Since I am on-call at work for two-thirds of my life, only one of every three weekends can be a backpacking weekend where I am "off the grid". 9-10 August 2014 was supposed to be my hiking weekend, but we had a big Quarterly software release with "all hands on deck". Wouldn't you know it. But I managed to sneak in a day hike on Sunday.
I parked at Timberline Lodge and hiked down to Highway 35 (5 miles) on the Pacific Crest Trail. I saw 4 Mexico-to-Canada thru-hikers and talked to them briefly. The trail was steep at first and then much more gradual than I expected. I kept seeing these metal blue diamonds nailed up high in the trees, so naturally I thought "what in blue blazes ???". I realized they were marking the route taken in the winter by cross-country skiers, snowshoers, etc.
I stopped and had a snack at a picnic table next to Barlow Road. This was a geographical family reunion of sorts, since my Great Great Grandmother (Marianne Hunsaker D'Arcy) passed by here in a covered wagon in 1846. Here is an excerpt from her journal:
"As soon as Father and Mother, with their family, could safely leave the Company, East of the Cascade Mountains, they pushed on alone over the then new Barlow Road which passed over the South shoulder of Mt. Hood. Ours was the first wagon to come directly over it from across the plains. How well I remember what was to us, the children, the momentous task of getting the wagon down Laurel Hill. Ropes were tied to the wagon, and the other ends were snubbed around trees. Then Father, with the help of Mother and brother Horton, would carefully lower the wagon to where the horses could safely draw it again. It is still possible to walk up the old Barlow Road and see many of the trees marked by deep grooves made by the pioneers ropes."
On the hike back up, the trail turns sandy near timberline. I got lots of sand in my shoes since I was not wearing my gaiters. There is a neat stretch where you walk a narrow ridge, with the White River to the east of you and the Salmon River to the west of you. When I forded the Salmon "River" (which is no more than a trickle this high up), I drank my fill of untreated water, since I was near the end of my hike.
