Twin Lakes To Palmateer Point 9-13-2014

[forestkeeper]

This weekend I wanted to continue with hiking on Mt. Hood so in checking with the Field Guide and the customer service guys at the Zig Zag Ranger Station, I decided on the Twin Lakes hike from the Frog Lake Sno Park. I arrived at Frog Lake at 8:45 am and quickly threw my Tamrac pack on and hung my Sony a580 over my shoulders and hit the PCT. The PCT is wide and smooth from multiple foot and hoof traffic.

After hiking a mile and a half, I arrived at the junction of the PCT and Twin Lakes Trail #495.

The Twin Lakes trail looks just as nice as the PCT.

Just prior of arriving at the Lower Twin Lake, I saw a rocky area off on a side slope with these beautiful vine maples. Look how the beautiful reds and oranges look against the grey rock piles.

Here's Lower Twin Lake. I little deeper than the Upper Twin Lake, the water appears more bluish and reflected the sky above nicely.

About 1/2 mile past Lower Twin Lake, you ascend a slight climb to Bird Butte Summit.

And about another 1/2 mile past Bird Butte, you come to Upper Twin Lake.

Here's a Forestkeeper selfie.

After a few dozen pics of the lake, I headed to an area recommended by one of the Zig Zag rangers; Palmateer Point. So after about a mile I came across the sign to the Palmateer View Trail.

The trail was pretty narrow, underbrush cutting my calf and shins, but after about 1/2 a mile, a saw an older couple sitting on this rock outcropping that had about a 200 foot drop on three of its sides, eating lunch together. Out of privacy I didn't get a pic of the outcropping, but did get some nice pics of Hood.

I was planning on hooking up with the PCT just short of Barlow Pass for a nice loop, but opted to return the same way I hiked in for more views of the lakes on the way back. Plus, I learned from a few hikers that there is a loop trail around both lakes, which in addition to some nice shots, I would gain a few more miles underneath my Asolos boots. Here's a cool shot of the forest foliage near to the Upper Twin Lake beach. I really love the early Fall colors.

Upper Twin Lake driftwood.

Near to where I shot the beach driftwood, I ate lunch on a log nearby. After regaining some energy, I headed back down to the Lower Twin Lake and hiked around that as well. Here's a shot of some more driftwood.

After taking a few more photos, I made it back to the Frog Lake Sno Park TH at about 2:30 pm. Hiked 9.29 miles with about 1700' EG. A very fun trail and now one of my favorites. Hope you like it.

Will

[UTurn]

Thanks for this report. This hike is a great one to put on my list as we head into Fall. Very nice in length and elevation!

[sprengers4jc]

We had this one on our backpack list earlier this summer and then had to bail on it. We will be sure to do it this fall now. Thanks for the TR!

[woodswalker]

I really love that hike. Thanks for posting it.
Woodswalker

[mjuliana]

Great TR. This is a very nice hike to introduce youngsters to backpacking as well.
Now you need to go back in the winter and snowshoe in. Love going when the trees are still in a coat of winter snow.

[Sean Thomas]

Nice selfie at the lake FK! Jojo and I did something similar up there a couple years ago and it made for a nice day.

[tednottodd]

Upper twin lakes was the first overnight backpack trip my wife and I did many years ago. This is a great "go to" destination for both beginning backpackers during the summer and a nice snowshoe trip in the winter.

Nice TR of a little gem on Hood.

[Splintercat]

Nice report, Will! I haven't been in there in years during the summer (snowshoe there fairly regularly), but have fond memories from when my scout troop used to go there -- we camped at Lower Twin, usually approached from the Frog Lake trailhead (which was a bit of a grind for a bunch of goofy kids with crappy packs).

Palmateer was almost completely open as recently as the late 1980s, so pretty amazing to see how the forest has grow up there!

Thanks for posting!

Tom

[Peder]

I have been planning to go there for eons... Maybe one day? Thank you for showing me what it looks like.

[rainrunner]

Twin Lakes is also where our Scout Troop went for winter camping (with sometimes crappy packs and butane that wouldn't work in the cold). Kevin and I had our packs ready after reading this report to see it without snow and continue on up to Timberline, but a work accident prevented it. Maybe after Kevin gets his knee rehabed, we can do the trip before the snow gets too deep. Thanks for the report.