Last year Greg and I backpacked to Paradise Park with Brad and Dawn via the Timberline Trail from Timberline Lodge. This year we did a day hike via the Paradise Park Trail. We visited a month earlier than we did last year but the flowers were at the same stage as our visit last year. Crazy how it can vary by a whole month from one year to the next!
The rain storm from the previous night must have been a doozy. There were channels carved through the thick layer of pine needles on the trail.
Lots of Rhododendrons along the trail.
Also lots of huckleberries! I like the red ones but these were the blue ones which are even better in my opinion.
Where the trail gets close to the cliff with the view we couldn't see much because of the clouds.
Up, up, up. The trail is well-graded but it is VERY LONG.
About a mile before reaching the junction with the trail to Zigzag Mountain we started encountering blowdown. We had to climb over at least a dozen trees in that last two miles. Some of them looked like they were from last year, so I guess they don't get up here every year for trail maintenance.
Another thing to note is that on the new Trails Illustrated map for the Mt. Hood Wilderness the mileage between the Zigzag Mountain Trail junction and the Timberline Trail junction is 0.2mi. We measured it at 0.4mi.
Shortly before reaching the junction with the Timberline Trail we got a peek through the trees at the mountain. It would be the only time all day we'd see the full mountain.
Here come the wildflowers!
Mountain? What mountain?
We headed over to check out the lovely creek, passing through more wildflowers along the way. This patch had pasque flower!
The flowers were exploding in the area around the creek. Still no mountain.
We sat by the creek for awhile enjoying the ambience and a snack. Lovely spot!
We could see up on the hill where a nice patch of beargrass had been blooming several weeks ago.
We retraced our steps back to the trail junction to check out the huge meadow there. On the way we got a good view to the west and the thick layer of clouds below.
More flowers!
Still no mountain.
The sunshine was pleasant and the meadows were enchanting. We found a flower-free patch of grass and waited to see if the mountain would come out of hiding. I lay down facing the mountain, with my pack as a pillow. It was so peaceful and nice there that I dozed off.
Anyway, the mountain never did make a full appearance. This was about as good as it got, which was still pretty dang nice.
On the way back down we passed the tallest Pine Drops that I've ever seen. Wow!
The views at the cliff had improved.
10 miles in a day is about my limit, so I was dragging for the last two miles back to the car, feeling every step in my feet, legs, and knees. Thank goodness the trail wasn't steep! Took us a little less than four hours going up and about three hours going down. We saw only two people on the trail for the whole hike, and about a dozen people in Paradise Park. Maybe it was the weather? We saw WAY more people than that last year.
A note about the trailhead. It's a popular place for dispersed camping and I guess the campers are filling up the toilet and trashcan that is meant for hikers, not for campers. The Forest Service has put up these signs.
No signs will change camper behavior without someone there to enforce it. And it seems highly unlikely that the Forest Service will remove the toilet and trash can, which are only there because this is a NW Forest Pass trailhead. They'll probably end up closing the gate into this area so people can't camp here anymore.
Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
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Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
Thanx for the update! I'm not gonna have a chance to get up there until the end of next week so hopefully the flowers hang on for awhile. I think most of that blowdown is from this past winter. I don't remember there being very much to step over last year. And I never believed that .2 for the last stretch either. It seemed longer going downhill too and when I'd done it plenty of times. It'd be a shame if they have to close that nice little campground but I've seen trash problems and encountered smoldering deserted campfires down there. I certainly wouldn't miss the couple hundred yards on that road though, that thing is brutal. Luckily it's realllly short.
Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
Thanks for the report just peachy. Like pdx I too am hoping those flowers hold out for another week. I was a little confused. Did you start your hike at Timberline lodge?
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Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
No, we did that last year. This year we hiked the Paradise Park Trail #778, which starts on Road 2639 (also known as Kiwanis Camp Road). Here is the field guide entry for it: http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org ... _park_hikejoerunner wrote:Did you start your hike at Timberline lodge?
Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
Beautiful shots, I can never catch that dark blue/purple. I'd like to take my dog up but he insists on having water to dip in every few miles and as I recall this trail there is not till you get up to the meadows unless some pooled after the storms. Did you spot any on the way up?
Tks
Tks
Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
There are two footbridges over two itty bitty creeks at about 4.0 and 4.5 miles (very approx. dist). The 2nd one is probably dry but the first one usually has at least a trickle going thru the summer. It can be hard to notice though. I haven't gone yet so I don't know the status, but they are there.
Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
We paid a visit last Sunday, amazing how the Lupins near the Upper Paradise Trail Junction had virtually disappeared since your photos of last week.
We headed on up to the upper Meadows were things were the in their prime & stumbled upon a lovely spot at about 6600'. Even in the Upper Meadows though flowers are 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the last 2 years.
A short "flowery movie" :^)
http://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2 ... 65_82szTKQ
We headed on up to the upper Meadows were things were the in their prime & stumbled upon a lovely spot at about 6600'. Even in the Upper Meadows though flowers are 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the last 2 years.
A short "flowery movie" :^)
http://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2 ... 65_82szTKQ
Re: Paradise Park - 8/11/2013
I ate lunch on that rock that your movie starts onGuy wrote:We paid a visit last Sunday, amazing how the Lupins near the Upper Paradise Trail Junction had virtually disappeared since your photos of last week.
We headed on up to the upper Meadows were things were the in their prime & stumbled upon a lovely spot at about 6600'. Even in the Upper Meadows though flowers are 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the last 2 years.
A short "flowery movie" :^)
http://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2 ... 65_82szTKQ