July 22, 2006, Snowdome, Mt. Hood
7/22/06
OR Mt Hood
3643
7
I drove up to Cloud Cap on Friday evening to beat the forthcoming 100 degree heat, and concur with previous posts that the road is in poor shape for those in a hurry. Armed with my can of fix-a-flat I made the 9.5 mile journey up in about an hour. Those with new struts/tires could probably knock 20 minutes off. There were about 10 cars at the trailhead so I parked my Eurovan up closer to the historic Cloud Cap Lodge (it predates Timberline Lodge by almost 50 years, but is closed to the public).
The next morning at sunrise I started up to the snowdome with my four-legged horizontal philosopher labradoodle "the Artful Dodger." We foolishly scorned the "trail closed" sign and continued north along the Timberline Trail to cross the Elliot branch down low. The snowbridge was still substantial but navigating back to the trail on the other side proved somewhat difficult. After (finally) gaining the ridge (northern lateral moraine) we continued up, only to notice two other skiers (and yellow dog) hiking across the lower Elliot basin along the temporary trail. I saw them jumping across several large boulders to get across the rushing water as the temporary bridge was washed out. However, I never saw them up higher on the mountain (I hope they weren't injured).
I made it to the top of the 'dome' (9700 ft) and things were a little cupped out, but what can you expect in the later days in July. It was overcast but even the few sprinkles were a welcome alternative to the scrorching weather in PDX. I noticed a couple of cracks opening on the snowdome below the bergschrund and the snow was starting to get a little dirty so there's not too much time left on this side of the mountain this summer. There were still some nice turns on Langille Glacier and lower bowls. I had a great time but felt a little selfish making all those turns by myself. ;D
The next morning at sunrise I started up to the snowdome with my four-legged horizontal philosopher labradoodle "the Artful Dodger." We foolishly scorned the "trail closed" sign and continued north along the Timberline Trail to cross the Elliot branch down low. The snowbridge was still substantial but navigating back to the trail on the other side proved somewhat difficult. After (finally) gaining the ridge (northern lateral moraine) we continued up, only to notice two other skiers (and yellow dog) hiking across the lower Elliot basin along the temporary trail. I saw them jumping across several large boulders to get across the rushing water as the temporary bridge was washed out. However, I never saw them up higher on the mountain (I hope they weren't injured).
I made it to the top of the 'dome' (9700 ft) and things were a little cupped out, but what can you expect in the later days in July. It was overcast but even the few sprinkles were a welcome alternative to the scrorching weather in PDX. I noticed a couple of cracks opening on the snowdome below the bergschrund and the snow was starting to get a little dirty so there's not too much time left on this side of the mountain this summer. There were still some nice turns on Langille Glacier and lower bowls. I had a great time but felt a little selfish making all those turns by myself. ;D
Welcome, Telecarto and the "labradoddle"; nice to have a few more Portland folks in our community.
Nice trip report, too.
Nice trip report, too.
Thanks for the report, telecarto. Looks like you had good company.
I've been thinking about heading back after a perfect day up there last weekend (other than losing my 52mm polarizer as a sacrifice to the mountain). Is Langille still in good enough condition to warrant a day of yoyo-ing? I found that Snowdome was okay, but the bowls were really the silver lining last week.
My car is still cursing me about that road. I just recently bought new tires and had an alignment...and now I can't even tell.
I've been thinking about heading back after a perfect day up there last weekend (other than losing my 52mm polarizer as a sacrifice to the mountain). Is Langille still in good enough condition to warrant a day of yoyo-ing? I found that Snowdome was okay, but the bowls were really the silver lining last week.
My car is still cursing me about that road. I just recently bought new tires and had an alignment...and now I can't even tell.
Just thought I'd let you know that we made it, lab and all. We saw you on the ridge ahead of us. We spent some time on Langille and saw you making some turns on Snow Dome. Not a bad day.
