Cruising through Chemult Oregon at 6:40am, the dashboard said the outside temperature
was 29 degrees. This was far cooler than we anticipated for our attempt on Mt. Thielsen.
A few years ago, my son Andrew and I tried this summit but were driven off by mosquitoes
and our lack of DEET. I actually inhaled two of the beasts and slapped my glasses off my
face several times before we literally ran back to the safety of our car. The Diamond Lake
area is legendary for mosquitoes.

This morning was different. It was a brisk 36 degrees at the Mt. Thielsen trailhead. Seeing

Dutton Ridge is one of many peaks located within Crater Lake National Park. There is no
established trail up the ridge but it is easily reached by taking the rim road east from
the lodge.  Once passing the trailhead to Sun Notch, the road rises to a very wide curve
that straddles the shoulder of Dutton Ridge. There is a pullout in the apex of the corner.

Park at the pull-off and proceed directly uphill staying just to the right of the trees
in the open pumice plain. The terrain is very soft especially at the beginning but gets

Mt Scott is the highest point in Crater Lake National Park. It is also the only place where
a normal camera lens can capture the entire lake. Its a popular summit and receives a lot of
traffic. The trail-head is on the eastern side of the park directly off the rim road. Its
2.5 miles to the summit with about 1200 ft of elevation gain.

The trail begins in a nice hemlock forest that transitions to scrubby pines with less and