Opening Pic
Sunday Chiyoko & I decided on a return trip to the Hiroshima Rock just to make sure it was still there
..I’m also working on my giant Mt. Hood gpx trails map project again and couldn’t find any good tracks of this area in my records so off we went.
I haven’t driven the road up to Cloud Cap since 2010 and after just a few miles I was reminded of why I hadn’t! Still we stuck with it & our beat up old Dodge PU that I normally don’t dare drive more than 50 miles from home got us to the top (& back down again)!
Bright Sunshine and sometimes a cold wind that came and went was the order of the day. You needed a couple of layers if you stopped in a windy spot but T shirt & shorts when the wind wasn’t blowing.
I wanted to get a gpx track of the direct route (straight up the East side moraine & ridge line) as well as a track of the official trail so we went up the direct route & came back down by way of the trail. The advantage of the direct route is that you have a full on view of the mountain for the whole climb with up close views of the Eliot Glacier.
Here are the stats:
The direct route is 2.5 miles to Hiroshima Rock from the Trailhead. The official trail with all the Switchbacks is 3.5 miles to the rock. The direct route averages a touch over 1000’ per mile.
Phew, the rock was still there....
We continued on to the end of the ridge trail about 8900’ at the 2.9 mile mark.
On the way along the ridge we saw 2 folks down on the Newton Clark Glacier. We later met them on our way back down it turned out to be Adam (Cascade Hiker) & his Dad. They had traveled cross country from Gnarl Ridge to Cooper Spur. I should have taken an EP style selfie with them but forgot! Well met guys!
I continued on for about another tenth of a mile past trail's end so that I could tag the 9000’ mark.
Looking up at the Chimney
Looking back to Chiyoko at Trail's end.
For an idea of scale can you spot me in this photo?
If not here's a hint...
The Newton Clark Glacier on the other side of the ridge was just as dramatic..
A final look at the Eliot from the top.
A quick selfie before hitting the road..
I believe this is called "Tie in Rock" but Chiyoko thinks it should be called Pear Rock
The trail was quite busy in the afternoon as we made our way back down. Not too surprising considering the fantastic weather!
A glorious day to be up on the mountain, all in all the hike came in at 7 miles (3 up & 4 down) with about 3300’ of Elevation gain.
A map below & a boat load of pics here.
