Barrett Spur, 11/21/21
Posted: November 22nd, 2021, 10:56 pm
During the winter I mostly spend my time cross-country skiing, but I recently got a pair of snowshoes and I've been looking for an opportunity to put them to use. With my experience a year ago, seeing Hood once again draped in snow, and seeing the blue sky forecast for Sunday, I thought I might have an opportunity to use my snowshoes. I had visions of tromping across Vista Ridge through piles of fluffy snow.
But reality intruded. The last bit of snow on the mountain was on Wed or Thu, and Fri and Sat brought warm temperatures. Whatever snow was up there surely wasn't going to be fluffy, and it wasn't clear how much snow there even was. So I set out, with shoes strapped on my back, prepared to hoof it the whole way. Indeed, the trailhead had just a dusting of snow, although by timberline that had become 3-4 inches. The Vista Ridge trail was easily navigated in boots only, with ample tracks from the day before.
The open slopes up towards Barrett Spur looked windswept and I probably could have walked all the way up. But I wanted to give the snowshoes a try, so I strapped them on an hiked up one of the ravines that lead up from the timberline trail towards the large permanent snow field just below and north of the shoulder at the foot of BS. The snow was hard and crusty enough that I probably could have walked it in boots, but the snowshoes were fun, and made scaling some of the steeper parts easier. When I reached the wind swept rocky area near the top, I switched to microspikes.
The views were fantastic, as always. There was very little wind and it was in fact quite warm -- probably in the 40s. You could see the valleys below socked in clouds -- especially the gorge. I had toyed with the idea of hiking Lyle Orchard, and I'm glad I didn't because it looked socked in all day.
I met two of the three people I saw all day at the top -- I was shocked to see anyone up there.
To return, I dropped off the west side and followed the snow fields down towards the Timberline trail midway between Cairn basin and the Vista Ridge junction.
I followed these big cat tracks most of the way down. Cougar? Bobcat? Untracked Timberline trail back towards Vista Ridge.
Got a bit of a late start, so it was getting dark as I made it back to the TH. Perfect timing to catch the sunset. As always, a beautiful day on Wyeast mountain. I'm already scheming how to get back there this winter. I believe Lolo Pass Rd is gated at the junction with 1825 on Dec. 1. Is it possible to drive (conditions permitting) up to Vista Ridge TH from Hood River, or is FR18 gated somewhere in that direction too?