The trailhead for Ramona Falls and the trails themselves were very busy, but as soon as I was past the falls, the trail really cleared out.
From Ramona Falls, the trail pitched upwards pretty good as I connected with the Timberline Trail. It was a relatively short climb on the Timberline Trail until I came to the Yocum Ridge junction and the initial couple of viewless miles.
A couple miles in, and vast fields of Avalanche Lilies suddenly opened up, along with a little bit of bear grass.
The trail eventually opened up into the epic viewpoint beneath the Reid Glacier. On my way down this morning, I heard distant crashing about 5 minutes after leaving the viewpoint and figured I must have missed a good slide.
From here, it was up further on the now unofficial portion of the Yocum Ridge trail. There were only a couple of very minor snow crossings and after briefly re-entering the woods, I emerged back onto the Yocum Ridge for the other absolutely spectacular view of Hood that the trail provides.
I found a nice clear spot up on the ridge and set up camp.
I spent the next few hours wandering around, doing camp chores and reading. There was already a couple up there with their dog settling in at the best site on the ridge. I did notice that their site had a fire ring even though fires are prohibited up there. They didn't use it though. They were also kind enough to point me towards a trickle of water that I could filter from. A few hours after I arrived, a second couple arrived who'd departed the trailhead at the same time I had, they looked a bit worn out but happy to have made it.
I snapped a couple of hazy mountain views and then watched the sunset over Portland. The lights of Portland really began to light up after a while.
Then off to bed! ->
A word to the wise, after dark, the wind picks up and really rails off the ridge. I'd made the mistake of setting my tent up to afford views out the door, which meant high winds battering the door all night. I think I slept mainly in hour long patches, haha.
This morning I got up with sun coming over the edge of the mountain, broke camp quick and headed down to the trailhead. I hadn't packed much for breakfast and I was excited to get to Zig Zag. Thanks!
