Barlow Pass
It was a cool, cloudy morning near the end of summer as I arrived at the 4,200-foot Barlow Pass Trailhead south east of Mt. Hood. The Pass was the final overland segment of the Oregon Trail, allowing wagons to reach the Willamette Valley.
After putting raingear into the daypack, I began heading south on the Pacific Crest Trail. Not long afterwards I was passed my a backpacker who, amazingly enough, was on his way to Ashland. Other than him, I only saw two other hikers during my four-hour outing.
A segment of Barlow Road
Lots of blowdowns along the trail
Into the Wilderness
Palmateer Point
After a brisk ascent of about 1 1/2 miles on the PCT, I turned downhill on the Palmateer Trail. After a pleasnat journey through the woods, it was time to climb Palmateer Point. After a couple of switchbacks, I was at the summit. There was some blue sky, but no views of Mt. Hood due to cloud cover.
Even without Mt. Hood, the views were spectacular. And, 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.
On the way back to the trailhead, the storm clouds moved in and the rain began pouring down. Thanks to my Marmot PreCip raincoat, I stayed relatively dry.
All and all, a fine day indeed.
Palmateer Point
Vine Maple leaves picking up their autumn colors
Huckleberry bushes picking up their autumn colors
Interesting cloud formations from Palmateer Point
Mt. Hood from Palmateer Point (from a previous hike)
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