Old Bald Mountain Trail (Mount Hood)

[Splintercat]

Thanks, Jim - that second point is an excellent one. Plus, I should have pointed out that there are trees very close to this fire pit (and roots underneath it, undoubtedly). So, I think I'll go ahead and decommission this one once the wet weather arrives this fall. There were a couple half-burnt logs still in the fire pit (you can see them in the photo), so I was a bit reluctant to scatter them in dry weather. The other complication is that the large rock to one side of the fire pit is actually the tip of a boulder. So, I might have to do some creative work to conceal the burn marks on it, and discourage rebuilding of the fire pit.

The blocks are interesting, too -- apparently, they've been up there for nearly 80 years! They make for nice seats, regardless of the fire pit. So I can just rearrange them a bit.

Tom

[retired jerry]

I've tried to do that trail but turned back because of all the brush right at the beginning. If I knew the trail was better higher up I would have persisted.

I wonder why they decomissened the trail? Maybe just lack of funds or whatever?

[Splintercat]

I don't know, Jerry - I always assumed that it was because the Timberline Trail was routed across the south face, providing nearly the same views. I was up there again yesterday (another free afternoon!), and did some general brush work on the lower section so that the path is now very obvious -- still two logs big enough to require crawling over, and dozens of step-over logs on the ground. But the path is very clear, and would even be fine in wet conditions, as I've removed most of the brush that was above waist-level. Here's a detail I noticed on the way up, in the brushy section:



I added flags to the entire route, so that should help anyone who happens to step off the path -- but it would be pretty hard to wander off-trail at this point. Near the summit, I cave-manned this big, ugly downfall off the trail, and sort of gnawed off the branches a bit (I only had a pair of hand clippers):



That's the original tread - you can that it was starting to grow over, but it's plainly obvious now, and leads right to the summit. At the summit, I took Jim's suggestion, and decommissioned the fire pit -- here's an "after" photo, for comparison to the earlier view of the fire pit:



Looking at the campsite, again, I'm not sure it makes sense to encourage it in the current locale - it's right in the middle of the trail. So, if anyone camps up there, it would be nice to clear off a spot off the main path -- there are several flat spots with no vegetation, just twigs and duff.

I also spent some time really clearing the brush from the campsite on the summit to the viewpoint - it's only about 50 feet, but through a tunnel of alder and ash. It's very clear now, with no branches to dodge. I also found another trace of the lookout in the process -- a piece of foundation or footing, right on the edge of the trail, about 20 feet from the campsite (and the loose foundation blocks located there):



But my main reason for going back was to get a decent photo! I was pretty much skunked by clouds on my first visit, and wanted to get a more representative view for the Field Guide - here's the west face view from the top of Bald Mountain:



I was also there to take some glacier photos - I'm working on a project to document all of them when their permanent extent is fully visible (e.g., this month!), and started with the Sandy Glacier:



...and the Reid Glacier:



Pretty up there this time of year - lots of color, especially during the late afternoon sweet spot.

There's still plenty of work to do on this trail to make it fully "maintained", but it's passable enough now that I'll be adding it to the Field Guide as a "rustic" path -- and adding it to the TKO list. One day with a clipper crew and a chainsaw would be enough to bring it all the way back (the wilderness boundary is at the summit, so the entire trail is chainsaw-legal, thankfully).

Fun! I do love these little bits of the past..!

Tom

[jimsiff]

Tom,

Great pictures!

I will likely be up there the last weekend of September if the weather holds well enough for a four year old. If this works out, I'll definitely setup camp off the trail and bring my clippers to continue the general cleanup. I could haul up a mid-size chainsaw, but it's probably a bit dry yet to bring out the heavy equipment.

[pablo]

Tom, you just have to tell me how you take such marvelous mountain pictures, the colors are so rich and the detail is fantastic.

This trail is a really neat find.

--Paul

[Waffle Stomper]

I got curious about the lookout and did not find any info on the web other than plans for it dated 1944. assuming that is the same tower.


http://www.fs.fed.us/database/acad/lt/L ... r_1944.pdf

[Splintercat]

Thanks, Waffle Stomper - that looks like the one! Good find! I think I'll enlarge the footing details, and pace that out to see if I can find another corner up there. Unfortunately there are a lot of Bald Mountains out there -- and a Bald Butte lookout just a few miles from this Bald Mountain, so I searched a bit, but with no luck. I'd love to find a photo of either the lookout or the shelter. I suspect there's one in the MHNF archives.

Thanks, Paul - kind words, but mostly just use of a polarizer filter, picking the right time of day for a given location and in this case, some photoshop work (a little rough, now that I look at it again) to balance out the shadows in the forest area. At Bald Mountain (and most of the NE side of the mountain), the sweet spot for light would be between 4 and 6 PM. Sunset are pretty up there, too, but I prefer a bit of shadow in the details, and after about 6:00, the west face is pretty much fully illuminated. But gorgeous, and stunning to watch. Definitely a good afternoon destination, given the proximity to Portland, short trail and light show!

Tom

[Splintercat]

BTW, Paul - given your iron man hiking abilities, you'd probably enjoy this more if you started at Lolo Pass or Old Maid Flat. It's a satisfying destination for either, if you just walk quickly through that brief 1/8 mile section where all the trails converge, and there always seem to be a gaggle of confused day-trippers trying to figure out the trail signs... The Lowe book describes the hike from Lolo Pass, so I'm planning to include both the Lolo and Top Spur approaches in the Field Guide.

Tom

[jimsiff]

My four year old and I were up there this weekend. What a great little spot. We had the place to ourselves Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. We did some more brush work between the camp site and lookout, as well as the last .1 mile near the top.

Another hiker saw us coming back to the Timberline Trail and was curious to know where we had been, so we directed him to the top.

[Splintercat]

Cool, Jim - so you camped at the top? Must have been quite nice! Thanks for the trail work, too -- good to see you getting those kids started on the hard manual labor an an early age...

Tom