Josh Mayer went backpacking August 7 to August 9, 2011 42 miles 0 feet gained 2 nights

Timberline Trail

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pics now on flickr: pieterpan

The Timberline Trail is another rough one. Now up to about 42 miles due to going around the Eliot washout, which adds about a mile heading up soft soil to the glacier, crossing it, then descending similar material. Don't even try the old trail where it is closed. It drops off a tall cliff after you burrow through very overgrown, low trees. Lots of steep snow patches and glaciers to stomp your way across. Some steep washouts. Bushwhack a short ways to connect the trail the big canyon a couple miles east of Timberline Lodge, since the former one disappears off a cliff.

The good: Waterfalls (Ramona, and many from glaciers), four in the valley of Muddy Creek, where there is a very small flat spot in the middle ridge for a one-person tent/tarp. Slept there with views of Mt. Hood's glaciers and waterfalls behind me, and the sun setting over the foothills to the west. Sunset from the shelter west of Eliot drainage is amazing! You can see St. Helens, Rainier, and Adams together with the low clouds skirting them. As the sun sets the clouds turn pink while the sky is a rainbow of blue, green, yellow, salmon and red. All of this reflecting on the mountains. Just south of this you can see Jefferson, the Sisters, and Bachelor in a row.

I tried out my new Oware tarp with the Gossamer Gear backpack (used first on St. Helens). I'm guessing total out-of-skin weight to be around 8 lbs. Fully loaded it looks like a 2/3 full day-pack. I keep wondering if I am missing something. Makes these rough hikes easier than with a heavy load.

Will load these and St. Helens pics on flicker another day.

Trail Talk

2 people have hearted this trip.

Bosterson · August 10, 2011

Is there info online somewhere about the new trail routing around the Elliot glacier? I've seen some reports about a rope permanently tied to a rock to help you descend the gully down to the Elliot river, and then you have to scramble back up the other side. How were the other crossings - Muddy, Sandy, etc? I'm planning to do this in about a month, so hopefully most of the snow will be gone.

Josh Mayer · August 11, 2011

The river crossings were mostly not difficult. Some smaller ones had a few limbs together to walk on, but slick. Most rivers required only finding the right rocks to hop across (sometimes a bit of a leap). I just had to wade through Newton Creek and one other (not the ones you mentioned), but less than knee-deep.

On the Green Trails Mt. Hood map it shows trails for climbing to the peak. You can use these trails to get to the lowest glacier to cross the drainage. There are crevaces, those tunnels underneath that might collapse, and steep, loose gully walls. It's kind of choose your own adventure. I used the rope tied to the boulder, only to find that the glacier edge had receded ten feet from the rock, leaving me stranded on a shale and composite vertical face. Had to shimmy sideways, using rock climbing skills to stay on until reaching where the rock and ice meet.

I think a lot of snow will still be there in a month.