Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

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Ptglhs
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Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Ptglhs »

I have a trip to the Pacific Northwest coming up next month. I will be doing a guided climb of Mount Rainier followed by a solo attempt of Mount Hood. My current plan is to avail myself of the chair lifts to get as high as I can the night before, camp out, and an Alpine start on Friday the 21st. I will not be roped up but crampons, ice, ax, and helmet are mandatory. If anyone out here would be interested in going along, or is planning on being out there and wants a partner, feel free to reach out. I could push it to Saturday the 22nd, but I would prefer to avoid that, both because of the crowds and because of me allocating that weekend to driving home.
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Scott P
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Scott P »

Just an FYI, but conditions on the standard route on Hood usually deteriorate before then. Before early July is usually a lot better.

Good luck to you if you do try it, but personally I'd recommend a different climb that time of year. There are plenty of other mountains around.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by dr_j »

Too late for Hood, this year anyways. Generally Hood is good to go until early July, but there was a series of heat waves at the end of April, in May, and this week, and it's made things pretty dicey up there.
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sooshee
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by sooshee »

Scott P wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 1:04 pm Just an FYI, but conditions on the standard route on Hood usually deteriorate before then. Before early July is usually a lot better.

Good luck to you if you do try it, but personally I'd recommend a different climb that time of year. There are plenty of other mountains around.
I concur, that is really pushing it for climbing conditions. The PNW has been hot the last past month and things are melting out fast.

I'd recommend maybe looking at Mount Adams if you want a non-technical (meaning no roped travel) overnight. Great mountain and views!
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Ptglhs »

Only get to die once. I could, theoretically move it up to July 8th at the earliest but that's the limit of flexibility. "Late spring to early summer" was listed on FS website and Summit post. 21 June to 21 July is early summer.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by 9patrickmurphy »

Ptglhs wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:43 pm "Late spring to early summer" was listed on FS website and Summit post. 21 June to 21 July is early summer.
Well in that case you'll be golden. A day later and the route would be no good, but July 21st on the dot is fine if the forest service's generic recommendation implies it is.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Ptglhs »

9patrickmurphy wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:55 pm Well in that case you'll be golden. A day later and the route would be no good, but July 21st on the dot is fine if the forest service's generic recommendation implies it is.
Want to try it without the sarcasm? Based on the information I read from the FS website, summitpost, and cascade climbers forum that date was not too late.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by HikerGuy »

I have no knowledge about Mount Hood, conditions, etc. However, meteorological summer is considered to be June, July and August. July 21 is not early summer, it is mid to late summer. I think that is where folks are coming from with their observations.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by nyker »

Think that site has more of a generalization in terms of average weather windows subject to the vagaries of each year, some years it's earlier some later. It took me three times to climb Hood, the first two having suboptimal conditions going too late in the season, once I was spitting distance from the top, but was met with falling ice and rocks as it was just too warm and was pretty scary with that stuff falling down on such a steep slope. Rainier climbs a little later than Hood on average.

People climb Hood year round, but ideal times are usually in April to early May for best combination of snowpack/weather window but again this varies with each season. Later season the mountain becomes more scree, has higher chances of rock fall, ice fall, cracks open wider and some of the ice becomes steeper and more precarious and even late night start times could run into issues with melting/ice fall up high. For a real time update, call Timberline Guides or the ranger station there. If you haven't read it, there is a book called Mount Hood Climbing Guide by Bill Mullee, a worthwhile read ahead of your trip.

Another climb you could consider would be Mt St Helens (if you can get a permit), it will be drier than in April/May when it climbs better, but at least safer than Hood even with drier/dustier conditions. Another alternative that would be nice would be North Cascades NP if you haven't been there. There are some good shorter climbs and great scenery. Or, while at Rainier, there are some real nice hikes you can do around the mountain there. Or another mountain that would likely be in better shape in early July could be Shasta.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Tim A »

Follow the Portland Mountain Rescue page on FB as they generally post weekly updates on conditions.

Fwiw, I’ve been following this FB page for years and planned to climb Hood in two weeks (mid-June) but have changed my mind given what conditions on the mountain look like. It could certainly go, but I’m going to head for Adams, Shasta and South/Middle Sister, and if I’m feeling spicy look at Jefferson instead because Hood is too risky a peak to attempt in the condition it’s in even now, much less in July. Everyone’s risk tolerance is different, but if you’re just going off the generic FS dates you’re missing out on a lot of valuable beta.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Scott P »

Ptglhs wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:43 pm 21 June to 21 July is early summer.
In the Pacific NW, the FS considers May and June to be late Spring/early Summer.

The Mazamas is the biggest climbing organization in the Pacific NW and is based in Portland.

Here's what they say:

https://mazamas.org/mthoodfaq/
Mazamas.PNG
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The suggestion of checking the Portland Mountain Rescue facebook page is a good one.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064873620744

Timberline Guides, who climb Mt. Hood daily in the prime season pull off the mountain June 29 (and this year it might be before that):

https://timberlinemtguides.com/trip/mt- ... t-program/

Of course it's a free country and you can still climb it if you want. It was just a fair warning that late July is much more dangerous and has poorer conditions. I wouldn't do it then, but others have. It's still better than August-November.
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Re: Mt Hood Oregon 21 July

Post by Ptglhs »

Appreciate the perspectives. I'll be heading up the 13th of July now. The suggestions for other hikes are not relevant to me as they are not state high points which is my current focus.
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