The hike to McNeil point is one of those that always promises great views and amazing flowers and never disappoints. I have done this same hike probably 4 or 5 times and once again, it was fantastic. On this warm and sunny day, my plan was to hike up the ridge and take the shortcut, through a short scramble up, to the shelter and then continue down on the normal trail to Cairn Basin and back. The group did very well but considering the warm weather and rather difficult hike up, we didn’t do the Cairn Basin portion of it. We started from the Top Spur Trailhead going through a dense forest that doesn’t offer many views but is a great preamble to the views you get from the ridge. Most of the group hadn’t done this hike before, so the wow factor once we got to the ridge was noticeable. Besides the great views and having Mt Hood right there in front of us, the flowers were just incredible with Bear Grass in full bloom and all sorts of lilies.
Incredible Mariposa Lilies
We took a short break at that point and then continued up doing the short rock scramble to the shelter were we stopped for lunch. On the way back, we crossed the snow fields on our way towards the Cathedral Ridge from where you can descend to Cairn Basin or head down back to Top Spur. At this point the group was a bit tired so we headed back down crossing the McGee Creek and back to the Timberline Trail on our way down. Once down in the forest, I stopped and offered the loop around Bald Mountain to get our final views of Mt Hood before heading out. Everybody agreed to that so we did the short loop. As you’ll see in the pictures, it was well worth the extra effort
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