Bald Mountain Lookout - Mt. Hood

Bald Mountain Loop

and photos of McNeil Point Trail

from Top Spur Trailhead

2.2 mile loop | 400 ft elevation

Mt. Hood as viewed from Bald Mountain

If you want a crystal clear, unobstructed, grandiose, breathtaking panoramic view of Mt. Hood from a wide-open hill blanketed with wild flowers, I have the hike for you! In fact, the view of Mt. Hood from Bald Mountain is so magnificent that I cannot fathom how it could get much, if any, better. I mean look at this view!

By the way, that massive river valley way down there is the Muddy Fork of the Sandy River.

One benefit to the Bald Mountain lookout is that it is a short, easy distance from the trailhead. If you're not up for the long and tiresome hike up to McNeil Point (see below) no worries- just park the car, do the quick loop to the lookout at Bald Mountain, and you'll be back at your car in no time at all. The lookout was covered in various, multicolored wild flowers, which made the view even better! This is perhaps the greatest view of Mt. Hood that you can get for such little effort. You do not have to be a seasoned hiker to make it to the Bald Mountain viewpoint.

The viewpoint is also a great place for picnics. Now, don't sit right in the center of the viewpoint and set up a smorgasbord. Make sure others can get in there and see the views as well without having to step over your cheese and crackers. Further up on the slope are large rocks which make great seats. Pop a squat and throw some groceries down your neck and soak in the view.

Here are photos from the Bald Mountain Loop trail:

So that is what to expect if you just do the Bald Mountain Loop...

But I didn't come here today just to do the Bald Mountain Loop...

In fact, what was supposed to be a long, grand blog entry on the hike up to Mt. Hood's McNeil Point shelter ended up as this smaller entry on the majestic view of Mt. Hood from Bald Mountain.

I hiked far beyond the Bald Mountain lookout and was nearly at McNeil Point when conditions forced the rational side of my brain (which decided it best to turn around) to conquer the passionate side (which wanted to push on). There are three things that kept me from making it all the way to McNeil Point: a ripping thunderstorm, snow-covered ground, and little to no visibility.

First, about half way up I encountered a flash thunderstorm. What began as a warm sunny day very quickly turned cold, rainy, thunderous. Such is the weather, especially at this elevation, in the Pacific Northwest. Now, thunderstorms happen to be one of my favorite things in nature, but I've experienced most of them from my Midwestern bedroom in Illinois growing up as a kid. To experience one on the side of a mountain a click away from the timberline is a different story. Where there is thunder, there is lighting, and at this elevation, especially above the timberline, thunderstorms can become very dangerous. As any ranger in Yosemite National Park will tell you, the last place you want to be when a violent thunderstorm breaks out in the park is on top of El Capitan.

I found the following warning on Yosemiteblog.com: "If you can hear thunder, you are within striking distance. Seek safe shelter immediately. If camping or hiking far from a safe vehicle or building avoid open fields, the top of a hill, and ridgetops." And guess what McNeil Point is? an open field on a ridgetop...

But I'll be honest, hiking in that thunderstorm was one of the most thrilling hiking experiences I've ever had. Plus I got to test the tarp feature on my new pack. The rest of me got soaked but my pack and its contents, including my camera, were as dry as the Sahara.

Seriously though, few things in this world rival the beauty of hiking through a Pacific Northwestern old-growth forest during a rainstorm.

Deep snow on the McNeil Point Trail

But it wasn't the thunderstorm that turned me around. In fact, the thunderstorm made me want to continue, because it isn't everyday that you get caught in a roaring and pouring thunderstorm on the side of a mountain just below the timberline. Quite frankly, it was, for lack of a better term, bad ass. I pressed on past Bald Mountain nearly making it to the pond below McNeil Point when I hit snow, first in patches and later covering the entire ground. If they were to continue, hikers were to leave the trail and step up onto snow banks, most of them around 3 feet deep. I could make out footprints in the snow, but mainly because of the contrast in the color- the path was browned with dirt from hiking boots and the rest of the snow, for the most part, was whitewashed. The rain had stopped and the sun was blaring but I could still hear thunder rumbling loudly in the distance.

It was then that the cloud cover rolled in. Suddenly, the sun disappeared and a dense cloud swallowed up all the scenery around me. I could see about 10 feet in front of me, and being that I was standing on snow, every direction I peered in looked exactly the same. Only the faint trail of dirty bootprints in the snow ahead of me and behind me told me where to go. THIS was the point at which the rational side of my brain overcame the passionate side. It was time to turn around.

McNeil Point before the clouds rolled in

Clouds rolling in and will soon saturate the higher parts of McNeil Point Trail

Clouds rolling in and will soon saturate the higher parts of McNeil Point Trail

Just underneath the cloud cover on the lower parts of McNeil Point Trail

With another thunderstorm potentially moving in my direction, the inability to see more than a few yards in any direction, and my desire to refrain from getting lost on slick, whitewashed snowy ground, I decided that I should turn around. I was almost there!! In another mile I would've more than likely been standing beside the McNeil Point shelter! But then again, I wouldn't have been able to see a thing beyond it, plus the photos would've sucked. McNeil Point isn't going anywhere. I'll return in the early fall.

So although I do not have a complete blog entry for McNeil Point, let me at least show you photos of what I was able to complete. Expect a full blog entry on McNeil Point in the future. But until then, the following are photos taken from the McNeil Point trail from the Bald Mountain lookout up to where I had to turn around, just before the pond below McNeil Point

I'll be back to complete McNeil Point, don't you worry...

After the hike I sought a warm plate of food and decided to try the Skyway Bar & Grill finally for their barbeque. The Skyway had only recently been brought to my attention as having outstanding food and a great selection of local beers on tap, so I made it my destination. All I can say is this: I could not recommend this place any more for dinner and beers after a long hike!! The food here is absolutely outstanding. It is seriously some of the most delicious barbeque I've ever had, and my wife being from Kansas City, I can assure you that I know good barbeque when I taste it. I ordered a trio-plate that came with pulled pork, beef brisket, and ribs. The meat was cooked perfectly and I was given three dipping sauces: their standard barbeque sauce, a habenero sauce, and their rotating "special" sauce which happened to be a delicious blueberry barbeque sauce! I ate every morsel of my food and damn near licked the plate.

Only problem: I didn't get any photos of the food! I was so impatiently hungry that by the time the food came out the prospect of taking the 2 minutes of filming the food in its beauty on the plate didn't seem appealing. In fact, what was most appealing was the aroma coming off the food. I couldn't photographic it. Screw it. I was eating it and eating it NOW! Om Nom Nom!! (it didn't last long...)

But I did snap two photos, one of the outdoor seating area which is huge and contains several tables and well as a fire pit or two, and one of my ice cold local IPA.

Outdoor seating area at Skyway Bar and Grill - Zigzag, Oregon

a pint of local IPA at Skyway Bar and Grill - Zigzag, Oregon

Seriously, after a hike in the Mt. Hood territory, you HAVE to set your sights on the Skyway. I want to refer as much business as possible to them because not only do they deserve it, but I want them to be there, open for business, every instance I find myself out near Mt. Hood during dinnertime!

Skyway Bar and Grill
71545 E. Hwy 26
Zigzag, Oregon 97049
(503) 622-3775
Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/skyway-bar-and-grill-zigzag