Paradise Park Loop via Par. Park and Hidden Lk Tr. 10-27

[nautachris]

Good morning! I just passed the one year anniversary of living in the Beaver State, and realized that I had yet to really set foot (or boot) in Mt. Hood National Forest, unless you count Mt. Jefferson via Park Ridge, which may technically count, but not really in spirit. Seeing as it may be the last beautiful Saturday where the high country would be accessible, I decided on a mega ~17.5 mile, 4,400 ft. vertical loop to potentially use as a bookend to this years hiking season. I knew that the weather about ~2,000 ft or so was supposed to be great, so the fog/mist/muck encountered from here (Lebanon) up past Zigzag on US 26 didn't deter me. Just past Rhododendron, the clouds "magically" disappeared as we climbed past the inversion level.


Teaser shot

The route was as follows: Start at Paradise Park TH just off US 26 on FS 2639 (or as the street sign on 26 says, "Road 39") -> Paradise Park Trail from start to finish -> Left on Paradise Park Loop Tr. to Paradise Park -> some off trail shenanigans -> backtrack on Paradise Park Loop Tr. -> left on Timberline Tr. -> right on Hidden Lake Tr. -> Right on USFS 2639 about 3/4 of a mile back to my car. I started the hike around 10:45, and was back to the car around 5:15.

Overall impressions were "this is longer than I thought", "Hood is lovely, but difficult to capture photo-wise given the scale and my lack of a decent camera", "after climbing from 2,850 ft. to around 6,000 ft. in the upper reaches of Paradise Park, is the descent into and ascent out of Zigzag Canyon really necessary?", and "please tell me I don't see a 'Trail Not Maintained' sign at the top of the Hidden Lake Trail ala the Crag Trail near Mt. Jefferson". Anyway, on to the pics and some not-so-witty banter:


just to prove i'm not making this up


Paradise Park Trail starts easily enough.


beginning of the long, but never very steep, ascent


first viewpoint maybe 1.5 miles into it - that rock formation looks like a novice sculture's first attempt at someone with a large nose


lots more of this - the trail wasn't all that interesting on the way up


intersection with the Zigzag Mtn. trail (to the right, I came up the trail on the left)


just above the intersection with Zigzag Mtn. trail, you can tell something interesting is about to happen and you're close to breaking out of the dense-ish forest


Zigzag Canyon on the right, a large snowcapped nameless mountain on your left


the forest starts to thin out a bit


crossing the Timberline Tr.


first tiny bit of snow just past the Timberline Tr. - this starts to get seriously steep here


last hundred yards of the Paradise Park Tr. before it hits the Paradise Park Loop Tr.


another "prove i was here" shot


traversing down into a drainage - the north-facing slope had some pretty slippery ice/packed snow on the trail


view northwest


another drainage


time to leave the trail behind and see how long I can power up the hillside before a Gatorade and Powerbar stop was necessary


Mt. St. Helens in the distance


some rocks, which had two bronze plaques on them (the only name I remembered was something Hardesty)


"The Valley", which was of course covered in low clouds


dignity is overrated


obligatory "selfie" as the kids call it


panorama


my footprints - AND JUST TO PROVE THAT I CANNOT SEEM TO TAKE A HIKE WITHOUT MT. JEFFERSON AT LEAST MAKING A BACKGROUND APPEARANCE, sort of like the random Washington State University flag always making an appearance wherever ESPN College Gameday goes


a rare non-blurry picture




these trees look lonely


for Clackamas County, this is a tiny Christmas tree farm


now making a brief backtrack on the Paradise Loop trail


starting the longer-than-expected descent into Zigzag Canyon


same trail on the other side of the valley


cool lil' microclimates - this south-facing hillside was very dry


still descending


making a left on the Timberline/PCT...still descending


still descending


ahh, the cause of my troubles - finally crossing Zigzag Creek at ~5,000. Now I'd climb back up to 5,800 to the Hidden Lake Trail, then tumble down to 2,850 ft. where my car was. Cute waterfall in the distance though!


going up...


still going up


still going up...this time with lots of people around who seemed amused by my state of enervation. I realized Timberline Lodge was less than 2 miles away


goodbye shot of Hood


Hidden Lake Trail! Less than 6 miles left - 99% downhill though

The Hidden Lake Trail was slightly overgrown, and honestly rather dull with no views. I'll post a few pics for you to get the gist of it.









i was too tired to actually walk 50 yds. off the trail to go to Hidden Lake. At this point, it feels like your close to done, but you still have 2 miles and 1,000 ft. to descend




almost done - US 26 must be a few hundred feet to the south, because it was loud


THE BOTTOM!

From here it was a 10 minute walk down the road to the car. Knowing I'd earned a treat, I stopped at Growl Movement in Keizer and filled up with Oakshire Galaxy IPA. Yum.

Thanks for listening to me talk to myself!

Chris Saylor
Lebanon, OR

[retired jerry]

Nice! Thanks

I haven't been on Hidden Lake Trail - sounds like no big reason to rectify, but that's a good loop.

Not too much snow up there.

[adamschneider]

That long slog up out of Zigzag Canyon is why it can be fun to keep going up and AROUND the canyon. (And you can still make a loop out of it with the Hidden Lake Trail.) That way the second half of your day is 100% downhill.

[retired jerry]

You mean over Mississippi Head?

I think that's further and more elvation gain than just following the trail

Much more scenic though

I always enjoy that slog up out of Zigzag canyon. Interesting trail construction, gradually increasing views,...

[adamschneider]

You mean over Mississippi Head?

I think that's further and more elvation gain than just following the trail

Oh, it's definitely further and more elevation gain. But the elevation gain happens all at once, and then you're done with it.