Mt. Hood Circumnavigation

[Maine-iac]

I am thinking about doing a circumnavigation of Hood, and I was just looking for any advice for routing options. Ideally I would like to stay high on the mountain, going clockwise, try and stay just at the base of Yocum Ridge and right around the level of Ladd Glacier, then coming back up to around 8000 to cross Eliot Glacier. But looking at a map and from what i remember of the area above Mt. Hood Meadows it gets pretty steep and maybe a little difficult (not really looking for a technical challenge, but will have glacier gear), should i just follow Wy'East route back towards Timberline? I have a 4 day weekend the next few weeks so i feel that should give me plenty of time, weather permitting; but any advice would be great! Also, because of last weeks warm spell, are the cracks starting to open up a little, and the streams raging?

 

Thanks,

T.H.

[Cobra_Commander]

This is usually done with skis for a good time. I wouldn't sweat the area above MHM. There are a few cracks here and there but if you stay high it is a long slog. Then you have to pick your way through White River. There are some big cracks opening up there, but avoidable if you keep your attention.

 

The streams are almost certainly raging, but you won't see a single one of them at your elevation.

 

You can go low around Yocum and up over the Ladd, then gain elevation on Snowdome to cross the Eliot on the high bench below the n. face. I find skis make crossing these glaciers a lot more fun and safer, but it sounds like you might make a good adventure of it w/o them.

[Maine-iac]

I am planning on having skis. Cobra, are you saying staying high above MHM is a slog versus dropping low (bottom of Heather Cannon) and then dealing with the runout of White River? If I skirt around the very top of Heather, top of Cascade lift cant I miss the moraines associated with the bottom of the White River glacier, staying above 7000?

[rbw1966]

If you stay high above MHM you will have to do a little drop into White River Canyon and then back up again onto the Palmer but its pretty casual. The only "challenging" part I found of the whole circumnav was the icey traverse on the Coe over to Eliot (more a factor of timing than terrain). We dropped down onto the Eliot and then skinned back up Cooper Spur before traversing the Newton onto Wy'east.

 

If you are a competent skier this is not hard and should not even take a full day. We left Tline at 6 a.m. and were back at the car by 3 p.m., including safety and food breaks.

 

 

[Cobra_Commander]

Sorry I was suggesting it was a slog if you were on foot. If you are on skis and take a high traverse from tie-in rock, the newton-clark is a cakewalk. The trick is finding somewhere to drop through white river and back up on the palmer w/o spending too much time rock scrambling.

 

I agree with rbw that the crux of this journey can be in the coe area depending on conditions.

 

More of a mountaineering venture than a ski trip, but very worthwhile.

[OrygunJim]

Maine-iac,

If your looking for a partner I'd be interested to know what dates you're heading up. I've been considering a solo of this circumnav as well for lack of partners, but am hesitant for similar reasons you have put forth on this board. Probably couldn't get four days, but 3 is highly likely. pm if seeking another.

[Lowell_Skoog]

I did the circuit on skis in May 2006. Here is a trip report:

 

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4673.0

 

We also did the trip in a clockwise direction. You should be careful at the place where you traverse from the Reid Glacier onto lower Yocum ridge. It's a steep traverse and in the morning shadows it is likely to be frozen. We skied across it and found ourselves somewhat gripped in the middle of the traverse. We made it across okay but the next morning a skier fell there and had a nasty accident. The Oregonian story about his accident is posted in the TAY trip report thread above.

 

[Maine-iac]

Thanks guys for all of the info. I am thinking about bringing up all of my gear near to a camping spot near illumination rock, then going for the Summit, then descend back to the gear and try for the circumnavigation. I will be with a friend who is pretty new to mountaineering, so our main goal will be just the standard south side route, but if she is feeling good we will probably take two full days plus or minus one day to do the circumnavigation. I will post a TR about the trip, and try to get some current pics of what the glaciers look like for people to reference. Again, thanks for the info.

[Kevin_climber]

Personally, my opinion (having climbed most routes in the region including Yocum) is to cross Yocum below the typical traverse, it is likely faster to drop down and around Yocum. If the snow is thick and nice then going over can be done, but end up loosing some elevation on the back side anyway.

 

Kevin