Trip Report

The approach to our base camp started at the Whitewater Creek trailhead. There were few people on the trail and after a couple of miles we began seeing many wildflowers including columbine, avalanche lily, penstemon, and cat's ear. Much of Jefferson Park was still buried under snow and we stopped at a small pond next to the Pacific Crest Trail to take a break before heading up the slopes of the mountain. We had just covered almost 5 miles on a well maintained trail and gained about 1,800 feet of elevation. The second part of our approach hike, also with an 1,800 foot elevation gain, was only about a mile long but it was entirely off-trail. When we reached the edge of the Whitewater Glacier, we spent some time searching for the "Beach". We did not bring enough fuel to melt snow for all of our water needs, so we needed a source of water. We finally found a small pond at the base of the glacier, a few hundred feet below us and over a quarter of a mile away. By 9:00 PM, our tents were up and we tried to sleep before the next day's climb. At 4:30 we roped up and started across the glacier. One climber was feeling under the weather so he stayed in camp and made arrangements to meet us at the trailhead in the following day. The three remaining team members spent two hours ascending the glacier and staying clear of crevasses when it became clear that the previous day's hike and lack of sleep had taken its toll on the leader. We turned around, descended back to camp, packed up, and hiked out. We met our 4th climber back at Jefferson Park and hiked out to the trailhead.