We made it! A group co-lead by myself and "Rigby the hiking dog" made it to the Mooney tarn this weekend on the north side of Mt Hood. The weather was fantastic (mostly clear, no wind, perfect temps). It was our first time up to the Mooney tarn and crash site. What an amazing place.
At first, I thought I would not bring Rigby on this adventure. The offtrail section to the Mooney site is moderately steep, some exposure and a 50 ft section of loose, steep rock to the tarn. Rigby and I have hiked on and offtrail for over two years and work pretty well together. I admit it was a judgement decision to bring a dog up there. The scramble to the tarn may not be to everyone's taste, including people and/or dogs.
Rigby's response to me after successfully making it up to the Mooney tarn:
Anyways, I am getting ahead of myself. We started at Elk Cove TH at about 9:15am. The plan was to follow the Elk Cove trail, intersect with Timberline trail, head left (east) over Coe Creek, find the offtrail junction, ascend offtrail to the Mooney crash site, have a late lunch at the Mooney tarn, return the way we came to Timberline trail, cross the Coe (again), head through Elk Cove and return on the Pinnacle Ridge trail, taking the short offtrail connector back to Elk Cove TH. This is a lot to do within the daylight we had. If there was time, we would tag Pinnacle Rock on the way back. With no time to waste, we headed up the Elk Cove trail and approached Inspiration Point:
Rigby getting inspired - OK, he is facing the wrong way, but who am I to tell folks how to become inspired?
It was a beautiful morning that made it easy to get inspired, regardless of which way you faced:
Rigby scouted ahead, and verified the integrity of a creek crossing on the Elk Cove trail:
Come on! We are almost at the Timberline trail junction!
A quick pit stop at the Elk Cove/Timberline trail junction:
...and just enough time to model that "outdoorsy, wind blown hair" look:
Then onto Coe Creek. There were at least two feasible crossings. One at the log crossing, and another about 50 feet upstream:
Here is a view about 50 feet upstream from the crossing log:
Rigby was easily carried across the Coe at the upper crossing. We were treated to views like this on our way over to the off-trail junction:
Rigby's arrival near the off-trail junction point:
We crossed below a beautiful waterful before heading off-trail:
Rigby barked some last minute instruction before we ascended off-trail to the Mooney site:
...and then we were off-trail, ascending to the Mooney site:
and up..
and up...
and up to the Mooney crash site - we found it!
Rigby informed the group that the tarn must be close, above the chaos of volcanic rock ahead...
...and sure enough it was. Fantastic! A perfect place to have a late lunch!
What's this?
Somebody getting into the tarn? Really? Who is this clown? Dogs know better! That water is COLD!
A look to the "back" (north) from the tarn:
One more look up to the south on a perfect late September day:
By 2:25pm we left the tarn and headed back down. The 50 feet descent from the tarn to the crash site is moderately steep with lots of loose rocks. The group separated a bit to avoid dropping rocks on each other. At first, I thought it would be good to keep Rigby on leash on the way down, but I started to drop small rocks on him. Bad idea. I took Rigby off leash, and allowed him to make his own way down. Sure enough, he took the same line through the steep scree we had ascended earlier. My point is that section between the tarn and the crash site is not for everybody, and can be a hazard even on the best of days.
Descending the off-trail, back to Timberline trail:
Rigby took up the sweep for a bit as we continued our hike west:
Then we arrived back at the Coe:
Rigby was once again transported across the Coe using the upper crossing (thx Sam!):
Crossing some of the thinner sections of the Coe:
We were treated to views like this on our journey through the Elk Cove area:
..and then to the Timberline trail/Pinnacle Ridge trail intersection:
We slogged thru/around the bog on Pinnacle Ridge trail:
Over (or through) some narrow creek crossings:
..to the Pinnacle Ridge trailhead for a 5 minute break:
Then we took the short off-trail connector back to the Elk Cove TH - a little help here please?
We did not have enough time to tag the Pinnacle, as we got back to the car about 6:20pm.
All in all, a fantastic day on the mountain!
Of course, all good stories need the hero to ride off into the sunset..
Everyone (including Rigby) back safe. Mission accomplished.
Distance: 16.7 miles
Elapsed Time: 9:24:04
45 minute break at the tarn
Avg Moving: 2.3 mph
Overall: 1.8 mph (no speed records broken, too many things to enjoy this day)
Max Elevation: 6819 ft
Ascent: 4748 ft
