Charlie Bottita's Adventures: July 2015

Hard to believe one week ago I was walking the streets of New York City. During the entire History Tour, I was thinking of my next hike. I wanted to go somewhere with a view of our beautiful Cascade Mountains. I had hiked Gnarl Ridge a couple years ago, but the group I hiked with was fast and I was not able to enjoy many of the areas. This is a drawback of hiking with groups. You have to go at their pace. I like going at my own pace. I hadn't looked at the miles to get to my destination. Had I, I may have chose a different hike. :) I read some trip reports from folks that have hiked this a couple weeks ago. Flowers were in full bloom. With all the heat some folks were thinking the flowers would be drying up. I found they are fine. There were flowers everywhere. The temp up there is a bit cooler than Portland. It was warm, but nothing like walking through Washington DC with 97 deg and 80% humidity. It felt around 80 or so, but very dry. The hike was mostly uphill until I reached Lamberson Butte. The elevation gain was about 2500 ft. So in the Heat and that elevation gain, it was brutal at times. Mostly in the sun. The shade was very comfortable. But still nothing like DC. I hiked to Clark Creek, which had a bridge to cross. This is the beginning of the Mt Hoot Wilderness, so I filled out the permit so I could enter. I proceeded down the trail to Newton Creek. There is no bridge to cross. Usually, early in the season people will drop some logs across the creek to make it easier to cross. That was the case this time too. As I hiked away from Newton Creek, I was going up quite a steep climb. I stopped to rest on one of the switchbacks and a noise caught my ear. I looked up and a black bear was scrambling away from me. He was about 50 yards away. I tried to get my camera ready, but he was to quick. He didn't want anything to do with me. As I really didn't want anything to do with him. I headed to Elk Meadows. The trail loops around the meadow. I took a wrong turn and came around the backside of the Meadow. There was a couple woman camped out from the last evening. They were telling me the view of Venus and Saturn was pretty amazing with the moonlit Mt Hood in their face. I could only imagine, since I was day hiking. I headed up to Gnarl Ridge trail and the climb was tough. The day was getting hotter by the minute. Still not as hot as Portland. But when climbing, it feels like a thousand degrees. About the 6000' level, I looked up to my left and there was a deer watching me. We stared at each other for a moment and as I made a move to get my camera, she said bye bye and was gone. As I approached Lamberson Butte, I looked to my right and saw Mt Adams. I stood and admired it for a bit. The wild flowers were everywhere at this level. So many pretty colors. Oh and there were lots of flies and other bugs buzzing me the entire hike. I think they liked my stinky smell and sweat. Once I reached Lamberson Butte, I looked up in awe. Mt Hood showed all her glory. I could see Mt Jefferson and Three Sisters too. It was a little hazy, but still got a good look at them. The view from this level is amazing. I spent well over an hour taking pictures and admiring the views. I could see Mt Hood Meadows ski area. I reflected on the crummy season this past winter. But this summer has started with a hot bang. I did not want to hurry away from this location. The views had me in a trance. After I got my fill of the views, I started to head back down. Down was much easier on the lungs and breathing. But it is much harder on the knees. I didn't do the full Elk Meadow Loop, so I decided to head back down and do it. I wasn't ready for my hike to end, so this was a nice extension. As I headed back to the car, I passed some hikers. One couple stands out. The woman and man were not quite dressed for a hike. Especially the woman. She was wearing nice flats and a dress. I looked at her flats and they were getting quite dusty. Not sure how the guy talked her into going on a hiked dressed the way she was. Along with all the flowers, are huckleberry bushes. The berries are not near ready, but they are starting to come in. Probably another month or so. I am glad I did this hike slower and taking in all it has to offer. Someday, I will snowshoe part of this hike.