Tom, Dick and Harry, Oct 27th

Tom, Dick and Harry located along hwy26 is one of those short nice hikes in Oregon that’s in the must visit list. If for nothing else, getting to Mirror Lake is just a stroll in the forest with great rewards. Once you get to the lake, you can circle it and enjoy the reflections of Mt Hood in its waters… that of course, requires a nice, clear, blue sky day which we didn’t have. But even with the overcast day we had, we had our treat as we hiked in the first snow of the season around the lake. From there, we continued up towards the summit. As temperature was not cold enough to keep the snow from melting, the whole trail was a small creek making it hard to go without drenching your boots. My original plan was to get to the summit, have lunch up there and then spend some time exploring the ridge but weather had other plans. Once we got out of the cover of the forest, we got rain, wind and snow to the point that we got there, took a picture and came back down just making a quick stop at the junction with the Mirror Lake trail, under a tree, to grab a quick bite and continue to the cars. At least we got a decent workout right?



Interactive map

To see the full map, click Menu and select Full Screen. You can also click Terrain to change the map style

Yocum Ridge, Oct 6th

Scratched another one from the to-do list. This hike has been in my radar for quite some time but for reasons unknown to me, it was put in the backburner and never revisited. I guess it had to do with a previous hike long time ago where I think we did try to get there but whoever was leading didn’t find the way and we ended up in a section of the PCT that was washed out. So this time I gathered a bit more info and headed out with a small group of very fast hikers. We started from the Ramona Falls trailhead and quickly reached the Sandy River to cross on the seasonal bridge. It was a gorgeous day. From the two options to reach Ramona Fall, we took the northern trail that travels parallel to a small creek and some interesting rock walls that are part of the side of Yocum Ridge. This first section was quick and beautiful. When we reached the PCT, we needed to turn left to continue towards Yocum Ridge but instead we went to Ramona Falls to take a short break and then backtrack. I’ve got to say that this is still, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the region. After a quick bite=, we took off continuing on the PCT towards the Yocum Ridge intersection. In current maps, this trail is still part of the PCT although some parts have been decommissioned due to the washout I mentioned before. But before we even got there, we found the fork to the trail we needed to take. And the climbing began. It was an arduous trail going pretty much in a straight line up traversing the side of a forested hill. We passed a couple of turns where you can get limited views of the Sandy thru the trees. The trail didn’t offer much for quite a while but then it actually started flattening out. Towards the top of Yocum Ridge, there’s a big meadow you traverse en route to the end of the trail and the Yocum Ridge viewpoint. Even though we had gain most of the elevation for this hike, the views where still obscured by trees for a while but eventually the summit started showing big and bold right up ahead. The scenery was beautiful, a grassy meadow crossed by a trail, trees here and there and the looming rocks and glaciers ahead. A couple more turns and a last push took us to the end of the trail and a steep drop-off to the Sandy. Besides having an ample view of the river’s origin, we had a full view of the Reid Glacier and the top of the mountain. It was a perfect spot for lunch and a bit of sun bathing. From there, we hiked back to the PCT the same way we came up all the way to Ramona Falls for a third short stop. Then we continued on the southern trail to Ramona Falls which now if part of the PCT all the way to the bridge, the Sandy River and the parking lot.



Interactive map

To see the full map, click Menu and select Full Screen. You can also click Terrain to change the map style

Horseshoe Ridge – Cast Creek loop, Sep 29th

This is the classic example on how much a trail can change… well, not the actual trail but the access road changing the hike entirely. In Mt Hood there are several trails that can be joined to form a loop. Some of those require hiking on a road for a bit to connect them. About three years ago I did this loop clockwise and learned the route I tried this time. On that occasion, we drove on Forest road 380 to the Cast Creek trailhead, did the entire loop and then, once we got back to road 380, we hiked back the little over a mile distance to the parked cars. This time I wanted to revisit that hike as I remembered the views and the hike itself being fantastic. I also wanted to do it in reverse, starting from Horseshoe Ridge and coming back on Cast Creek so we would do the road first. So we drove there and the first surprise we got was that road 380 has been decommissioned. We were not even able to get to the Cast Creek trailhead (the one I remembered). Without knowing anything else, I assumed there was only a big road block and that if we just went over it, we would find the road on the other side. Well we did, but the road was destroyed. Not only they had gone in with heavy machinery and dug big holes so not even a big foot truck could pass but they took all the bridges and even pulled some trees in the middle. The whole thing ended up being a 2 miles, hardcore bushwhack. Luckily we did this first as I could not imagine how it would have gone if we had to do it after completing the loop. In any case, on those two miles we had to descend and climb back out of three creeks, go over boulders, trees and branches. Eventually we made it to the old Horseshoe Ridge trailhead. From there I saw what originally was a second option to access this route from Riley camp. I guess now is the only way to do it. We stopped for just a minute to get our breaths and then started hiking up on a real trail. For a while the hike was in dense forest without a lot of views, but eventually it comes out to a wonderful open meadow that overlooks Lolo Pass road. On good days you can see Adams and Helens from there but not Hood behind you. A bit more climbing finally took us to the Zigzag trail and the view I was hoping for. Hiking in this area is just extraordinary. We followed the Zigzag ridge and made a stop for lunch at one of the prominent points with front row view of Mt Hood. From there we connected with the Burnt Lake trail and then Cast Creek to hike back down on another section of the dense forest. So now we know, with forest road 380 gone, this loop is now longer.



Interactive map

To see the full map, click Menu and select Full Screen. You can also click Terrain to change the map style