Until this weekend I was fully unaware of this little slice of heaven stashed away up on Santiam Pass. I have literally driven by this an un-countable amount of times just miles away on highway 20 without knowing what lay just over the horizon.
We started out at Jack’s Lake trailhead, which is about 10 miles off of Highway 20 just past Suttle Lake, and hiked about 3.5 miles into our camp in Canyon Creek Meadows. After breaking camp we decided to venture out on several smaller “day hikes” while leaving most of our gear in camp. The terrain is super friendly for “bushwacking” and creating your own trail which gives you the chance to truly venture out and explore the area. When facing Three Fingered Jack from the meadow there are two different areas that are accessible. To the right, you can go up a steep, loose rocked face that will eventually land you on the Pacific Crest Trial. The views up here are amazing and worth the short scramble. To the left of Three Fingered Jack you will see a trail that heads up to a nice saddle. Here you will also find amazing views and if you want to continue exploring you can just wander aimlessly as the massive rock behind helps tremendously with navigation.
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