Snow Dragon Ice Cave, Mt Hood

[CraigG]

Rick Johnson and myself lead a group of experienced hikers to the entrance of the Snow Dragon ice cave complex this past Saturday (10-25-2013). The trip was absolutely amazing.

WARNING WARNING WARNING -
Travel near, in front of, or inside ice caves is inherently dangerous. Danger due to rock fall, ice fall, ice ceiling delamination, sudden water release, or cave collapse to say the least. People have died this year on Mt Hood due to ice cave collapse. Such a journey should NOT be taken lightly. In short, one survives on luck when entering an ice cave area.
Getting to the ice cave area required traversing steep ice and snow fields.

We started at 8am from Top Spur TH:


Then scamper to the Bald Mountain viewpoint - the black arrow indicates our destination:


A closer view of the caves - there were actually two large entrances:


Up the climber's route for McNeil Pt:


We leave the climber's route, side-hilling as we go on a fantastic morning (clear, no wind):


Getting closer. You can see the Snow Dragon entrance in the middle of the photo:


Time to get on traction - (good) microspikes or crampons were needed from this point on:


Here is Rick ascending one of a number of steep snow/ice fields:


The ice cave site? Oh yes - here it is!


WARNING - The next set of photos were taken at our own risk.

More photos of the first ice cave entrance:





Let's go to the second cave - blue glacier ice prominent in the top of this entrance:



We went in about 150 feet from the entrance of the ice caves. It got very dark and spooky beyond that.

Quite exhausted from all that climbing, or is this just rock hugging?


We sidehilled it back, taking a track higher than before to return slightly about McNeil Point, then followed the trail back to the cars.

There are more photos on this site: http://www.meetup.com/NW-Wilderness/events/146813762/

-CraigG

[BrianEdwards]

Wow! Fascinatingly scary adventure. Thanks for sharing

[retired jerry]

So close to solving the "47" mystery! Must be snow covered now.

(You can see a "47" from some angles when there isn't snow. It's very close to the cave opening.)

I'm glad I didn't post pictures walking into the cave. Then I'de have to worry about people following my lead and getting into trouble, but you did put lots of warnings

[Rabid Swan]

I'm glad I didn't post pictures walking into the cave. Then I'de have to worry about people following my lead and getting into trouble, but you did put lots of warnings

I visited the caves on the 22nd and was thinking along the same lines as Jerry. Everyone is entitled to make their own poor choices I just would feel an emotional responsibility, but hey now that it's out there you can take full responsibility CraigG! I hope you don't mind but I'll just supplement your photos with a few of my own. The cave was a dead end just a few hundred feet up. The only real thing of interest further on was an ice cave inside of an ice cave.

[CraigG]

Greetings Jerry and Swan -

Thanks for the replies. I do appreciate the feedback on my report and always like a good constructive debate. I will put out there that I am wrong many times during any given day. These forums have provided a wealth of information of which I greatly appreciate.
Even so, I wish to clarify the cause of concern - not only for myself but hopefully also for others. I don't mind being an example of poor judgement.

I don't believe the ice caves are anything new. They have existed for years and clearly visible from Bald Mountain at certain times of the year. Having a report written about them does not change their existence. OPB did a special on them this summer - the photos provided from the broadcast are far better than ours because of the lighting brought into the caves.

Was this event good judgement? That is certainly debatable. Although many of the TRs illustrate hikes that have danger in the worst circumstances, this destination seems different in that there is no real way to mitigate the danger. Having experience, protection or ropes won't matter if the cave suddenly decides to collapse or there is rock fall from above without warning. That certainly increases the risk level IMHO.

I will admit that we survived on luck in the end. I believe each person needs to make their own judgement call about their risk level. I have learned much here based upon the information folks have shared. My hope is that folks keep sharing information and that such information is reported responsibly.

The caves did give me the "heebie jeebies". Not just inside the caves, but also the immediate area surrounding the caves as well as sections of the traverse just to get to the caves. Mt Hood was gracious to our group on Saturday for sure.

Sincerely,
CraigG

[CraigG]

>So close to solving the "47" mystery! Must be snow covered now.

Greetings Jerry -

Unfortunately, I didn't see any "47" in the immediate area. If it something that would have been obvious, I would agree it was likely snow covered now. I have no interest in finding out as I got my fill of adventure/risk up there.

CraigG

[retired jerry]

I'm not being critical of anyone, just making sure people get the message to be careful

I think I can now safely say "mission accomplished"

hmmm "safely" - that's a pun

[retired jerry]

"Unfortunately, I didn't see any "47" in the immediate area. If it something that would have been obvious, I would agree it was likely snow covered now. I have no interest in finding out as I got my fill of adventure/risk up there."

One would really have to know where to look and look carefully

The joke about "47" is probably getting old, I should move on to something new

[CraigG]

>I visited the caves on the 22nd and was thinking along the same lines as Jerry.

Greetings Swan -

I believe we saw your tracks up there. There was one set of tracks from each of the caves when we arrived.
Thanks for the information about the terrain further inside the cave!

CraigG

[CraigG]

Greetings Jerry -

I didn't feel as if you were critical at all, and appreciate folks like yourself taking the time to respond. Thanks for sharing! Agreed - mission accomplished!

CraigG