Vista Ridge / Eden Park loop 8/23

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pdxgene
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Vista Ridge / Eden Park loop 8/23

Post by pdxgene » August 23rd, 2011, 6:42 pm

Under a steady and annoying drizzle I met up with ( I'm terrible at names so I'm apologizing for blowing any ahead of time) Jim, Joan, JoAnn and Cindy out in Sandy for the ride out to Vista Ridge where the skies were clear and blue for our arrival. After wandering thru the forest up the ridge at a mostly gentle grade (the easiest and shortest Timberline Trail access other than driving to the lodge) the first really good views of Mt Hood pop out just past the Eden Park trail junction at 5,700'..
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From there down towards Eden Park. but not without the first, and easier, bridgeless crossing of Ladd Creek..
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Mt Hood from Eden Park at 5,500'..
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The wildflowers in Eden Park pretty much hadn't even started yet but were much nicer in Cairn Basin, 5,660'..
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Thanx to the 12 second timer and a rather flat rock to balance the camera on..Group shot in Cairn Basin
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The second bridgeless Ladd Creek crossing. No real easy answers here. I liked it a bit better just in front of the medium sized boulder mid-picture. But that gave me time to take these..
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Mt Admas and the tippy top of Mt Rainier from the Timberline Trail..
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We were hoping to have time to head the quick two miles to Elk Cove but the creek crossings slowed things down enough that there just wasn't enough time without getting back to the trailhead later than we really wanted to.
A last look at Mt Hood from the road leaving the trailhead..
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Bunches more of the rest of the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/VistaRidge16
Thanx to all for a fantastic day in the alpine meadows on the north side of Hood!!

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Splintercat
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Re: Vista Ridge / Eden Park loop 8/23

Post by Splintercat » August 23rd, 2011, 8:28 pm

Great photos, Gene -- flowers looking darned nice up there, too! It's going to be a great July... er... September this year..! :lol:

-Tom :)

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Guy
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Re: Vista Ridge / Eden Park loop 8/23

Post by Guy » August 23rd, 2011, 8:30 pm

Love the Creek Crossing Pics - Even though I hate wet feet :^)..
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

pdxgene
Posts: 5073
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Vista Ridge / Eden Park loop 8/23

Post by pdxgene » August 23rd, 2011, 8:40 pm

Hey, thanx.
Tom... Your signs are still up and looking good going the other way this year.

It's a really good idea to have something sturdy to plant in the water on that second crossing (if you go the Eden Park first way). The current is very strong.

Almost zero bugs, just a few black flies after we sat down for lunch. Not even close to needing to apply spray. There didn't even seem to be mosquitoes in soggy meadow areas.

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