McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

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kepPNW
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McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by kepPNW » July 15th, 2013, 6:09 pm

Wasn't sure I'd be able to get out at all last weekend, but managed to find some free hours on Saturday, and talked Crusak into coming along to see Mount Hood up close! Went somewhere neither of us had ever been before, and I think we both found it to offer an absolutely incredible return on the energy invested in getting there. Just two weeks earlier, I'd traveled up the parallel Yocum Ridge, and was thoroughly unimpressed, by comparison.

We decided to meet at the Zigzag Ranger Station at 7:00am, and leave one rig there rather than drive both of them up to Top Spur. I had called the ZZ folks the day before, and when presented as a way to avoid one more vehicle at the (incredibly overcrowded!) trailhead, they seemed very happy to welcome us leaving one behind. We were really glad when we got there, as all the straight-in parking was already taken up, so we were maybe the second car to parallel park down the road. Yikes! Lots of people milling about, too. Didn't bode all that well.

And yet, after hitting the trail, we didn't encounter another soul until just before we hit the shelter, and were almost certainly the first ones to the top of the ridge. (Not sure whether "McNeil Point" is where the shelter is, or the drop-dead gorgeous lunch spot 1000' higher?) The day started wonderfully, as we rounded the corner on Bald Mountain and were presented with a full-frontal of Hood, all decked out in wildflowers. It only got better as the day went on! :)

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First view of Hood, as we rounded the corner on Bald Mountain. Wow!


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Unknown wildflower #4508


As we wandered up the lower stretches of McNeil Ridge, the more-shaded areas along the trail were bordered with peaking beargrass blooms, but in the open meadows the blooms were definitely past peak and the beargrass was going to seed. Not that it wasn't beautiful all the same.

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Spent beargrass stalks.


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Tiger lilies were popping in one of the meadows.


At about 3.5 miles in, we took the (very obvious to us) cut-off up what we'd seen labeled as the "Climber's Scramble" on some maps and reports. This climbed nearly 800' in about 1/2 mile, and was actually incredibly fun. Lots of fabulous views, with some serious exposure if one wasn't paying attention. We later figured this must be how we leap-frogged all the other folks who'd plainly left the trailhead before us. It cut at least a couple miles off the journey to McNeil Shelter.

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Right after the cutoff, we traveled through a huge, incredibly green, field of false hellebore. Very cool plant!


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Saw our first example of western pasque flower "letting its hair down," too.


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Soon, the views from Silver Star to Adams started opening up, as well as the damage done by the Dollar Lake fire two years ago!


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We could see both Lost Lake (shown here) and Bull Run Lake, from many overlooks.


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As we climbed higher, the beargrass blooms were more vigorous, too.


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Saint Helens, Rainier, and Adams on the horizon. Defiance, popping out over Cathedral Ridge, now offering cell coverage.


It was definitely something of a "scramble" though!

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Crusak


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The view off to his left was really something. The entire gorge area and SW Washington beyond.


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Mount Adams


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Before long at all, we'd reached 6000' and the McNeil Shelter. Apparently, before anyone else? So weird.


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Offering a Vulcan salute to my camera? Well, it's a really nice shot otherwise. :) (photo: Crusak)


The wildflowers above the McNeil Shelter were, let's say it together, really starting to pop! (Seems to be a common theme this year?)

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It was a veritable Woodstock of hippy-on-a-stick just on the Hood side of the shelter! Definite faves of mine.


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An hour+ later, there'd be one hiker for every 10 hippies, gathered around this spot.


We began the final 1000' climb, up to where we hoped would be a fantastic lunch spot!

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Lots of cool, dead, weathered pine trees on our way up the ridge. We're heading for that big bump at the top of foreground ridge.


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Some interesting tarns below, but they don't look like the same snow-surrounded ones from a TR just two weeks ago!


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The beargrass up here apparently bloomed later than down below. Still marvelous.


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Big Bubba Beargrass


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Unknown wildflower #4629.


