August 24, 2023
As always in late summer there was a lot of smoke in the sky and hiking options were limited. Today I decided to head to Eden Park on Mt. Hood.
I parked at the Vista Ridge Trailhead and headed south on the Vista Ridge Trail. There was a lot of pearly everlasting and fireweed along here:
Fall colors are already starting to show at this elevation:
There were quite a few huckleberries to munch on. Yum!
Looks like it was a good beargrass year up here. I was definitely too late for that:
Yet more fireweed:
I reached the junction with the Eden Park Trail and turned right:
The trail descends through burned snags from the 2011 Dollar Lake Fire:
Most wildflowers were done and gone, but I saw a few along the descent. Goldenrod:
Paintbrush:
Gentian:
The trail crossed Ladd Creek:
Then I was in Eden Park. There are a few campsites here, but no one was around:
The trail circles around Eden Park and then climbs up the slope west of the meadow:
I came across a patch of fringed grass of parnassus:
Looking down on Eden Park:
The trail crossed a large talus slope:
A robust clump of paintbrush:
I reached the junction with the Timberline Trail. My way back was to the left, but I turned right for a detour over to Glisan Creek:
Hiking the Timberline Trail back towards Cairn Basin:
I reached the Cairn Basin shelter. Amazingly I have only ever been here once before, back in 2007 before the fire. The fire burned right up to the edge of the basin:
Crossing Ladd Creek again:
Climbing up the hill through burned trees:
Easy to see the area affected by the fire:
I stopped at Wyeast Basin. The view was pretty hazy:
There’s a lovely gurgling creek that flows through Wyeast Basin. It’s cold and clear and perfect for soaking tired feet:
After a nice foot soak I headed down the Vista Ridge Trail back to my car. Here’s the view looking back towards Mt. Hood:
Glad I finally got to see Eden Park after all this time. I would like to visit during peak wildflower season, even if means dealing with mosquitoes.
Gaia stats: 8.7 miles, 1,800′ elevation gain
