Jefferson Ridge — Thursday, May. 20, 2021

I couldn’t make it to the trailhead in my Mazda 3 due to many large trenches across the road that varied from about 6-9 inches deep (see photo 4 for a pretty bad one).  I had to ditch my car and hoof it up the forest road to the real trailhead, and this added about 1000 vertical feet to my hike (ugh!).  Once at the trailhead (1.5 hours later), I found that the trail became very faint and hard to follow. After the first half mile or so, it does become more conspicuous and I was able to just follow the ridgeline most of the time. There are two false summits, and the actual summit does not have very good views as it is mostly blocked in by the trees. The entire trail is through a burned out area from the Maple Fire a few years ago, and there are no opportunities to fill up on water along the trail, so bring plenty. This hike is definitely more strenuous than I expected from looking at the topo map, but it is worth it for the great views of Lena Lake and The Brothers across the Hamma Hamma River Valley. As a bonus, there are lots of rhododendrons that are beginning to bloom right now along the upper forest road. I didn’t see anybody else the whole day, which was actually pretty nice. I would recommend this hike for folks looking for a good workout with views, and who are comfortable finding their own way in the wilderness. Be sure to drive a high clearance 4x4 vehicle if you got one, and make sure you are back before dark since the trail is hard enough to see/follow during the day.