Cairn Basin - check!
Wy'east Basin - check!
Elk Cove - check!
Dollar Lake - missed the cut-off
Up Barrett Spur - nope
Missing the last two is just an excuse to get back up there again. My son, Ben, and I were joined by his buddy Nate and his dad, Russ. They were with us on the Mt St Helen's summit outing last weekend.
We got to the Vista Ridge TH at about 10:30AM and joined the 15 or so cars already there. The plan was to head up Vista Ridge and then take the Eden Park Trail to loop through Eden Park. After joining back with the Timberline Trail, plan was to head to Elk Cove through Wy'east Basin.
After setting out, we soon arrived in the Dollar Lake burn (2011) area. It was interesting to compare the regeneration here vs in the Gnarl Ridge burn (2008) area and see what a a difference 3 years makes. I was surprised at how little new growth there was going up the Vista Ridge Trail. There were patches here and there but some areas were still completely barren.
On the way up, I had to laugh at these signs along the trail. I assume the reference to hang gliders is generic and not something specific to Vista Ridge?
Some interesting bugs along the way...okay...what is it?
We took the Eden Park Trail and worked our way down to Eden Park enjoying the views along the way.
Mt St Helen's to the north...
Lost Lake out in the distance
After crossing a couple of small creeks, we arrived at the Ladd Creek crossing on the Eden Park Trail. This one was not too bad but not nearly as easy as the crossing to come up on the Timberline Trail.
Here's a group shot of the four of us in by the camp spot in the tree island in Eden Park
Looking down into Eden Park
We soon arrived at Cairn Basin and its great stone shelter. That's my son, Ben, doing the modeling job.
and the view up to Mt Hood...
Now on the Timberline Trail, we quickly came to the Ladd Creek crossing. Here's the remnants of the snow bridge that was used earlier in the month. I think someone reported that it was still intact two weeks ago?
The actually crossing was an easy rock hop across these boulders.
Between Cairn Basin and Elk Cove there is still some parts of the Timberline Trail under snow but nothing too bad:
Looking from Wy'east Basin to the North...
Descending into Elk Cove with Barrett Spur on the right
Pano from the creek in Elk Cove
Up close and personal with the Coe Glacier:
After lounging in Elk Cove for a good while, we retraced our steps to the Vista Ridge junction and headed back down to the car.
Mosquitoes were pretty much non-existent and flies were only moderately bad in Elk Cove. I think I ended up with just two fly bites.
Stats: 11.4 miles and 2450' of elevation gain. Here's a link to gpsfly...
http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=3527&w=645&h=440
Saw lots of 360 hikers out there. Most were doing the loop clockwise but ran into two doing it the opposite way. Everyone was pumping them for details on the Elliot Crossing
All and all a great day. A stunning place to be with great weather and with friends. Topped the day off with some pizza and pie. Next weekend is Mt Margaret Backcountry. We have a spot at Margaret Camp for Friday night.
