Hiking With Gadget Girl

A four day backpacking trip (July 21-24, 2019) on the Timberline Trail around Mt Hood kept my friend and I on our toes pretty much the whole time. 

July 21, 2019 - 1st Day, to Sandy River/Ramona Falls

We already experienced this trail counterclockwise so we decided to hike it clockwise this time. Our goal was to hike approximately ten miles a day with the first night near the Sandy River/Ramona Falls. We started at Timberline Lodge and headed towards Paradise Park.

We passed many day hikers, backpackers, and ultra long distance runners (who run the whole thing in one day) who were wrapping up their adventures.

Paradise Park was beautiful and had just enough breeze to keep the biting flies at bay. We passed one fellow sitting on a rock in Zen mode absorbing nature. Had our first water crossing over the Sandy River on a couple of skinny logs. We arrived at our campsite earlier than we anticipated but it was great to kick back and relax. We discovered the abandoned Sandy River Guard Station up on a hillside with a hantovirus warning stapled to the door.

July 22, 2019 - 2nd Day to Elk Cove

"You are here". Yep, we were! Now we starting the north side of the mountain. If you look closely, you will see where Elk Cove is located and where we spent our second night.

After we left the Sandy River/Ramona Falls area, we had an interesting large creek crossing on a double log. We slid our feet along as we held on to an old decaying rope that was tethered onto the top log.

We rounded Bald Mountain hoping the mountain was peeking out from the cloudy sky, then continued upward past McNeil Point turnoff.

The wildflowers were even more spectacular on the north side of the mountain. It was a challenging day elevation-wise as we gained 3,451 feet that day and after crossing more creeks, we arrived at Elk Cove for the night. Something like 11.63 miles for the day.

July 23, 2019 - 3rd Day to Newton Creek

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise. Little did we know what the day had in store for us.

The first five miles had many creek crossings, some with logs, some without, and the challenging Eliot Creek made all other crossings seem mild. I took a spill while gawking at wildflowers and ended up on my hands and knees hoping I hadn't damaged something. Only thing hurt was my pride.

Eliot Creek crossing - This is the big Eliot Creek crossing. After hearing about a nice big log to cross on, we scouted up and down looking for it. We finally saw it but neither one of us liked the very sketchy, steep, sand and rock hillside we would have to navigate down to get to it. Instead, we carefully crossed the creek in our shoes. Three men followed us but they changed into their sandals first.

It seemed to take forever to reach Cloud Cap campground where we stopped and had lunch. Then it was an uphill grind towards Gnarl Ridge. Midway there, I needed to make an emergency pit stop and I frantically looked for some sort of privacy rock. Not much is available above treeline. Linda looked out for me, especially when I thought I'd grabbed my potty bag and I had my first aid bag instead! Aack, I was in a hurry to dig that hole, let me tell you. A passing hiker politely averted his gaze while I pretended I was on another planet.

Back to hiking - we crossed many snowfields as we made our way towards Gnarl Ridge. We were pretty careful crossing the snow fields as we didn't have spikes with us.

We also noticed that the wind was getting stronger, creating swirling clouds around Hood. By the time we passed Gnarl Ridge and started down, we were hanging on for dear life as the wind was pushing us every which way off the trail. Carrying a backpack makes it a bit worse, more surface area to throw you around. We also noticed the air across the ravine was filled with sand and grit. More on that later.

We had a long, long downhill to our next campsite at Newton Creek. Once we made it behind Lambertson Butte, the wind died down and was pleasant until we reached a campsite just before crossing over Newton Creek. Well, we could see that sand and grit coming down the canyon and the wind was getting stronger. We've never been in a sand storm on Mt Hood before! We quickly set up tents and crawled inside. Unfortunately the fine sand easily made its way into the tents through the netting and everything was covered with it. We could yawn and our mouths would be covered in grit. We had our fingers crossed that we would survive the night...

July 24, 2019 - 4th Day

Remember that wind and sand storm late yesterday afternoon and last night? Well, we were covered in it this morning. We shook everything out but it was obvious we would have to do an equipment wash when we finished the trip. We woke to bright blue skies with nary a whisper of breeze with temperatures hovering in the middle 40's.

First off the bat was crossing Newton Creek, which was dicier than I expected. The skinny logs were slippery and didn't go straight across.

Once over, we charged up the hill and made our way towards Mt Hood Meadows. Three ultra long distance runners passed us and I was wondering if they would beat us back to Timberline Lodge. Crossed over Clark Creek and passed the lovely waterfall on our way up Heather Canyon.

The ski trails sure look different without snow on them. Was surprised to see Shooting Star lift running. Must be doing maintenance work. Arrived on the other side of the ski area and started our descent to our final water crossing of the White River. We were wondering what it was going to be like, as last time we crossed it, it gave us a run for our money. Stopped and visited with a trail crew who asked us how the Eliot Creek crossing was. They will be working on the crossing as "it needs some love", according to the trail boss. That's for sure!

Arrived at the White River and it was an easy crossing. Much smaller than last time. The final push was an almost two mile uphill back to Timberline Lodge. Made it by 11:30am and decided to celebrate by having lunch at the Lodge!

That wraps up this four day Timberline Trail adventure for this year!