Mount Scott 8,929′
Pacific Northwest
Total Time: 2:30
Distance: 4.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 1450′
Crux: Class 1
Trailhead: Mount Scott TH, pit toilets
Companions: Holly, Justin and Angie Shelton
For all of my adventures, I’ve spent embarrassingly little time in the Pacific Northwest. Outside of the Rockies, the furthest north I had climbed was Mount Shasta and nearby Mount Eddy, and nothing in Oregon or Washington state. My friend Justin had moved to Grants Pass, OR two years ago, and I was excited to have more of a base for exploration in an area I had neglected too long. I hadn’t been to Crater Lake in 11 years and not being far from Grants Pass, the park seemed like a good spot to reintroduce myself to the area. The high point of Crater Lake is Mount Scott, a “parasitic cone” on the southwest rim of Crater Lake and the tenth highest summit in the Oregon Cascades. Completely trailed and under 5 miles roundtrip, it would make for a good morning hike, followed by some swimming in the lake in the hotter afternoon. We left Grants Pass early to beat Labor Day traffic, reaching the trailhead at 9:30 AM.
The lot was already nearly full for the holiday weekend, and after grabbing our packs we started up the trail. Leaving the road, the trail briefly enters forest as it winds towards the south, views of Crater Lake opening up over our shoulder. In better conditions, we would normally be able to see Mount Shasta to the south but smoke from the fires in California (the fires in Oregon would start a few days later) were obscuring our views.
The trail wound to the east and began to switch up the ridgeline. At one of the first major switchbacks, we paused at a rocky outcrop to take in the views, the summit lookout tower in view for the first time since the trailhead.
After letting a few groups pass we continued along, the trees growing smaller as we traversed along a high open ridgeline. Climbing the final quarter mile, we could see the summit lookout tower was no longer manned, although some cameras at the summit probably did the job remotely.
We moved around to the far side to distance ourselves from some of the other groups at the base, and sat down for some morning snacks to enjoy the views across Crater Lake. To the distance in the north, we could see the jagged Mount Thielson and a bit of snow on Three Sisters. The smoke in California obscured the views to the south, but the lake itself was more than enough to enjoy.
We spent quite a long while at the summit, no rush to rejoin the Labor Day mobs of people below. But we still hoped to get in some more hiking and started back down the way we came, passing many more people on their way up now a bit later in the day. There was no need for a break and we dropped all the way back to the trailhead with plans to swim in the lake via the only trail in the park that goes all the way to the water. We should have known better that it would be absolutely packed on a hot Labor Day weekend, and rangers were actually limiting the number of people down at a time due to COVID. So we cut our losses and hiked The Watchmen lookout trail before leaving the park for dunch and pie on the way home to Grants Pass.
