Abstract:

Thought, weather, practice and luck combine for a successful trip.

This started because of my last attempt to follow the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood. I had penciled in corrections onto my maps and thought about the route again. I also had a different backpack into the Indian Heaven wilderness where I tried my ultra light shelter idea; the tarp. And I sat down on a Thursday night looking at a beautiful September weekend forecast and wondering what I would do.

The plan developed something like this. Gee, I could go from the Ramona Falls parking lot to the falls in a couple of hours. Then I could spend a day going from Ramona Falls to Cairn Basin, as I would have on a "round the mountain" trip. And the mileage from Cairn Basin back to the Ramona Falls trailhead is only about 7 miles. Wow! I could do that in a weekend! This weekend.

So I got everything packed on Friday morning. Most of the supplies I had left from my last trip, I would only need two bagels. I was packed by noon, but still did not get out of town until 1300PDT. Then because of all the traffic snarls I did not get to the trailhead until 1500PDT. But even getting on the trail by 1530PDT I still made it the 3 miles to Ramona Falls by 1700PDT (5 PM). That was good because sundown was at about 1900PDT, so I only have two hours to set up camp. But this time I was much more rested and my pack only weighted 50 pounds (22.5 kg). I quickly set up my shelter, stringing line between two trees then putting the tarp over the line. I staked one side and another corner (total of three corners) and used a line on the last corner. Unlike my Indian heaven shelter I did not use the tarp as the ground cloth, instead I grabbed my reflective blanket and laid it down under the shelter. This I learned was just long enough for my extended foam pad. Plenty roomy, even to sit up. I also set up a place to hang my candle lantern using my car keys. The last thing I did before going for water was to find a place to hang my food for the night. Fortunately I found a place and wandered off to fill my vessels.

On the way I passed my former campsite and its present residents; two women, one from Pittsburgh and one from Hood River. I chatted with them several times during the evening. But first I had to get all of my water. During the evening I came back for another pot full of water, but for now I staggered back up to my camp.

Now was time for some peppermint tea and a freeze-dried meal that was pretty good. Then I boiled some more water and put a liter into a bottle with a water bottle parka. While I waited for my tea to steep and my dinner to hydrate I put the finishing touches on my bedroom; the bag of clean clothes, washing supplies, fleece vest for pillow, and flashlight. After dinner it was pretty much dark so I changed into fresh underwear and used my bottle of hot water for washing my body. Mostly I washed my face and some of the trail dust off of my legs. I chose not to set an alarm and settled into my nice cozy bed.

The next day was the challenge. I got up at 0630PDT, light but still not sunrise. I got dressed and made breakfast while I struck camp and packed. It still took me until 0900PDT to get started on the trail. Over the bridge by Ramona Falls I took the Timberline trail up hill. After about 20 minutes I passed the Yocum Ridge trail junction. Then I was on the 4.8-mile section into the canyon of the Muddy Fork (of the Sandy River). This part frightened me because I had been told that the bridge had washed out in the spring but there was another crossing. I planned on doing this section and then deciding at the next junction whether to proceed to Cairn Basin or go home. But until then I had to concentrate on this trail. Most of the time it was fine, well groomed and wide. But off to the side was really steep and a long way down. Twice I walked through areas where the trail had been washed out or had slid over. Each of these caused me to question the wisdom of continuing. But on I went and at 1030PDT the river had finally risen to the trail.

This was the time of much trepidation. After my encounter with the raging Sandy River on my last attempt, I expected the same here. So I ventured out of the shrubs into a small boulder field. Here I easily crossed a small stream. But as I looked up I saw that the trees were still far away. So I followed the small rock cairns up to the top of a boulder plateau. This was an amazing moonscape of gray rock and sand. I finally looked down on the muddy fork and was relieved to see that it was not raging. But how do I get down there? And where do I get into the trees and the trail? I spied some more cairns with sticks in them. On the sticks is pink surveyor’s tape about an inch wide and six in length, thus must be man made. One leads me to the next and eventually over to the trees. I finally find the trail and stop for a snack. It is 1100PDT; it took me a half an hour to go 200 yards. I also look at the devastation around me. Two-foot diameter trees are uprooted and smashed up against the trees. Between these trees and the bushes on the far side there is nothing but sand and boulders. Huge gullies and ridges attested to extreme violence. Like the devastation of a bomb blast. I am glad I was not here when it happened.

After my rest I started back up the trail. At noon I stopped for lunch in the shelter of some rocks. This was on a small side trail that went up and over the ridge to another trail. It was only about fifty feet up one side and maybe sixty down the other. My guess was that it was a short cut to Cairn Basin. I thought about it, first being unsure where it came out and second resolving to see the entire length of the trail I was exploring made me go back down to the Timberline trail and continue on.

After lunch I got to the open hillside at Bald Mountain. Here I enjoyed the view with some other people there. I was amazed to see the devastation I had crossed from two miles away, even though individual trees could not be picked out. Then I continued on around the peak to the four-way junction. At this junction the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) continues off to the northwest or back toward Ramona Falls. The trail back is my alternate path today. But I choose to continue to the east toward Cairn Basin 3.7 miles away. The time here is 1300PDT.

My biggest fear here was stove fuel. I had brought two partial canisters on this trip and one had finished while I made breakfast. Since I had no way of knowing how much fuel was in the second canister I did not know if I had enough for dinner and breakfast. As I thought about the problem I realized that I had enough for dinner. If I did not have enough for breakfast I could eat the cold food I had. So with that concern resolved I turned toward Cairn Basin to continue my trek to discover how I would react to a progressive backpack.

