Elk Cove Trail

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drm
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Elk Cove Trail

Post by drm » August 12th, 2022, 5:04 pm

So since the road to Laurance Lake has been reopened I wanted to head up the Elk Cove Trail. Coming from The Dalles where I live, Laurance Lake happens to be the closest Mt Hood trailhead, though the others on SR35 aren't too much farther. I hiked up there yesterday morning, got to Elk Cove just before 1pm. After setting up camp and relaxing a bit, I headed out to do the Eden Park loop, which I hadn't done in years. Nice to be between heat waves.

Bugs were moderate to medium. Flies out during the day, mosquitoes at dusk and dawn. Not swarming any more though.
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Hiking up the Elk Cove trail burn
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The trail had been cleared just the week before - many logs here - thank you MHFS teams!
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still many glacier lilies
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more of everything else
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approaching Eden Park
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I assume this is actually Eden Park?
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hiking through more burn east of Cairn Basin
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some clouds gave even more relief from heat
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and of course plenty of seeded western pasque flower
Last edited by drm on August 13th, 2022, 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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adamschneider
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by adamschneider » August 12th, 2022, 5:57 pm

Yes, that's Eden Park.

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greglief
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by greglief » August 15th, 2022, 4:01 pm

Thank you for the TR and photos!

Did you take the third photo (the avalanche lilies) at Elk Cove, or somewhere along the TT between Elk Cove and Eden Park? If so, it is still VERY early in terms of the wildflower bloom.

Were there any other cars parked at the Elk Cove TH?

Greg

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drm
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by drm » August 16th, 2022, 8:06 am

The avalanche lily show was on the TT, pretty close to the Pinnacles junction I think. So a bit higher than Elk Cove. Aster and lupine were the big thing. Aster is at or past peak and lupine not there yet.

There was one other car at the TH when I started on Thur and about 10 when I came out on Friday. I would never do Elk Cove on a weekend. And there are tons of T-loopers up there too.

Note to CW loopers: campsites are sparse after Elk Cove and EC has few sites - better to stop at Cairn Basin, where there is a lot of space.

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retired jerry
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by retired jerry » August 16th, 2022, 8:21 am

There are some campsites off the Elk Cove Trail within 1/4 mile of the Timberline Trail.

If you go just past the Elk Cove meadow, clockwise on TT, there are a couple campsites above the TT.

When you pass Coe Creek and get back up to near 6000 feet, there are a couple streams with drinking water and several campsites before Eliot.

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drm
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by drm » August 16th, 2022, 3:05 pm

I forgot to mention that I got my first huckleberries of the season on the Elk Cove Trail. Not that near to Elk Cove itself, down a ways. There weren't that many, but it was my first taste of this hiking year. (slurping emoji needed here)

Jerry - I would assume that if EC was the desired destination, people are not going to want to go down to the Coe crossing and come back up. It's not a huge hill, but it is big enough at the end of the day. There are a scattering of camps going that way, but if you are in the CW Horde, who knows what you will find available. That's why I suggested Cairn Basin. I think it's one of the larger big flat camping areas on the TT - except maybe for Sandy/Ramona.

JBG
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by JBG » August 16th, 2022, 4:44 pm

Last week I found one of the biggest, juiciest, darkest hucklemberries I've ever seen in my life around there. I can't remember exactly where, but I remember the berry. There weren't a bunch; I guess a lot of them have been eaten, but they all looked and tasted amazing.

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retired jerry
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Re: Elk Cove Trail

Post by retired jerry » August 17th, 2022, 5:44 am

drm - I didn't mean to agree or disagree, I just listed the campsites that came to mind going CW from Elk Cove :)

yeah, not huge flat areas like near Ramona Falls or Cairn Basin.

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