- Mt. Hood from Cooper Spur
A buddy and I took advantage of the first really good spring weekend to pop up to Cooper Spur. The forecast called for warm weather, clear skies, and calm winds. On a lot of the spur the winds turned out to be a little more than I would call "calm", but two out of three ain't bad.
We started around 7am, just before sunrise. The road to the Tilly Jane snopark was no trouble, mostly clear but with some spots of snow/slush/ice in shaded areas towards the top. Snow conditions were good the whole way up. Started with just boots, but quickly donned microspikes for better grip on the hard packed early morning snow. Winds were calm in the trees, but in the exposed bits of burn zone between the trailhead and the Tilly Jane A-frame the winds were stronger. We took a short break at the A-frame to switch out our spikes for snowshoes, as the snow was softening.
- Wilderness boundary just past the A-frame
Above the tree line, we were at the full mercy of the wind. It was coming out of the southwest, and the snow blowing off the top of the spur gave us a preview of what we were in for.
- "Maybe it will be less windy at the top"
We took another quick break at the shelter, where we stashed our snowshoes and once again put on spikes for the last push to the top of the spur.
- Cooper Spur shelter and Mt. Hood
Snow conditions on the spur were well suited for spikes. Hard packed but never icy. We had ice axes just to be on the safe side, but poles would have been sufficient. Unlikely as it seemed, the wind was actually calmer at the top of the spur, not as strong or consistent as lower down near the shelter. My best guess is that most of the wind was going around the spur, rather than up and over it. In any case it was much more pleasant than expected, so we lingered for several minutes to take in the views. Mt. Hood was magnificent. The three Washington volcanoes were all out as well. And it was exceptionally clear to the south, down to Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters beyond.
- Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters
The trip down was much faster the ascent, with lots of plunge stepping and a little glissading. We detoured over to the lip of Eliot glacier moraine for some more pictures.
- Washington volcanoes over the lower Eliot glacier
We had lunch back at the shelter, and chatted with some of the dozen or so skiers we saw throughout the day, before strapping our snowshoes back on for the rest of the descent.
- Typical trail conditions on the descent
