We woke up early on our second day. I had slept like a rock until about 4am and then my body decided it was wide awake. I sat in my tent living in the moment, listening to the world become alive with birds chirping as the sun started to rise as the creek gently bubbled.
I had packed some oats and dehydrated fruit to soak for breakfast (aka "hiker mush") so I got that soaking while I started packing up. I checked in on Joe and he was also awake so we slowly got our bodies moving, working out kinks from our nonluxury sleeping accommodations and bodies sore from the previous day.
Mornings are the hardest. The worst sound on the trail is the sound of the hissing of your air mattress as you deflate it knowing you have a long day ahead. Luckily we had a gentle uphill before the ground leveled out before reaching Ramona Falls. Joe and I have been to Ramona many years before in the Spring when it was snowing. Nami was just a puppy back then but I remember the trip well. The landscape looked so different now without snow, but the falls were just as beautiful and magical.
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| Joe and Ramona Falls |
Video: Ramona Falls
We couldn't stick around too long though, we had hills to climb! Due to severe blowdowns a detour has been put in place where Timberline Trail goers are strongly advised to not go up Yocum ridge and follow the PCT up to Bald Mountain before returning to the Timberline. We aren't fools so up the PCT detour we went. We reached Muddy Fork and were blessed with such good fortune for the crossing - logs!
Video: Crossing Muddy Fork
From there it was uphill and more uphill as we slowly climbed our way up Bald Mountain. We passed some folks who had left camp earlier and despite the humidity, my aversion to uphills, and Joe's speedy mountain goat tendencies, we did make a pretty good time averaging 2mph. I know that might sound slow, but when you are hauling a pack and going uphill it's not bad at all.
At Bald Mountain there are two paths, one is shorter and hits the north side. The second is longer but traverses the ridge on the south. The northside is the "official" Timberline but it is also fraught with blowdowns.
We took the south detour and I'm so glad we did! The views were absolutely stunning. We could also see the blowdown section on Yocum ridge and wow, what a true mess that is now!
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| The view from the south side of Bald Mountain |
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| The blowdowns on Yocum Ridge |
The next section would be the hardest of the day. A slow slog uphill to McNeil point where we were informed of not only blowdowns but also black flies. It was slow going, the downed trees were more annoying than anything since the trail no longer went straight but wound around the mess. Joe once again took the lead and made it look easy, I swear, those long legs! Again, photos don't quite capture the destruction, but it was impressive.
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| Trail, what trail? |
The flies while irritating luckily weren't biting as long as we kept moving and our permethrin-treated clothes and deet treated skin left us unmaimed. We stopped for lunch late in the day only after we had cleared the heavy fly populations. We headed through more gorgeous meadows, crossed more creeks where we managed to stay dry, and across Wy'east Basin.
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| Glisan Creek |
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| Through more fairy tale meadows |
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| Wy'east Basin |
When we entered an old burn area it meant we were getting closer to our final destination, Elk Cove. We crossed Elk Cove Creek and headed down the direction where there were campsites but we were very unimpressed. Water access was too far for our liking and it didn't feel private or have a view. It was still early afternoon which meant we didn't have competition over sites so we backtracked back across the creek and went down a small side trail and found the best campsite of the entire trip. Level ground, privacy, easy creek access, and the view! It was stunning.
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| Not a bad view to wake up to |
The early arrival gave me the chance to do some trail laundry before we settled down to a dinner of chili mac. Joe observed camp sitting perched on a rock while I relaxed in my tent and settled in for a quick cat nap.
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| Joe on top of his lookout rock |
Due to the elevation and being on the north side of the mountain, the night was definitely on the chilly side and I don't think either of us slept well.
Sometimes no matter how tired you and your muscles are, sleep just doesn't come. The moon was bright so I at least enjoyed seeing it light up Mount Hood during my sleepless night.
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| Watching the sunset from my tent |
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4am moon over Mount Hood
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Distance Logged: 12.5 mi
Ascent: 4245 ft
Descent: 2086 ft
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