Elk Cove from Cloud Cap Hike

Overview

This is a classic alpine hike on Mount Hood, with spectacular mountain views, rugged glacial streams, icy waterfalls, and tiny streams lined with mid-summer wildflowers along the way. The rolling meadows at Elk Cove are among the most beautiful on the mountain, and the towering north face is the most spectacular view of Mount Hood in the estimate of many. Be prepared for bridgeless crossings of two glacial streams, the Eliot Branch and the Coe Branch. Not only do the exact crossing points change on an annual basis, but the trail makes significant descents to access each of them. Note that the Timberline Trail crossing of the Eliot Branch is a new route opened in 2017. From the trailhead, hike in through the campground/picnic area to a map kiosk at the Timberline-Cloud Cap Trail Junction, and make a right in shady mountain hemlock/subalpine fir forest. Come to a wilderness permit station, and sign yourself in. Soon begin descending through a huckleberry carpet, and make six switchbacks down on a slope scorched by the 2008 Gnarl Ridge Fire. Get an open view to the Washington volcanoes of Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens before you negotiate another six switchbacks. Now you'll arrive above gushing cataracts on the Eliot Branch. Make one more switchback before you traverse down to the stream. Each year, the crossing is different. The actual trail takes you up to a ford below a waterfall, but look downstream for a large dry log that makes a good crossing of the freezing, churning Eliot Branch. Rejoin the Timberline Trail after crossing, and pass a wilderness sign in a new colony of hemlocks. Switchback, and make a traverse to an open view of the Hood River Valley and the snow-capped Washington volcanoes. Hike up among fire-scarred snags, make two switchbacks, and get a view across the canyon to Cloud Cap Inn. Make another seven short switchbacks, and then continue to ascend along a ridge crest, passing the old route of the trail where it comes in from the left. The route drops and veers right to

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