McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

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TwoPaw
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McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by TwoPaw » August 10th, 2020, 9:27 pm

How much have Mt. Hood’s glaciers shrunk? Does alpine Hood clear of snow earlier in the summer now? That’s what a conversation with a neighboring overnight camper up on Yocum Ridge had me wondering. She had just hiked Yocum for the first time after 40 years and was shocked: she claimed where we were standing on a bench north of Yocum’s ridge was covered in ice at that time. In fact, where 771 “officially” ends with the Reid Glacier waterfall viewpoint was also covered in ice. Was that true? Top Google image indicates Aug 1994 while bottom indicates Aug. 2016. Of course, snowfall in two years could be radically different - still it is striking and this woman had hiked up even earlier.
Yocum ridge 8_1994.png
Youcm Ridge 8_2016.png

Trip Basics....

Roads: All good. FR 18 to FR1825 just has a few potholes - may be small delay with flaggers as the rural internet installation continues. FR1825 is fine. The short leg of FS 1800-260 has some sharp rocks but no issues - just drive slow.

McGee Creek TH: I had some doubts leaving my car overnight at this trailhead. There’s a large campfire stone circle and to the right of it someone had left pallets as a firewood source. The wooden trail sign was missing but sign in kiosk a short way in was actually stocked with wilderness permits. Note: when I exited this TH FS had posted a new No Camping Sign onto the old trail sign post as well as a put a red flag in the fire circle. Two other cars were parked there. No issues.
No firesJPG.JPG
Trails: McGee Creek #627 is fine but badly needs brushing (FS calls it Class 2 but I differ). Timberline/PCT covered in many recent reports - all fine. Yocum Ridge has been logged out and is great. #797 Ramona Falls is what it is.

Map Conflicts: The USGS and FS maps shows Timberline between Yocum and Tie-In as the PCT, and doesn’t label what I assume is actually the PCT - the Old Skyline - as anything. Meanwhile signage and the FS interactive map shows this as the Timberline Trail. I wonder which route most PCT thru hikers use?
USGS_FS topo version.png
FS Interactive Map.png

Water: None right on McGee; lots on Timberline. None on Yocum for a long haul until just past the tarns, and a little near the end, or by descending to the little stream on the north side of the ridge (quite a ways further).

Bugs: Not an issue except near the tarns on Yocum.

Wildflowers: Spectacular - among the best I’ve seen.
Aster.JPG
Paintbrush more.JPG
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Covid: Many backpackers wearing masks - at least when passing. Being solo, I always try to pull aside first. I saw new FS signs at the PCT trailhead on my drive home.
IMG_2591.JPG
Summary: I had day hiked Yocum Ridge over a decade ago and now wanted to overnight there to enjoy what I consider to be one of Mt. Hood’s finest spots. The route from McGee to Yocum was chosen to largely avoid the Ramona Falls/Old Maid complex. Also I had never been on the short McGee trail and it had been years since I had hiked the Muddy Fork section of Timberline.

My outbound trip was great. No other hikers on McGee. It was way warmer than I like, in the mid 60’s early morning. I passed about 12 backpackers in 3-4 groups between the Tie-In on Bald Mt. and Yocum Ridge - all going CW while I was going CCW. Most were exuberant - perhaps starting out from Ramona.

Great to pass through Muddy Fork area on Timberline and look up at where the ancient Sandy Glacier volcano once was. I forgot how stunning the views here were.

Yocum 771 is very well graded and passes through fairly consistent forest for miles before opening up above the tarns. Several camp sites on the ridge and below on the north side bench - where I was. Was a warm but windy night so I was happy with my spot in the trees. About a dozen campers in four or so groups in the area.

I began my return early morning Thur with weather changing. As I re-crested Yocum Ridge the temperature dropped. I felt like it was a mild preview of fall - a nice bit of crispness.
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On the way back I looped back to see Ramona Falls and picked up some trash there using a baggy - cigarette lighter and a band aid. Also saw the old “leave dog pooh in a bag trick” (and two more of these on McGee). Dogs have been banned in Mt. Shasta Wilderness Area. Should we do the same on Hood? I’m tired of dog pooh or dog pooh bags. What’s the story?
Pooh.JPG
I regretted a little bothering to see Ramona Falls again. Sure it’s pretty but the general vicinity is so impacted and #797 is a depressingly dusty “are we there yet?” type of path.

