Green Mt., Camas, WA Thursday, Feb. 22

[Don Nelsen]

This is a nice little hike located at the north end of the Green Mt. residential community a mile and half north of Lacamas Lake. A few of the locals have been working on a trail system since early last year and have done a great job putting in a route to the summit of this nicely forested area.

I got only about 2 ½ inches of snow at my NW Vancouver home overnight Wed. through Thursday morning so had to head out to find something more interesting. I read on the news that there was way more snow farther east so decided to take a look. It was interesting driving and I saw multiple accidents along the way, but with some care had no problem arriving at the TH.

Typical scene along the way:


The road:


The wind was relentless, but I came prepared and plowed through a two-foot drift at the start of the trail, I saw a few tracks made by a previous hiker but mostly the route was drifted over and appeared untracked. Those few tracks went about a quarter mile then turned around, so I had the mountain, and the 8”+ deep snow all to myself.

The start:


I headed for the viewpoint first and enjoyed the view overlooking the Green Mt. community and farther out towards Prune Hill and Mt. hood. I didn’t stay long due to a rather brisk wind chill.

The sign at the viewpoint junction:


At the viewpoint:



Then it was up the trail to the summit. The last section of the route, along an old logging road was a real challenge. Every 50 to 100 foot of forward travel was interrupted by small trees and branches over the trail. I had to either crash through or even get down on hands and knees to get past, but I love a challenge and finally made the summit.




Not wanting to re-do the crawling part of my route up, I opted for a variation on my return. I went north from the summit and took some trails bypassing the problem area. This turned out to be a bit of a route-finding problem with the trails hard to distinguish under drifting snow. Crossing the powerline corridor was most interesting with drifts past my knees as I post holed my way through. Still, it turned out better than the alternative and soon I rejoined the main trail and got back to the TH.

First tracks:


3.2 miles, 846’ EG. Hike number 23 for the year.

[bobcat]

That's an interesting perspective on Green Mountain. Not sure what trails connect connect around from the north, though.

I was "snowed in" in SW Portland. The city closed the main street in and out of my hilly neighborhood, so I resorted to skis straight out of my house for a couple of days.

[Don Nelsen]

Bobcat, here are a couple of maps that will help. The first shows current property ownership and tracks for many of my hikes. The only public entrance for the east side trails is from 28th St. Parking is limited. There are a few other spots you could get dropped off and hike but there's no parking.



Here's a cleaned-up version eliminating some bushwhacks and showing the viable routes the city and county approve of. They are still working on the trail system and don't want folks up there building trails or going off-trail.
The private property connection isn't recommended but it is in common use to connect the two sides of the area. Though private, it's unoccupied and unposted.

The trail in red on the west side is 3.0 miles out-and-back. 4/10 mile less if you don't go out to the viewpoint. The east side trails total 6.5 miles in all with many loops possible.



dn