Two Weekends of Timberline Spur Trails Part 2: Cooper Spur

Joe made it pretty clear the night before that he had no intention of hiking let alone waking up at 5am again. Knowing it was going to be another day of good weather, I couldn't bring myself to let it go to waste. So I packed up the dog this time and was on the route before 6am. The road up to the trailhead was treacherously bumpy, something neither Nami nor I appreciated very much as a means to wake up, but the sunrise and view of Mount Rainier in the distance eased some of the discomforts. 

Cloud Cap Road

We arrived at the trailhead and while there were many campers, the trail itself was empty. The trail started with an immediate uphill, not a surprise considering I had done that section during our backpacking trip. Unlike before, I diverted right after half a mile and found myself on the Tilly Jane trail. A wonderful little trail crawling across a sandy ridge with a beautiful view of Mount Hood in the front and a backward view of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier in the distance. 

The view north from Eliot East trail

Heading back towards the Cooper Spur Trail

Nami chased a few errant squirrels and enjoyed some of the few small patches of snow while I took in the mountain views right in front of me. 

The uphill was gradual and so Nami and I just meandered our way slowly up. I could see the infamous Eliot Creek hundreds of feet below carving through the sandy canyon. A creek that during our Timberline Trail hike tested our bravery as we crossed it but looks quite innocent from afar.

Eliot Creek

Soon we reached a junction where we needed to climb again, up another sandy, rocky ridge until we reached the point where it leveled off. We were treated to more sweeping views of the Cascades and I could see a few stray hikers making their way up the alternative route. 

More sweeping views north of the Cascades

The path continued then, zigzagging slowly up towards Hood, a few stray patches of snow, but nothing of any consequence. Nami enjoyed the freedom of being off leash since we didn't encounter any hikers and our position on the mountain paired with such a sparse landscape gave me the advantage of being able to see if anyone was coming or going. 

Over halfway up I encountered an outcropping of rocks, likely a shelter used for campers to avoid the wind, and stopped for a quick snack while giant ravens contemplated a coup to try and steal my food. 

Nami happily licked my peanut butter-scented fingers before we continued our journey up another sandy ridge right towards the mountain in front of us. 

Mount Hood with Mount Jefferson to the far south

I stopped where the ridge narrowed considerably and turned to rocks, this is the path where bold mountaineers continue to the top, but for me and my little dog, this was our turnaround point as I had no desire to scale a snow-covered mountain top alone and ill-equipped. 

The view east

So back down the windy trail, this time passing more hikers who hadn't risen quite so early in the day, this time taking the right trail instead of the left that would bring us a different way back to the trailhead. 

We passed the Copper Spur Trail Shelter and took in our last sweeping views before heading into the trees.

Cooper Spur Shelter

We continued down the steep path with Polallie Canyon to our right and trees to our left before taking the trail left.

Polallie Canyon

the A-frame cabins at Tilly Jane, all of them empty this late in the season and wound our way back through the campground to our car. It's not often I hike without Joe and the last time it was just me and the dog was over a year ago, but we make a good team when we aren't both trying to keep up with Mr. Long Legs, I think Nami appreciates. Not to mention, I'm way more generous with my snacks. 

Two Weekends of Timberline Spur Trails Part 1: McNeil Point and Cathedral Ridge

The last two Sundays have been spent filling in the gaps from our Timberline Trail adventure from July. While we completed the entire Timberline Trail loop, we left some unfinished business on two side trails we had initially aimed to add, but ultimately decided were too ambitious with fully loaded backpacks. 

First I need to preface this entry with the disclaimer that we normally hike on Saturdays, but with the beginning of autumn in Oregon and a very busy last few weeks of work, the hiking schedule has become a game of hike when the weather is good and when other life things haven't intruded on the weekend plans. Also, hiking on Sunday means very little motivation for anything post-hike, like let's say, writing up a blog entry. 

That's how we found ourselves last weekend with the intent to hit McNeil Point and progress up the ridge as far as we felt capable or until it ended. Saturday was predicted to be unusually warm and quite honestly neither of us had the energy to haul ourselves 3000+ feet up a mountain let alone with a full day of sun. What we failed to realize is that Sunday is traditionally our day of rest aka mosey around the house doing little chores and so when the alarms went off at 5am neither of us moved. I lay in bed telling myself if I fell back asleep I would just scrap the idea of hiking. Ten minutes later and I was still awake so hiking it was! It was dark almost the entire way to the trailhead and the sun was just starting to creep over the mountain on the approach trail.

The Top Spur approach trail to McNeil Point

Despite the initial lack of motivation, we progressed quickly and we were glad to have waited a day since the weather, while under normal circumstances might be classified as cool, was perfect for the rigorous uphill climb. The summit of Mount Hood was dusted with fresh snow from heavy rains earlier in the week and encased in clouds and while this might ruin the view for most, I actually found the clouds spectacular and watched them cresting over the mountain like ocean waves. 

Video: Clouds passing over the summit of Mount Hood

We reached McNeil Point shelter after a pretty impressive uphill climb but didn't linger long since we still had a second uphill to tackle. 

McNeil Point Shelter

The wind was fierce, that paired with the steep and exposed uphill, made for a bit of a treacherous climb. A couple times I had to stop and wait for the gust to die down before proceeding in order to maintain my footing. 

Once we got to Ho Rock and Cathedral Ridge it was a spectacular sight and no photo will ever capture how outer-worldly it felt. A modern-day Mount Olympus, formidable and beautiful. 

We edged along Cathedral Ridge a little way but didn't want to go too far past where the trail ended since this trail is used by mountaineers and climbers to summit the mountain and we do not fall into that category.  

We sat down next to a jagged line of rocks to shield ourselves from the wind while we enjoyed our well-deserved PB&J sandwiches. As much as we wanted to spend hours surrounded by 360 degrees of views, it was still Sunday and we still wanted to have some weekend left and get off the mountain before the heat came. 

The view from Ho Rock

For once the way down lacked any fanfare and was a gradual drop back to the Timberline Trail (a familiar sight) and then it was an easy five miles down to the car. We both agreed Sunday hikes were not ideal, I didn't know at the time, but I'd find myself doing yet another Sunday hike a week later, this time alone. 

Stay tuned for my solo adventure!