Cascade Range Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

Fish Creek Mountain, Oregon, July 2025

August 13, 2025 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday, July 27, I left my secluded and primitive campsite south of Timothy Lake and drove to the Fish Creek Trailhead in the Mount Hood National Forest of Oregon. My goal was to hike Fish Creek Mountain, a peak in the Mount Hood National Forest with 1432 feet of topographic prominence.

Climbing the Fish Creek Mountain Trail up steep slopes towards the Fish Creek Divide

I followed Forest Road 57 west, then turned north on Oregon Highway 224 past Ripplebrook Campground. Immediately after crossing the Clackamas River I turned sharply south and climbed Forest Road 4620 to the Fish Creek Trailhead. This road climbs through an extensive burn from the Riverside Fire of 2020. The road was in good shape in spite of the fire, with a few spots of recent rockfall and timber debris that were easy to drive around.

[Read more…]

Tidbits Mountain Lookout, Oregon, October 2022

October 12, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On October 6, Bob F. and I visited the Tidbits Mountain Lookout site in the Willamette National Forest of Oregon. This was the first time either of us had visited the lookout site, perched atop a rock pinnacle. I was hopeful we might also visit the higher Lookout Mountain summit atop another rock pinnacle to the east of the lookout site.

The Titbits Mountain Lookout site is on the top of the rock tower ahead

We followed forest roads from near Tombstone Pass and parked at the Gold Hill Trailhead. The Gold Hill Trail led us west through old growth forest to the Tidbits Mountain Trail. From there we continued west trail through more forest and across talus below the summit rock pinnacle. Finally we climbed up steep western slopes to reach the exposed and tiny lookout site.

[Read more…]

Jefferson Park, Oregon, October 2022

October 5, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On October 2, Bob F. and I drove to the Woodpecker Trailhead in the Willamette National Forest. From there we hiked the Woodpecker Ridge and Pacific Crest Trails to Jefferson Park, below the north face of Mount Jefferson. This was my first visit to Jefferson Park in 18 years. I wanted to visit it again and to see how the Lionshead Fire of 2020 had impacted the trails and the park, itself.

Mount Jefferson from the Woodpecker Trail and PCT junction

The Woodpecker Trailhead was still officially closed. But it was a quirk of the regulations that one could park a few hundred feet below the trailhead and hike around it to reach the trails. So we did that. Bob had a Central Cascades Wilderness Permit for the Pamelia Lake Trailhead. So we were legal and prepared for any forest rangers we might encounter.

[Read more…]