Vista Ridge to Elk Cove - August 20

[hlee]

This is a week old now, but it's taking me that long to write it up and get some photos cleaned up.

The report is here, at my blog, because it's mostly just me complaining about how ill I felt the entire hike.

Here's a few highlights though.






Walking through the burned area was interesting, but dirty, and got a little monotonous after a while.


Mt. Hood wore a smiley face all day.


Grouse


In Wy'east Basin, Mt. Adams on horizon (smoke to the right)






Despite clouds in the sky, you could still see all three peaks to the north, as well as the fire burning near Adams




Big feet can only mean... bigfoot!!!!

I never did find the junction for Dollar Lake, though I looked both coming and going. If there was a cairn there a few years ago, I don't think it's there anymore. If you're heading out TO Elk Cove, that trail is on your right, correct?

Also, the two lakes you can see from this trail, are they Lost Lake and Laurance Lake?


Lost?


Laurance?

Anyhow, there's a lot more photos posted at my blog, if you're not Elk Cove'd out already.

[Snorting Elk]

Great Photos! the creek in the one picture looks so inviting. So did you see any of the now "infamous" Bachelor Elk while you were at Elk Cove?

Todd

[adamschneider]

I never did find the junction for Dollar Lake, though I looked both coming and going. If there was a cairn there a few years ago, I don't think it's there anymore. If you're heading out TO Elk Cove, that trail is on your right, correct?

Correct, and the cairn was there a few weeks ago. But it's not obvious; in late July, it was more "stream" than "trail"! I really ought to take a photo of the junction one of these days.

Map: http://goo.gl/jtX3H

[hlee]

Todd, saw no elk, married or otherwise. I'm sure there are elk around about Mt. Hood, but I haven't read of any being seen in any recent TRs. Maybe it's easier to see them on St. Helens, because it's not forested like Hood. I just saw the one grouse, and something dashed across the road in front of my car that was probably a coyote (but could have been a mountain lion, who knows!)

adamschneider, good to know about the cairn. Now I feel even worse that I missed it both times. I knew approximately where it was. I even took a few photos of "Is THIS the trail?"

[Splintercat]

Thanks for posting, Hannah!

I'll second Adam on the cairn - it was there on Friday, too. But kinda squat and hiding in the shrubs a bit. It really needs a sign, given the trail is on USFS maps. It's in great shape, once you get past the initial thicket of young trees and somewhat scrabbly first section. The easiest way to find the trail (for me) is to watch for the dip in the TT, minus a stream, as the spur trail follows a dry swale almost all the way to the lake (...okay, pond...).

Also, the two lakes you can see from this trail, are they Lost Lake and Laurance Lake?

Yes, and in that order.

Nice clouds for you on the 20th, too -- great mountain shots! It was "too clear" on Friday (I try not to complain about that... ahem...) from a photographic perspective. Nothing beats some wispy summer high clouds as a great backdrop!

Tom

[hlee]

Stupid cairn... it needs some flashing lights or something. Who has a really, really long extension cord?

What is the elevation like on the trail to Dollar Lake? Does the trail ascend, or stay basically flat? I wandered off on one trail that I thought might have been it, but it was on the other side of the trail, and it dipped down pretty steeply and then kind of fizzled out after maybe a quarter of a mile.

There is a picture of the junction, or the cairn really, here in the Field Guide on PH. But it's really just more of a picture of the cairn. And I read some different descriptions of where it is and how to know you're near, but... I don't know, maybe I didn't really WANT to find it, because I was so tired. Maybe it's a magical trail that only appears if your heart really believes...

[kepPNW]

Nice to finally see this one! Loved some of the perspectives you took, that I hadn't gotten from others to this area. The shots of the transition into the burned area are very striking. And that grouse just cracks me up - they're definitely named right. Looks like you had the perfect day to be up there! Beat that smoke from Olallie, and had the clouds just posing for you in that crisp clear air. Can't believe you both saw a ranger, and that he asked for your permit! First time I've heard that actually happening. (I'm sure mine are so illegible that I could just carry a single one as backup.)

[hlee]

Yeah, I've never run into a ranger either. (Well, I guess when I was coming back up to JRO from the St. Helens hike, but I probably had a glazed, zombie-like look in my eye, and they were addressing a large group of tourists, so they didn't say anything to me.) So of course I had to look like a dork in the process. Well, lesson learned.

[kepPNW]

And the irony is, at JRO they *do* expect you to be carrying your NWFP (or a silly pink wristband)!

[adamschneider]

There is a picture of the junction, or the cairn really, here in the Field Guide on PH. But it's really just more of a picture of the cairn.

Yeah, but that photo isn't bad, because it shows that what you're looking for is a sandy boulder-filled open area with SHORT evergreen trees. When you think about it, most of the open spaces on that side of hood are either rocky creeks or wide open meadows; the Dollar Lake junction is a little different.

And if you're using a compass or GPS, note that it's at the northernmost point of the entire Timberline trail... or rather, in a little dip between the two northernmost points.