It is Fall hiking season and when you get a sunny day and some free time you have to go for a hike. My plan was to hike from Timberline Lodge on the PCT to Paradise Park trail then up to the Paradise Loop Trail over to Split Rock. From there I would hike a user trail up to a high canyon. When I got to Timberline Lodge I was surprise to find a light covering of snow on the top of Mt. Hood. I was starting out at sunrise and there were strong winds and near freezing temperature. I went to Climbers Hut to get out of the wind get my gear ready. I started out on a wind swept frozen trail, by the time I got to Zigzag Canyon the winds had died down on that side of the Hood. When I got to Zigzag creek I had to do a wet boot crossing. From there the up hill starts.
When I got to Paradise Loop trail I found the angle of the sun and fresh snow on Mt. Hood was a photographer’s dream. The rest of the way across Paradise Park and up the user trail made me wish I had brought my SLR to be able to get quality photographs of what I was seeing. I was disappointed that as I headed up the user trail that mountain start to form a cloud around it and block my view. After getting to the upper canyon rim I hit my turn around time and started heading back. I was happy to find on my return trip that Zigzag Creek broke the rules and water level was lower rather then higher. It made the creek crossing easy. As I finished my hike I lucked out the cloud on Hood went away and I was able to get some more good photos of the mountain.
Hike by the numbers according to my GPS: 14.65 miles, 3785 ft. total elev. gain with 9 1/2 hour on the trail.
