- Mt Hood
As pdxalex noted in their TR, trails are in great condition, I didn't see any ticks, and I didn't see any poison oak leafing out yet. At one point while descending the Labyrinth connector trail and seeing the CC parking lot filled with cars twinkling in the distance, I too remarked on how relatively empty the trails seemed. I only occasionally crossed paths with another hiker. Using the trails higher up the slopes helps distance oneself from the crowds I suspect.
I started by taking the newish Catherine Creek trail (I think that's what the sign said) that departs the main trail to the right and quickly crosses Catherine Creek on a newish foot bridge. I followed this trial through a veritable flower-filled rock garden, resplendent with grass widows, yellow bells, two varieties of saxifrage, blue eyed Mary, and gold star (I think). Also saw purple Columbia desert parsley and a yellow variety, either Klickitat or "pungent" (which apparently itself could be L. papilioniferum or L. greyi -- I'm not quite sure which is likely seen in the gorge, and I can't tell either one from the Klickitat variety.) (As a further aside, pungent desert parsley is described as "malodorous", but I quite like the smell of desert parsley on the wind.)
- Grass Widow
- Yellow Bells
- Gold Star (?)
- rock garden with a view
- Corral
The route angles off from the 4WD track and heads slightly downhill in the forest on a very obvious and quite wide track. In places it's quite clear that a small dozer was used to scrape the trail. The trail soon heads slightly uphill again and rises through the woods beside Roland creek. Eventually the trail crosses the creek and joins an old logging road bed. From here it climbs to a large open staging area with a gravel road joining from the west. A boot track leads south from this open area and more or less follows the ridge line, south and down hill. The path is right at the edge between the oak forest to the west and the fir forest climbing out of the creek canyon, and so avoids most of the poison oak spread throughout the oak forest. Soon you will notice open pockets of meadow in the oak forest on your left, which is your invitation to leave the boot path and simply wander down through the meadows.
Whether you stay on the boot path or choose your own route through the meadows, you will arrive to a bluff overlooking the Atwood trail. The boot path, rather unwisely, descends straight down the nose of this bluff. Better I think to head to the right and follow a gentler slope down. You will probably pick up traces of another boot path used by people heading up from the Atwood Trail to explore the oak meadows. Just wind your way down through this ponderosa and oak park, enjoying the views until you join the Atwood Trail.
- User trail above Sunshine Hill, yellow
After rejoining the Atwood trail, I took the Labyrinth connector trail to the desert parsley trail to Roland Wall, joining the Catherine Creek trail for the final bit back to the parking lot.
Glorious day in the Gorge, with promises for more this spring.
