Barrett Spur from Vista Ridge

I’m posting a week late because I shot these on film.

The wildfire smoke has subsided and it’s time to venture outside once again. It seems hard to imagine a part of the Oregon Cascades that isn’t a scorched wasteland right now, but Mt Hood was spared this time around. It was our first hike of the year on everyone’s favorite mountain. We’d been avoiding it because of the Covid crowds — I’m glad that more people are enjoying the outdoors, but I’m usually willing to drive a little further for some solitude.

Fortunately, this was not a busy trail by any stretch of the imagination.

Barrett Spur is an easily recognizable alter made up of jagged rocks that sits right next to the mountain. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to gaze upon the mountain from up there. After following a steep and loosely-marked trail up in some of the windiest conditions I’ve experienced in Oregon, we made it to the top and discovered that there are actually three or four spurs up there, each offering excellent views of the glaciers of the mountain’s north face, with lots of jagged crevasses too.

On the way back down, I stepped on a large stroller-sized boulder and set it rolling slowly but surely down the mountain until it finally came to rest about 100 feet down the rocky slope. It was nice to be out of the path of an approaching catastrophe for a change!

White River - A Socked-In Snowshoe

Finally, some sunshine!

We had blue skies on the drive up and I thought we were golden. But somehow, Dad and I managed to track down the singular cloud hanging over Oregon and spent a couple of hours snowshoeing into it. I took him up the ridge directly to the East of Boyscout ridge, climbing higher and higher hoping to get above said cloud. But it never happened.

On our way back down Mt Hood… beautiful weather.