The follow trail report includes a mix of on-trail, off-trail and ice cave exploration on Mt Hood. Ice cave exploration is inherently dangerous for many reasons outside of one's control. Special equipment should be worn when entering ice caves, including a helmet, headlamp, etc. Please be aware of the dangers/risks and equipment needed before even considering such an adventure.
It seemed like a good idea. No - it seemed like a great idea. Our plan on Saturday, Oct 11 was to start at Top Spur TH on Mt Hood, cross Muddy Fork, hike up Yocum Ridge, perform the off-trail traverse between Yocum Ridge and McNeil Pt, visit the Snow Dragon ice cave system, then follow the user trail to McNeil Point, head on-trail down Bald Mtn ridge via the climber's trail and take the Timberline trail back to Top Spur TH.
I had been waiting for over 2 years to attempt the traverse between Yocum and McNeil, and it seemed this might be the last good weekend to try it out. Even more, pdxgene described to me a kinder, gentler traverse between Yocum Ridge and McNeil Pt than what had been previously described in trail reports. The traverse seemed so much better than what had been previously reported that we agreed to bring along Rigby the hiking dog.
Weather sites seemed to disagree about the weather for Saturday. Most indicated some showers/rain in the morning that would start to clear out by midday. OK - no problem, right?
Saturday morning brought rain to the lower Mt Hood area - it seemed more than we had expected on our travels to Top Spur TH on Mt Hood.
Myself, pdxgene, 3 other experienced hikers and Rigby the hiking dog arrived at Top Spur TH on Mt Hood at about 8:10am. Top Spur TH was almost full of cars by this time(!). There were a group of very nice Trails Club folks getting ready for a day's work on the mountain. The rain had subsided though, and even the Trail's Club folks agreed with the weather forecast that it was expected to clear by midday. It seemed that everyone was in agreement about the weather - good!
Being unsure about the weather and the traverse, I decided to change the hiking plan. We would go up to McNeil Point first, see if could make it over to the Ice Caves/Snow Dragon system. If the weather didn't clear, then we had the best chance of reaching the ice caves and returning the way we came. Still seemed like a good plan. No, it seemed like a great plan. The weather was supposed to clear, right?
I had a very fast and experienced group of hikers. Our plan was set. This was quite a route even on an ideal weather day. Folks that wanted to visit the ice caves were told to bring a helmet, ice axe, gloves, headlamp and were once again informed of the risks of entering or even being near the entrance of the caves.
We made quick work of taking Bald Mtn ridge/Timberline trail up to the climber's trail and then to McNeil Point shelter. pdxgene and Rigby debating the merits of Gene's sandwich within the shelter:
The weather was still rather blustery, making us seek refuge in the McNeil Pt shelter. We then took the user path in the direction of the caves. The user path has gotten its fair share of use over the past year and looked pretty much like this before heading into the moraine section:
Rigby checked things out on our way over to the Snow Dragon ice cave system:
As we approached the ice caves, the weather started to clear! The forecast was correct after all, right?
More clearing behind us:
and clearing on the traverse over to Yocum! Here comes the sun (or so we thought).
More moraine travel, approaching the ice caves (no snow):
Getting closer to the ice caves:
Rigby and I took a lower track along the moraine - there was a lot of loose, scrabbly rock. The rest of the group arrived at the caves before us. There were TENTS at the ice cave site! It seems some Search&Rescue staff were there along with others shooting a documentary about the caves. They seemed a little surprised at us showing up, with a dog no less. I saw a few eyes roll.
We came up to the "Pure Imagination" ice cave entrance first:
Rigby standing away from the entrance of Pure Imagination as the weather began to cloud up (it's still going to clear, right?
):
The Snow Dragon ice cave to the north of Pure Imagination had suffered a recent, massive collapse at its entrance:
Rigby and I stayed (far) away from the caves this year. I had visited the caves last year and didn't have a desire this year to go back in. Other folks took pictures inside the caves while Rigby and I walked around outside:
It was time to make a decision about the McNeil Pt-Yocum Ridge off-trail traverse. Do we try it or return back the way we came, the weather is supposed to clear right?
pdxgene felt that travelling on the traverse was actually easier than going back through the moraine. The weather had clouded up again, so I could not see the traverse path he suggested, which was below us. All Yocum-McNeil traverse paths I have read up to this point have sketchy sections. pdxgene painted a very different picture though by staying lower on the traverse. I believed him, but I needed to see it. Just as I was about the call off taking the traverse, the clouds opened up for about 30 seconds, showing me the ENTIRE route to Yocum Ridge! The timing couldn't have been more perfect!
OK - we will give it a go. If I had any reservations, we would stop and return.
The first maneuver was to head down (climber's left) and south of the large rock knob in front of the ice caves. pdxgene said this was the most difficult part - looking back approximately from where we came - Rigby was carried through parts of this section - upper streams (forks?) of the Muddy Fork:
..and we ended up on a flat section:
The clouds once again opened while we took a short break, providing us these AMAZING views over (directly above) Muddy Fork:
Another shot from where we came on our descent to the center of the traverse - things were clouding up again. It is going to clear up, right?
We headed back up, and took a slightly different route than pdxgene did earlier to get around another rock knob, which too was very doable:
The view to the south below Yocum Ridge:
Then cresting up on this section - visibility was poor at this time but the terrain became "easy". We were committed, so we continued on.
Sections of the (mostly south) approach to Yocum Ridge looked much like this:
Things were going pretty well and the traverse was just as pdxgene had described. Visibility continued to decrease as it seemed we were in the clouds. The clouds were moving across us, west to east. About 30 feet of visibility. We were about 1/4 of a mile away from Yocum Ridge. Then it happened. There was a large flash of light to the north of us in the clouds above, followed by a long drawl of thunder. Hail started to come down. pdxgene read my mind - how far away was that? Without me even asking, pdxgene blurted out "3000 ft away".
OK - the weather isn't going to get better.
Even worse, my GPS couldn't track north and we were nearing the base of Yocum Ridge. I couldn't tell which way to go - climber's left or right? Going left was a nice gentle path. Going right looked harder and scrabbly. The GPS was absolutely no help at all. I went to get out my compass. Still, heading left seemed totally wrong based upon the map topography. The wind picked up and more hail came down. Which way. We were either 2/10 of a mile away from the where the user trail crests over Yocum Ridge or heading the wrong way (up) Yocum Ridge - virtually no visibility. Hard to get a bearing.
After conferring with pdxgene and examining maps, we agreed to follow our interpretation of the topography and head climber's right. More thunder. A storm system was clearly passing just to the north of us - was it passing over (into?) us too? In order to head climber's right, we had to descend about 100 ft, which made the path much easier as we approached Yocum Ridge. The ridge was coming down to us - a good sign. My GPS and compass began to agree once again. pdxgene found a weakness in the rock, allowing him to easily crest of the ridge - here is a photo:
The next words I heard from pdxgene were, "at this point we have completed the offtrail potion of the McNeil Pt-Yocum Ridge traverse!"
WE DID IT! We made the traverse!
Another loud clap of thunder blistered within the area. The group easily crested the ridge and followed the user trail at the top of Yocum Ridge. Not done yet, I thought. Get everybody off of the ridge and into the trees at lower elevation. It continued to hail as we jogged briskly down the trail. No, it hailed HARD as we headed down to lower elevation. Pea-sized hail - maybe slightly larger.
Only time for one photo jogging (ok, running) down Yocum Ridge. Rigby imploring me to stop taking photos:
Hail turned to rain - we were soaked, but OK. Claps of thunder were no longer heard. Just rain, rain and more rain. No time for photos.
The victory of the completing the traverse would have to wait until later. The next challenge was ahead. pdxgene read my mind once again. pdxgene suggested taking Timberline trail to the Muddy Fork crossing, a little higher upstream than taking the PCT back to Top Spur TH. Our hiking plan was a loop - no car shuttle.
The Timberline trail route back to Top Spur is longer, but upstream of the PCT intersection and avoided the switchbacks of the PCT. So much rain had fallen...we all agreed to head up the Timberline trail and take our chances upstream on Muddy Fork.
The roar (and I mean ROAR) of the Muddy Fork from Timberline trail was one of the most eery things I had ever experienced. You could hear the power of the creek, you couldn't quite see it, but I knew we all had to cross it safely. Even Rigby. For those who have crossed Muddy Fork at Timberline, you know there are two crossings. On a nice weather day, they usually don't look like this - south crossing:
No place - I mean NO PLACE to cross (relatively) dry. Time to ford the creek. Rigby was carried over.
North crossing:
For both fords, we found level crossings, facing upstream. The team helped each other cross as needed.
By now, the rain had stopped, no wind. We headed back to Top Spur TH via Timberline enjoying the view at sunset (cloudset?).
We had headlamps and took the last 1/2 mile back to Top Spur TH in the dark and finished at about 7:15pm
Below measurements are unedited and include some wandering:
Distance (estimated): 19.1 miles
Ascent (estimate): 5305 ft
Total Time: 10:30:57
And the traverse track we took? The "pdxgene" version of the traverse in blue, the "higher" traverse posted on portlandhikers.org in red:
Note the blue line has some wandering because we did the last half of the traverse in low visibility.
All back safe. Mission accomplished. What an epic adventure and a great team. Thank you all.
To quote pdxgene:
"What an awesome hike. The task was a challenging one for a clear day. Our day was windy and rainy and foggy. Our day ended with being high up on Yocum Ridge with lightning within 3000' of us, coming down with a driving sleet, and having to do the double ford of a surprisingly swollen Muddy Fork.
It would have made for a fun day in the hills. It became epic when 5 strong hikers (and a Spectacular Spaniel named Rigby), came together in mutual support, and met the difficulties with poise and spirit."
What do epic adventurers do on their day off?
