Winter hike on Silver Star via Grouse Vista 12/23/20
Posted: December 28th, 2020, 2:18 pm
This is my first trip report!
Super excited to be a contributor and not just a reader.
I was watching the mountain forecast leading up to our hike on 12/23/20 and we set out on a day that was blue bird clear skies and 5mph wind.
Getting to the hike was no problem. We left Portland around 10, so some roads were slightly icy from being in the morning shade. The last road L1200 is gravel for a few miles, but the its pleasantly packed with few potholes.
The beginning of the hike was more like walking up a rocky stream with all the snow melting for the sun, but after than you're walking on packed snow. We brought micro spikes but were in no need of them. We did take a little detour from the packed snow and hiked on an old trail (I think) that went on the east side of Pyramid walk and had beautiful views of Mt. Hood. But we were tramping through a foot or two of untouched snow and while it was very trail like, the last part before it met back up with Grouse Vista trail was very overgrown and a bit adventurous. If you want to stay on packed snow, definitely keep left when you come across the first big rock structure.
The summit was INCREDIBLE on a clear day, you could see Mt. Hood, Jefferson way out in the distance, Helens, Rainer and Adams. I was quite warm the whole hike, especially with all the elevation you hike up. The summit of course is windy but there are not the exposed, windy ridges you get from hiking up along Ed's Trail to the summit on the northside.
Super excited to be a contributor and not just a reader.
I was watching the mountain forecast leading up to our hike on 12/23/20 and we set out on a day that was blue bird clear skies and 5mph wind.
Getting to the hike was no problem. We left Portland around 10, so some roads were slightly icy from being in the morning shade. The last road L1200 is gravel for a few miles, but the its pleasantly packed with few potholes.
The beginning of the hike was more like walking up a rocky stream with all the snow melting for the sun, but after than you're walking on packed snow. We brought micro spikes but were in no need of them. We did take a little detour from the packed snow and hiked on an old trail (I think) that went on the east side of Pyramid walk and had beautiful views of Mt. Hood. But we were tramping through a foot or two of untouched snow and while it was very trail like, the last part before it met back up with Grouse Vista trail was very overgrown and a bit adventurous. If you want to stay on packed snow, definitely keep left when you come across the first big rock structure.
The summit was INCREDIBLE on a clear day, you could see Mt. Hood, Jefferson way out in the distance, Helens, Rainer and Adams. I was quite warm the whole hike, especially with all the elevation you hike up. The summit of course is windy but there are not the exposed, windy ridges you get from hiking up along Ed's Trail to the summit on the northside.