Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

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VanMarmot
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Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by VanMarmot » July 3rd, 2013, 7:15 pm

Karl's excellent TR of his recent hike of Yocum Ridge (Yocum Ridge) inspired me to see if snow conditions would let me get above 6400' on the upper part of the ridge. Maybe the snow wouldn't oblige but the view from 6400' itself is well worth the hike. I was off early from the Ramona Falls TH, over the Sandy River bridge,

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past the iconic Falls,

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and on up the Yocum Ridge trail to a view point for Rainier and Adams at 5800'.

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The trail was in good condition and snow free until 5800'. The trail contours SE at this point and if you try to follow it, you'll reach some good views of the falls on the upper Sandy, as Karl did. But there's a use trail, now obscured by snow, that goes NE up the ridge. It wasn't evident today, so I just turned left (NE) and uphill from the trail (arrow) and headed up.

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Within about 0.3 mi, I reached the top of the ridge, with its full-on view of the SW face of Hood.

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The only snow I had to deal with on this hike was from where I gained the ridge (arrow) up past the campsites to the 6400' level.

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There are a couple of campsites with amazing views tucked into the trees along the ridge - I'd met someone coming up who was eagar to claim one for the weekend.

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Once again, I'd come too early in the season to climb safely as high on the ridge as I'd hoped, so I settled for climbing up to the top of the ridge at 6400' and had lunch there along with views of Hood,

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the falls,

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and Jefferson and Olallie Butte.

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I made a small loop out of this part of the hike by descending through the little meadow below the campsites on the ridge,

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past a little rapidly drying pond,

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and on down to rejoin the Yocum Ridge trail about where I'd left it at 5800', pausing to view the flowers along the way.

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The sun had reached the face of Ramona Falls as I passed it on the way back, so I just had to take a few more photos.

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Then one last look at Hood,

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with a view of my lunch spot (arrow) on Yocum Ridge,

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then across the bridge,

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and back to the TH. Classic hike (17 mi, 4000' EG), no crowds, bluebird weather, great views - winner! :D Maybe one of these years I'll time it right with the snow and finally get above 6400'! :roll: Or I'll find my ice axe which got packed away during our recent move and hasn't resurfaced yet!

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kepPNW
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by kepPNW » July 3rd, 2013, 7:22 pm

Nice!!!!!!!! If those clouds hadn't been persistent on the summit, I definitely would've pushed on. Now I see what I would've missed had I done it that day. Okay, I reappraise my initial appraisal. I will go back again! :D
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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LexLuthier
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by LexLuthier » July 4th, 2013, 10:14 pm

Great pics!! Thanks for sharing. I've been curious about the snow up there. I want to do a night or two up there soon.

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CraigG
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by CraigG » July 5th, 2013, 9:53 am

Greetings -

Excellent TR! Thanks for the info. Could you provide the GPS track please - I am interested in your loop at the top of the hike.

Thanks,
CraigG

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Peder
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by Peder » July 5th, 2013, 9:54 am

Great pictures, I like you idea of the upper small loop. I was across from you on McNeil Ridge the same day enjoying the beautiful weather and views.
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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VanMarmot
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by VanMarmot » July 6th, 2013, 7:09 am

LexLuthier wrote:Great pics!! Thanks for sharing. I've been curious about the snow up there. I want to do a night or two up there soon.
You should be able to get all the way to the campsites on the ridge without encountering any significant snow. One of the sites (shown in my TR) is completely clear of snow, the other has a ways to go yet. This has got to be one of the sweetest campsites on the mountain!

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VanMarmot
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by VanMarmot » July 6th, 2013, 7:31 am

CraigG wrote:Greetings -

Excellent TR! Thanks for the info. Could you provide the GPS track please - I am interested in your loop at the top of the hike.

Thanks,
CraigG
I sent you a PM about this but have now attached the gps track to the TR - hopefully you can download it from there.

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CraigG
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by CraigG » July 8th, 2013, 4:10 pm

Greetings -

Thanks for the GPS track!

BTW - I went out on the Yocum Ridge trail to about 6300ft on Saturday Jul-06. No significant snow to 6300ft. Congrats on getting up that snow headwall on the north side of the ridge! I stopped my group short of that as I was leading a Meetup hike that day and we had reached our high point.
I did find another access point in the southeast corner of "The Sound of Music" meadow at 6000ft. If you scramble up the steep grassy area on the SE corner of the meadow, there is a slight trail onto the upper section of the ridge. Its steep - I followed it to the edge of the forested area on the south side of the upper ridge and came back down.
What a great hike! Thanks for all the TRs! I would not have tried it this early in the season otherwise.

I tested the ridge headon from the west side at 6200ft - at first, seemed doable up the steep snow but I started postholing which seemed dangerous since I couldn't gauge the terrain underneath the snow.
I think the best approach is to follow the upper ridge parallel to the north side of the ridge, going up the glacier then cutting "up" (south) the "back" end of the ridge past about 7000 ft? The upper ridge between 6300 and 7000ft seems razor thin and rather rough on terms of terrain? I don't have enough experience to say that with any confidence though ;) I was wondering if anybody has followed Yocum Ridge from 6200' to above 7000ft? What is that like? I don't mind ridge walking and a little scrambling on the ridge. However, I dont want to be scaling wet, sharp, big rocks on a knife ridge (and sliding/falling).

I plan to go back later in the summer, but the snowmelt already seemed quite advanced for this time of year -

Thanks again!
CraigG

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xrp
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by xrp » July 8th, 2013, 5:50 pm

Great pics and report.

Mosquitoes/bugs?

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MarkQ
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Re: Yocum Ridge to 6400' 03-Jul-2013

Post by MarkQ » July 8th, 2013, 8:30 pm

I just got back from a hike up to Yocum Ridge and also stopped in the same spot due to snow on the ridge. It seemed to risky to press on, one slip and down you go. The mosquitoes and bugs weren't bad but I found the bees annoying. Why do they constantly buzz me and fly orbits around me? This went on for hours. Here is a pic where I stopped.
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