The Mighty Mount Hood!

5/16/16

Here's our story...I got up early to call and wish my oldest son, Dawson a happy 15th birthday before he headed off to school.  I decided to go for a casual 40 minute walk around Tualatin in the damp overcast morning.  I had a hearty breakfast and set off the airport.  I picked up Billy at 10:45a at PDX.  We were glad that his flight was on time.  We promptly loaded his gear and set off for Mt. Hood.  The weather was still overcast.

We arrived at Government Camp in a thick fog around noon.  It is six miles up the road to the base of the mountain from here.  We pulled into the parking area and the clouds were heavy at the Timberline ski area base, our staging point for the climb.  We ran into a group of climbers who had summited that morning.  They said it was raining sideways on their climb up until they got around 8500ft, where it cleared.  The upper climbing route, Pearly Gates, had knee to thigh deep snow drifts.  This would make the climb more physically challenging and potential for avalanche.

By mid afternoon the clouds started to lift and move in and out, giving us picturesque views of the summit.

The skies were completely clear by evening.  We prepped our gear and filled out our climbing permits at the Wy'east climber's cave.  We headed back to Government Camp for some pizza at the Ratskeller. We over hydrated and you know what that means...many trips to the bathroom!  Our sleeping arrangement initially was to find a camp spot in the forest.  We did find a site down low, but it was damp, wet and soggy.  So we put plan B into effect- sleep in the car at the Timberline parking lot.  We tucked ourselves in to the front seats at 6:30p and set the alarm for 12a.  We had a beautiful clear sunset over the mountain through our windshield.  With cars pulling in and out of the parking lot and snow cats moving up and down the mountain, we had 5.5 hours of sleepless rest.

5/17/16

Alarm sounds at midnight and we gear up.  We were on the trail at 12:52a under a 3/4 moon.  The moonlight was bright enough that we were able to hike without our headlamps on.  We followed the groomed cat track all the way to the top of the palmer lift.  Technically, we were suppose to stay to the right of the ski resort.  We broke the rules and so did the other climbers we saw heading up.  We passed the overnight ski area crew manicuring the slopestyle course and half pipe.  We had to dodge the snow being thrown out of the pipe.  The hike up the palmer snow field felt endless.  We made it to the top of the lift in 2:30 hours.  I was getting a little tired at this point.

We continued straight up toward the Triangle Moraine.  The moon turned a deep red before setting.  We had about 45 minutes of dark where we turned our headlamps on.  The route steepened and the snow was firm.  We stayed with trekking poles and I didn't put crampons on and take out my ice axe until just below Crater Rock.  My pace had significantly slowed and Billy was being a fast mountain goat.  The smell of sulphur was in the air from the fumaroles on the mountain.

Hood's shadow over the Cascades at sunrise.

We hit Devil's Kitchen at 5:30a.  We snacked and hydrated before climbing to the Hogsback.  The snow was perfect for cramponing.  The Hogsback delivered great veiws of the Pearly Gates, Old Chute, Steel Cliff, Hot Rocks and the large fumarole to the right.  You could see the steam rising out of it and the smells were strong.  We reached the Bergschrund and took a look into its bottomless depths before stepping over it.  There was a thin snowbridge that looked a little suspect.  The upper part of the Hogsback steepened and I took out my second ice axe.  We traversed the rime ice covered rocks to the base of the Pearly Gates.  We took the left gate.  The right gate also was in and climbable.

Devil's Kitchen with Pearly Gates above.

The Hogsback leading up to the Gates.

Large fumarole to our left.

Crater Rock

Billy on the Hogsback.

The climb in the Gate was fun!  I used a double ice axe pick technique.  There was a mix of snow and ice.  Everything was solid and the snow from the day before had consolidated.  There was some snow to wade through at the exit of the Gate to the summit.  I reached the summit at 7:45a.  It was clear, sunny and calm- NO WIND!  We took photos, grabbed some food and hydrated.  There were 4 others sharing the summit with us.  Two of which has previously lived in CO.

Summit!  11,240ft

Mt St. Helens

Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams

Mt. Jefferson

My descent was slow and careful.  No fall needed on the upper challenges of the mountain.  We cleared the obstacles cleanly, made it over the Bergshrund again and took a break at Devil's Kitchen.  The down climb from here was long and slow.  My left ankle began to hurt from pressure in my boot.  This worsened as I went and made it difficult to walk.  I had to stop and rest every few hundred feet.  The sun was blazing which added to my fatigue.  It also made the snow very slushy.  You could clearly see the base of the ski area and the parking lot, but it never seemed to get closer.  Oh how I wish I had my skis!  I finally made it to the car at 12:15p.  What a great and long climb!  Glad to be down safely.

We were exhausted.  We dried out our gear in the parking lot.  We were so non-motivated to leave that we ended up staying the night at the historic Timberline Lodge.  We grabbed a great, juicy burger and I had an Ice Axe IPA beer at Mt. Hood Brewing Co in Government Camp.  What a great day!

I'll be posting some videos eventually on Facebook.

Now on to the next adventure...