Timberline Trail July 23-26 2020
Posted: July 31st, 2020, 4:07 pm
Overall:
Amazing trip. Highly recommended. Standard 4 days, 3 nights CW from Timberline Lodge. Left on Thurs and went CW to try and avoid weekend crowds on the W side. Stayed at Rushing Creek. Elk Cove Meadow. Newton Creek.
Trail is in good condition. Few easy snow crossing on E side after Cooper Spur. Water was flowing great.
Lots of day hikers around Ramona Falls to McNeil Pt area. Lot of people running around Cooper Spur.
Logs:
Had to go over about a dozen per day. The worst was descending to Rushing Creek. And the Burn zone descending to Eliot. Nothing crazy, pretty standard wilderness stuff IMO.
Water Crossings:
Sandy was probably the worst, two rather small, wet logs over the river. But nothing dire, could have easily waded up stream if it seems intimidating. Newton was also a bit sketchy as it was just a bit wide and have to transition to different log sets. Eliot and White River were easy to cross but getting down to the river is very sketchy, you could easily dislodge a big rock or slide down the gravel. Eliot has a big log that is like a highway compared to the other rivers. If you take your time and find a good spot you can get down, jump the creek and walk to a spot up creek to pretty easily get up without getting gravel in your shoes.
Words to the wise:
Travel light and find a good spot early. We had no trouble finding spot but usually by the time we set up and started dinner people were poking around to find a spot.
From a before Cooper Spur till after Newton Creek there is only some small glaciers putting out VERY small streams of water. Best to fill up for this section, there very little shade. But some fun little snow crossings. Also pro tip Newton is rather silty, but there is a tributary right after it (W side) that is clear.
Also a bandana makes a great trail mask (and generally handy to have). I'd say over 80% of people utilized a face covering for passing.
Amazing trip. Highly recommended. Standard 4 days, 3 nights CW from Timberline Lodge. Left on Thurs and went CW to try and avoid weekend crowds on the W side. Stayed at Rushing Creek. Elk Cove Meadow. Newton Creek.
Trail is in good condition. Few easy snow crossing on E side after Cooper Spur. Water was flowing great.
Lots of day hikers around Ramona Falls to McNeil Pt area. Lot of people running around Cooper Spur.
Logs:
Had to go over about a dozen per day. The worst was descending to Rushing Creek. And the Burn zone descending to Eliot. Nothing crazy, pretty standard wilderness stuff IMO.
Water Crossings:
Sandy was probably the worst, two rather small, wet logs over the river. But nothing dire, could have easily waded up stream if it seems intimidating. Newton was also a bit sketchy as it was just a bit wide and have to transition to different log sets. Eliot and White River were easy to cross but getting down to the river is very sketchy, you could easily dislodge a big rock or slide down the gravel. Eliot has a big log that is like a highway compared to the other rivers. If you take your time and find a good spot you can get down, jump the creek and walk to a spot up creek to pretty easily get up without getting gravel in your shoes.
Words to the wise:
Travel light and find a good spot early. We had no trouble finding spot but usually by the time we set up and started dinner people were poking around to find a spot.
From a before Cooper Spur till after Newton Creek there is only some small glaciers putting out VERY small streams of water. Best to fill up for this section, there very little shade. But some fun little snow crossings. Also pro tip Newton is rather silty, but there is a tributary right after it (W side) that is clear.
Also a bandana makes a great trail mask (and generally handy to have). I'd say over 80% of people utilized a face covering for passing.