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!