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Never get tired of these hairy little guys!


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But, certainly, a case can be made for The Color Purple, too.


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Yocum Ridge, next door, is positively and dreadfully boring next to this one! No wonder I was alone over there?


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I was intrigued by this very curious snow feature over on Yocum, though.


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Our lunch spot (that big rock up there!) is now clearly in view.


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Was thinking of that climber two weeks ago. Falling down the north face of Hood would be extremely unpleasant!


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Not sure if this bit of life is springing forth from the old dead whitebark pine, or is simply a new startup?


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Before long, we came to this very cool, and very thick, snowfield. This called for closer examination.


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Jim, checking out the intricate layering...


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Me, totally dorking it up. (Sorry, no animated GIFs today! :lol:) (photo: Crusak)


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It was a pretty good view, though, as long as you didn't have to look back down. Heh...


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Another spot we couldn't help but stop and pose at! (Must be the altitude? I dunno... :) )


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Outdoor gear spokesmodel-in-training.


Lunch with a view! And four bars. I've really come to appreciate Mount Defiance since resuming my long-dormant hiking patterns.

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EP texted me about socks while where were here, so I sent back a photo of where we were. Couldn't resist. :)


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Volcano to the right of us, volcanoes to the left! Wow...! And, for at least 45 minutes, we were all alone here, too. (photo: Crusak)


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The longer we sat here, the more interesting the patterns in the snow and ice became.


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But, after awhile, another few folks came up, and it was time for us to go back down leaving them alone at the top.

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The penstemon is just starting to come out up here.


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But there were entire hillsides covered in blooming heather. It was really something!


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There were probably a couple dozen folks at the shelter, so we took a higher cutoff to head north towards Cairn Basin.


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The paintbrush was indescribably deep magenta!


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Paintbrush, heather, and a smattering of avalanche lilies just starting to pop out, back down near 6000' again.


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This hike definitely does not lack for scenic attractions at virtually every turn!


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Wanted to caption this one, "Yep, there's bears on Mount Hood!", but I resisted. :)


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More heather...


Our plan, after leaving McNeil Point, was to do a little loop over through Cairn Basin and then down through Eden Park. We had absolutely no idea what was there, but thought it was as good a time as any to find out!

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I think this is McGee Creek? It presented the biggest crossing challenge of the day, twice, which wasn't too bad in retrospect.


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Although, following in Crusak's 6'6" footsteps does leave one wondering just a bit!


We were now entering the area burned by the Dollar Lake fire in 2011. It was weird. Seemed to be almost random, how "fingers" of the burned area would stretch here and there. Deadness surrounded by life; life amidst the death. The most startling thing, though, was a freakin' explosion of avalanche lilies! O.M.G... :shock:

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Snapped this one, right away, thinking it pretty awesome. Little did I know, at that point...


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This scene, or its inverse, coming or going from burnt areas, was repeated repeatedly.


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And the avalanche lilies...!!!


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Words fail me.


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Life, death, life, death, ... We crossed up over that next burnt ridge.


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The experience of hiking through the old forest fire was new to both of us, as well. Eerie and awesome at the same time.


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We managed to wander right to the old Cairn Basin Shelter.


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Very nicely engineered fireplace, complete with chimney, inside.


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This creek offered a snowbridge crossing. Someone had plunged through 4' deep with one foot, right near the far edge.


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Re-entering yet another burn zone.


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The fire smell was still here. Not strong, but definitely noticeable.


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To our eyes, it seemed odd that just the bark and some limbs had burned on the trees.


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Looking back at our lunch spot.


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I think someone called these "comma clouds" once. Very cool whisps.


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We turned downhill (on the Vista Ridge trail) near this beautiful, crystal-clear stream named, appropriately, Clear Branch.


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More devastation.


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More rebirth.


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Crossed yet another big creek, still with dry feet!


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To arrive at Eden Park, elevation 5500'. Wow. Again.


