During the last week of July I spent three days hiking prominent Western Oregon Cascades peaks. I visited Carpenter Mountain above the McKenzie River, Chucksney Mountain (north and south summits) above the Aufderheide Forest Drive, and Olallie Butte north of Mount Jefferson. Each peak had at least 2000 feet of prominence. The weather was quite warm with clear skies.

I began by driving to the Carpenter Mountain Trailhead, then hiking the trail to the Carpenter Mountain Lookout. This hike is only one mile long with 900 feet of gain to the lookout. The last few feet to the lookout building climbed up some rock slabs. The attendant was friendly and we chatted while I viewed and photographed the scenery from the balcony. In the above photo you can see Wolf Rock on the left. Iron, Cone, and Echo Mountains line the center skyline. Mount Jefferson is to the right of them in the distance.

I returned to my Jeep and drove up the Aufderheide Forest Drive to the Box Canyon Horse Camp. I found a nice campsite in the forest campground and spent the evening and night there.

The next morning I relocated to the unmarked Grasshopper Trailhead near the campground. I began by hiking up the Grasshopper Mountain Trail to the upper junction with the Chucksney Mountain Trail. Then I headed north on that trail.

Near the Chucksney Mountain south summit I left the trail and bushwacked uphill to the the summit rock cairn. Here there was a “registry” in a glass bottle. I searched about a bit to verify this was the highest point and decided it was.

From the south summit I bushwacked north to regain the trail, then followed it north towards the north summit. The best views of the hike were from the ridge between the summits. The above photo is looking east from Chucksney Mountain. On the horizon are the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Mount Bachelor. The Aufderheide Forest Drive and my trailhead are in the canyon far below.

I made a short crosscountry hike to the north summit. Then I returned to the Chucksney Mountain Loop trail. I descended the Chucksney Mountain Loop and Grasshopper Trail back to the trailhead and my Jeep. Linda, our dogs, and I had hiked on the trails two years earlier, but had ran out of time to reach any of the summits. It was satisfying to finish the project this time.

That afternoon I drove to near Olallie Butte and camped at the Olallie Meadow Campground. It had been a hot day. I was glad to be at about 4500 feet of elevation with cooler temperatures. There were only one other party camped in the well-spaced sites in the pine forest. I enjoyed a very pleasant evening and night there.

The next morning I parked at the Olallie Butte Trailhead. The trail was posted as crossing on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation with no unauthorized access. I understood the restriction was not enforced and I took my chances that I would not be apprehended.

The Olallie Butte Trail was in excellent shape. It soon crossed the Pacific Crest Trail and gradually climbed to the south summit. Here were great views of Mount Jefferson and the lakes below to the south.

It was sad to see the poor condition of the glaciers on Mount Jefferson. I have been fortunate to have climbed Mount Jefferson during decades when the glaciers and snowfields were healthy. These offered more enjoyable and safer climbing routes to those over the loose scree and rocks covering much of the mountain.

I hiked over to the north summit, where the remains of a lookout were located, and I relaxed over lunch. I savored the descent on the trail and met only one couple low on the trail.