My trip to Cairn Basin was the most arduous of the whole day. I needed to gain almost 2000 feet along this, so I started out moving slowly. I did pass some other hikers who took the little shortcut I found and confirmed that it was a short cut between trails. But I had to continue to slog up the trail. There is one section that is nearly level along the ridgeline. There are several sunny vistas along the way and I took advantage of one to stop to eat and drink. Then I pressed on, trying to get to the junction with the Mazama trail up Cathedral ridge where I knew I had less than a mile to Cairn Basin. I staggered along up switchbacks and over ridges. I drank the last of my water but crossed Magee creek without stopping. I finally reached the junction only to see that I had one more ridge to cross. Over that ridge I saw a stream crossing, a branch of Ladd creek, that had been rushing in the past but was easy this year and yet another ridge. I staggered on knowing that Cairn Basin was close by. I finally staggered into camp at 1600PDT.

At Cairn Basin I dropped my pack and scouted around for a tent site. The space that Emma and I had used several years ago was open and good. Unfortunately there was a breeze down the little gully the spot opened onto so I looked to the other side of the trees. Here I found a perfect pair of trees to rig my shelter. But they were close to the trail and the camp of two women who were tented just across the trail. So I set up my shelter with the ‘closed’ side to the trail and the open side to the breeze. But I tried a little trick. I put strings on the upwind corners of my ground sheet and pulled them up into a cofferdam against the tarp roof. This blocked most of the breeze. It was cold enough here that I put on my parka and rain pants to keep warm.

I wandered over to my neighbors. They told me that I looked as tired as I felt and offered me a cup of water. I gratefully drank this while we chatted about how to get water. Ladd creek is on the far (northern) border of Cairn Basin, but it is gray with rock flour. The ladies planned to hike back over the ridge to the other, cleaner, branch of Ladd creek. But I knew that if I went up into the rocks just above camp I would find a tiny stream seeping down between the rocks. So, feeling better after my drink, I grabbed my bottles and pump filter and started up the meadow searching for the water.

I found several nice spots to pump, but none to dip my pot. So I started to pump and allowed myself to steal a drink now and then. Unfortunately my course filter is clogged and it took me a half-hour to pump about two gallons (8 liters) of water. In the middle of this I took a break to take some full bottles back and get my pot. On my way back I found a dripping place that was just big enough to set the spout of my pot under. I left my pot to fill while I climbed further to finish pumping. On my way back it was overflowing so I poured off the excess and went back to camp for dinner.

While cooking dinner I kept a close watch on the pot and stove. I needed to conserve fuel while boiling the water. So I assembled some other tasks I could do near the pot and sat to wait. Most of this was laying out food for the night and the next day. Once the water was boiled I added it to my dinner and mug for my tea. Any excess I saved in the parka covered bottle. While dinner soaked and tea steeped I put the finishing touches on my bed. This dinner was not as good as Friday nights, it was soupy and contained asparagus. I added some of the soda crackers I carried for my soup that soaked up the excess liquid, but the asparagus I would just have to tough out. I soon finished and got my desert, a small bowl of pineapple. During this I strolled over to chat with my neighbors who were trying to finish a pot of chocolate pudding.

At dusk my neighbors went to bed and I finished my last chores for the evening. I hung my food bag and trash to keep the small critters ("micro bears") out of it. I also covered my pack with the pack cover to keep anything left inside out of the weather. Then I took a walk around the area to see what kind of things were here. Finally I got my spare clothes and went behind the trees to change my pants. This done I walked back to camp and worked to enter my bed. First I spread my parka over the foot of my sleeping bag. This would give extra warmth and wind resistance to my toes. (My toes were in the hood.) Then I slid my legs into the bag but stayed sitting up. At this point I changed my shirts out for clean dry shirts. One last task of setting everything out so I can find it in the dark; watch, water, flashlight, and pee bottle. Finally I was ready to slide into my bag and blow out the candle. It was 2030PDT.

The night was not as cold as I expected, perhaps because the wind died down. I slept well, even having some strange dreams. I finally awoke again at about 0630PDT and started to pack. This sounds more difficult that it was, mostly it was stowing the candle lantern and any other small things that I could without getting out of the bag. I finally got up and dressed before going over to start the stove.

Here again I was concerned about my remaining fuel, so I added only what I thought I needed to the pot. This I set to boil after I got some tasks moved over to the cooking area to do while I waited. These were things like stowing the guy lines from the tarp and laying out food for breakfast and lunch. Once the water boiled I set my oats and tea to cool while I packed. I got quite a bit into the bag before I broke for food. In fact my pack started to look like a real pack instead of the empty, deflated bag it seemed at dusk.

I finally had most everything together by 0830PDT when I saw some other hikers head east across the basin toward the trail. My nearest neighbors finally showed their faces at about 0845PDT and were surprised that it was so late. I bid them adieu and started up the trail.

By the time I got to the Mazama trail I realized that Cairn Basin must be a microclimate on Mt. Hood. I saw many signs of frost or slight freezing while I hiked. I also endured a chill wind. But I steadily made my way back down the trail to the ridge and the rest stop rock in the sun. Here I had a snack and retied my boots. Then downward to the four-way junction at about 1030PDT where I had a bagel. I was starting to see other hikers already this morning. At this junction I took a different trail than yesterday, in fact a totally new trail for me. This trail was labeled as part of the PCT that went down hill into the Sandy River canyon and the Ramona Falls trailhead. This trail went down several switch backs before finally reaching the valley floor and crossing the Muddy Fork, this time on a nice new bridge. From here it was another half mile to the final junction and then a mile back to the parking lot. It was noon (1200PDT).

On the way home I stopped at the Mt. Hood Information station to wash and change. In all a nice weekend and a successful test.

The Tally:

Friday (day 1): 3.1 Miles

Saturday (day 2): 9.2 miles

Sunday (day 3): 7.5 miles

Total 19.8 miles