Exploring Oregon: Timberline Trail Around Mt. Hood (Take 2)

Justin & I completed a counterclockwise loop on the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood on Justin’s 50th birthday. It was beautifully exhilarating. And brutally exhausting. Both things can be true! 3 nights, 3.5 days. 41 miles. 9,782 feet of elevation gain. 10,390 feet of elevation loss. Our second attempt at this trail nearly 12 years after our first attempt might have brought a better weather window, but it beat up our older bodies! 

Before I get too deep into the literal ups & downs, here’s the actual beta for anyone who might be here for that. We went counterclockwise, which is the atypical direction!  

So now onto how this trail nearly broke me!

Once upon a time, I was a thru hiker. I spent 141 days hiking 2000 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 2011. Then I spent 123 Days hiking 2000 miles on New Zealand’s Te Araroa in 2014. Not saying those journeys were easy, but years have passed, and my body has unpleasant reactions now to hard things. (Side rant: can I just say, youth is wasted on the young. I surely didn’t appreciate my abilities!!! And the nonexistence of aches & pains!!! Take me back, take me back!)

My lungs kept yelling at me and my heart was thumping like a tennis ball in a dryer when we were climbing the last 500 feet to our highest point on the exposed section with no water sources in full sun. At one point, I declared my need for shade, and sat down “under” a stunted & weather-beaten pine that maybe provided an inch of shade.

And truly, the temps did not feel like autumn (thank you El Niño?). But being the overprepared hikers we are, we had far too much warm-weather gear! You just never know in the mountains. We obviously know autumn can turn into winter very quickly, which is what happened last time we tried this trail in early October 2014.

The Timberline Trail is also notorious for its glacial rivers (yes, there are still glaciers on Mt. Hood, though they are melting melting melting). Anyway, autumn also translates to lower (safer) river crossings. I think we forded a dozen rivers, and we could mostly use the exposed rocks for crossing. The Eliot & Coe Rivers were the worst, as the rocks were just a little too wide apart for my stride. So we waded through—only up to my knees—which kind of felt like a welcome cooling off. Regardless, I still feel like river crossings are legitimately deadly. Never a good thing when you can hear the river you are planning to cross a mile before you reach it. I watch my life flash before my eyes every time I step into a river that wants to propels me forward like an out-of-control conveyor belt!

Another sketchy aspect about the river valleys was actually the incredible erosion along the banks (not pictured, as trying to take pix of the craziest bits took more effort than I could give). For the Eliot, we took our packs off, then I laid onto my belly & lowered our packs to Justin. We both butt-scooted 10 feet down the embankment grasping fruitlessly for anything. On the opposite bank, there was a rope to hoist ourselves up (definitely more helpful, but still not particularly easy). 

There’s also been a ton of fires in this area, so we crossed at least 2 dozen blow downs (thank you trail crew for the work you do to clear what you can!). I wouldn’t mind blowdowns if the trees had a tiny diameter like our Denali trees have. But no. These Pacific Northwest trees are of gargantuan girth. Many were butt-spinable, but still an incredible effort for my short stature to mount and clamber over. For a handful, going under was the better option. Considering I’m not great at squatting & walking like a duck WITHOUT a pack on, you can imagine how cumbersome & painful this was with 30 lbs on my back. I ended up removing my pack a few times.

I am always enchanted by the PNW forest with its ginormous trees, and we were on a circuit of senses among the firs & hemlocks when the trail meandered through the forest. There are a lot of alternatives on the east side of the loop, as a 2021 windstorm had created tons of blowdowns. So since we had already done this section of the Timberline Trail in 2014, we took the Ramona Falls & PCT alternatives. A lovely choice as my body was protesting any more scrambles over dead trees. 

We finished mid-day on Justin’s birthday, with the rest of the day to indulge at the Timberline Lodge. We’ve been to this area many, many times, but never stayed overnight in the lodge. There’s so much history, as the lodge was built in the late 1930s as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal to create jobs. Not much has changed in the lodge since its construction, so those rustic details of the hand-carved newel posts, furniture & ironworks really make you marvel. The other cool fact is the lodge exterior was used in the movie, The Shining! 

All-in-all, it was such a great escape, and proof that we still relish in the reward of hard things … although I begged Justin to pick an easier trail next time!