8 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain •
I had a friend visiting from out of state this past weekend. He wanted to see the glaciers on Mt. Hood, so what better place to go glacier viewing than Mt. Hood.
We arrived at the TH around 10:30am, and noticed a ranger in a USFS vehicle in front of Cloud Cap. He was there to give a tour of the Cloud Cap Inn at 11am, and there were still openings for the tour! We jumped at the opportunity and learned much about Portland history and those who have owned / operated Cloud Cap for the past 125+ years.
After the tour, we finally got on the trail around 12:30pm. The day was mostly overcast with limited views, but we continued on to tie-in rock anyways. The trail was much busier than the last time I hiked it, shortly before the road closure in 2012. As the day progressed, they skies slowly started clearing. Around 4pm it was finally clear and sunny with fantastic views of the glaciers and eastern Oregon.
- Solomon Quest GTX #2
Karl
September 4, 2014
Cool! I've never been inside there, and would love to have been on that tour.