Mount Hood // Summer Alpine Climbing in the Cascades

What started out as an innocent trip to go camping in Portland before a photoshoot, turned into a summit attempt up Hood on skis.

That is a sentence I didn't anticipate writing this summer, but I am super thrilled we confronted the opportunity to have a rad adventure and said a big "hell yes!".

Zack, Cannon, Hailey, and I made our way down to Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge on a Thursday evening, while the sun was setting and lighting up the sky with the most marvelous pinks and purples. We pulled into the sleepy parking lot around 9:30, unpacked our gear, pitched a tent in the parking lot, the guys consumed a beer, Hails and I searched out a water fountain. We were anticipating only 3 hours of sleep before out 1am wake up call to throw on your skis and begin the climb up the Palmer Glacier.

The stoke was high, per usual. Every time I embark on a big climb, hike, or wake up extremely early to begin an activity, I have this buzz that radiates throughout my body. It's encouraged by the feeling of being up before the world, about to do something awesome, stretching my body to new capacities, and exploring on either my skis or feet. In this case: both. Speaking of which... This was the first time Hailey and I had toured on skis. Second time for Zack. So, not only were we learning a new technique, we were learning while doing a semi strenuous climb. Which made this trek both challenging and FANTASTIC.

Gliding up(!) a mountain on skis is something that was foreign to me, but now is a feeling I am wildly infatuated with. Technology is tight, y'all! So tight.

We began skinning/climbing at 1:45, made it to the top of the Palmer chairlift at 4:47am where the boys welcomed Hailey and I with a steamy mountain Mocha, and nature welcomed us with a sunrise that lit up the forests below. At this point, we ditched the skis, threw them on our packs, and strapped on our crampons .The snow was hard and quite icy as we kicked out steps into the frozen goodness for what felt like a million hours.

Climbing, stopping, climbing, taking a photo, climbing, reveling in the vastness and beauty of the world. That was our rhythm. A rhythm I can most certainly appreciate.

This was the first time Zack and I had completed a difficult physical task together, and boy oh boy, was it cool. I already understood Zack was very encouraging and empowering, but this climb further emphasized that. He was incredibly kind to Hailey and I as we were trekking on and on. Z and I attempt to focus on teamwork as much as possible in our relationship, and this was very clear on the climb. Thankful for experiences like this with my super rad boyfriend! And my best friends- can't forget them :)

We made it to the Saddle, while the sun was beginning to warm up our faces and the compact snow. Since the snow was warming up and ice was beginning to fall, as well as Hailey and I being pretty wiped, we made the decision to let the guys head to the Summit without us. Ah, bittersweet. I was super stoked to hopefully summit Hood and my adrenaline was raging. However, I knew I would slow them down if I went, and lessen all of our chances to make it safely to the top before the sun did us dirty. So on they went! While hails and I took a power nap and watched them scurry up the steep face above us.

Cannon and Zack made it up through The Pearly Gates with moments to spare before the danger impeded on them. A moment up top and a few photos later, they made their way back down as Hails and I watched in wonder at their speed and determination- thinking to ourselves "no way in hell could we have done that, that fast".

We strapped on our skis and flew down the mountain, harboring very sore legs and a still present spirit for adventure. Every few turns we stopped in agony because it felt like I had skied the toughest day of my life because my legs were fatigued by the climb. That being said, earning turns in June is THE BEST FEELING EVER. Now i'm stoked for ski season.... oops!

Our climb took about 7-8 hours round trip, including breaks and stopping.

Elevation gain: 4.545 ft

Milage: 6.2 miles roundtrip