Gnarl Ridge & Elk Meadows 24-Oct-09
Posted: October 25th, 2009, 4:52 pm
Saturday’s weather was near perfect for a hike up Gnarl Ridge and a big view of the east side of Mt. Hood. I started from the Clark Creek Sno-Park off Highway 35 and took the Clark Creek trail a mile up to the Elk Meadows trail. The Clark Creek Trail has suffered a lot of washouts and is in pretty poor shape (but not too hard to follow) for most of its length. How much washing-out has occurred is more obvious where the Clark Creek and Elk Meadows trail intersect.
The Elk Meadows Trail was a highway by comparison and soon I was making an easy low-water crossing of Newton Creek on a considerably less fancy “bridge” than the one over Clark Creek.
I by-passed Elk Meadows on the way up Gnarl Ridge and was soon rewarded with views of Adams to the north
Jefferson and the Three Sisters to the south
and Hood directly before me.
Conditions on the ridge were near perfect – sunny and crisp, but with little wind (SO different from the times I’ve climbed Hood from the other side). The thousands of feet view down into Newton Creek was amazing.
After lunch and many, many photos of the intricate tracings carved by the wind in the dead pines,
I headed back to the trailhead via a tour around Elk Meadows, with a visit to the shelter
and the classic view of the meadows framed by Mt. Hood.
All in all, one of those truly memorable days on the trail. Next time I might consider skipping the Clark Creek trail in favor of the Elks Meadows trail the whole way and making the loop that has you crossing Newton Creek higher up on the Timberline Trail.
The Elk Meadows Trail was a highway by comparison and soon I was making an easy low-water crossing of Newton Creek on a considerably less fancy “bridge” than the one over Clark Creek.
I by-passed Elk Meadows on the way up Gnarl Ridge and was soon rewarded with views of Adams to the north
Jefferson and the Three Sisters to the south
and Hood directly before me.
Conditions on the ridge were near perfect – sunny and crisp, but with little wind (SO different from the times I’ve climbed Hood from the other side). The thousands of feet view down into Newton Creek was amazing.
After lunch and many, many photos of the intricate tracings carved by the wind in the dead pines,
I headed back to the trailhead via a tour around Elk Meadows, with a visit to the shelter
and the classic view of the meadows framed by Mt. Hood.
All in all, one of those truly memorable days on the trail. Next time I might consider skipping the Clark Creek trail in favor of the Elks Meadows trail the whole way and making the loop that has you crossing Newton Creek higher up on the Timberline Trail.