Chinidere and Tomlike Mountains

October 1, 2023

On this gorgeous fall day we headed up to Chinidere and Tomlike Mountains in the Mt. Hood Wilderness.
Although we intended to get an early start, we did not. There were four cars when we arrived at the trailhead at 9:55 and it was 46 degrees.

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We descended the stairs down to Wahtum Lake:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We could see Chinidere Mountain above the lake:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Mushroom:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We turned left and headed north on the PCT:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We left the PCT and crossed the lakes outlet on a raft of logs:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Then we switchbacked up the hill on the Chinidere Cutoff Trail. There’s an old pipe along the trail here:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Gentian:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We were now briefly back on the PCT, then we turned right to head up to Chinidere. This very old sign is being swallowed by a tree:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Approaching the summit:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Made it! There’s a mighty fine view of Mt. Hood up here:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain

View from Chinidere Mountain

Other volcanoes are also visible. Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Mt. St. Helens:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Mt. Rainier:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Mt. Adams:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Mt. Defiance:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Indian Mountain to the south:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Well this is depressing. This is the view to the west looking over the huge area burned in the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Burned area to the north:

View from Chinidere Mountain

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Wahtum Lake:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

There used to be a fire lookout up here and there are still old wire cable remnants:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

We had a nice picnic up here:

Chinidere Mountain

There was a cheeky golden-mantled ground squirrel hanging around begging for food. He was persistent so I was able to get a lot of photos:

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

Chinidere Mountain Hike

After our break on Chinidere we headed down and started making our way over to Tomlike Mountain. There was some blowdown to deal with:

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Looking down on Mud Lake, the headwaters of East Fork Herman Crek:

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

There is no official trail up to Tomlike Mountain, but there is a well-defined user trail, which was easy to follow:

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

It is a bit overgrown in spots, but we never lost the trail. We could often see Tomlike Mountain ahead of us:

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

There was one tricky part where we had to scramble up a pile of boulders:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Almost there:

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Hiking to Tomlike Mountain

Tomlike Mountain

Made it! Looking back the way we came with Mt. Hood beyond:

Tomlike Mountain

Looking north along the ridge of the mountain:

Tomlike Mountain

Looking west at Waucoma Ridge:

Tomlike Mountain

We took another break, stopping to enjoy the views:

Tomlike Mountain

The user trail continues north along the ridge for a short distance, so I followed it to where it ended:

Tomlike Mountain

Looking north:

Tomlike Mountain

Northeast, with Mt. Adams now enveloped in clouds:

Tomlike Mountain

Tomlike Mountain

Northwest:

Tomlike Mountain

Southwest:

Tomlike Mountain

West:

Tomlike Mountain

Looking south back to the summit:

Tomlike Mountain

Tomlike Mountain

After our break we started heading down:

Tomlike Mountain

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Going back down the boulder hill:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Fall color already starting:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

I knew the old long-abandoned West Fork Herman Creek Trail was around here and we spotted the trail tread heading downhill to the west:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Looping back to the trailhead we crossed Road 660, which is closed and gated:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Hiking the Anthill Trail back to the car:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

There’s a nice viewpoint of Mt. Hood along the way, although clouds were quickly covering it up:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Looking down on Wahtum Lake:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

More fall color:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Blowdown:

Hiking back from Tomlike Mountain

Nice hike on a beautiful day!

Gaia stats: 7.5 miles, 1,700′ elevation gain