"July 26, 2025. Car to car summit of Mount Jefferson from Whitewater Trailhead. Camped at the trailhead and started at 2:55am. Low crevase exposure on Whitewater Glacier. Only a few cracks opening up that could be stepped over and some that are starting to melt out and become aerated. Excellent snow conditions on the Red Traverse. Great sticks, but not so great kicks on the established bootpack. Summit block is completely dry. Scrambled up the NW Ridge to the summit. Summited around 11:10am. Rappelled with a 30m rope from the summit block and down climbed the rest. Tat on the summit was in good condition. Did not inspect or use the second rap station, but there was a blue rope left hanging from it with what looked like an overhand knot tied on it. Back at the car just after 6pm. 15 hours and 10 minutes round trip; the same time as Rainier. With Ryan and James." — runningvegan • Jul 26, 2025

"Day 1: packed in to tarn above Shake Lake Day 2: left camp at 4:15am, reached red saddle at 11am (very sandy slog), 3 pitches across snow, summited at 5pm 😧, back to red saddle at 9pm 😮, back to tent at 12:30am 😵. Day 3: hike out" — seancasserly • Jul 20, 2018

"Seeing poor prospects for our summit attempt of Rainier via the Emmons, we created a backup plan to climb Mount Jefferson and neighboring volcanic remnants instead. Permits were all taken for the Pamelia Lake Limited Entry Zone, so we parked at the gate on FS-750 and walked to the end of the road, departing around 3:00 PM. From the road’s end, we headed south and gained a low ridge that had a faint waytrail along it before last year’s fire. We followed the ridge to its intersection with the PCT and hung a right, following the trail to the Slate Lake/Coyote Lake area. We attempted to follow the letter of the law regarding this second Limited Entry Zone, skirting the edge of the zone and finding a large campsite at a lake just to the northwest. We arrived at about 8:30 PM. We departed at 4:10 AM on Friday, gaining the south ridge a few hundred meters upslope from Goat Peak and following it north to the Red Saddle. The loose rock and sand made for slow-going and one team member nearly turned back. We ultimately reached the Saddle at about 11:00 AM, at which point we got our first up-close view of the infamous snow traverse of doom. After unclenching our sphincters, three of us ..." — TynanRammGranberg • Jul 20, 2018

"Bushwacked up the SW Ridge from Pamelia Lake for 6.5 miles until we reached the bowl at 7600 ft. the first day. Suffered through 30 mph winds whipping the tent all night until we got up at 4am for the summit bid. Took another 3 hours to gain the Red Saddle, fortunately we were following a group from Eugene that placed some pro on the Death Chute and kicked in a fair path. Ended up to be too much for my climbing partner and he turned back after 20 ft. So for the second weekend in a row I went solo up to the summit to cap my bid for the 5 highest peaks in Oregon. Summited at 9:45 am and could not enjoy it because the sun was quickly coming around and hitting the snowfield. I booked it back and actually came out of my crampons at one point on the traverse because I hadn't taken the time to properly tighten them back on. Back to the Red Saddle by 10:15 and began the descent back to base camp. We decided to pack the gear and head to Shale Lake for better water access and a campfire for the night. Finished back at the car after 3 days, 20 miles, and 13,800 ft. of elevation change. SUCCESS!!" — oregon-mt-goat • Sep 6, 2014

"My third try and finally success! This is a fairly difficult peak, 26 miles RT from the Pamelia Lake TH which is about 7,000' vertical gain for the day. A sketchy summit block doesn't help matters. Still well worth the effort for some spectacular views." — DonNelsen47 • Jul 30, 2006