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After enduring a long, hot summer, I was happy to see the calendar approaching October, which is one of my favorite months of the year. The transition to fall is something I look forward to each year, along with getting October turns in early in the month. This year was no exception, and Dan and I made plans to head up to Mt Hood and ski on what was left of the Palmer patch. I’d been watching the Timberline webcam for the past couple of weeks, and the snow was going fast, but it looked like it would hold out for turns in the first few days of the month.

We met early along the freeway at the Harrisburg exit, and made good time to Sandy, where we got a quick charge for the Tesla and a coffee for ourselves before heading up to the mountain. Pulling into the parking lot revealed a much different scene than a month prior, and there were only a few other cars around. After getting our gear organized and packs loaded, we headed up, and made good time up to Silcox.

Just above the Silcox, we found snow in the Palmer canyon, which allowed for some easy hiking, but the quality of the snow was just a notch below hideous. Neither of us were too stoked on the extremely bumpy and filthy snow, but held higher hopes for the Palmer above.

We worked our way up to the mid-station, and after negotiating a mix of scree, glacial till and dirt, we were able to don skins a couple hundred feet higher and skin the to within about 50 feet from the Palmer top shack. Once at the top, it was time to get a my beer on ice (after the obligatory photo). My first offering for the day was a tasty Big Juicy IPA from No-Li Brewery that I’d picked up in Washington a bit earlier in the summer on a trip with the family to Mt Rainier.

We sat around up top for awhile, enjoying the views while the snow softened some. A bit later, we got ready to head down for a first lap, and Dan snapped a “sponsor shot” picture of me before we clicked and strapped into our bindings and headed down.

I headed down first, and setup to shoot a few pictures of Dan as he came down, before he grabbed the camera to return the favor for me. The first hundred feet or so was “ok” snow, but after that both of us were surprised by how smooth and fun the turns were. Several pics are below…

We skied down a finger of snow on skier’s left, milking it until it ran out, and then donned skins to head back up for a second lap.

A short stint on the skins brought us back up to the top, and we ran into a fellow turns-all-year enthusiast and ski patroller from Utah named Darrell. As it turned out, Darrell had a one-month longer streak than Dan, at 349 months. The three of us chatted for awhile, and then Dan and I headed down for a second ski.

The snow on the second run was nice enough to warrant heading back up one more time, so we decided to make one more climb. As we were getting ready, Darrell came down and I snapped a few pics of him enjoying the turns, including the shot below.

Before we headed out, I pulled out my second (and final) beer of the day and snapped a picture of it, before placing it into a snow hole to make sure it would be chilled and ready when we returned after skiing a third lap. I’m generally not a big fan of pilsner’s, but I have to say the Phil’s Pilsner from Wild Ride Brewing was a beer that I would go for again.

For our third climb, we elected to forgo packs and skins, and booted up to a couple hundred feet below the top of the Palmer with the intent of enjoying the smoothest snow on the patch. A few minutes later, we did just that…

We skied back down to our packs and gear, and after loading our gear and approach shoes, made a couple of final turns down to the end of the snow. I caught a picture of Dan making the final slide on the Palmer patch, as well as a picture looking to the south towards Mt Jefferson. The Bingham fire, which had blown up in the last few hours, created an all-too familiar scene 

At the bottom of the Palmer, we elected to head down and ski some of the smoother looking snow in the canyon below us, rather than returning immediately to the Palmer Canyon with it’s rough and dirty snow. A long carry through scree and till brought us to a couple of dirty but smooth patches of snow, and we made some enjoyable turns.

At the second, longer patch, we found some really dirty snow. A short section of it proved to be too difficult to slide on, so we booted across it. Dan snapped a couple of pictures of me showing just how filthy it was…

Below our dirty snow, we managed to eek out another hundred feet of turns before calling it and making the traverse across the scree to the Palmer canyon. We both agreed that the final couple hundred feet of snow in the Palmer canyon was some of the most unenjoyable turns we ever made in our lives, but we managed to get down without injury or wipe out.

A short hike brought us out to the Silcox, and from there it was an easy stroll back down the road to the parking lot. As usual, it felt good to get the packs off our backs, and get the brats on the grill. While we waited for the meat to cook, I pulled out some of the season’s offerings from my garden, including some hot salsa as well as a new batch of tomatillo sauce made fresh a few days earlier. Both were great, but the tomatillo sauce was excellent and might become a new staple on the menu for fall ski trips. 

