The McIntyre Ridge Trail has a “musical chairs” history when it comes to access. The original trailhead at the end of Road 110 (on BLM land) was closed, and an unofficial trailhead was established at the end of Road 108. Once Trailkeepers of Oregon helped build the new Douglas Trailhead the Forest Service claimed to close off access to Road 108.
Greg and I visited on June 29 and it didn’t look like access had ever been closed to Road 108. The road itself is a bit of a mess with enormous potholes. But it is open, so this is just a quick report to let you know you can still access McIntyre Ridge this way (here’s the hike description).
The boulders at the end of the road are no deterrent for the OHV crowd. They just drive around:
The first mile is not so much a trail as a road, due to the OHV use (even though this is inside the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness):
At the first viewpoint Mt. Hood was only partially visible:
It was not a banner beargrass year here:
But the rhododendrons were in bloom and looking nice:
And the wildflowers near the bench looked great:
We even saw a hummingbird:
You can still sit on the bench, but it has really reclined over the years:
We watched (and listened to) a crazy thunderstorm moving from south to north, engulfing Mt. Hood (and dumping a bunch of hail, from what we heard):
On the way back we spotted this shot-up handle on a tree branch. Maybe it was once part of a growler? We removed it and packed it out.
The last view of the mountain before heading back into the trees for good was a stormy one:
Greg was about ten minutes behind me and when he got to that spot there was a cool rainbow!
We stopped at the Douglas Trailhead on the drive out. Ever wondered what one of those new plastic-like trailhead signs looks like after being used for target practice? Wonder no more:
