Dayhike on Timberline Trail from Timberline Lodge to Zigzag Canyon Overlook. No obstacles. Beautiful trail. Moderate grades and climbs to Zigzag Canyon Overlook. I had fantasized about hiking up to Paradise Park, but continuing on past the overlook would require a steep descent down switchbacks of 700 feet, and then climb out of Zigzag Canyon of about 1000 feet so I decided to call it a day at the overlook.

Trail passes the lodge and ski resort infrastructure before entering the Mt. Hood Wilderness. Beautiful views of Mt Hood and the glacial drainages.    

Two of my buddies and I hiked/ran the Timberline Trail clockwise around Wy'East (Mt. Hood) on Saturday, July 8th. We totaled 40 miles and 9,400 feet of elevation gain, reaching a max elevation of 7,300 feet. We started at 6 am at Timberline Lodge and finished at about 9:45 pm. The bathroom is in the lodge, but the best place to start hiking is from the Salmon River parking lot on the right as you drive in.

Keep in mind that this trip report is written from the perspective of three 25 to 28-year-old men who have extensive trail ultra-running experience.

This is one of the most beautiful and varied trails you could ever hope to experience. Check out my pictures on my Strava post at https://www.strava.com/activities/9416386230! There are many, many snow fields but we got through them without microspikes, and only one of us had poles. A few of them were pretty slow going since I'm pretty cautious whenever I'm one slip away from a bad fall, but none of us ever postholed or fell. However, the biggest reason to bring hiking poles on this hike is for the unrelenting (but very fun!) river fords. I think the whole loop has one bridge (Ramona Falls), so if you're accustomed to the aid of log bridges, expect to be on your own for all of these crossings. The water was generally knee-high, and never much higher, much to my relief. Keep in mind that the water is very cold, fast-moving, and usually not clear enough to see the bottom (thus the want for poles to keep balance). I wouldn't say any particular crossing was the hardest. The most difficult sections were from Ramona Falls to Muddy Fork (which you can bypass on the PCT) and the few miles before reaching Cloud Cap. The Muddy Fork section is labeled as closed on a few websites (and with a temporary sign on the trail), but it's definitely passable, and it looks partially logged out. The reason for the difficulty of these two sections was the concentration of fallen timber on the trail. Outside of that, and the snowfields, much of the trail was very runnable. In a few weeks, this loop will be a bit easier!

Other tidbits about this hike: 4 major cascade volcanos are clearly visible from the trail, not including Mt. Hood. My buddy counted 174 trees we had to step over, which is not including the many trees we had to duck under. The eastern side of the trail feels like the Eastern Oregon/Washington desert, and the western side feels like the temperate rainforest of the PNW. To my knowledge, there's one pit toilet on the whole loop, at Cloud Cap.

Tips: Be prepared for exposure to the sun on the eastern side and take into account how much time and effort downed trees and river crossings will add.

This was a top-tier PNW hike experience, and I'll be back for round two someday, no doubt!

Completed Counterclockwise Timberline Trail Loop 7/4 with 4 children ages 8-12, 3 dogs and 4 adults. Needed an extra day due to precautions with children (zip line at crossings), rappelling 2 washout areas and multiple crossings needing secure rope line. Micro-spikes also needed at several snow crossings. See more on video: https://youtu.be/aV_taG39Hmw

In an effort to do all NEW-TO-US trails this Hike-a-Thon season, we went to Mt Hood Meadows to check out some of their newly added trails.  We hiked on the Bear Grass Trail, Lower Wizard Way and the Middle Wizard Way trails, along with the Timberline Trail (not new or new to us).

Conditions were fantastic, the cooler weather was very welcome and there were no bugs!  Wildflowers were abundant, many were past peak but it didn't matter as the volume made up for the fading blooms.  We saw very few people until our return to the ski lodge/ parking lot.

I backpacked the Timberline Trail clockwise from Timberline Lodge over 3 days, from September 4-6, 2020.  The trail was in good condition.  There were a few blowdowns but they were insignificant over 40+ miles.  We had some smoke in the air at times but were fortunate to get our hike in before things got a lot worse.  There was no snow on the trail.  River and creek crossings were challenging at times, especially late in the day, but passable with good focus and strategy and a willingness to get my feet wet on occasion.  The views on this trail are outstanding.  Similar to Wonderland Trail, as you circle the mountain many things change (views, plant life, terrain), which keeps it extra interesting.  The sand that you hike on at times, especially at higher elevations, is noteworthy.  It changes as you circle the mountain and can take a bit of pep out of your step.  For more visual details, check out my video and pictures below.