Roman went hiking January 19, 2015 4.2 miles 1,000 feet gained

Hood River Mtn loop

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Went with my grandmother to check out Hood River Mtn classic trail, then a few old road grades to the east. That small butte to the east of Elder Rd has some nice views to the east. Terrain around there is pretty open, with multitude of cow trails and old roads - still to be explored... The map is my drawing, not the actual GPS track.

Trail Talk

Mileage Mike · January 20, 2015

Roman - looks very interesting and we really enjoy the eastern side of the cascades! Do you think there could be 8-10 miles of wanderings in the area? Thanks.

Roman · January 20, 2015

Mike - I don't think variatons of this loop can be extended much beyond 5 miles, but there's another neat hike starting in Hood River (http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Bald_Butte_Hike). I'd expect most of it to be snow-free. These 2 hikes are relatively close to each other and it's possible to hike both on the same day, without too much driving.

Our hike involved crossing some wire fences on E side of Elder Rd (logging company land, they do allow hikers and bikers); I'd recommend doing west half of our loop out&back for the best views - and for real "trail" hiking...

Roman · January 20, 2015

I certainly don't want to discourage you from exploring to the east of Elder Rd on HR Mtn (really nice area - that little summit was my favorite part), its just to say there's no real hiking trails there, that area opened up a couple years ago and still haven't become much popular with hikers. It's certainly interesting if you like to find new paths and views and things like that...

Mileage Mike · January 21, 2015

Roman - Thanks for the info on the Hood River Mtn Loop Area! We'll need to add it to a second hike in the Hood River area as 5 miles is a short hike. I also appreciate the link for the Bald Butte area!

My wife and I have hiked part of the Bald Butte area and ran into a very strange man that appeared to be homeless, but living in a trashed out RV with his dog. He really scared us a bit when he mentioned he would watch our vehicle. He took us on a tour and gave us some really wild stories that initially made us think he might be dangerous, but he wasn't. We truncated our hike, out of concern for the car, and sure enough he came out and greeted us when we returned. We loaded him up on nature bars as we felt sorry for him Our car wasn't damaged but I'll never park in that area again. We're also afraid of bumping into him again as he appeared to be a squatter but said he owned all the public land around him! Very weird experience! I will admit that Bald Butte has a fantastic view, but we saw ATV's travelling on part of our loop.

Roman · January 21, 2015

Wow, that's strange experience - you'd never know what to expect in situation like this. Seems like this guy was bored and just looking to do something meaningful, but I would think back about my car the entire hike, much like you did.

I went there with my dad in summer of 2011 (watched that big fire on Mt. Hood), and we saw the trucks driving to the top, but otherwise it was a great hike. Always wanted to go back, but now I'll wait to go... Or maybe I'll get NRA sticker for my car just to park in creepy places :)