Jump to content

Ride,climb,and ski Mt Hood


AARON1

Recommended Posts

Need input for planning a trip up to Mt Hood. I plan to ride up to Timberline lodge from NE Portland pulling a B.O.B trailer with my AT ski and climbing gear in it. I'm going to do this pretty early in the year (April, May) before the burgshrunde opens up. The plan is to ride up climb to the summit ski down and ride home.

What I am not sure of is what time to leave Portland. I don't really want to ride Hwy 26 in the dark and I don't want to climb to early in the night. From my house it is about 55 miles to timberline lodge. This may be wishful thinking but, if I can average 8 to 10 mph it would take 5 1/2 to 7 hours on the bike part. Has anyone ridden to timberline lodge and how long did it take? I also don't want to do this by myself. The climb an the ski down would be a breeze, I'm more worried about

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 28
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

If you are planning to ride up to Govie, its a fairly flat ride up to Rhododendron, then gets steep for the last 20 miles to T-line Lodge. Though the shoulder is wide, truck traffic sucks. Might want to plan it all for a Sunday, when weekend traffic is heavier but truck traffic might not be so bad.

 

Personally I dont think Hood is really a good enough ski to warrant lugging up the extra crap all the way from PTown. You could ride with everything in a pack and forgo the trailer..? I know it wont sound as dramatic when you tell the tale in the bar, but I doubt you will be all that much slower up or down the mountain..skiing off the top can be good but can also be icy enough that skiing is just as fast as walking.

 

just my .02

 

Alex

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AARON1 said:

Need input for planning a trip up to Mt Hood. I plan to ride up to Timberline lodge from NE Portland pulling a B.O.B trailer with my AT ski and climbing gear in it. I'm going to do this pretty early in the year (April, May) before the burgshrunde opens up. The plan is to ride up climb to the summit ski down and ride home.

What I am not sure of is what time to leave Portland. I don't really want to ride Hwy 26 in the dark and I don't want to climb to early in the night. From my house it is about 55 miles to timberline lodge. This may be wishful thinking but, if I can average 8 to 10 mph it would take 5 1/2 to 7 hours on the bike part. Has anyone ridden to timberline lodge and how long did it take? I also don't want to do this by myself. The climb an the ski down would be a breeze, I'm more worried about

 

Right on Aaron thumbs_up.gif I have a friend who did something similar rockband.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

iain said:

If two 2x4's was all I had I would still haul them to the summit and duct tape 'em on before descending that thing w/o skis

 

d00d, lemme know when you're up for it. i wanna snap some pics. hahaha.gif

Ya gots ta double pole plant, wear woolies or knickers, and either bright yellow helly hanson rubber rain top or an old reversible green/white army anorak. talk about postmodern. thumbs_up.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're serious about this, it seems like the prudent thing to do would be to try the ride up there now, some weekend day, to see what it's like. YMMV, as they say. Then you'd have a much better idea what you'd be up against.

If I were doing something like this, I'd probably do the ride portion during the day, and budget most of a day for it. Bring a sleeping bag and bivvy sack. Find a bivvy spot someplace on the lower mountain and sack out until, say, 4:00 AM. Then do the summit, come down. That'd put you back at Timberline noon or 1:00 or so, and you should be able to bicycle home before dark.

 

I don't ski, but you can get from the summit to the parking lot in 2 hours on foot without pushing it. Saving the bulk and weight of hauling skiis on a trailer 110 miles up to Timberline and back down would more than make up the difference in time saved descending with skiis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might be interested as well. Like most others, I'd walk down the south side as opposed to hauling skis the whole way.

 

I know an older guy who pedaled to t-line and climbed the south side. Did this a few years ago. His name is Peter I think.

 

Don't let anyone piss on your dreams Aaron--go for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just take it easy on Timberline Rd. There was a brutal biker vs. car up there a few months back and numerous close calls. The water and gravel on the road make life difficult for the biker. yuck. Maybe West Leg Rd. would be the choice to get you up to Timberline. Good luck! thumbs_up.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...