Vista Ridge - 2019-07-11
Posted: July 13th, 2019, 5:42 am
We planned to hike the Vista Ridge, Eden Park, Timberline Trail loop. The water flow levels of Ladd Creek however prevented us from doing the loop.
We spent about 5 hours and had a great time viewing the flowers and Mt Hood views.
The downside was a flat tire on gravel part of FR18. Rock cut through the sidewall! A Forest Service person that stopped to ask if we needed assistance said he had a flat the previous day.
We experienced some rain showers on the drive to the trailhead, so we thought it might be a wet hike. By the time we got to the trailhead, the showers ended and we only had some scattered high clouds. We started at the Vista Ridge Trailhead with temps in the mid-60s. We encountered no mosquitos. There were only a few small spots of snow on the trail.
The hike up Vista Ridge was an easy hike to the Eden Park junction.
We started down the decent to Eden Park. Avalanche Lilies were in abundance. I think we were early for the flowering peak as some other flowers seem to just be starting. Eden Park was lush green with loads of lilies.
Also saw what I think are snow worms (?). Some were moving in a pool of water, but most seemed to be dead.
It was amazing what a brilliant red color the Paintbrush was.
When we reached Ladd Creek, we saw a group of logs for a crossing. The water was running pretty high and fast. We checked out the logs. They were wet and a little unstable. We decided not to attempt a crossing. If we were 15 years younger, we would have made an attempt.
So we headed back up Eden Park Trail to Vista trail stopping to look at some of the great Mt Hood views.
When we reached Timberline Trail, we headed towards Ladd Creek to see how the upper crossing was. We talked to some groups of clockwise TT hikers passing us. They said the water crossing was challenging and some had fallen in the water. They said either go high to walk on the remaining snow across the creek or go lower where there were some possible rock crossings. They mention there was a good rain storm over night, which may have contributed to the heavier water flow. We did not attempt this crossing either.
We headed back on the TT past the Vista Ridge Trail to a meadow where many of the people we passed had stopped for a lunch break. This is the location of a user trail that heads up to the Barrett Spur. After our break, we head back down the Vista Ridge Trail. The view of Hood River Valley opened up.We spent about 5 hours and had a great time viewing the flowers and Mt Hood views.
The downside was a flat tire on gravel part of FR18. Rock cut through the sidewall! A Forest Service person that stopped to ask if we needed assistance said he had a flat the previous day.