Recreation opportunities abound at Mount Hood

MOUNT HOOD, Ore. — She's a lurker.

Mount Hood, the craggiest and mightiest of the Oregon Cascades, is a rock-and-ice presence that, on many days, you feel more than see.

Thanks — or no thanks — to cranky weather rolling in off the Pacific or barrel racing up or down the Columbia River Gorge, the majestic, 11,235-foot peak can be shrouded in clouds for days.

That's likely a major frustration for visitors who have flown from Europe, Asia or elsewhere and only have limited numbers of hours to devote to the mountain. But it's only a minor irritant to those of us lucky enough to live four hours away by car — a distance far enough to fully sever Hood-ophiles from their problems back home, but close enough to facilitate frequent visits.

This is a mountain that makes itself felt, whether it's in view or not.

Even on those socked-in days, the meadows and forests blanketing Hood's flanks reek of the kind of raw nature unique to the alpine lands of the Cascade volcanic zone. Look around, and you'll find yourself surrounded by the sorts of natural wonders you'll only find in a place ruled by an intemperate, icy master reaching high into the sky:

• Countless small, scenic alpine lakes dot the landscape, each its own jewel in the charm bracelet of public lands ringing the mountain.

• Hundreds of miles of footpaths — including a spectacular stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail — crisscross the deep forests, insanely steep canyons and peaceful white-water river drainages of the Mount Hood National Forest, the main expanse of public land here.

• Timberline Lodge and Ski Area stays open all summer, tempting the tent-averse with cozy fireplace rooms, and luring skiers and snowboarders to ride the salted snow of the Palmer Glacier. The same alpine outpost provides a base camp for Hood summit climbers, day hikers and cyclists who brave the climb from the village of Government Camp, below.

• Making all this recreation heaven more accessible is a string of several dozen USDA Forest Service campgrounds, most with fairly primitive facilities (pit toilets, no RV hookups or showers), but many with stunning, Hood-view settings that more than make up for lack of creature comforts.

Peak season for Hood lovers

While you're partaking of one or all of those activities, the clouds, at some point, ultimately will part and reveal Hood in all its majesty — jutting suddenly and miraculously into the sky and into your consciousness.

In the early summer, when bright snow still covers most of its upper flanks, the sight is splendid enough to stop you in your tracks — or at least send you scurrying for the camera before the gray matter moves back in.

And it is only now, a full month into official summertime in the lowlands, that the alpine haunts of Mount Hood enter their own summer season. Wildflowers on just-melted-out trails to and from Timberline have just begun bursting, promising several more weeks of color in favorite day-hiking destinations such as Paradise Park. Rainbow trout begin biting in earnest in manmade lakes such as Trillium, just below Timberline, or Timothy Lake, farther south.

It is, in other words, peak season for Mount Hood lovers — a group likely to include most everyone who's ever been there, and a lot of fans of other Cascade alpine destinations who haven't.

Mount Hood National Forest

For sheer mountain majesty, Hood, of course, can't compare to Washington's 14,411-foot Mount Rainier, which, in addition to being 3,000 feet taller, seems twice as big around. But what Hood might lack in sheer glacial bulk, it makes up for in approachability.

Mount Hood looks — and, to recreationists, feels — like Rainier lite, with most of the same grandeur and less of the pretense and restrictions. Land-management jurisdictions have something to do with that: A large swath of the land around the summit and upper reaches of Mount Hood is federal wilderness area. But even larger parts of the Hood recreation zone are not.

The most heavily used public lands in the mountain's southern shadow are part of the million-acre Mount Hood National Forest, which stretches from the Columbia River Gorge south to Olallie Scenic Area near Mount Jefferson. That 60-mile expanse of mountains, lakes and streams is overseen by the Forest Service, an agency with less-restrictive regulations than the National Park Service, which rules over access and activities on Mount Rainier.

RON JUDD / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Kayakers take in the twilight view of Mount Hood from serene Trillium Lake.

The difference is obvious, from more and better road access to alpine areas, fewer restrictions on day hiking and backpacking, far more campground choices and less-prohibitive policies on other summer activities, such as boating and fishing.

Wilderness purists might not consider that a good thing. But they have their own playground here: nearly 190,000 acres set aside in the Mount Hood, Badger Creek, Salmon-Huckleberry, Hatfield, and Bull of the Woods wilderness areas. For the rest of the population, recreation chances in the greater Mount Hood National Forest provide a welcome balance.

For the uninitiated, and those who perhaps just haven't been there in too long, here's a brief Mount Hood primer, a don't-miss list for a summer visit to Oregon's grandest mountain:

Day hiking

RON JUDD / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Melting winter snow turns the fields around historic Timberline Lodge, built in 1937, into a blank canvas of volcanic rock and bleached timber. Wildflowers will fill in the blanks until snow returns around October.

The best way to see Hood — and perhaps feel it, rubbing away at the fragile skin inside your shoes — is by foot. A couple of classic alpine day hikes on the flanks of the mountain itself:

• The Pacific Crest Trail skirts right past Timberline Lodge, and becomes one and the same for some distance with the Timberline Trail (Trail No. 600), a 40-mile wonder that circles the entire mountain, all in the alpine zone. For a grand day hike, follow Trail 600 west from Timberline for about a mile, down and back up Little Zigzag Canyon. It's just a warm-up for the coming big plunge. About a mile farther, you'll drop about 800 feet down, and then back up, Big Zigzag Canyon. On the other side, turn up the Paradise Park trail and find yourself a well-earned lunch spot. The park is a sprawling series of meadowlands, alive with wildflowers during summer months. Depending on your final destination, it's a hike of six or seven miles round-trip, and falls mostly within the Mount Hood Wilderness.

The trail is mostly snow-free, but keep in mind that stream crossings can be tricky: A small trickler of a stream in the morning might become a raging torrent on a warm afternoon. Free wilderness permits, self-issued at the wilderness boundary, are required. A Northwest Forest Pass ($5 a day or $30 annually), required for most trails in the Mount Hood National Forest, is not required to access this trail from the Timberline parking lot, but is required at other Trail 600 trailheads, such as Ramona Falls and Top Spur.

• To see a completely different (north) face of the mountain — a good option when rain pelts the south — the 2.6-mile Tilly Jane Loop is a great alpine alternative. To get there, drive around Highway 35 on the east side of Hood, to Road 3510, following signs to Cooper Spur and Tilly Jane Campground, where the trailhead is found at 5,770 feet. The trail climbs above timberline to stunning views of Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. A Northwest Forest Pass is required for parking.

And a couple of good lowland hikes for those socked-in days:

• The Tamanawas Falls Trail from Sherwood campground along Highway 35, on the northeast flanks of the mountain, is a pleasant, kid-friendly forest walk of about four miles round-trip to a beautiful waterfall. On the south side of the mountain, both Timothy Lake and Trillium Lake, two popular camping destinations, are surrounded by lowland trails offering grand views of the mountain (see "If You Go"). A Northwest Forest Pass is required at all three, unless you're camped at a Forest Service campground.

Camping, fishing, boating

The Mount Hood National Forest is rich with pleasant campgrounds. Among our favorites:

• Trillium Lake couldn't be much more conveniently located, just a couple miles off Highway 26, just east of Government Camp. The 57-site camp is found on the lake's east shore, and its pleasant campsites offer nice privacy for tenters or RVers. The lake has a swimming/fishing dock (no gas motors allowed) and is completely ringed by a 2.4-mile trail.

The best view of Mount Hood along this trail — and the best bank fishing for trout in the lake — is from the dam at the lake's south end (if you're approaching the trail from the campground, go clockwise). The lake is a great place for canoes or kayaks, with stunning, up-close views of Mount Hood from the center.

• Much-larger Timothy Lake, also manmade, is ringed by a half-dozen impressive campgrounds, many with campsites offering broad views of Mount Hood. They are Cove (10 sites), Gone Creek (50 sites), Hoodview (43 sites), North Arm (8 sites), Oak Fork (47 sites) and Pine Point (25 sites). All have pit toilets and lack RV hookups, but accommodate both tents and RVs. Our favorite: Gone Creek.

The Timothy Lake camps also have boat launches and day-use areas, and a scenic, flat trail leads 11.5 miles around the lake. Motors are allowed on this lake, and trout fishing can be productive for gear trollers. Canoes and even windsurfing boards are popular here. Wildlife watching is another local highlight: Check out the Oak Grove Fork Meadow at nearby Clackamas Lake, at dusk.

All Timothy Lake campgrounds are reached via a 9-mile drive down the (paved) Skyline Road, which turns south off Highway 26 about 40 miles east of the town of Sandy, then several miles west on Forest Road 57. It's well signed.

Area campsites generally cost $16-$18 per night, and most campgrounds are open May through September. Reservations for most area campgrounds (made at least four days in advance) are accepted at www.reserveusa.com or by phone, 877-444-6777. Reservation campgrounds also have some sites reserved for first-comers. For a full inventory of Mount Hood National Forest campgrounds, see www.fs.fed.us/r6/mthood/recreation/campgrounds/index.shtml.

Skiing and lodging

RON JUDD / THE SEATTLE TIMES

A windsurfer skims the surface of Timothy Lake, Ore., with Mount Hood lurking in the summer clouds. Even on days when you can't see it, Mount Hood offers an abundance of recreational opportunities.

The best place to work out or kick back at Mount Hood is Timberline Lodge, the grand, historic 1937 inn at Timberline Ski Area. Thanks to year-round snow on the Palmer Snowfield (between 7,000 and 8,500 feet), the mountain is open for skiing throughout the summer. You've got to want it pretty badly: Lift tickets are $41. On the other hand, where else are you going to make turns in July and August?

Skiing commences daily at 7:30 a.m. and runs through 2:30 p.m., but the snow often gets slushed out by noon.

For a splurge, book a room at the Lodge and hole up next to a fireplace or window with a jaw-dropping view of the mountain. Rooms range from $90 for a small room to $245 for a premiere fireplace room. Make reservations well in advance. Other lesser, but more affordable and more readily available lodging can be found in Government Camp.

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