trip would entail going above 6000'.

·        The next day we decided our destination would be Mink Lake (5034'). Even though Mink Lake is at 5034', we would have to climb to around 5300'.

·        From Snowshoe Lake to Upper Snowshoe Lake the snow coverage changed to almost 100%, even though the elevation did not increase much. The contour of the land was more of a factor. Very few blow-downs to cross because of the near 100% snow coverage. Also a difficult creek crossing.

·        From Upper Snowshoe Lake we passed Long Lake (5165') and Puppy Lake (5195') and then up to where the trail meets the PCT (5200'-5250' ?). Snow coverage almost always at 100%. Very few mosquitoes. Relied heavily on map, GPS and trailblazes.

·        Short jaunt on the PCT until it meets the Mink Lake Trail. 100% snow coverage. Easy to follow PCT on this short section even with the snow. Very few mosquitoes.

·        From the PCT, the Mink Lake Trail climbs a small amount of elevation (50-75' ?) and then drops a couple hundred or so feet to Mink Lake. Snow coverage quickly goes from 100% to 0% based on elevation change and contour.

·        Camped at the rocky outcropping on the north side of Mink Lake (very good campsite!). An old shelter on the NE side of the lake. No snow around the lake except some on the south side due to Packsaddle Mountain. Very few mosquitoes.

·        Hiked all the way back the next day. Mosquitoes were very bad from Upper Snowshoe Lake to Muskrat Lake. Might be that we hit that area a different time of day or more hatched in two days. DEET and permethrin are wonder chemicals.

·        On the way back we saw a red fox.

·        We were the first people of the year to go to these places. Didn't see another person the whole time until back at the Cultus Lake Trail.

I want to stress that one should not try a trip such as this without a good map, compass and a GPS. You should also know how to read trailblazes in trees. We used all of these. I hope this trip report is enjoyable to all. Maybe in two or more weeks the full loop can be done and I can report on that.

Link to the pics and vids of the trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157626992641943/detail/