Two destinations of my list. Both Chinidere and Tomlike have been in my radar for quite some time but I kept postponing it because the drive is quite long so it makes for a long day. It’s also rare you can go this early in the season as the snow lingers in the area until mid-June. What made me change my mind was a couple of reports I read that the road to Wahtum Lake was open and that the weather was looking very good for the weekend. Getting there was as long as predicted. We also found some snow on the ground at the trailhead. Being so early in the season though, we didn’t see a lot of people (Wahtum Lake can be quite the circus in the summer months). The hike started with a quick downhill towards the lake where the air felt cold and crisp. From there we had a couple of options. One is the “shorter” route that covers the southwest side of the lake crosses the outlet creek. I knew there wasn’t a bridge so I opted for the longer route that follows the PCT around the lake on the eastern side. From the map it appeared that we would travel much closer to the lake but in reality you’re far enough that you rarely see water. Only a few open spots along the trail give you hints of far below. The trail climbs gradually on the side of the hill and a short distance after the unction with the “shortcut” trail, a sign points to the top of Chinidere Mountain and the start of several switchbacks. About half way up, we noticed a foot path from one switchback out to an open area that gave us the first amazing views of Mt Hood behind us and the Eagle Creek drainage.
One of the hikers in the group noticed a faint path up from the outside which we decided to take instead of following the trail. Being in the open, the views stayed with us as we went thru a rocky slope with some really nice formations. As we climbed, the views behind us were getting better and better as we could now see the lake and more of Mt Hood behind mountain ridges. Reaching the summit was an incredible treat as that opened views beyond the Columbia River Gorge to Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier and Mt Adams. The day was clear enough that we could make other prominent areas in the north like Goat Rocks and Mt Margaret. We stayed there for a while snapping pictures and enjoying the views and the sun. After a while, we circled the top and got on the trail to head back down to the PCT retracing the last part of the hike to a junction with the Herman Creek trail. At that point, we were walking on a couple of inches of snow which made pour pace a bit slower. One step forward half a step sliding back. We found this section to be very peaceful and with a very “clean” view. The little snow that was on the ground looked like a soft blanket making the forest looked very organized and neat. We were not sure where or how the junction to Tomlike Mountain was going to be as that is not an actual trail but a foot path. Actually it was very easy to find. Just after passing the junction with the Anthill trail, the trail we would take to return to the trailhead, there was a clear hairpin turn where the Herman creek trail starts descending on the other side of the ridge. At that same place, two small cairns on either side of a very clear path indicate the route to Tomlike. The first section of this path was somewhat forested but we could easily notice we were following a ridgeline. The trees got shorter to the point that we felt like giants walking thru a conifer forest. Then the forest opened up and we saw our destination up ahead. There were a couple more forested path before climbing up a hill that only took us to another interesting part of this path. At certain point, the trail came out of the trees to a trail that followed a knife edge ridge.
On one side we could see Mud Lake and the East Fork Herman Creek drainage and on the other, the Herman Creek valley. At this point, our destination was still covering the rest of the views we already knew we would get from the top. Finally we reached the ridge top and once again got the full views of the northern cascades and Mt Hood behind us. We explored and walked for a bit on the ridge. The trail itself doesn’t have a defined end, it just continued and it would seem you can follow the ridge and eventually reconnect with the Herman Creek trail but I will leave that for another day exploration. We found a clear spot to sit and have lunch while enjoying the weather and views. On our way down, we retraced our steps back to the Herman Creek trail and the Anthill trail junction were we made a left turn. Being a higher trail I thought we would get better views of the lake and maybe more but as we circled the lake we only got one or two spots with limited views. Besides, the trail faces west most of the way so you get a front facing sun most of the way. Finally we started descending and the trailhead appeared in front of us.
Interactive map
To see the full map, click
here
No comments:
Post a Comment