Tom Dick and Harry Mountain Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Mirror Lake Trailhead
- End Point: Tom Dick and Harry Mountain
- Trail Log: Trail Log
- Distance: 7.7 miles
- Elevation gain: 1460 feet
- High Point: 4,930 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: Summer into fall
- Family Friendly: Yes, for older kids
- Backpackable: Yes - camping at Mirror Lake
Contents |
Description
The Mirror Lake Trail has the misfortune of being one of the few hikes accessible directly from Highway 26, and thus suffers a crush of visitors on weekends. The attention is well-deserved: The always well-graded trail takes you past a picture-postcard view of Mount Hood from Mirror Lake and then enters the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness to ascend to the magnificent views from rugged Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. Most hikers go far as as the westernmost prominence on the ridge (Harry), but the new location of the Mirror Lake Trailhead also makes a loop more palatable as you won't have to hike down Highway 26 to reach your car.
From the plaza at the parking area, find the paved ADA trail that leads down a slope behind the restrooms. Six winding switchbacks descend to a wide footbridge over Camp Creek, where the paved section ends. You're in a secondary forest of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, silver fir, noble fir, and western red-cedar. Before Camp Creek, a pole-and-rail barrier prevents shortcutting at a switchback.
After Camp Creek, you're on a wide duff trail. Cross two footbridges over seasonally dry gullies. The next bridge crosses the creek that drains the Comerford Lakes. Rise gradually to cross more footbridges over trickling creeks that feed small bogs below. Rhododendrons enter the understory, and you'll see springboard notches on rotting stumps. The trail undulates along, passing over more bridges, and soon crosses Mirror Lake Creek. Cross an old logging road, and then bend sharp left to rise steeply and intersect the old tread which came up from the U.S. 26 trailhead. Whole trees have been felled over this path to decommission it.
Switchback on the narrower old tread, and pass a vine maple-verged patch of talus. Walk on another old logging road for a few yards, pass through a devil's club thicket, and switchback up twice to where a new pole-and-rail fence prevents cutting corners. Reach the Mirror Lake-Mirror Lake Shore Trail North Junction, and go left to begin your clockwise tour around Mirror Lake.
Cross a single log footbridge over Mirror Lake Creek, and then emerge from the woods at an open bracken slope above Mirror Lake itself. Pass through a thicket of Sitka alder, ocean spray, and boxwood to get views up to the crags of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. There are various short spurs that access the lake shore. Washington lilies and penstemon bloom here. On the south shore, you'll see a set of steps leading down. Silver fir, Alaska yellow-cedar, and western red-cedar shade a well-trodden flat here. Cross a rocky stream bed, and see where a trail leads down to the shore for the iconic views you see in many photographs. The reflection of Mount Hood is perfect on a still day without a whisper of a breeze. When it's windy, expect a more Impressionist effect. The Shore Trail continues around to a two-plank boardwalk through a spiraea/willow swamp, where you'll get more views on Mount Hood. When you reach the Mirror Lake-Mirror Lake Shore Trail South Junction, make a sharp left to begin the ascent to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain.
The route continues through handsome forest, thick with pink rhododendrons in early summer, before reaching the steep north slopes of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. This section of trail is lush with wildflowers in summer, and features unusual views of Highway 26, far below, as well as Mount Hood and the Zigzag Mountain high country. The trail continues along this slope, gradually climbing to a broad crest, where a huge rock cairn at 3.3 miles marks a switchback toward the summit. From the cairn, continue at an easy grade along the ridgetop through open lodgepole forest for a half mile before reaching a steep, more rocky section of trail as you near the west or Harry summit of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain.
The final pitch is up an open rocky crest, where the view is dominated by Mount Hood and Mirror Lake, far below. On the northern skyline, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams can be seen on a clear day. The view also includes Mount Jefferson to the south, and the high, wild ridge tops of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness to the southwest. The village of Government Camp and Timberline Lodge are also visible from this airy viewpoint. Golden-mantled ground squirrels and pikas scuttle about on the slopes of platy andesite.
Making a loop:
A rough trail leads along the ridge through lodgepole pines and blooming lupine and lousewort. You'll pass the craggy buttress of Dick and then reach the summit of Tom Peak in a cross-country ski corridor known as Treviso's Traverse. You'll get views to the Comerford Lakes below, and pass interpretive signs on the local wildlife and vegetation. You'll join a road near Skibowl Peak and the top of the Upper Sky Chair. Descending the road, pass the Skyline Road-Wind Lake Trail Junction (See the Wind Lake-Multorpor Fen Loop Hike.). Here you can make a side trip to Wind Lake, about half a mile away. You can use roads to get back through the Ski Bowl West area to the Mirror Lake Trailhead. Do NOT use mountain bike trails!
Maps
Trip Reports
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Related Discussions / Q&A
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Guidebooks that cover this hike
60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Portland, by Paul Gerald
More Links
Page Contributors
- Splintercat (Tom Kloster) (primary)