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Let me know if I've already told ya this one...


The day was winding down, and it was time to find our way back home. So we turned back up to Cairn Basin again, then once on the Timberline Trail we just put it on autopilot back to Top Spur.

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Jim has absolutely got this crossing thing down, now! "Rocks? Don't need no stinkin' rocks!"


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Two weeks ago, this sign was buried to within inches of the board in snow.


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I think it was Payslee who declared this was a mandatory shot?


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She only wanted to bum a smoke, now.


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Tarn 2. No snow!


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The snowmelt waterfalls off Yocum were spectacular in the afternoon light.


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One last look back at Hood. Our lunch spot stands out very nicely here, as the high point on near ridge. Worth every step!


What a grand and glorious day on the mountain! In the end, it was a bit over 15 miles, and about 4500' EG.

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Where we was.


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A few undulations along the way. The trail never got tedious.


http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=2621&w=645&h=440


Awhile back, Jerry expressed sincere dismay that I'd never been to McNeil. I'm extraordinarily happy to now say that's no longer the case. If you haven't been, you need to go! No, really. Yeah, it's that good. Just do it. Yadda, and so on. :D
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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Crusak
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by Crusak » July 15th, 2013, 6:39 pm

What an awesome day. Thanks to Karl for gathering information and .GPX files to put this hike together. Crazy, but until now I'd never hiked on the slopes of Mt Hood - ever! Hard to believe.

Saturday night and all day Sunday I found myself saying "WOW!" when I thought about how perfect the day was. Clear blue skies, moderate temperatures and one of the coolest wildflower displays I'd ever witnessed. The avalanche lilies and beargrass were out in amazing abundance.

I admit: I'd been a little hesitant about the hikes around hood in the past. But the new normal hike for me now (15-20 miles, 4000-5000' EG) is right in line with what we found in this area close to Mt Hood.

All those Kings Mtn hikes and Gorge hikes I've been doing make for perfect training for what Hood has to offer (for non-mountaineering trips).

I'm super excited about doing every trail I'm capable of hiking around Hood this year.

Great TR, Karl. I know it must've been tough to choose pictures from the 500+ shots you and I took! :). Over two-thirds of them yours of course.

Super hike Karl, and the best hike I've been on in the past couple of years.
Jim's Hikes

Solvitur Ambulando

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retired jerry
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by retired jerry » July 15th, 2013, 6:42 pm

What? You didn't go up to Barret Spur???

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dixhuit
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by dixhuit » July 15th, 2013, 6:44 pm

My #1 favorite hike. We probably have averaged twice a year for a long time now. I know it like my front porch--but your pictures had me spellbound. Thank you.

David

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retired jerry
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by retired jerry » July 15th, 2013, 6:46 pm

"My #1 favorite hike. We probably have averaged twice a year for a long time now. I know it like my front porch--but your pictures had me spellbound. Thank you."

+1 - I've probably been there more than any other place

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romann
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by romann » July 15th, 2013, 7:43 pm

Very cool pictures! Next time I can get out in the middle of the week, McNeil Point is the place to go.
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Looks like you saw the upper (unhikeable) entrance of Sandy Ice Cave

scole
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by scole » July 15th, 2013, 7:57 pm

Great trip, timing, and photos!

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by Waffle Stomper » July 15th, 2013, 8:24 pm

It's my favorite hike, at least to McNeil. I have yet to go to Cairn Basin. Wonderful trip report. Thank you.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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Peder
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by Peder » July 15th, 2013, 9:58 pm

Great flower pictures - beautiful day out. I am utterly amazed at how quickly gigantic quantities of snow have melted!
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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Gumby
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Re: McNeil Point and more, 13-July-2013

Post by Gumby » July 15th, 2013, 11:23 pm

Great pictures and TR. I spent a night at McNeil two weekends ago. It was actually my first time ever doing a hike near Hood and I was absolutely blown away. What an amazing place! Thanks for the pics and remembrance-- can't wait to go back!

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