12.5 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain •
Supposedly, according to the MHNF website, the road up to Cloud Cap was supposed to be open. We were actually rather happy to see the gate still locked just beyond the Cooper Spur Ski Area, as that meant we'd be virtually alone all day and the extra climbing was already part of our plan.
We took the Polallie Ridge trail up to Tilly Jane; it had suffered a bit from blowdown over the winter, but wasn't all that bad. The views were a bit obscured by clouds, offering only glimpses of Adams and MSH but never Rainier. Hood kept its peak in the clouds most of the day, but we did get an occasional photo op when they parted.
First snow of the day was right about at Tilly Jane, and it got deep quickly. As soon as we busted out of the forest, it was nearly 100% up to the shelter. Compacted, but slushy enough to make the short distance from TJ to the CCC shelter the hardest part of the day. There, we enjoyed first lunch, waiting and watching the cloud show.
After awhile, we decided to continue on up. Saw some folks going straight up to the Spur, but it looked pretty steep and slippery the last 400'. We stopped at around 7400', where we still had a bare rocks. Microspikes were of no use. Enjoyed second lunch, again just absorbed by the cloud show over Hood. Wish I'd thought to do a timelapse!
On descent, we followed the southern lateral moraine down the Elliot Glacier, nearly all the way to Cloud Cap before busting off onto the Timberline Trail for the last little bit. Again, we just relaxed and enjoyed the views. Cooper and Barrett Spurs dominated the flanks of Hood, while the summit made very rare appearances every now and then.
Continuing on through Tilly Jane on the way down, ran into a new friend who was camping there for the night. And, finally, taking the Tilly Jane Ski Trail down, we saw the fabled "Survivor Tree" - an ancient Ponderosa Pine that miraculously didn't die in the wildfire that killed everything else on the ridge.
Another great day in the mountains!!!
Comments
Karl
June 2, 2016
Probably won't be long until there's a bare rock path all the way to 8000'! Just not getting cold enough up there, anymore, to firm up the snow overnight.
Jim
June 1, 2016
I'm really glad you posted this. I planned to hike up from the ski area last week but ran out of days to do it. I'm now shooting for Monday though I'm not sure what effect this weather will have. Thanks fir the report.