Mountain Pattern Baldness

Had a Saturday to myself in the woods. Had a stressful week so I was hankering to do some damage to my legs. Had a happy dog eager to go. So I decided on a scouting mission to Ramona Falls and Bald Mountain.

THE GOAL
Bald Mountain, from the Ramona Falls trailhead. Bald Mountain is a high point on a western side ridge of Mt. Hood. It's named as such for the open hanging meadow on the south flank.

THE PLAN
Park at Ramona, but don't go to the falls. Take the PCT over the Muddy Fork instead and hike up the side of Bald Mountain. Hit the top, scout the junction area for future trips and campsites, and check out Bald Mountain, which apparently has a killer view.

THE TRIP
I actually had this exact hike planned for last year until my car had some issues and I cancelled it. Since I was flying solo today (Well, solo + dog) I figured I'd try this one out. The reason I decided to do this one without Keeley was that it isn't the usual way to reach Bald Mountain. Usually people just drive the long road up to the top spur trailhead and start there for McNeil Point. That way Bald Mtn is less than a mile.

I wanted to save that easy trek for when the wife was actually with me, because McNeil Point is still nagging at my "to-do" list. I hope to complete it this summer, preferably in the next month if I can. Now that I've at least visited the area, I can be better prepared. So I decided to head up Bald Mtn from Ramona on the PCT, which is probably the least trafficked way up to Baldy.

The first mile through the Sandy River Valley is still neat and flat. Crossing the river wasn't tough, and the dog did better than expected at walking on a log over the water. Shortly after the Sandy crossing, I took the PCT cutoff to the left and abandoned most of the crowds heading to the falls. The falls wasn't on my menu today. After taking the left at the next junction with the backside of the Ramona trail, I was officially in new territory.

The trail immediately crosses the Muddy Fork after the junction. Luckily there is a big log making it an easy pass. This gateway to the north side of the fork is when things decide to change.

The Muddy Fork

The other side of the river is draped in foliage and undergrowth, something almost non-existent on the Ramona trail. The trail also finally begins to climb. Until this point the elevation gain felt almost invisible. Now the climbing started. For the next 2 miles the story was all about the up. It wasn't backbreaking, and I only needed a 30 second pause once, but it just kept climbing up about 5 long switchbacks. It was a hot day, and I started feeling it. Once you crest the ridge, you feel like you've finally made it and it won't be long before you hit the mountain.

That feeling is false hope. The trail keeps going (though at a much more reasonable climbing rate) for about another mile through undergrowth and big rhododendrons. It went on long enough that the second guesses on whether I took the right trail began to cross my mind, but then I stumbled on Confusion Junction.

Confusion Junction is where 2 trails meet, but do not actually cross. The PCT keeps left. The Timberline cuts right. The Timberline also cuts up the middle. What is happening here is that the Timberline Trail is essentially making a switchback, coming up from the valley and then turning upridge to McNeil Point. At the point of the switchback, the PCT (Which I was coming from) joins makes a hard left. A short distance down the PCT heading north is the junction with the Top Spur trail, making things just a bit worse. It's...stupid. I like maps so I was fine, but there were a lot of newbies at the spot clearly confused.

Confusion Junction. I came up the blue path, took the red path, came back the black path to back down the blue path

My goal was the Timberline trail downhill towards the Muddy Fork. This trail, after maybe two tenths of a mile, crosses the exposed ridge of Bald Mountain. This is the money shot. I barely took photos on the hike, except for this spot.

You round a corner and BOOM

Felt bad for anyone who climbed the summit, the literal only part in clouds all day

The "glare" is a smudge on the lens I didn't notice all day. Guess I'll have to come back for more photos.

When you try and take a photo of a flower but the dog steps into frame

The Muddy Fork Valley, with Yocum Ridge front and center

me too, buddy

Basically you get a spectacular view of the west face. The view is stupendous. Best view of the mountain I've gotten so far. Made the climb easily worth it. Even the dog seemed to enjoy it, as she got more affectionate than usual once I sat down for a break.

The trail perilously hugs the open face of Bald Mtn for a brief stretch, then cuts back into the woods. I could have, at this point, gone straight, down into the Muddy Fork valley, cross it again and arrive back at Ramona Falls for 13 miles, but I wasn't feeling up to that. I took the Bald Mtn Cutoff trail back to the Timberline and looped back to confusion junction.

At Confusion Junction there was a confused man, trying to figure out how to get back to Ramona Falls Trailhead (he had come from the other direction for the 13 mile loop just mentioned). I let him know that was the way I was headed. He joined up with me and we chatted off and on all the way back to the cars. It made the way home far more pleasant. He was from California, taking a big Oregon road trip, seeing the sights.

When we hit the TH we shook hands and parted ways. I'll likely never see him again. Ryan, wherever you are, thanks for keeping me company for those last 3 miles.

THE RESULTS
10.17 miles total, roughly 2000 feet elevation gain. That seems easy, but most of it comes in the two mile stretch after crossing the Muddy Fork.

