Mirror Lake & Tom, Dick and Harry, Nov 21st

This is one of those classic hikes near Mt Hood. In the summer, on a clear day, you can get the full reflection of Mt Hood on the lake (hence the name) and you can climb to Tom, Dick and Harry for some spectacular, up close views of the mountain which can include views of Mt Jefferson and Three Sisters. About two years ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation, decided to stop cleaning the snow that gives access to parking for this hike. Since then, the only option is to park at Ski Bowl and either follow the road, which is not very nice or, find your way thru the forest using a GPS or navigating with map and compass. I did this hike about a year ago (the backcountry option) and it was not easy as there are more than a couple of creeks to cross. This time, Jeff wanted to establish a more direct route to the lake, so we embarked in this adventure. Instead of following a straight line, as I did last year, to the trail and then hike the trail up, we took a bearing from the parking lot in a straight line to the lake. The route was much shorter but with more elevation gain. Soon after we started, we found our first obstacle of the day. We had to cross a big creek and after looking for a tree to use, we ended just walking on water on a shallow area.

Linda and Brian crossing the creek


From that point on, the hike took us through some dense forest, deep snow and about 7 more creeks to cross before getting to the lake. During this portion of the hike, the sky was completely covered with grey clouds which gave the whole area a nice cold wintery touch. That lasted until we got to the lake though. As soon as we found the trail and started circling the lake, it started clearing up a bit. After going around the lake, we found a nice spot for lunch so we took a well deserved break. Since some people needed to return early, we decided to divide the group. About half the group went straight back while the rest continued the hike up to Tom, Dick and Harry. The hike up was a lot easier than the first portion as we were following a well marked trail that took us around the ridge to the top of the mountain. Going around the ridge gave us some magnificent views of the valley and highway 26 down bellow and some partial views of Mt Hood. As we were hiking up, the sun was already heading down so light was barely coming over the ridgeline.

Light over the ridgeline


After a while, we finally made the turn towards the summit on an even easier trail. Shortly after, we were at the top been blown away. It was very well worth it though as the sky had cleared a lot and the views were amazing. Not only we had Mt Hood clearly in front of us, but to the South we could see Mt Jefferson and also the Willamette valley to the west. We stayed there for a while, and as long as we were able to bear the wind, then, it was time to head back. The hike back was uneventful for the most part and since I was leading now, I decided to take the trail to a much lower elevation and then cross back to the parking lot. This made us hike the last portion in the dark while navigating with map, compass and headlamps. Fortunately all in the group were very well seasoned hikers so it was a lot of fun.