| I had the honor of accompanying Paul Gerald on this hike he was doing to do to gather more research for his upcoming books. After a Starbucks stop and car fueled (it's about an hour and half drive from Portland) we headed to Lost Lake.
Directions: I-84 east from Portland, then take exit 62/W at Hood River. Turn right at the end of the off-ramp, and then take an immediate right onto Country Club Rd. Three miles later this road ends, take a left onto Barrett Drive. After 1.3 miles turn right onto Tucker Road, which turns into Dee Highway. Drive 8.5 miles then turn right onto Lost Lake Rd. (FS 13). The road is paved but windy, keep following the Lost Lake signs, and in about 13-14 miles you'll come to the resort store and parking area.(We were uncertain of day use regulations this time of year, just hung Forest Pass in window).
The day was sunny, crisp and beautiful, with just patches of fog and mist departing the lake as we got there. We headed off counterclockwise on the Lake Shore Trail, seeing no other hikers, but two fishermen were floating on the glassy, quiet lake.
There's many old-growth trees along the trail - Douglas, Silver Firs, Western Hemlocks and Western Red Cedars. (Wendell Wood, author of �A Walking Guide to Oregon's Ancient Forests� calls this the �Nicest ancient forest left on the Hood River Ranger District....if rated like restaurants, this one would receive five stars!�)
After 2 miles, we came to the Huckleberry Mountain trail (#617) and turned up this. (You also can pick up this trail at a TH on FS road 620, a spur off FS road 1340 south of Lost Lake). We started climbing a little on this trail, gaining close to 800' elevation from Lost Lake, once we connected with the PCT after 2.3 miles. We continued on the PCT heading west/ northwest, soon with snow covering sections of the trail, a couple inches deep. This follows a ridge above the Bull Run Watershed boundary (south side of this trail), and you'll see several yellow signs posted along the way saying to keep out of that area.
But, this trail-user didn't heed - these tracks seemed to come down from the watershed ridge, and continued about 50-100 feet on our trail ahead of us, then disappeared, possibly detouring down the side of the hill, whew!
There are occasional glimpses of Lost Lake from the PCT ,
as well as of Lost Lake Butte,
We were on the PCT for 3.3 miles, gaining a little over 500' elev., then reaching the Buck Peak trail (the sign post is laying on the ground - ?) The trail was only half a mile climb, but very overgrown with dense shrubbery and branch bows. It ends at a tree with not one, but two signs telling you that you're at �Buck Peak� ( at 4751 '), and you arrive at an incredible, rocky viewpoint! There's some rusty remnants of a lookout structure a few careful paces to the north, and we relished views of Mt's Jefferson to the south, Adams and Rainier to the north,
and Mt. Hood and Lost Lake to the east:
Mt. Hood from Buck Peak:
The sun was warm here and little wind, perfect for lounging and snacks and picture taking � but it was already 2:30pm and we had over 6 miles back to the Lake. Once we got back down, we continued a mile and � or so on the Old Growth Trail, which runs up but a bit away from the lake, often on boardwalks with signs educating hikers on the ecology of this area. When we neared the campground area, we heard....a trumpet? Drums? And the voices of young people laughing and playing games � there was some sort of group camp event we guessed. Back at the car we were ready to sit for awhile:), headed back to Portland, but stopped for a leg stretch and hot beverages in Hood River.
A great day of hiking � pretty lakes and big ol'trees, super views, snow stomping and fun camaraderie � thanks Paul!
(According to Paul's GPS, we did 15.6 miles, total elev. Gain about 2500 feet.)
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Jane: