Barrett Spur Add-on Hike

Overview

Barrett Spur is the imposing mass that you can see from Portland off the left (north) side of Mount Hood. From the spur, you get great views to the north and west, as well as great views of Mount Hood and the Coe and Ladd Glaciers. There are a couple of primitive trails and at least one off-trail route to get to Barrett Spur. Make sure and look back occasionally so you know how to get back. It would be easy to walk straight up, and then go back down on the wrong route and end up going over a steep cliff. Walk on a trail, gravel, rocks, or snow. Avoid walking on plants, which grow very slowly at that altitude. This hike describes a loop taking in two of the most common use paths to Barrett Spur. Start on an obvious path leading up the west side of the meadow at Wy'East Basin. This path, which we'll call the Barrett Spur Trail, soon crosses an older version of the Timberline Trail, and then begins climbing the east side of the ridge that separates Wy'East Basin from Cairn Basin to the west. The trail nears the top of the ridge, then slabs upward towards the south, always just a bit down from the crest of the ridge. It might seem like this cheats you out of some mountain views, but the good side is that it keeps you out of the wind, which gets nasty up here. The trail climbs above a couple of permanent snowfields into a krummholz forest of whitebark pine. These trees are slow growing and long-lived, and many of the gnarled, crooked survivors are 300 years old. Mixed in are dead trees bleached white by winter storms and summer sun. Near the top of this forest, the Barrett Spur Trail connects with a trail down to Dollar Lake, marked by a small cairn. This junction can be difficult to spot, but it really doesn't matter. The terrain is open enough here that it's possible to walk almost anywhere with care. Continuing up, the trail fades in some places and braids in others. Keep generally to the east (left) side of the ridge crest. As long as you step around the few fragile plants, you really can't go wrong. Now

Trail Stats

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