Salmon Butte

Yesterday as Portland was enjoying it's first 70-degree day of the season we headed up to the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness just South of Mt Hood. Such a nice warm spring day at the trailhead and the first few miles up the trail. Soon reached a bit of snow on the trail, and farther on fairly significant amounts. That's where things got interesting! Sunny spring days are great, but they tend to change hiking conditions. Tromping through soft knee to thigh-high snow while being pelted by fist-sized snowballs flung from tree-tops above soon gets cold and tiring. Since nobody had been there before us we all took turns breaking trail. Almost every step buried my legs, and there were several times I was certain I was going to be stuck in the snow until the spring thaw finally melted it all away. After a great group effort and clambering out of more sinkholes than I could count we reached the final stretch. The last 500 feet (horizontal, not vertical) took us about 20 minutes to "snow swim" through (our new term for it). 

Once we reached the top though I immediately forgot about how exhausted I was; so awestruck by the sensational view. Totally clear skies where we could see miles and miles of beautiful forests and mountains. Everything from Mt Rainier in the north to the Three Sisters in the south was spread out before us. Wow. 

Mts. St Helens, Rainier, and Adams

Mts. Adams and Hood

Mt Jefferson

Short break later and we headed back down. By this time the soft snow had turned into a slushy-like consistency that was even less stable underfoot. Plunge-stepping down the hill proved to be much faster than the upward climb, but still tiring. When we descended below the snow-line my shaky legs were glad to finally be on solid ground. 
This was the most challenging training hike thus far for sure, great preparation for the climb in just a couple of months.


FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I've reached the half-way mark! Final deadline for donations is June 3rd, so you still have time to donate. Check out my fundraising page HERE, or e-mail me at tonirenee79@hotmail.com for more details.


The Tally: Equivalent to making the summit twice!
Mt Rainier                          17 mi      9,000 ft elevation gain
Training Hikes So Far       59 mi     18,700 ft elevation gain