Rambling Mt Hood’s west side

Another “Plan B” hike after fires and heat precluded Plan A without high health risk with bad air quality. Like the SE Mt Hood Ramble in July, I chose car camping at same campground all four nights (Lost Creek CG), and 4 days hiking all from Ramona Falls Trailhead. A couple of the hikes were done last year, but this year seemed much different – the fires and weather. The last hike (Friday) was from Government Camp (a 15 min drive from CG).

The Fires

Aside from the fires raging in the east and central OR, there were two active fires burning north of Mt Hood: Whiskey Creek and Microwave Tower.

Monday and Tuesday the air was fairly clear without smoke, but by Wednesday the smoke came south. Some places in the right wind smelled like smoke, and the air was hazy both Wed and Thursday. By Friday, things cleared up somewhat. The fires definitely altered photography.

This view north from McNeil point to the WA cascades shows the smoke hanging in valleys.

The Flowers

The lupin test was just past peak – maybe 1 week, but not much more, so the flowers and the alpine meadows were just filled with color.

Lost Creek Campground

Lost Creek is just 1/2 mile from Ramona Falls TH – the turn off is before the TH, and the road to TH after CG is way, way worse with deep potholes. There is a small trail from CG to TH, so my car never left the CG until I was ready to head out.

There are two loops – 1 “A” is for cars and RVs; the second “B” is for walk in camping. The B sites close to the creek (1 &2) are the good choices imho – there are a couple of A sites near the nature trail that are also good. Campground was never full – of the 15 sites, there were never more than 6 of us. – completely dark too!

The 5 Hikes

Note: All hikes done Aug 5-9, 2024 and solo. Yocum Ridge and McNeil Pt have individual trail reviews.

Yocum Ridge (Monday)

Yocum Ridge was a new hike for me. I tried last year, but the trail conditions were too poor. The hike was a total surprise, and should be on people’s list for Mt. Hood. This was a straight up the hill and down the hill after spending time in the upper meadows. The views to Mt Hood (being so close to headwaters of Sandy) were breath-taking. I will go back. (Detailed hike review).

McNeil Point (Tuesday)

I think this was the third time up McNeil Point. There are two paths up – don’t take the one closest to Top Spur junction! – the first is way steep and like a scramble up; the second is the one most people take up and down. From Ramona Falls Th this was quite a climb up … I was beat at the top, and I met a guy coming down the hill who had spent the night on the lower meadow. McNeil Point has great, great views. But, don’t forget from Ramona Falls, one must climb up the north side of Muddy Fork Sandy River – not a trivial uphill. (Detailed hike review).

Paradise Park (Wednesday)

Paradise Park is south of Muddy Fork Sandy River (and another BIG uphill climb) on the PCT. The Muddy creek crossing was a couple of logs and easy to do – go upstream some and cairns will show the logs’ location. I asked another camper coming down from Paradise first thing and they said there were at least 10 tents at the main section – that’s too many! Time for permits on Timberline Trail.

It was beautiful in the Park. I hiked up the park 1/2 way and stopped for lunch. I rambled on to that main camping section and looking up Lost Creek (same creek as CG) to Mt. Hood. The smoke in the valley was striking from Paradise Park.

Paradise Park is just one of those places – like Jefferson Park. Many of the flower photos above came from Paradise.

Cairn Basin and McNeil Point (Thursday)

Originally, I was heading past Cairn Basin to Barrett Spur, but as I started to cross Ladd Creek (a three-some log bridge) I changed my mind. I stopped at Cairn Basin eating lunch in the very spot where my buddy and I camped on my first Timberline Loop. From there, back up to McNeil Point and enjoy the sights.

Timberline Trail is in the best condition that I’ve seen in the last 6 years. The only section that was reported as ‘bad’ was the section from Ramona Falls to Top Spur (I did NOT travel that path even though I started it 2x and both times turned around for some nagging thing in my gut) – the report from a past PCT hiker said >20 blowdowns. The majority of ‘Loopers’ – Timberline Loop hikers – went clockwise which I think is just wrong in July / August.

Looking down from McNeil could make one dizzy … (Detailed hike review).

Tom, Dick, Harry Mt (Friday)

Originally, I was going to scamp up Zig Zag Mountain from Burnt Lake TH, but the road up there was not good enough for my little Civic … I needed an alternative. The same drive time (adding 30 totally minutes both ways) up to the pass and Tom, Dick and Harry Mt trail from one of the largest trailheads in OR – Mirror Lake. But, I had a twist. I was going to leave the TH before 05:00 and catch sunrise from the top …

This Mirror Lake trail is like walking on a 4-lane highway and was easy with headlamp for the first 3 miles. There were 2 groups camping at the lake – it was so quiet. I made the sunrise! The hike itself is nothing to remark, but if one times it right … WOW!

Data Geek Corner

• Carbon Karma: 7 hours driving = 21 hours hiking objective
  • Actual: 42.25 hours moving
  • Bank Account: +57.9 hours
• Hike start times: Mon = 5:30, Tue = 5:15, Wed = 5:05, Thu = 5:00, Fri = 4:45
• Length: 106.15 miles
• Elevation gain: high (>20,000 over 5 days)
• Pace: each trail different
• Weather: Sunny and low 80s first couple days and then fire haze Wed / Thur
• Description: Thru hiking mental model – hike as much as possible and see as much as possible – mesh upper trail runners all 5 days.