Zigzag Canyon overlook, Aug 15th

I guess I took the name of this hike literally and overlooked it since I’ve been here. Perhaps it was because, if you search for it, you’ll find only the most common approach that starts from Timberline Lodge and gently descends to the overlook. From there it’s a short hike. But then I saw some pictures and realized I needed to check this place out as the views are just breathtaking. So I looked at a map and found an alternate route combining a couple of trails and two nearby trailheads to create a good, long 16 mile loop. Weather forecast was looking promising when I planned it but as things go, everything change and we got to the trailhead with a foggy and misty day. That didn’t stop us so we parked at the exit point to get the road walk out of the way first. We then took the Paradise Park trail that switched back and forth several times in the forest before it reaches a ridge. At that point there’s a nice view point that must offer some pretty good views of the canyon, yet we didn’t see anything as the fog was covering everything. Not dissuaded by this, we continued marching on and found another viewpoint closer to the timberline trail. The clouds had lifted just a bit to give us a glimpse of a huge sandy canyon. Once on the Timberline trail we traveled south around a couple of bends before the trail made us descend abruptly towards Zigzag canyon to cross the snow melt creek. We found a nice spot for lunch at the crossing with a nice waterfall further up. From our position, Mt Hood is probably towering over you but we still couldn’t see it. The hike up the canyon on the other side went fast and soon we reached the ridge on the other side and things got much better. Even though the clouds were still pretty low, the canyon looked amazing below us. As we continued on the ridge, we could see the magnitude of this crack going up to the mountain were it disappeared in the clouds. Finally we go to the view point, something we easily identified by people that hadn’t sweat enough to get there. Even with the limited vertical views it was an incredible sight and one of those views that you have to be there to not only see it, but also to believe it’s there. After a couple of pictures, we continued on until we reached the Hidden Lake trail which we took to get back. As we were hiking down, after one turn I did notice something blue over my shoulder. Between the trees I was able to make the top of Mt Hood. So eventually the clouds lifted but it happened when we were on our way out and going back was not an option. It was just a taste of the treat…



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