A bit later the brats were ready, and we enjoyed them after a fun day of burning calories and making turns, before packing up and making the long drive back home to the southern Willamette Valley. All in all, it was another great day on Mt Hood, and it felt good to have October turns in the books. Below are a couple of parting shots from the day…

Labor Day weekend in Oregon brings a pretty good likelihood that turns-all-year seekers will be heading out in search of the remaining snow patches, and this year was no exception as Dan, Joe and I made plans to head to Mt Hood to get some snow-sliding action in. As usual, I met Dan early at the Harrisburg exit at I-5 and then we headed north to pick up Joe at the cop shop in Albany, before heading to Sandy to charge up. After our stop to charge, as well as a quick additional stop at Safeway since the Fred Meyer was closed due to the Kroger strike, we made our way to the mountain by about 8:20am and literally got the last parking spot in the climber’s lot.

Not only did we get the last spot there, but the entire parking lot was full. Turns out Timberline had a big all-day event going on, and people were parking down the road below the lot since everything was full. On the bright side, the snowpack was looking pretty good, and we were stoked to see snow come way down in the canyons. After gearing up, we shouldered packs and made our way up to the Mile canyon.

We were able to get skins on early, and were able to skin all the way to the Silcox. There was one or two spots where we had to skin over really dirty snow, but it appeared that the ski down the Mile canyon would be a nice treat on the way out.

At Silcox, we crossed the road with skins on to access snow in the Palmer canyon, and then it was an easy skin to the mid-station, where we took a quick break to grab a snack and re-hydrate, before continuing on to the top. Upon reaching the top of the Palmer, we put beers on ice and enjoyed the views, which included several other fellow turns-all-year enthusiasts climbing up the Palmer. My beer of choice for the day was a tasty Oregon Sunshine IPA from Silver Falls Brewery, which I’d picked up on a date night trip to their Eugene location a few weeks earlier with my wife. It didn’t disappoint!

After hanging out up top for awhile, we readied to drop in for a first lap. I headed down from our position about 30 feet above the crowd that had gathered at the top of the Palmer and stopped to chat with a few of the folks while waiting for Dan and Joe. Turns out several of the skiers were with Nikki’s group from Washington and doing a two-fer for August and September. A few minutes later, Dan and Joe rolled up and we headed down.

At the bottom of the Palmer we regrouped to head back up for another lap. As we were donning skins and packs, Nikki and the Washington crew set off from above and began ripping some really nice turns down towards us. We watched as they enjoyed a great corn harvest. I pulled the camera out of my camera bag and fired off some shots as they skied, including the few below.

After the Washington crew passed by us and headed down, we skinned back up and found our half-full beers cold and waiting above the top of the Palmer. It felt good to relax in the warm sun and enjoy the views for a bit, and then it was time to get ready to drop in for a second lap.

Dan dropped in first for lap 2, and had the camera. After he set up, I headed down and he fired off a few pictures before handing the camera back to me. After the handoff, I headed down and fired off several pictures of Joe enjoying the corn.

I caught a couple pictures of Dan skiing out the mid-station road, and then we regrouped at the mid-station before heading down to enjoy turns in the Palmer canyon.

The turns in the Palmer canyon were nice. The snow on the sides of the canyon nearest the wall was pa bit dirty, but thankfully enough folks had skied the canyon over the last several days to keep a nice white path open down the center. I shot lots of pics as we descended, including several below…

Halfway down from the midway station, Dan took the camera and snapped a few shots, including the two below…

We eventually popped out at the Silcox, and after a short portage across the road, were back on the snow sliding tools and making turns in the Mile canyon. The snow here was quite a bit dirtier, but again there was cleaner snow to ride on nearer the middle which made for pretty good turns.

We were able to ski to down below where the cats normally park, which was awesome for September — it’s been a couple of years since that was possible. It made for a short walk back to the parking lot, which both the skiers appreciated since they didn’t have to change out of ski boots!

Back at the lot, it was nice to change out of ski boots and into shorts and flip flops. There was still a bunch of cars in the lot, and the live music was just about ready to begin. We got the brats on the grill and enjoyed another cold beer. My second beer for the day was one I’d picked up in Sunriver with the family a few weeks earlier while vacationing, and the easy drinking King Crispy pilsner from Deschutes Brewery was just right after a day of skiing and riding.

A few minutes after we put them on the grill, the brats were done and they hit the spot. As we were eating them, the wind picked up substantially, especially on the upper mountain. The three of us were glad we decided against heading back up for a third lap, since it looked like a pretty dusty storm. In fact, it was so dusty that I hiked a few feet up from the lot just to snap a pic!

