50.5 miles of hiking • 11000' elevation gain • 4 nights
Timberline Trail loop starting at Cloud Cap. Hiked from the closed gate 3 miles up to the campground on Thursday night. Friday morning we set out to cross the Elliot washout and get it out of the way ASAP. We hiked up to the obvious trail going down into the washout, hopped the rocks and streams and approached the giant scree slope. We didn't see any ropes that others have mentioned, so we somehow scratched and clawed our 40lb packs up the wall of ash and rocks. At the top, breathing heavily and looking down at the others in my group suffering their way up, I looked to the right and about 75 yards away saw a cairn and a giant rock with a rope (!) around it! Doh! It's nearly impossible to see from the bottom or the other side of the wash. So much for an easy crossing. We soldiered on, down down down the drainage to a bushwhack back to the T-Trail and on to Elk Cove. First night we camped at Cairn Basin.
Day 2, we trekked to McNeil ridge, past the ponds and down some switch backs to small meadows and took a gnarly shortcut straight down the ridge through the woods down a slope that I can only describe as "hella steep". It cut about 3 miles off our hike, but we paid the price in yellow jacket stings as we disturbed a nest. I can't recommend this route to anyone. We went across the Muddy Fork, around Yocum ridge, had lunch at Ramona Falls and headed for our evening destination, Paradise Park. A sidebar: just past Ramona Falls, at a junction we chatted w/ a 72 yr old man doing the Oregon PCT. It's never too late! It was here that we got distracted and missed the junction that put us on a path to the Ramona Falls parking lot and not the continuation of the T-trail. We went about 1/2 mile before we realized the mistake. The junction is signed well from the OTHER direction. The climb up to Paradise Park from the Sandy River crossing is absolutely brutal. I just kept saying the word "relentless" in my head. We were rewarded for our hard work, however, with a wonderful camp site, the "Split Rock" at Paradise Park. Beautiful cold evening, clear night and nearly full moon with the city lights of Portland in the distance.
Day 3 began w/ visions of lunch and a beer at Timberline Lodge which was to be our lunchtime stop. It didn't dissappoint, with massive baked potato and one of the best salads of recent memory, along with a cold beer. We refilled water, stocked up on Advil and continued the hike across White River where I played in the snow earlier this year. Then another long climb to Mount Hood Meadows and miles of ski lifts and flowers. It's too bad those ugly lift chairs are there, this stretch of mountain is really very tranquil and beautiful. We had determined to camp at Heather Canyon and arrived very tired and a little annoyed that a wonderful spot we had scouted a year previous had become too brushy to camp. We settled for some great sites near the Clark Creek instead. I took a much needed bath in the cold silty creek, dried off in the sun and after sunset, relaxed to the sounds of the rushing water and the dark shadow of Hood looming overhead as the stars twinkled. Wonderful night.
Day 4 we got a quick start and filtered water at Newton Creek knowing the worst was yet to come. We had to begin the 3.4 mile ascent gaining almost 2000 ft. from Newton Creek up Gnarl Ridge to Lamberson Butte. This is no easy feat carrying 40 lbs and with almost 40 miles under your belt in 3 days. We struggled up and up and finally reached the top around 12:30pm. After lunch we had an insanely long descent back to the car, losing almost 4000 ft in 5.5 miles. Our feet and knees were screaming after 3 hours of constant downhill, but our minds and hearts were happy to have completed our goal. On to Double Mountain for pizza and beer!
RenegadePilgrim
August 21, 2013
Thanks for the report! We are heading out on Saturday to do it, but we will be starting at Timberline and going clock-wise. Based on your TR, that seems like the best way to do it. :)