17.36 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain • 2 nights
Had Friday off, so headed to Twin Lakes right after work on Thursday; camped at Upper Twin for 2 nights. Had no real plans for Friday - explored rock viewpoint east of the lake (only partial view of Mt. Hood), headed over to Palmateer Point (again Hood was partly covered with trees, but open views in other directions, nice place to visit), then went to PCT and over to Barlow Pass just to make sure I didn't miss anything (there was nothing to miss), and finally to 4925' summit on Ghost Ridge (really interesting place, and excellent views). Somehow missed trail junction back to the lake, chose snowy gully for easy cross-country and soon found abandoned trail, that connected to the trail I was looking for. USFS maps of the area are really obsolete (have one on my GPS, even old trails didn't match up). Another dry, warm, and windy night - the rain held off until noon on Saturday.
