Oregon Hikers

Opening pic

After rabid swan's great TR on his trip up Barrett Spur last week we thought we would give it a go too!

We arrived at the Vista Ridge TH just after 9:30, the road is currently in the best condition I can ever remember it being in, I could even travel the gravel sections at about 30 mph in our little Kia! About 1:20 traveling time from Sandy. Only one other car there that had arrived just before us. The driver was someone we had met the previous weekend on top of McNeil Ridge, great minds think alike!

We set off on a snow free trail, started getting a few patches of snow at about 5000' & the trail was snow covered by about 5400. We were packing snowshoes but didn't need them here the snow was nicely compacted.



We were soon at the Timberline Trail & could still see rabid swans snow shoe tracks heading off in the direction of Barrett Spur - we followed.



It was a beautiful morning to be on the mountain..



At about 6400' conditions changed, an intermittent cloud layer was leaking over the ridge line from the East & the snow had turned icy. Chizuru had her micro spikes with her which were the best option but Chiyoko & I had to use our snow shoes to get a bit of extra grip.



The next half mile was a bit of a slog in cold thick cloud with very poor visibility, If I hadn't been there before I would have turned around, we found out later that the person we had talked to in the parking lot did just that. Every so often though the Sun would almost break through so I knew the cloud layer was thin & hoped we would climb above it. (At least that's what I told Chiyoko & Chizuru ;^)..




Picking our way through the frozen forest!

The Frozen Forest was tough going, the snow drifts were running East West & were frozen hard so we were always having to climb up & over them. Finally the trees began to give way & so I knew we were getting closer but you would never guess it from the view.



Just as my hiking partners were beginning to question my choice of hike for the day & the wisdom of continuing we were given a bit of hope, a small patch of blue sky above the clouds!



Then finally we were rewarded with a view of the mountain as we broke through the cloud layer.



The clouds would come & go every couple of minutes & the view was constantly changing.


Barrett Spur




Looking West over to McNeil


Time of some hot coffee


With a little fortification ;^).

I couldn't persuade Chiyoko & Chizuru to do a jump shot so I had to give it a go!



The ladies did make a snowman though



Then it was time to head back down.







We were soon back down at the Vista Ridge trail junction & hiking through the burnt trees back to the trailhead. We only saw 2 other people the the whole day long, the same guy at the beginning & end of our hike at the trailhead and one other who was heading back down the Vista Ridge trail just in front of us.



A few more photos of our great day on the mountain can be found here or watch this:

http://youtu.be/I-49tV-dpBo

8.3 miles & 3325' of EG.

If you have a free day this week & this incredible fall weather holds - head on up there you wont be disappointed!

Thank you for inviting me to another fantastic hike!

It could be my first or second time I had really encounter mountain weather - changing so quickly.
It was a technical hike but glad to experience such an adventure.

Without someone who is passionate to drive that far and has determination to do it under the fast changing weather, I couldn't do it. Thank you to Guy and Chiyoko

I saw a lot of stunning beauty in nature.

Great photos and great jump shots!

Chizuru

Fantastic pictures and description of your trip. Anytime you want to teach a photography class, I’ll sign up. I was the guy in front of you folks on the way out of the trail that day. I thought you folks looked familiar possibly from the website, would have been a good time to show my portlandhikers badge, ha, ha.

My goal was also Barrett Spur but turned around above Dollar Lake as the clouds were looking ominous and increasingly worse. I ended up checking out Elk Cove instead. That is awesome that you folks succeeded. When I reached the Timberline Trail in the morning I also saw you folks climbing the snow wall (your 4th picture), that seems like a more direct approach but isn’t that pretty steep? I’ve only climbed to Barrett via Dollar Lake but may try that route next time.

Again, great pictures and description!

You got some great photos up there. I love it when those wispy clouds slide in front of Hood. Better than a bluebird day IMO. I've always wondered what my old tracks look like...

Thanks guys

Rabid Swan, your tracks were visible up to about 6500' after which they had been scoured from the mountain! Looking at all the horizontal Ice build up on the trees & rocks I can only imagine how horrible it must be up there in bad weather!

James, good to (almost) meet you Yes that snow bank is quite steep but the snow was perfect on Sunday for climbing up that, not slippy at all & our feet sank in only an inch or two. What I have done on early summer trips up there when that snow bank is too hard & steep for me to climb I just gain the ridge right there at the Vista Ridge junction & take that ridge line all the way up. Next time you are up there try making a loop out of it (well a triangle) using the Vista Ridge & Dollar Lake routes.

Cheers.

Great TR Guy!

It's something to ponder for this upcoming weekend.

Brad

Nice report, Guy -- loving all those early snow pics of the mountain! This is why fall is my favorite alpine season: flowers are nice, but you can't be a fresh dusting of snow, fall colors and brilliant blue sky... and GREAT cool temps for hiking... AND no dust or bugs... did I mention that fall is my favorite alpine season..?

Thanks for posting!

Tom

Guy wrote:

Love this one!

Great report Guy, hope to hike with you again someday!

Thanks for the kind words Brad, Tom & Eric! I was down in the dumps with all the rain we had in September but I'm loving hiking in new snow on these Sunny October Weekends

Stunning tr Guy love the upper Mt shots.
Years ago I saw a similar picture in a hiking or climbing magazine and it asked what Himalayan peak was in the photo. Gave some choices when you looked on the back page for the answer of course it said Mt Hood Oregon.