In a week of dynamic plans, Tuesday was a 50+ mile bike ride in rural Willamette Valley and Wednesday a hiking buddy and I shared the ride to Willamette Pass to hike Maiden Peak via PCT. From Willamette Pass, the PCT winds north through the central cascade lakes area starting with 3 Rosary Lakes, where the trail forks off to Maiden Lake and Maiden Peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We left Eugene at 5:00 and were hiking by 6:30. There were 7 cars at the TH. This section of PCT for non-thru hikers gets a bad rap for being flat, green (no views), and often buggy. Getting to Maiden Peak and back in 1 day is long, but can be done as either a lollipop or an out-back (our route). Over the entire route, we encountered less than a dozen thru-hikers and a couple sectional hikers – several tents were scattered around Lower and Middle Rosary lakes when we passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Started at PCT TH (north side of Hwy 58) going NOBO on PCT; just past Upper Rosary Lake, took the Maiden Peak trail to the top and then returned the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trail conditions were ideal. We stepped over 1 small blowdown the entire hike. Basically, the trail starts at the pass and goes constantly up to Maiden Peak. The very last section of Maiden Peak is steep, but a very easy scree section and short. Skeeters were noticeable lower down early for ~30 minutes and after that – nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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