Barrett Spur is one of my favorite places on Mount Hood. While some prefer Cooper Spur and others Cathedral Ridge, for me, it is the Spur.

The Spurt is a little bit difficult to reach both due to the altitude you gain and the route condition near the top.  But your jaw drops with the incredible views of the glaciers pouring down off the north side of the old volcano.

One Way Up

There is no official trail to the top of the Spur.  No signs point the way.  Most people going up to the Spur use a footpath leading up out from Dollar Lake.  Dollar Lake is a small pond reached about a half mile up from the Timberline trail on an unsigned footpath going south.  There are a couple campsites here but beware of mosquitoes early in the season.  The path to the pond is about 500 meters – one third mile east of the Timberline trail junction with the Pinnacle Ridge trail.  Coming from Elk Cove to the east, about 100 yards-meters past a point where the Timberline trail hooks around a ridge leading out from Elk Cove through some impressive beargrass fields brings you to the unsigned junction.

The first couple of times I climbed up to the Spur, I used the Dollar Lake route. Sometimes, I use the route from the Spur down to Dollar Lake for my descent to allow for change of pace.  Most times now, I go up from the junction of the Vista Ridge and Timberline trails, though I have also climbed from Cairn Basin in the past using the Mazama trail.  This route means a little more than a thousand extra feet to gain. The walk up Mazama trail on lower Cathedral Ridge stays on to the edge large burnt zone. Dollar Creek fire burnt vast stretched on the north side of Mt Hood in 2011.  The starting point also means a shorter drive from Portland. The Vista Ridge trail head is quite a bit further to reach.

Another Way

Here, we will explore the route up the Vista Ridge trail.  This trail, like the Pinnacle and Elk Cove trails, walks you through the main sections of forest affected by the 2011 fire.  Road access is explained on this link.  The Forest Service website mentions the Vista Ridge trailhead parking is one of few not requiring a Northwest Forest Pass.  This may be because the last half mile of road is rough. The USFS has no intention of improving upon that.

Ghost Forest

The trailhead is at 4,600 feet so you are into the fire zone very quickly.  The trail goes for 2.9 miles gaining 1200 feet to the junction with the Timberline trail in the small, but often magical Wy’East Basin.  After the fire, it took quite some time to rebuild the trail through the downed and burnt forest.  Most of the burnt trees still stand – a ghost forest – waiting for a strong wind to knock them finally to the earth.

Slowly, the forest is rebounding.  Fire is a natural way for forests to evolve, though man sometimes helps them along by either beginning the fire or simply cutting away all of the trees before a fire can reach out.  The trail is alive with beargrass, huckleberries, and fireweed.  Go early enough and you will see the avalanche lilies as you scurry past the also present mosquitoes, insects and lilies following the first weeks of snowmelt.

Above the Trails

At the trail junction with the Timberline, turn east – left. After fifty yards, turn right and head up the small basin on a unsigned boot path.  By mid-August, depending upon the winter before, the way up to Barrett Spur is mostly snow-free.  Climbing somewhat steeply out of the Wy’East Basin, work your way over to the western ridge of the basin. Continue up this ridge on fairly obvious boot paths.  The flower display, if you time it right, can be quite a show as you wander up through the basin.

Climbing up higher above the basin, the path wanders through the rocks and krummholz of whitebark pine, some over 300 years old.  The path can be faint here at times.  You can see the ridge to the east coming up from Dollar Lake. The ridge makes up the west edge of the Elk Cove-Coe Creek canyon beyond.  The two ridges eventually come together climbing higher. The joint path reaches a saddle at 7,300 feet just below the crumbly summit of Barrett Spur.  The views, far-reaching to the north below the saddle, now include the awesome north face of Mt Hood towering above.

The Saddle

Many people will stop here at the saddle.  A smaller boot path continues up the loose rock to the first of two summits.  The path is loose and often not too solid, so be careful if you continue higher.  The first summit has a fairly large plain. Here you can sit back and enjoy the views of tumbling glaciers, crevasses and the mountain summit almost 4,000 feet above.

Higher and Higher

To get to the second summit, you have to cross a rocky, loose spine.  It is fairly level, but you probably be using your hands along the way with steep drop offs intimidatingly threatening.  The second summit gives you more views only closer.

The Return

Total distance is about nine miles with 3250 feet of elevation gain.  The only real problem with the hike is you are going into the sun.  A little later start will give a bit better light for pictures.  If it is cloudy, it should not make too much difference.  If the clouds are as low as the Spur, then there is nor real reason to do the hike.

Proof of Life after VT