A Day With the Clouds

Mazama Trail to McNeil Point

This trip brought back happy memories from a July hike I ventured on three years ago with friend Craig who has since moved out of the area. I was very much a Mt Hood newbie at the time as our trek up to McNeil Point was only my second up-close experience with the mountain. Having taken the Bald Mountain trail into the area several times since then, I decided to try a new route on the Mazama Trail which follows Cathedral Ridge.


The forecasted morning clouds were present, but I spotted a small bank of blue bordering Vista Ridge on the drive in and hoped that was a sign of the day ahead. I’d emailed several others on joining up with me, but hadn’t received any takers, so it was just my dog Kodi and I. Before leaving, another gentleman in a pickup pulled up and we chatted as we got our gear together. Miles had done most of his hiking on the east side of Mt Hood. That being the case, I guessed he was from Hood River, but it turned out he was a teacher from the Aloha area. Kodi and Miles' dog were happy to greet each other as well. Miles set off first, but we wound up running into each other several times later.

Looking for Colors

After getting past two lengths of switchbacks, the trail followed a more direct line up the ridge. Much of the vegetation along the ground was turning from green to yellow, but not red. I wondered if perhaps being in the shade their turn to red lagged behind that of the shrubs and deciduous trees out in the open. The clouds held strong as we got to the heather meadow at 5300 feet. Here the colors were much more pronounced with reds, oranges, yellows, and the green of bear grass mixing together under the lengths of trees extending themselves into the fog.

Where's Hood?

It got quite cold in the next stretch as we continued to hike in the clouds enveloping our side of the mountain. I got out my stocking cap and was even wishing for about ten minutes that I had brought those gloves I’d decided earlier I wouldn’t need and had left in the car. Before we knew it we hit the intersection with the Timberline Trail where we met a couple backpacking for the weekend. They provided some useful input as I found out the first turnoff for McNeil Point was now closed and one must continue to the second one just a few minutes beyond. Sure enough, when I reached the first one there was a sign stating it was closed for meadow restoration. Seeing it there I could remember hiking up the path with Craig where we spotted a small frog dwelling in the creeklet flowing along the path.

Receding of the Clouds

After finding the second turn, we caught up to Miles who offered some trail mix which I couldn’t pass up. As we continued together, we spotted the sun pushing through the gray above. We hoped that meant we were getting close to seeing some clear skies. Within ten minutes, in an almost magical instant the shroud on us was lifted, a transformation so fast in such an unexpected manner I was forced to stop to soak in and fully appreciate the event. An outcrop of land extending out above the newly revealed cloud deck created an illusion that we'd just been transported to a floating island far above in the sky.

Islands in the Sky

Instead of heading straight for McNeil Point shelter we wound up following a bypass trail heading directly towards Mt Hood which now beamed out its presence before us. It looked like the trail went up another 500 feet, so when we finally huffed it to the turnaround overlook I was surprised we'd gained nearly 800 feet. The view of the cloud deck crashing into the flanks and ridges of Mt Hood was amazing. I was quite enamored by it for some reason and just couldn’t help but look at it. It was just chilly enough for me get my wind shell on.

Returning Down

Below us the McNeil Point shelter was visible above the clouds, but as Kodi and I descended to it the clouds moved in again and overtook our view. Satisfied in seeing the shelter, we started our way back. Before hitting the turnoff junction for McNeil Point, we got a few more stretches of blue and joined up with Miles who was chatting with another hiker. Once we hit the Mazama trail at 5600 feet the clouds took hold of us permanently and hid away the blue the rest of the way down.

Wrap Up

I’ll wrap up with a few more pictures. It was a richly rewarding and priceless day outdoors. I was definitely glad I hadn’t slept in which had been the other option I’d considered for the day!

Images

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