Trekks and Travels

I hike with a Portland hiking group called TrailMix, for the first time. Nice ladies, very enthusiastic about hiking. One other photographer in the mix. It was nice and believe me, I would never have gone on that trail without them. It was waaaay far away from my house and waaaay far away from a main road. They knew the area well, so I was in good hands.
We headed up Vista Ridge on the north slope of Mt Hood on a brilliant, hot day. The light was harsh and not great for photography. Not the best lighting for sure.
We hiked to Wy-east Basin first, then over to Cairn Basin with fabulous views of Mt Hood from a field of wildflowers, then to Eden Park. All these parks avoided the burn which we wove in and out of. It was called the Dollar Lake fire and burned the area in 2011. We had a pretty big creek to cross, twice: Ladd Creek. Not as easy as Cascade creeks. Big boulders and milky white glacial runoff. Flowers were blooming, flies didn't bit too much and there were huckleberries at the very start of the hike.

2011 fire

Avalanche lilies

Wy-East Basin

Looking north

Mt Hood through the burnt trees

contrasts everywhere

Lots of paths through the flowers

Ladd Creek

Cairn Basin

TrailMix group in Cairn Basin

Eden Park

At the end of the hike - went back to get a photo in different lighting

This is my favorite hike. I did it last year for the first time with Eric and this year with Jean and Dan. It is a 16.4 mile loop, gaining over 2700 ft. Most of it is gradual but it is a long one. I started from my house at 5:30a and returned home at 8:30p. We hit the trail at 8:30a and arrived back at the car at 5:15p. Whew!

But totally worth it.

We started in the fog at the Obsidian trail head. A ranger even checked our passes! A first. We made great time up through the forest to the wall of lava. After the lava field the trail gets really interesting, changing from woods to meadows, to woods, to lakes, to rock cliffs, to drop-offs, to mountain views. Everything is so early this year, lupine fields that had been going strong when Eric and I hiked it the end of Aug last year, were spent. But lupines were still going at upper elevations. The trail starts at 4800 feet and eventually climbs to 7534 ft at Collier Cone view point. However, there is some gain and loss all along the way. We hiked the loop past Obsidian Falls and turned northeast onto the PCT to continue to Collier Cone. We ate lunch there and had it all to ourselves. I think I took a million photos.
We arrived at the Cone at 1:30p and left a little after 2p. We had 7 miles back to the car through the Minnie Scott spring area, the meadow at the PCT/Scott Trail Junction, and past 4 in 1 Cone. We were witnesses of a forest fire in the process of containment on the Scott trail. Saw the helicopter with a bag of something or other to drop on the fire. It was very close and gave me a new appreciation for what the fire fighters do in the wilderness.

We made it back to the car after the seemingly long slep through the woods. It only feels that way because you are so tired. I want to do this hike every year!