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Twin Lakes
Wildfire smoke continued to cause very poor air quality in Portland. I decided to head to Wapinita Pass south of Mt. Hood hoping for better air.
It was nicer at the 3,900-foot trailhead but still very hazy. Heading north on the Pacific Crest Trail, I soon reached the turnoff for Lower and Upper Twin Lakes.
The Lakes were pleasant as usual with a few folks camping at the lower one. The skies remained concrete gray. It was not very photogenic.
After leaving the upper lake, I continued on the nine-mile loop. The next stop was 4,450-foot Palmateer Point.
It didn’t take much of an imagination to see the settlers in their wagons passing underneath Palmateer Point to Barlow Pass, and the final descent to the Willamette Valley.
A hazy Barlow Butte from Palmateer Point
Lodgepole Pine cone (two needles to a clump)
Lower Twin Lakes
Huckleberry bushes lining the trail
Mature Mountain Hemlock forest (a wildfire ready to happen?)
Into the Wilderness
A stretch of the PCT (it’s always the best graded and best maintained trail)
A very hazy Upper Twin Lake
Magnificent mature True Firs
Young Lodgepole Pines slowly taking over the meadow
A hazy Mt. Hood from Palmateer Point
Mt. Hood from Palmateer Point (taken in a previous year on a much nicer day)
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