A little later, with the beer and brats gone, we loaded up our gear and hit the road, making it home just in time for me to take care of some needed hive manipulations with my bees before it got dark. All in all it was another great September ski on Mt Hood! Here’s a parting shot of Dan from the day…

Could it really have been 13 years since I last visited the Snowdome and Mt Hood’s northside? Seems really hard to believe. Looking back at my trip reports and records however validated that was the case, so I was pretty excited when Joe and Dan were game to head up and try to score some late July turns. Dan met me at my house in the mid-afternoon on Sunday, and after loading gear into my truck we headed up I5, picking up Joe at the cop shop in Albany. Our drive went smoothly until we got to just past Sandy. A bad wreck on Highway 26 closed down all four lanes of the highway about 10 miles past Sandy, and we had to backtrack and take a long detour around which cost us about an hour and a half.

After the very slow detour with everyone else that wanted to get through on the highway, we eventually popped back out to 26 and made our way to Government Camp. After a quick stop in Govy, we headed east and then north, finally making our way towards Cloud Cap. The road wasn’t in the worst shape, but we were glad to have the four-wheel drive. It was slow going, but eventually we made our way to Cloud Cap.

Given our later than expected arrival, the campsites at Cloud Cap were all taken by through-hikers, but we managed to snag a parking place near the shitter that afforded a level place for Dan and I to sleep in the back of the truck and for Joe to pitch his bivy not too far away. After getting our gear somewhat in order, I headed out with my camera and made the short walk up the road to snap some pictures, something I used to do on previous trips so many years ago when frequenting the area with my old ski partner Todd.

After snapping several pictures of the sunset and Cloud Cap Inn itself, I walked back down the road to get my sleeping bag and bed situation setup in the back of the truck, which required unloading most of our gear we’d stowed in the back for the drive up. Once everything was nice and cozy, all three of us headed back up to Cloud Cap to enjoy the views one more time before the sun went down for the evening.

A couple of things struck me while shooting photos and taking in the sights – one was the reaffirmation of how beautiful this side of the mountain is, and two was how much snow and ice had melted off the Eliot Glacier since my last visit in 2011. After 20 minutes of so of enjoying the view, the sun began to set below the cloud deck on the horizon, and it was time to get a bite to eat and hit the sleeping bag, so we headed back to the truck to settle in for the evening.

We donned headlamps eating dinner, and just before we got done a large van pulled and parked next to us. Three very fit ultra runners stepped out, and we chatted with them a bit. Their plan was to run to Timberline in the morning, and then stay the night at the lodge before coming back to Cloud Cap the next day. One of the ladies had an injury she was coming back from, otherwise they said they would normally run the whole 41 mile loop in a day no problem! And I though I was in shape haha!

A bit later we crawled into sleeping bags, and slept really well through the night, with the exception of being woken up once by a loud deer wandering through camp. The next morning, we were up early to enjoy some fresh coffee and breakfast before shouldering packs and heading out. One of the thru-hikers (who also happened to be a skier) at Cloud Cap snapped the below picture of the three of us as we were about to leave the truck.

After a few minutes on the trail, we gained the ridge above Cloud Cap and got our first good views of the mountain, the Eliot and the Snowdome, all basking in the morning sunlight. The mountain, as well as the surrounding vistas were slightly obscured by a large wildfire to the east of Mt Hood, and Mt St Helens, Adams and Rainier, usually visible to the north, were not.

Nevertheless, it was still a beautiful morning on the mountain’s northside, and soon we made our way up the ridge to the cairn marking the trail leading down to the Eliot. After a bit of a scramble to get down to the canyon, we found a suitable crossing through snow and scree to approach the lower lobe of Eliot Glacier.

We worked our way onto the snow covering some of the remaining glacial ice, and started up. The snow surface was in good condition, with enough purchase to not need crampons, although I was glad to have ’em in my pack if needed.

As we continued up, I had to marvel at the beauty of the Eliot Glacier. Even in it’s much reduced capacity from 15 years ago (and certainly 25 to 40 years ago), it’s still the biggest glacier in Oregon. I snapped a few pictures as we crossed, and then continued on up to catch up with Joe and Dan.

We were careful as we crossed the last section to head over and make the climb up towards Snowdome, but overall the crossing was quite straight forward as it usually is. A few more pictures later, and we were ready to exit off the Eliot and head up towards the ‘Dome.

Once we left the Eliot and began climbing, the views of the glacier and Hood really start to open up, offering an excellent vantage point to take some nice photos. I snapped a few of the mountain, as well as Joe and Dan as they climbed up ahead of me, then continued on to link back up with them.

