JULY/AUGUST 2019
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LIFE LIST
THE SUNLIGHT REFLECTING off the White River is so bright I can
ba rely see the rapids that a re thundering in my ea rs. This is the most diff i-
cult ford on the 40-mile Timberline Tra il. I squint across the swath of glacia l
whitewater a nd see no sig n of the tra il on the other side. It ’s camouf laged by the
beige cliff rising out of the river valley, I assure myself. A mere 2 miles from clos-
ing the famed circuit, I’m completely stuck.
The Timberline Tra il is the most storied multiday backpacking trip in
Oregon. It circles the 11,000-foot cone of Mt. Hood, dipping bet ween a lpine
meadows, moss-shrouded water fa lls, a nd steep, rock y outcrops with pa nora mic
views across the state a nd into Wa shing ton. In 1885, tra il pioneers sketched out
the f irst few seg ments, but it wa sn’t until the 1930s, when Fra nk lin Roosevelt
created the Civilian Conservation Corps, that the route became a ring. But due to
the hairy river crossings, few people have thru-hiked it. I myself have ticked off
its best in bits and pieces, but was turned around on my last thru-hike attempt
when the Eliot Bra nch, one of the tra il’s f ive critica l crossings, wa s impa ssable.
W hile the majorit y of the tra il is well-sig ned, the sa fest fords drif t yea r to yea r
a s glacia l melt rea rra nges the shoreline. That mea ns no GPS tracks or ca irns
point to sa fe pa ssage. Moreover, the current of ten crests on summer a f ternoons.
In 2006, a particularly powerful f lood pulverized the bridge across the Eliot
Bra nch, on the nor thea st side of the mounta in, ma king circumnavigation impos-
sible. At the end of 2016, the Forest Ser vice rerouted the tra il to a wider section of
the Eliot Branch, shallow enough to boulder-hop in low water. That’s what gave
me the conf idence to tr y for the four-day, full circuit once aga in.
The Timberline Tra il is a Ca scadia n roller coa ster, with bountiful water
sources and well-established campsites the whole way. Moving clockwise from
the path’s de-facto sta r ting point at the lu xe Timberline Lodge, I sta r ted my
route up the west side. I crossed Pa radise Pa rk ’s display of fuchsia India n pa int-
br ushes a nd violet lupines a nd the silk y veil of 120-foot R a mona Fa lls. Fa r ther
along, I reached McNeil Point’s historic, glacier lily-shrouded stone shelter at
5,900 feet, below Hood’s cragg y western face. A round the ea st side, I climbed
above 7,000 feet on Gna rl R idge, the tra il’s g ust y high point, a nd strolled through
Sound of Music wildf lowers at Elk Meadows and ski resorts silenced by summer.
Nearly two-thirds of the way into the hike, I reached the Eliot Branch’s new
crossing. It was no longer the heart-pounding gamble I remembered from failed
ea rlier attempts. The freshly bla zed tra il led me to a relatively ta me pa ssage (in
the morning, at lea st), a nd I g rinned smugly at succeeding where I a nd so ma ny
other hikers had failed in years past.
W hen I hit the W hite R iver a nd its crescendo of cra shing rapids, 10 miles
and several crossings later, I can nearly taste the lodge’s Ice Axe IPA. I pace the
banks, scanning across to the tan cliffs, then, finally: the dusty outline of a trail!
I shuff le, thigh-deep, facing the icy current. Soon the lodge’s iconic snow goose
weather va ne pops into view over the ridge. I breathe. I laugh. I’m g iddy. It took a
decade, but I’ve finally closed the loop.DO IT There plenty of access points, but most hikers start at Timberline Lodge
and go clockwise. From Portland: Drive east on US 26 to Timberline Hwy.
SEASON Mid-July to September (expect snowfields year-round) PERMIT
Required (free); self-issue at the trailhead. CONTACT http://www.fs.usda.gov/mthoodLARRY GEDDIS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO2
’ ROUND
THE MOUNTAIN
After a decade of detours, the loop
around Mt. Hood is complete and better
than ever. By Benjamin Tepler