On Friday morning, August 24, 2007, seven SACsters and friends ( Doug Adair , Ed Gilman , Ed Millis , Markian Hawryluk , Tom Strauch, Rich and Dana Margosian) met at the Whitewater River trailhead to begin the trek up to high camp for our Mt Jefferson climb via the Whitewater Glacier.  This promised to be a tough day since we had to carry full packs about 6 miles and 4,300 vertical feet up to the bivouac site at 8,300?. This bivy site is one that several of us have used numerous times before and is located on the ridge between Jeff Park and Whitewater glaciers.  There are precious few places in the Cascades that provide better views or more exposure to wind (as we found out later).

The route to the bivy includes an easy 5 miles of trail to Jeff Park, then a mile or so of steep cross country scramble, scree and boulders to the 8,300? level.  By 4:00 we were setting up tents and taking pictures. A light, warm breeze failed to keep us awake and we all got a good nights sleep before the climb.  Doug opted to stay in camp on climb day and nurse his bum leg that was still feeling the effects of his Mount Hood fall a couple of years ago. 

Saturday morning at 5:00 am found six us scrambling up a bouldery moraine by headlamp.  Whitewater Glacier was only 20 minutes away and by the time we had crampons and ropes sorted out, the headlamps were no longer needed.

The Whitewater was badly littered with rock fall from the east face of Jeff, reminding us that it was not a good place to dawdle.  While there were a significant number of crevasses, no significant obstacles were encountered and we gained the Southeast ridge by 8:00 am. 

An hour and  a half scrambling of steep rock scree and boulders got us up the Southeast Ridge and on the Red Saddle by 10:00 am.

The traverse presented two options 1) go low and deal with the wet mud bordering the snow at close to the angle of retention, or 2) cross the short 50+ degree snow field.  Choosing option 2, we rigged a fixed line across the snow.  Snow quality was good with kicked steps providing plenty of purchase and solid enough for good pickets.

After the traverse, a quick scramble to the North ridge and up to the summit.  We were sitting on top by noon.

Shortly after 5 pm we returned to the bivy site in deteriorating weather.  It had been sunny and pleasant all day for our climb but now it was overcast with building winds from the west.  As we huddled under car-sized rocks to cook dinner, we noted that Rich and Dana?s tent had taken flight and was heading east at a good rate of speed.  Luckily, Tom spotted it first and was able to catch it before it became a permanent denizen of central Oregon .  After being secured in its new location with 50 meters of 11mm rope to about 500 tons of rock we felt confident enough to spend the night in it. 

By daybreak everybody was a little shell shocked from the incessant, all night wind and we beat a retreat off the mountain.  By the time we were no more than a quarter mile from the bivy site we were totally out of the wind and the remainder of the trip to the cars was sunny and pleasant.    

And for Markian, Ed, Ed, and Tom, their first attempt on Jeff was a successful one.  A great climb.