Bald Mountain is absolutely worth seeing. I can't say I recommend this particular hike, simply because there is a far easier way to get to Bald Mtn if you are willing to make the drive. The trail between Ramona and the junction isn't that interesting overall, either. At 10 miles, it's a steep price to pay for being in an area with better options. I have no regrets though, and as always I get to cross off a good new section of my map.

My path for the day

You can see the trail on Bald Mountain on Google Earth!

When You Play With Fire, You Get Burnt Lake

 

I've started looking more into the Mt. Hood area and I'm surprised it took this long for me to decide to do Burnt Lake. So we choose this weekend to do Burnt Lake. It was good!

THE GOAL:
Burnt Lake & if we felt up to it, East ZigZag Mountain

THE PLAN:
The hike to Burnt Lake is a pretty easy track with no real other options outside an extremely short side trail to Lost Lake falls. Once at the lake, we could circumnavigate it and walk back for an easy 7 mile hike. If we felt good however, we could potentially add another 3 miles to the hike and another 800 feet of elevation by going past the lake up to East ZigZag for some sweet views. With the day looking cool and cloudy, Burnt Lake seemed like an acceptable goal.

THE TRIP:
The Burnt Lake trailhead is in the same vicinity as the Ramona Falls trailhead, just take a right instead of a left at the last junction. A few paved miles and 1 potholed gravel mile later and you reach a relatively small parking area. We got stupid lucky and found a prime space near the front where someone had just left. This is definitely a "get there before 8" kinda trailhead on summer weekends.

It was cloudy all drive until the last 5 miles, so we got double lucky and we'd actually get to see the mountain from the lake.

The hike is pretty easy and mild for a long time. The first two miles are a very gentle uphill through the woods. That's it. It is very peaceful and although you clearly gain elevation it never feels tough. After 2 miles, you hop the creek you've been following to the right, and then half a mile past that, the trail appears to split.

It's not a real split. The left trail quickly descends maybe 50 yards for a sort of interesting viewpoint of Lost Creek Falls, a short multi-tier cascade through a slot. You can't get a great view, but the short detour is so simple you may as well stop. It provides a great break.

Shortly after re-joining the trail, your path switchbacks to the right and begins to ascend towards the northwest. The climb gets a bit steeper but still at a very reasonable grade. After maybe a third of a mile the trees finally open up briefly for a view of Mt. Hood. After about a mile from the switchback the lake finally begins to emerge through the trees.

Burnt Lake isn't too big and has a number of campsites. We took in a slight view on the north shore, then went and looked at the nearby map. 3 miles in, we both felt pretty good. I convinced Keeley to follow me up the trail to the mountain a bit to see if we could get a better view.

The trail climbs at a similar grade for half a mile and then begins to hit switchbacks. Avalanche Lilies line the path here, and it made me excited because I'd never seen them before. Some Beargrass also popped up on the trail from time to time.

Taking pictures of Beargrass

The picture I was taking of Beargrass

My first Avalanche Lily

Learn how to focus a camera, Dave

The switchbacks are the steepest thing so far but still a mild grade. After maybe 5 switches and a bit of complaining, we suddenly hit the junction with the ZigZag trail. We took off to the left for maybe 30 yards for a great 4 mountain view. Hood was somewhat obstructed by trees, but we could see Adams, Rainier, and St. Helens. After the picture break we set off to the right of the junction and hit the actual steep part of the hike.

Technically 4 mountains in this photo. Hood is behind the trees, the rest are tough with the exposure but it goes from right to left: Hood - Adams - Rainier - St. Helens

A pretty short but certainly grueling piece of gutter trail quickly rises up the flank of East Zigzag mountain, but the climb was worth it because the view from the top was stupendous. We got our effort's worth. Probably the second best view I've had of Mt. Hood after Tom,Dick and Harry mtn.

Mt Adams

Hood and Burnt Lake below

The actual summit and more views were about 15 minutes on the trail further, but we decided to turn around. We were 5 miles in and weren't sure how the dog would do. We also didn't think the views would get that much better, as the viewpoints would all be at the same basic angle. So we headed back down.

We took a quick detour to go around the lake on the way back for some quality final pictures and to cool off by the water. After a long, thumping descent, we made it back to the car.

East ZigZag peak

THE RESULTS:
10ish miles, 2200ish feet elevation gain. Our garmins did not matchup and seemed a bit buggy, so the true data is a mystery.

This is probably the easiest 10 mile hike I've done. It's about the same elevation as Hamilton mtn but without much steep stuff and an extra mile to ease the climb. The trail is soft and wide. I wish the two mile intro was a bit more interesting but if you can make it to burnt lake without feeling bad, the trek up to at least the first views on Zigzag is easily doable. We didn't run out of water or even need to stop for lunch, we hiked pretty much the entire 4 hours straight with nothing longer than a 10 minute rest at the top for photos. Definitely recommended. That final gravel road is a bit of trouble though.