Before we started backpacking, Peter & I independently visited Paradise Park on Mt. Hood. Peter went first, a couple years before me. Upon returning from my trip, I told him about this incredible spot I'd found for camping. It turned out to be the same spot he had found. We took nearly identical photos.
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| Peter's visit, September 2010. |
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| Kassi's visit, August 2012. |
The spot became a favorite of ours, we visited it at least once in the following summer - amazed that nobody was there when we arrived. In July of this year, we decided to go back, adding a few more miles with the hope of camping here. On a weekend. Our expectations weren't high, but we knew we'd find something beautiful regardless.
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| Tamanawas Falls, late morning. |
We started at Tamanawas Falls with some friends. It was a hot, beautiful day. About a half mile back from the falls to the trailhead we left our party and headed up toward Cold Spring Creek. We spent the rest of the day on pretty nice trails, going through Newton Creek.
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| Newton Creek. |
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| Approaching Clark Creek Valley. |
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| Above Clark Creek Valley. |
We were tired, looking for a campsite, with the sun quickly disappearing as usual. We ended up deciding to camp right near Clark Creek. It was an incredible spot. About 20 minutes after we set up our tent some other hikers came through. For some reason, they thought it would be acceptable to camp 10 FEET from our tent. There were literally miles of open space and they picked the one spot right next to us. Luckily I had a suspicion this was about to happen and went to talk to them. They were annoyed at me, but I wasn't interested in looking over at their tent all night. Who does that? I would never want to camp right by other people. There were at least 3 other established campgrounds about 100 feet up the trail and I told them as much.
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| Sunrise at Clark Creek. |
In the morning we headed out for what we knew to be a couple intense river crossings - the White River & the Zig Zag River. We've spent a lot of time there snowshoeing but I hadn't actually visited in the summertime before.
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| A word of caution from the mountain. |
It wasn't too bad crossing the White River - we just had to take our shoes off. The water was COLD. Next, we had the ZigZag River which had a much more intense elevation profile. At this point we started seeing more people on the trail. A lot. A lot of backpackers - enough that we were concerned about how crowded Paradise Park might be.
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| ZigZag River. |
It was brutally hot on the mountain. We soaked our shirts in the river for some relief before climbing up out of the valley. Motivated by the large crowds, we started going as quick as our legs would carry us at this point. We didn't want to get this far and not have a place to camp. We only had a few miles before our special campsite.
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| We made it. |
Somehow, it was empty. An incredibly beautiful day, the first campsite on the Paradise Park trail and no one was there. I could barely contain my excitement as I walked down, knowing there was still some possibility that someone would be back in the corner behind the trees. But, nobody was there.
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| ZigZag tributary creek, flowers, Mt. Hood. |
We took a well deserved nap & lunch here before heading out for an afternoon stroll to a spot Peter had visited before, higher up on the mountain. It held promise of fields of beautiful flowers and even more solitude.
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| Above paradise park, massif in the distance. |
We found that the solitary walk had actually become an established trail since the last time Peter stopped in and we found some campers off the trail - a surprise for sure. Mt. Hood is becoming a place where solitude isn't a given anymore.
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| Hiking at sunset. |
Despite there being other folks around, it was beautiful as ever. The light on the hills was mesmerizing, as it always is this time of day. It felt good to walk without our packs on, floating along through the heather.
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| Hills of heather ablaze with color. |
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| Tiny white flowers and paintbrush were glowing. |
There's nothing like being this close to a mountain at sunset to make you feel small. You can't possibly worry about anything.
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| Hiking back to camp. |
We had a very restful sleep, and headed out to finish the loop around Paradise Park. Despite being a Sunday, there were loads of people and their dogs. The dogs were barking, and unfortunately making a mess. People smoking, things were in slight disarray. It was disheartening to see such an incredible place overrun with forms of ugliness. The mountain was beautiful at sunrise, and it was nice to get out of the main park early, before everyone else started hiking.
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| Paradise just after sunrise. |
We moved somewhat quickly and headed down what we hoped to be a relatively quiet section of trail. We met a handful of people, but it was actually pretty quiet. Our trip concluded with a walk along the forest road out through McNeil campground where Peter's mother would pick us up so we could head back to the cabin.
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| Hiking along forest road to meet Hanna. |
It was a beautiful trip, as always. We probably won't go back to Paradise for awhile, definitely never on a weekend. We've gotten used to the crowds at this point, but the more time we spend outside, the more we desire solitude.
