Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Happy Summertime!!! The Topspur trailhead is ‘open for business’!
And McNeil Point is as lovely as ever.
There are several ways to get to this trailhead; I took Lolo Pass road (Road 18) North from Zigzag, then right (South) at Lolo Pass on paved Road 1828 (Last Chance Mountain Road) for about 3 miles, then that sharp, sharp left up the dusty and washboardy - but very serviceable - Topspur Road (1828-118) to the (well-signed) trailhead. This route is snow-free all the way now, with no washouts, landslides, blowdowns, or other significant obstacles.
Even an ‘itty-bitty city car’ can make it now... but keep your eyes peeled! There are several very-non-trivial potholes and road-cracks (some looking nastier than I remember from last year), and some of these could probably blow out a tire (maybe even dent a wheel) if you were driving ‘the speed limit’, including one or two on the Lolo Pass Road. Just ‘cause it has pavement doesn’t mean it’s a highway! Naturally, some of these road hazards are right at a corner, where the sun suddenly shines in your eyes.
So you can hike to McNeil Point now:
...if you don’t mind hiking on snow a long ways, and orienteering through the woods until you get out onto the open ridgetop.
The snow starts on the trail almost immediately, then goes away... then comes back, goes away, comes back again... a bunch of times.
The trail is completely melted out for long stretches in some places, and is nearly impossible to follow for long stretches in others, though route-finding is very straightforward (be sure to bring a good map). The woods here are littered with surveyor’s tape... some of which is near the trailbed. The easiest stretch for losing the trail was from the junction of the PCT and the Timberline Trail (just after the Topspur Trail hits the PCT) to the McGee Creek Trail junction. I lost the trail nearly every time I found it... but I found it (fortunately) exactly one more time than I lost it. After all, you can’t practice getting *un-lost*... if you don’t get yourself a little bit lost from time to time.
If you don’t like hiking a long ways on snow, or orienteering in the woods with no landmarks (except the ridgeline to follow)... here are few photos to keep you inspired until the snow melts out to your satisfaction. Anyone heading up there before the snow melts (and it’s melting fast)... good luck! You may have the place to yourself. I saw no fresh prints (human) in the snow anywhere along the way.
Happy hiking!
Peter
Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Re: Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Very timely report! Yeah! Open for business! My goodness, what is it? The second week in July? Love your moon shot. And kudos to mother nature on the Yokum waterfalls - I simply cannot get enough of glacier-fed waterfalls
Re: Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Hehe, I've never heard it put that way, but good point! Some interesting info on conditions here. I wonder how many have ventured up this way already? Must've been nice having the solitude. Nice work.bush_marmot wrote:After all, you can’t practice getting *un-lost*... if you don’t get yourself a little bit lost from time to time.
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Re: Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Wahoo! My favorite place on the mountain. Well, at least one of my favorite places.
Last edited by Waffle Stomper on July 11th, 2008, 10:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir
Re: Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Great pictures! I love that area.
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Re: Topspur To McNeil Pont 7/9/08
Thanks for the report, Bush Marmot - nice to see the snow gradually melting up there!
Since this thread will probably get a few views, I wanted to post a plea to anyone hiking on the mountain while the snow is still melting:
Don't detour snow patches by walking around them on open ground!
Instead, do your best to stay above the actual trail. This trail, and several others on Hood, have suffered from mini-detours being beat into meadows adjacent to the trail that began as detours around lingering snow. This goes for downfall, as well. Climb over, don't detour around, if at all possible.
Thanks... wanted to get that out of my system..!
Tom
Since this thread will probably get a few views, I wanted to post a plea to anyone hiking on the mountain while the snow is still melting:
Don't detour snow patches by walking around them on open ground!
Instead, do your best to stay above the actual trail. This trail, and several others on Hood, have suffered from mini-detours being beat into meadows adjacent to the trail that began as detours around lingering snow. This goes for downfall, as well. Climb over, don't detour around, if at all possible.
Thanks... wanted to get that out of my system..!
Tom