9/24 Saturday. Cloudy - sunny. Rained Friday night.
Weather forecast at Russel Lake.
Whitewater Creek trailhead is 7.5 miles off Hwy-22 (on 2243 - Whitewater Rd), 10 miles east of Detroit. Privy at the big parking lot. It's 2.5 hours drive from my home. Being so close to Portland metro, this is a very popular hike. The trail is in very good shape. It starts out in the woods, and an hour later, you join PCT (hard to miss). Follow PCT north all the way to the park. Jefferson soon appeared beyond red huckleberries and trees.
I reserved Campsite 15 on the north shore of Bayes Lake. This photo is the view when I ate my dinner. Took sometime to find the correct site, even though I picked the site online, but that was months ago. It's in the woods above the lake shore, has privacy. Has a limited view, but an easy access to a great waterfront seating area. Camp 16 is more open (better view from the site itself), but would have to endure traffic. After pitching the tent, we checked out the surrounding lakes and campsites, during which I lost my hiking pole :( I like Camp 25 by Park Lake, as it is totally open. Great view, but no privacy. Camp 4 at Scout Lake is good for big group, and has great view.
9/25, Sunday. Headed towards Park Ridge along PCT. One of my favorite place here is this plateau. Not many people stop by. Too bad, no water if you want to camp here.
Continue up. Once reached Park Ridge, you'd see Hood in front, Adams and St Helen further left and north, many bumps below. Still has a bit of snow left to cool the water. Saw one woman and her dog camping here. We walked up to the top on the west side of the ridge. There were 3 tarns below.
Stopped by Russel Lake's northern shore on the way back. Very pretty now with crisscrossed creeks. A bit muddy, but not too bad. Berries were plenty here, even though they were small. Most places in the park, you only see the red leaves, almost no berries, or shriveled-up remains of a berry. Too many people?
9/24 Saturday. Cloudy - sunny. Rained Friday night. Weather forecast at Russel Lake. Whitewater Creek trailhead is 7.5 miles off Hwy-22 (on 2243 - Whitewater Rd), 10 miles east of Detroit. Privy at the big parking lot. It's 2.5 hours drive from my home. Being so close to Portland metro, this is a very popular hike. The trail is in very good shape. It starts out in the woods, and an hour later, you join PCT (hard to miss). Follow PCT north all the way to the park. Jefferson soon appeared beyond red huckleberries and trees.
I reserved Campsite 15 on the north shore of Bayes Lake. This photo is the view when I ate my dinner. Took sometime to find the correct site, even though I picked the site online, but that was months ago. It's in the woods above the lake shore, has privacy. Has a limited view, but an easy access to a great waterfront seating area. Camp 16 is more open (better view from the site itself), but would have to endure traffic. After pitching the tent, we checked out the surrounding lakes and campsites, during which I lost my hiking pole :( I like Camp 25 by Park Lake, as it is totally open. Great view, but no privacy. Camp 4 at Scout Lake is good for big group, and has great view.
9/25, Sunday. Headed towards Park Ridge along PCT. One of my favorite place here is this plateau. Not many people stop by. Too bad, no water if you want to camp here. 
Continue up. Once reached Park Ridge, you'd see Hood in front, Adams and St Helen further left and north, many bumps below. Still has a bit of snow left to cool the water. Saw one woman and her dog camping here. We walked up to the top on the west side of the ridge. There were 3 tarns below.
Stopped by Russel Lake's northern shore on the way back. Very pretty now with crisscrossed creeks. A bit muddy, but not too bad. Berries were plenty here, even though they were small. Most places in the park, you only see the red leaves, almost no berries, or shriveled-up remains of a berry. Too many people?