So I was happy to hit PCT and leave Ramona behind. I took the two downed trees to cross Muddy Fork again. It was now raining and they looked slick, so I used the space between the two logs to stick my toes into and did a side-step across.
Muddy Fork PCT.JPG
Uneventful ascent up PCT back to Timberline. Descent on McGee super wet as a I brushed by all the berry bushes. Even with rain pants not my idea of fun. Plus my right boot leaked. I was glad to get back to the car.

All in all a great short adventure with its ups and downs.

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Chip Down
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Re: McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by Chip Down » August 12th, 2020, 4:13 pm

I agree McGee TH feels a bit sketchy, but as these things go, I think it's fairly safe. Remote enough to discourage casual thieves, while also attracting enough traffic that you're still around other decent folk.

Regarding glacier shrink, I wish to observe that the Coe terminus (lowest glacial ice on Hood) hasn't noticeably retreated in my years of hiking. I'm somewhat free of ideology, so I just offer that observation without trying to bolster any particular conclusion, other than to point out that alarmists might be exaggerating a bit.

Your boot leaked? I'm shocked! Let me guess, does the mfr claim it's "waterproof"?

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TwoPaw
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Re: McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by TwoPaw » August 13th, 2020, 7:05 am

Chip Down wrote:
August 12th, 2020, 4:13 pm
Regarding glacier shrink, I wish to observe that the Coe terminus (lowest glacial ice on Hood) hasn't noticeably retreated in my years of hiking. I'm somewhat free of ideology, so I just offer that observation without trying to bolster any particular conclusion, other than to point out that alarmists might be exaggerating a bit.
I was curious more than anything about this woman's observations. It's clear there is change. There are old photos of the Willamette with chunks of ice in it and charts that show Portland used to have several snow events per winter.

So I am interested in the qualitative as well as the quantitative change, especially in terms of snowfall and its retention on the mountain, but also the glaciers too, as USGS maps indicate the Timberline Trail used to cross fingers of glacial ice year round. How fun was that?

I know native Portlanders who as teens just drove out to Mt. Hood in early Summer and "climbed" the mountain because there was enough snow to do that. And there are those old pics of men and woman in black pants and dresses sauntering up the mountain - impossible today.

I remember hiking a regular trail into the Paradise Ice Caves in MRNP as a kid, and returning thirty or so years later to find them all gone. Apparently the 1950s and 60s were heavy snow years in the PNW and this paused ice shrinkage long enough to save the caves for me (and that's all that matters, right?)

I try to avoid labels like alarmist or denier because they tend to freeze people in their positions. I know my boots are waterproof - the mfr said so and the boot says so. When I felt the tickle of water on my toes, I then became an alarmist.

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sgyoung
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Re: McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by sgyoung » August 13th, 2020, 3:13 pm

There is relevant research that documents the unambiguous retreat of Hood's glaciers. The image below is from a paper by researchers at PSU published in 2007 (so retreat is likely even more noticeable now). It compared measured glacial extend in 1907 to 2004. Just thought this would be of interest given the discussion.

Image

The same researcher (Andrew Fountain) has published similar work on Mt Adams' glaciers, among a bunch of other glaciological research. It's interesting work.

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drm
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Re: McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by drm » August 16th, 2020, 6:30 pm

The best measure of glacial retreat is volume/thickness, but the location of the toe is easier to measure. There definitely are a small number of mountain glaciers that have not receded for a variety of reasons, but they are the exception.

I camped on Yocum Ridge some years ago and agree that it is a great place. But with so few camps I worry about going there and finding nothing available. And for me it is the far side of the mountain, another disincentive.

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retired jerry
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Re: McGee Creek to Yocum Ridge - The Iceman Goeth? (Aug 5-6)

Post by retired jerry » August 18th, 2020, 6:15 pm

The pct used to officially use the upper muddy fork crossing, but they changed it after the trail washed out where it traverses yocum ridge.

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