Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

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justpeachy
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Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by justpeachy » June 20th, 2018, 7:46 pm

Greg and I went up to Vista Ridge late in the afternoon on Sunday.

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The avalanche lilies are looking nice! We went 1.6 miles from the TH to about 5100' at which point we were seeing quite a few unopened buds. The next few weeks should look pretty good up there! (We had about 20 minutes of rain around 4pm and then the sun came out. We totally missed the big storm in Portland, which didn't hit Mt. Hood at all.)

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A trail crew hasn't been up there yet this season and we counted about two dozen downed trees.

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Also note that Road 1810 is getting worse every year; I think the number of potholes has doubled since last year. I got so carsick on the drive up that I was nauseous for the first 30 minutes of the hike. Ugh.

BTW, there was a brand new sign at the trailhead that wasn't there last year. There's another one just like it after you turn right onto the Vista Ridge Trail. Kind of ironic considering the "war on trail signs" that the Mt. Hood Forest waged along the old Vista Ridge Trail for many years. I wonder if any of these new signs appear along that section! :D

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On our way back we stopped at the roadside viewpoint of Mt. Hood and had a picnic dinner. It was sublime. We had been the last to leave the trailhead so there were no passing cars and no people; just us and the mountain and the birds.

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drm
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by drm » June 21st, 2018, 7:25 am

That's gorgeous but I find these high driving-to-hiking ratio trips to be a difficult motivation. Sounds like with the road, this one is getting worse.

Webfoot
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by Webfoot » June 21st, 2018, 10:53 am

I was there a couple of days after you. I went two miles until hitting snow. It was beautiful.

Regarding the road I had recommended the older, shorter route, but it too is getting worse.

drm, coming from the east you shouldn't have to deal with any of these road problems; it should be paved all the way to FR-1650. That should probably be the go-to route anyway given the deteriorating roads from the west.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by Don Nelsen » June 21st, 2018, 11:09 am

Beautiful photos! Thanks. dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

simba564
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by simba564 » June 22nd, 2018, 1:32 pm

Beautiful pictures. We want to head up there this weekend. This will be our first time. Should we wait a couple more weeks for full bloom? Thanks!

pcg
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by pcg » June 22nd, 2018, 6:00 pm

simba564 wrote:
June 22nd, 2018, 1:32 pm
Should we wait a couple more weeks for full bloom? Thanks!
If you want avalanche lilies, don't wait. Go now. If you want bear grass, wait two weeks.

simba564
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by simba564 » June 25th, 2018, 11:01 am

Thanks for the reply! We ended up going on 6/24 and it was beautiful.

ppendhar
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Re: Vista Ridge is blooming! - 6/17/18

Post by ppendhar » June 29th, 2018, 7:46 am

How are the snow conditions beyond going up to Dollar Lake or Cairn Basin?

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