Saturday, July 10, 2021
We had heard reports of good beargrass displays at Mt. Hood Meadows so that’s we headed today. We started off on the Elk Meadows Trail then turned onto the Umbrella Falls Trail. There was some blowdown to deal with:
We had a view looking south along one stretch:
We started passing through wildflowers:
Then we started seeing some nice beargrass:
This little footbridge needs some help:
After 2.25 miles we reached lovely Umbrella Falls where we took a break:
After our break we continued on, crossing the creek:
Nice patch of valerian:
We crossed the road to the ski resort and picked up the trail on the other side:
After half a mile we took a side trail to the right heading to the Mt. Hood Meadows lodge:
We wound our way through the ski complex:
Saw a nice patch of Western Pasque flower:
Mt. Hood Meadows recently constructed a network of hiking trails. So after stopping for a bathroom break at the lodge, we hiked to the bottom of the blue ski lift and turned onto the new Beargrass Trail:
Looking back:
Looking down on the lodge:
The trail lived up to its name and we saw a lot of beargrass:
View of Mt. Jefferson:
We took the spur trail out to Picnic Rock and took a break here. A resort employee hiked by and said that another employee had spotted a mama bear and her cub near here the day before, so we should be on the lookout. We didn’t see any bears, though:
We looped back to the Umbrella Falls Trail and returned to the car. It was a hot day. Considering there were dozens of cars at the trailhead, we didn’t see many people, which is always a win!
Gaia stats: 7.2 miles, 1,300′ elevation gain