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| Hiking | 42.51 Miles |
9,585 AEG |
| | Hiking | 42.51 Miles | 20 Hrs 53 Mns | | 2.04 mph |
| 9,585 ft AEG | | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | At what point does a 'day hike' become an overnight trip? If you don't ever stop to sleep at night and just keep hiking- does it still count as a day hike if you keep the time under 24 hours? I think so.
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With my window of opportunity closing to do the Timberline Trail for the year, I decided it was finally time to cross this trail off my list. I set out on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at 1440, the skies were clear and the temperature was perfect in the mid 60s. I brought my light weight overnight bag- but I was going back and forth with the decision to try to do the hike in 1 long push or as a short overnight trip, I figured I would just start hiking and let my feet decide when I needed to rest.
Heading clockwise from the Lodge I passed multiple groups of tourists and day hikers who were out on a short jaunt to the ZigZag Canyon Overlook. Personally, I never understand why so many people hike west from the lodge to check out the ZigZag Overlook. Hiking east from the lodge it is a much shorter trip to the White River Overlook and I personally think it is more scenic and secluded, but maybe its best to keep that secret.
This time of year the ZigZag River crossing presents little challenge and I crossed the river without slowing down. Climbing out of ZigZag Canyon the tourists and casual day hikers all but disappeared. The trail crosses several junctions that lead up to Paradise Park, but I stuck to to the main trail and continued to follow the Timberline. My left hip flexor was bugging me a little bit, but not bad enough to warrant turning around.
Heading down the ridge towards the Sandy River crossing I was passed by a northbound PCT hiker from South Africa named Ronan (trail name "navigator"). We hiked together for the next couple of miles, past the Sandy River crossing, then parted ways where the Timberline and PCT split. Rounding my way past Ramona Falls I encountered the last couple of day hikers that I would see until I returned to the Timberline Lodge the next day.
I knew the Muddy Fork crossing was coming up in a couple of miles, so I tried to increase my pace ever so slightly in order to make it through the crossing before it got dark. I only just made it across the Muddy Fork with the last bit of daylight. It took me a couple minutes to find the trail on the far side of the river, and as soon as I was back on trail I turned my headlight on.
For having already hiked 13 miles I felt surprisingly fresh and at this point I knew I was going to complete the entire trail, there was no way I was going to be turned back for any reason. The trail gradually gained elevation for the next couple of miles as it climbs the ridge and winds its way towards McNeil Point. Along the way I passed the tents of several campers who had already bedded down for the night.
As I passed the turn off to McNeil Point the moon finally rose above the mountain. Being only 2 days past the full moon there was plenty of light to illuminate the mountain and surrounding forest. The air was eerily calm and it was the perfect temperature- I was still just hiking in a T-Shirt. I paused a couple of times just to watch the stars.
Hiking along the north side of the mountain went by relatively quickly. Past Elk Cove the trail had several more glacial river crossings- I lost track, but it felt like there were at least 6 or so crossings, several of which were a bit tricky or confusing in the dark, but nothing dangerous. The Elliot Crossing was only just repaired last year and it was very easy to cross the river on a large tree that was down across the river.
Between Cooper Spur Campground and the Cooper Spur Shelter I stopped at a small glacial stream to cook myself a quick dinner and change some of my damp clothes. I had considered taking a nap for a couple of hours, but I was still feeling fantastic and decided to just press on after about 45 minutes.
Just prior to the Cooper Spur shelter I passed the headlights of 2 campers who were breaking camp. A couple of minutes later when I paused to adjust layers at the Cooper Spur Shelter junction they caught up with me and we chatted briefly. Turns out it was a couple who was trying to do the Timberline in under 30 hours. We were all hiking at a pretty similar pace and ended up leapfrogging each other for the remainder of the hike to Timberline lodge.
Rounding the east side of the mountain, the trail enters a beautiful treeless landscape with expansive views. I got to watch the sun rise through a layer of clouds as the Mountain glowed orange. We passed across a small section of glacier that had frozen solid overnight. Although it was only 15-20 feet across the ice at the most, it was extremely slick and made me nervous. The angle here was just steep enough that if any of us lost our footing, we would slide about 100-200 feet down the glacier with no way to arrest our fall  . It probably wouldn't result in more than some cuts and scrapes and a bruised ego, but the thought of an uncontrolled slide down the side of the glacier was not something that I wouldn't want to experience.
Arriving at the Newton River crossing I encountered 4-5 different camps of hikers who were just starting to wake up and have breakfast. The Newton River crossing was easy to follow across several small logs. At this point I was starting to get tired- having hiked all night I was finally starting to feel a bit sore, but I had less than 10 miles left. I started taking more frequent breaks just to pause and stretch my legs, or splash my face in the creeks/waterfalls to try to refresh myself.
The trail soon passed through Mt. Hood Meadows Ski resort. It was weird pausing under empty chairlifts and seeing the grass covered hills that I usually snowboard in the winter. The entire area looked so much different than I am used to when its not covered under snow.
The final river crossing was the White River and for me it was the toughest crossing. I happened to arrive with the other couple who was doing a sub 30 hour attempt and we all struggled to find a safe place to cross. Eventually the other guy managed to find a place to hop across the river, but his female companion and I did not feel safe replicating his route. We wandered up and down the east bank of the river for a while until we found a spot we could safely hop across. It involved standing on a rock that was partially submerged to make the jump across and it was the only crossing on the entire trail where I actually got my feet wet.
Climbing up the far side of the White River crossing was steep and slow going in the sand, but I knew I only had a couple of miles left and powered my way though it. I took a couple of final shots of the mountain and wandered into the parking lot a bit before noon. Officially completing the whole trail in 20 hours, 53 minutes, and 46 seconds! 
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