I am glad you made it. It wasn't too difficult (on my return) to jump across the Elliot outwash on those three large boulders - but not too friendly for the four-legged ones. Dodger went downstream a bit and crossed where the river was wider, shallower and less forceful.
I should've waited a for the snow to soften-up a bit more - did you make it back to Cloud Cap before noon?
I think Langille is still good and worth the effort, especially if you need to stonegrind your bases ;). The loess is starting to dirty things up a bit, but with a good wax I think things would be fine. It's fun to link the pockets of snow.
I just love that side of the mountain and being able to look into the cataclysmic morass of the ice fall in the Elliot. I didn't find your polarizer though.
I wonder if they'll fix the road more later in the season - I could tell there were a few spots that they graded and layed more gravel (maybe an 1/10th of the road) - but a better road means more people and less solitude...
I am glad I found this community.
I should've waited a for the snow to soften-up a bit more - did you make it back to Cloud Cap before noon?
I think Langille is still good and worth the effort, especially if you need to stonegrind your bases ;). The loess is starting to dirty things up a bit, but with a good wax I think things would be fine. It's fun to link the pockets of snow.
I just love that side of the mountain and being able to look into the cataclysmic morass of the ice fall in the Elliot. I didn't find your polarizer though.
I wonder if they'll fix the road more later in the season - I could tell there were a few spots that they graded and layed more gravel (maybe an 1/10th of the road) - but a better road means more people and less solitude...
I am glad I found this community.
You didn't find any OR gloves did you? I seem to have sacrificed them to the mountain along with Loofus (on the same trip to boot!). Glad to hear the snow is still in decent shape :D
I didn't find any mountain booty at all...although I might have run into Loofus ??? Who/what is a Loofus?
I did a quick web check and got the following -
Loofus (loo-fus)
(1) a pubic hair that women occasionaly choke on, it can't be removed because its stuck in the crotch region very tightly. it can't be shaved because its made of steel.
(2) a really dumb douche bag. by douche bag i mean ignorant wanna be mean but can't stupid dick humper. and by the sentence above this one i mean a asshole. and by asshole i mean someone whos a dick. do u get the gist of it.
Sorry I can't help you. 8)
I did a quick web check and got the following -
Loofus (loo-fus)
(1) a pubic hair that women occasionaly choke on, it can't be removed because its stuck in the crotch region very tightly. it can't be shaved because its made of steel.
(2) a really dumb douche bag. by douche bag i mean ignorant wanna be mean but can't stupid dick humper. and by the sentence above this one i mean a asshole. and by asshole i mean someone whos a dick. do u get the gist of it.
Sorry I can't help you. 8)
author=telecarto link=topic=5156.msg21690#msg21690 date=1153937070]
I am glad you made it. It wasn't too difficult (on my return) to jump across the Elliot outwash on those three large boulders - but not too friendly for the four-legged ones. Dodger went downstream a bit and crossed where the river was wider, shallower and less forceful.
I should've waited a for the snow to soften-up a bit more - did you make it back to Cloud Cap before noon?
I think Langille is still good and worth the effort, especially if you need to stonegrind your bases ;). The loess is starting to dirty things up a bit, but with a good wax I think things would be fine. It's fun to link the pockets of snow.
I just love that side of the mountain and being able to look into the cataclysmic morass of the ice fall in the Elliot. I didn't find your polarizer though.
I wonder if they'll fix the road more later in the season - I could tell there were a few spots that they graded and layed more gravel (maybe an 1/10th of the road) - but a better road means more people and less solitude...
I am glad I found this community.
Yeah, we made it back a little after noon. I love bringing my dog along, but she sure does make me sweat some times at those river crossings (although I'm sure she's much more agile then I am). The snow at Langille was a lot better than we anticipated.
I tried posting some of my pictures (we had some pretty good shots), but had trouble condensing the file size.
I'd like to get up there one more time. Hopefully, there's some good snow left.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: