Travel plans/Winter 2021 Mt Hood

Group trip to Tilly Jane A-Frame cabin on the north side of Mt Hood, Oregon, in March 2021.

We have the cabin rented from Sunday, March 14 through Thursday, March 18th. (TODO: confirm dates/nights).

Travel Logistics

Driving in at least two cars: L's car (small sedan, 5 seatbelts, only 3 with skis), N's car (?).

We will drive from Seattle to the "Tilly Jane Sno Park", which is right next to a small ski area ("Cooper Spur Ski and Tubing"). Via I-5/84/35 this is about 250 miles, 4h15m. Going I-5/26 (south around Mt Hood instead of northern route along Columbia River) is roughly the same distance and time (a bit shorter but slower). Trailhead is at 4900ft.

NOTE: will need some form of pass for parking lot. Oregon Sno Park? NW Forest?

The hike from the parking lot to the cabin is via the winter trail "Tilly Jane Ski Trail #643"; the summer road up to Cloud Cabin area will not be open.

Roughly planning to drive down Sunday morning, park, then hike/skin in. On Thursday morning, ski down to the car and drive home. Some folks may bail earlier in the week.

The 2.7mile trail, up (TODO)ft to the cabin. Will need to haul pretty much everything up, unless somebody wants to do a day hike back down. Maybe we can haul stuff in a sled? Not clear how direct (vs. side gradient) trail is.

Alpine Skiing

Note: this section originally written by B, who has limited ski touring / avalanche experience.

The main alpine (downhill / ski touring) route in this area seems to be skinning up to Cooper's Spur, then skiing down the "triangle" moraine below it, down to the tree ridge or so. Cooper's Spur is at 8450ft, the treeline is somewhere around 6400ft, and there seem to be routes that don't go above 28 degree (especially if you don't go quite to the top of the spur).

• Clear explanations of the ski route that includes getting in/out, a bunch of advice, and maps of the routes and what happens if you head to different directions. This is worth studying.
• caltopo gradient heatmap of cooper's spur area
• Mt Hood, Cooper Spur (trip report): early May, 2012. short report. they go much higher than we would (above 9000ft), but some good photos of lower bits.

Hiking/Snowshoeing

Hiking up to Cooper Spur, and back, seems pretty simple. From there, there is a ridge going further up towards the summit of the mountain, and it is probably possible to hike up another couple hundred feet (elevation) on a ridge. There is unsafe technical climbing at the very top, and a steep snowfield before that which is also extremely steep (50+ degree slope). Not clear where the safe limit is; 9000ft?

The Timberline trail, which goes all the way around Mt Hood, comes close to Tilly Jane, and cuts across the ski field below Cooper Spur. It should be possible to do a day hike/snowshoe along that trail to the Gnarl Ridge area.

Nording Skiing

There are probably options downhill of Tilly Jane and Cloud Cabin. TODO: see if there are specific trails/routes/etc.

The hiking routes would probably also make decent nordic ski routes.

Packing

The cabin will have a wood stove, wood and log splitting equipment, and some large pots we can use to melt snow on top of the stove. There are also some pit toilets. Other than that we need to bring everything; this will basically be like wild camping but no tent needed. The sleeping loft is a second story, by ladder, and looks like just a wood floor.

There might be lanterns/lamps we can use if we bring propane?

• toilet paper
• stoves and cooking equipment
• utensils
• cups
• bowls
• food!
• drink!
• hot chocolate
• coffee and tea equipment
• trash bags
• hygiene: wipes, toothbrush, eyeballs, etc
• warm sleeping bags and insulated sleeping mats
• headlamps
• propane tank ("green one pound") for lamps (?)

Ski/outdoors equipment:

• sun stuff: hats, sunglasses, glacier glasses, sunscreen, lip stuff, nose covering
• day gear pack (?)
• avalanche safety equipment: beacons, probes, shovels
• snacks
• thermos (?)