13 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain •
Snuck away for a fabulous day on the mountain with good friends! So many reports of avalanche lilies along Vista Ridge, led us to choose that trailhead as our starting point. Other than a short span, the lilies were mostly spent, but the beargrass was coming on strong in its place. We detoured over to Eden Park, and enjoyed the flower show along the way, particularly beside the several small streams we crossed. Getting over Ladd Creek proved to be moderately challenging, but we ended up rock-hopping with mostly dry feet.
After a quick stop in Cairn Basin, we continued on towards McNeil, turning shortly uphill along what we'll call Gladd Ridge. This is a lateral moraine that separated the Gleason and Ladd glaciers back when they were considerably larger than they are now. The ridge afforded us a magnificent stairway to the snow and ice above. At just about 7000', we crawled off the ridge and onto the Ladd Glacier, for a long traverse over to the southern snout of Barrett Spur.
Climbing the snout of Barrett Spur is not for everyone! It consists of extremely unconsolidated rock, much of it 2-3 feet in diameter, and even more of it feeling ready to roll on first touch. Getting up this beast was mostly an exercise on all fours, keeping a low center of gravity to prevent slides, and testing each hold before putting any weight on it. Once on top, it was a celebratory traverse to the high point of the spur, where we enjoyed nearly an hour of awesomeness while lunching. It was atop the spur that we saw two of the only four people we'd cross paths with all day.
After soaking in the view for awhile, we descended along the user trail towards Dollar Lake. First time I'd been there. It's very well hidden from the Timberline Trail, though there are now small cairns marking the off-ramp to it. The rest of the hike was uneventful, as we headed west on Timberline, and then north on Vista Ridge. Again, we couldn't get over the lilies in that spot they were still in all their prime! Oh what a sight it must've been a week or two ago. Looks like the fireweed will be pretty magnificent in the lower reaches within the next two weeks, as well.
Comments
Great report! Funny I was just up there yesterday and descended Gladd Ridge! There were some fresh bootprints that were no doubt all yours! The wildflowers are sure amazing there right now. Looks like late July with the flowers and snowpack.
Karl
June 22, 2015
Thanks! Yeah, so awesome up there. One of my favorite places, and got to enjoy it on my birthday this year! :-)
Wanna hear something even funnier, AW? Peder and I were back on the 20th, as well! Although we were diddling around over by McNeil most of the day, on the way down we took the tourist trail and looked up at Gladd Ridge (from McGee Creek) about 3:30pm. Would've been a real hoot to see you coming down just then!
JM
June 23, 2015
Great photos as usual, Karl. Isn't that overhanging ice up high on Hood from Barrett absolutely fascinating? I just kept imagining it all coming crashing down and where I would run!
Karl
June 23, 2015
Yeah, I could stare at those glaciers for a really long time! More spooky, though, was the near continuous rockfall from a spur high above the Ladd Glacier. Particularly as we were crossing under it! Wow, was it ever RUMBLING!!! Luckily, very few rocks had made it all the way across the glacier to our tracks, so that was semi-reassuring. :-)
Jack just wrote up a trip report, too!
Woodswalker
June 21, 2015
Looks like a really awesome trip! Glad you all got to see the lilies. They really were amazing.