Yocum Ridge was a new hike for me, sort of. I had tried to hike the ridge either last year or year before but blowdowns were extreme and caught me at wrong time – I never went up to the meadows. After visiting the meadows, Yocum Ridge deserves a spot on any Mt Hood should hike list. This hike was part of the Rambling Mt Hood’s west side adventure.
I hiked from Ramona Falls TH leaving around 5:30 with headlamp for only a few minutes. The Ramona Falls Trail crosses the Muddy Fork Sandy and then meets PCT, where chooses either going on Ramona Falls or PCT to the Falls. From there, it’s up Timberline to the junction and then up Yocum Ridge Trail. From Ramona TH, 8 miles up through the woods and switchbacks until the meadows.
This photo shows the upper meadows on the ridge off to the left – this is taken from Paradise Park.
At the Muddy Fork crossing, hikers went over two logs upstream from the trail. The wide wash area also gave the first views to Mt Hood.
While that 8 mile uphill kicked my butt, there were a couple of silver linings. First, Ramona Falls is right along the way and when I was there before 7:00 only campers were there – and none at the falls!
I enjoyed Ramona Falls so much (it added ~5 miles to a day’s hike) that I stopped there 4 days. Part of the pull is the falls themselves and the other part people’s responses when they see first time.
Along the way, the meadows start teasing as well. More and more open views and at one point an odd pond.
Yocum Ridge, however, is all about the meadows at the top and they are spectacular. I was there with complete solitude and it felt as if I could reach out and touch Mt Hood. The headwaters of the Sandy were impressive as well – a huge glacier. While there were reports from the week before of mountain goats on the ridge, I saw none. There are several campsites along the meadow with fabulous views of Hood.
Data Geek Corner
- Hike start times: Mon = 5:30
- Length: 19.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 4,353
- Pace: 2.8 mph
- Weather: Sunny and low 80s
- Description: Thru hiking mental model – hike as much as possible and see as much as possible – very few humans on trail
- Carbon karma captured at ‘Trip Level’
[…] 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). […]