We climbed up to just a bit below the Snowdome proper, which made for a good place to enjoy a break, refuel and re-hydrate, and soak in the views. It definitely was smokey to the north and east and had been getting smokier as the morning progressed, but was starting to act like it might clear up just a bit with a shift in the wind direction, especially as we climbed higher.

Eventually we booted our way up to the Snowdome proper. The temps were just right, and the snow was in near perfect condition as we made the final approach towards the top, and the three of us were pretty excited about the conditions.

A few minutes later we arrived at the high point of our climb, and it was a great place to enjoy a break with a view. We ate lunch and settled in a the base of a big rock that was protected by a large moat. In past trips I hadn’t remembered seeing this big exposed rock before, but it was a great place for lunch. Later at home, I confirmed when looking at old pictures that the rock wasn’t exposed, and estimated that nearly 50 feet of ice must have melted since I was there last.

It was a good time as well to get our beers on ice, which I did after snapping a photo of my offering for the day – a super refreshing Fluffy India Pale Ale from Claim 52 Brewing.

Once my beer was cold, I enjoyed half of it while we listed to Bob Marley on my phone. Inspired by his “Jamming” song, we adopted it as our own but with “Doming.” We Doming would become the mantra for the rest of the trip! A bit later, we stuck our beers in the snow to stay cold while we skied a lap, and readied to make our first turns of the day. Dan (or Joe, I can’t remember, ha!) took a “sponsor” shot of me, and then we dropped in for some of the best July corn I’ve had in quite awhile.

I headed down first, and setup at a suitable place to shoot some shots of Joe and Dan as they came down, and watched them enjoy some super sweet corn. Below is a three-shot sequence of Joe…

Joe ripped turns all the way down to near where we’d taken a break earlier in the day, and then it was Dan’s turn to ski. He shucked the perfect corn as I snapped pics, and skied down to Joe. A four-shot sequence of Dan is below…

Once the skiers were down, I put my camera in the bag and made big, sweeping, fun turns down to Joe and Dan, and at the bottom we were all smiles. The harvest was as good as we could have hoped for, and we headed back up for another lap, happy to reuse our existing bootpack.

The hike up went much quicker on our second lap with an established bootpack, and it felt good to bet back to the top for a second time. This time the views had improved as well, with most of the smoke being blown out to the east. Mt Adams was visible to the north, and we could just make out Mt Rainier as well.

We spent a few more minutes at the top enjoying the views for a second time, and then it was time to head down again to enjoy a second lap, as well as begin to make our way back towards Cloud Cap. This time, we headed skier’s left, and enjoyed some really sweet corn. Dan grabbed the camera and headed down, and then shot a bunch of pictures of me as I descended. Below is a 6-shot sequence he took of me…

The turns on skiers left were steep, smooth and exhilarating. It’s hard to describe, but there’s nothing else quite like the feeling of sliding down perfect corn high on a pacific northwest volcano in the summer. After making my way back down to Dan, I took the camera back from him, headed further down the Dome to where Joe was waiting, and snapped several photos as Dan skied down.

After we regrouped on the lower section of the Snowdome, we set off again, working our way back towards the Eliot Glacier. I fired off several shots of the skiers as we headed down, including the four below…

We followed our up track back down to a small rock band that required booting across, enjoying nice turns and good views along the way.

Once back on the Eliot, we kept the skis on and carefully negotiated our way around several crevasses, as well as rocks and other glacial debris, before getting to some really nice snow on the lower glacier.

The lower Eliot skied really well, and was pretty much crevasse-free. I headed down first and then setup to shoot Dan and Joe as they skied by me. A few of the shots came out quite nicely.

The skiing was so good we milked the turns all the way down skier’s left of the Eliot until the snow ran out, which put us a hundred feet or so below the trail that leads out of the canyon. It was definitely worth it, as the pictures below show…

The hike out to the canyon trail took a bit of time to negotiate through the rocks and glacial debris, but eventually we made our way to the trail and then back up to the ridge. The views along the way were pretty excellent…

Once we gained the ridge, it was an easy hike down the train to Cloud Cap, where cold beer was waiting in the cooler. It felt great to change into flip flops and shorts, and we put some brats on the grill for some apres action. A few minutes later they were ready to go and they really hit the spot after a pretty epic day.

A bit later, with both the food and beer consumed, it was time to hit the road, so we loaded up the gear and piled in the truck. As expected, it was a slow drive down the rough road from Cloud Cap, but soon we made it out to highway 26 and it was smooth sailing home. All in all, it was an awesome trip to the north side of the mountain, and I know one thing — it definitely won’t be 13 years before I visit the Eliot and Snowdome again!