Cooper Spur Hike on Mt Hood- 9/16/2012

[sparkpilot]

We spent the last two weekends hiking to McNeil Point, Eden Park, Cairn Basin and Wy East Basin etc.. via the Timberline Trail, Mazama Trail (on Cathedral Ridge) then finally two trips up Vista Ridge. Having covered that entire sector we decided to head to Owl Point on Saturday 9/15/2012 which was a whole different kind of beautiful. On the way up, we bumped into a great bunch of guys from Portland Hikers; Mayhem and Friends (didn't get all of their names). They had just found a geocache. My camera batteries died so I couldn't get a pic of them. Anyway, they gave us a whole bunch of new hikes to explore and two of them needed to happen soon; Paradise Park and Cooper Spur. I would have needed to eliminate two mandatory cups of coffee on Sunday morning to leave in time for Paradise so we headed to Cooper Spur. It was amazing and because the hike starts at 6000 ft... the scenery gets beautiful right away. The trail starts at Cloud Cap campground and heads "up". After a while, it continues up and from there you keep going up but it's well worth it. Side Note about the geocache: I added a Smokey the Bear whistle and a pink sharpie.

Trail heading through stunted Krumholtz trees and flowers seemed like something out of an old Star Trek episode.

Mayhem took this photo after we all met on the trail the day before our Cooper Spur Hike. They were heading off to Vista Ridge that day. I found the photo on Eric Peterson's Trip Report. Such a pleasure meeting all these people!

You get to the treeline pretty quickly since the hike starts at 6000 ft.

Cooper Spur sign

Lots of snow on this side of the mountain. Smoke from forest fires makes the pics a bit hazy though.

Riley can obtain a snack from any hiker with this expression

Matt proves that his addiction with Solitaire has gone too far when he discovers there is wifi up there

The shelter at Cooper Spur is in way better shape than the one at McNeil

It was sunny and beautiful and about 65 degrees

A blue orb from a dis-embodied hiker appears in one of our photos. We submitted it to Ghost Hunters

Thanks to the guys from Portland Hikers for telling us about Cooper Spur

[Roy]

Wow you guys got right to our number one pick I try get there every year in the fall Ive seen fox a couple of times near the shelter. By the way I was Tom not surprising you remember only one name.

He is hard to forget.

[sparkpilot]

Wow you guys got right to our number one pick I try get there every year in the fall Ive seen fox a couple of times near the shelter. By the way I was Tom not surprising you remember only one name.

He is hard to forget.

75fd547d.jpg

Tom, Thanks so much for all of the helpful info up there and for the note here. We decided we needed to connect at this awesome site after meeting you all! It was such a blast of energy connecting on the trail.

We needed a little longer last Sunday to go as high as we wanted at Cooper Spur so we think we're heading out again this weekend to get up to the snow fields and beyond...so amazing up there. Thanks again!

[Dustin DuBois]

Hey I remember you guys! I was the pudgy green-shirted guy. Glad to see you guys got right up there! Even more glad to see that you came to the forums and posted! Looks like you guys had a nice hike.

Welcome to the forums! Stick around and we'll see ya on the trails.

[hike4fun]

That is awesome! It looks absolutely beautiful up there! How long did it take you and what do you think the total EG was? I am dying to get up to McNeil Point. But Cooper Spur is hitting the 'must do' list. Thanks!

[sparkpilot]

Hey I remember you guys! I was the pudgy green-shirted guy. Glad to see you guys got right up there! Even more glad to see that you came to the forums and posted! Looks like you guys had a nice hike.

Welcome to the forums! Stick around and we'll see ya on the trails.

Dustin, I remember you and thanks so much for helping set the tone for an awesome day both at Owl Point and Cooper Spur. C.S was breath-taking. Can't wait to get back there soon. We will definitely be sticking around the forums too. Have read about many more hikes to go on at this site...

Thanks again!

[Eric Peterson]

Hey guys, I said hi to you down at the parking area of Vista Ridge when you guys were
getting ready to go meet my TFF's Mayhem and gang!

Mayhem loves to recruit new members for PH!

[sparkpilot]

That is awesome! It looks absolutely beautiful up there! How long did it take you and what do you think the total EG was? I am dying to get up to McNeil Point. But Cooper Spur is hitting the 'must do' list. Thanks!

Thank you! It was beautiful and we just scratched the surface. I believe the elevation gain is 2600 ft for the whole trail; maybe about half that to get to the shelter. Cloud Cap camp ground (where the trail head is) is great! Rustic but still with running water for drinking.

[sparkpilot]

Hey guys, I said hi to you down at the parking area of Vista Ridge when you guys were
getting ready to go meet my TFF's Mayhem and gang!

Mayhem loves to recruit new members for PH!

Eric, yeah! I remember you! Weren't you the person with a really nice brown dog with a pack? As you can see it ended up being a great day which lead to another great day and more in the near future.

It's such a pleasure to meet all you guys! Lots of fun

[Eric Peterson]

I think they guy with the brown lab was in the green car at the end of the lot, I was the tall
guy that looked grumpy and left in a hurry But, I didn't peel out in that dusty lot!!