McNeil Point

9.5 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •

Took advantage of the bluebird forecast for a quick run up McNeil Point. Absolutely glorious! Snow started around 5200', just below the cutoff for the (so-called) "climber's scramble" route. We followed some boot prints for awhile, before realizing the "trail" was a 100' or so to our right. After that correction, the rest of the way up to the shelter was relatively melted out. From the shelter up to nearly 7000', it was patchy snow, leaving us with the terrible decision of whether to have sure footing or trample the heather. I guess we compromised with a bit of both. At any rate, it was totally doable with shorts and trail runners. At least if you don't mind wet feet. The views were stunning! We enjoyed an owl sighting (on the road up), lots of hummingbirds, acrobatic ravens soaring and performing barrel rolls seemingly for our (and of course their!) entertainment, followed some very fresh bear tracks for awhile, and were pleasantly without a lot of human company at all. There were some fresh tracks leading off into the ice caves, and the flowers are really only just getting going. Great day on the mountain!

View the resource page used for this triphttp://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/McNeil_Point_Hike