Journalist By Nature: Upper Twin Lake

Approachable from several starting points, Twin Lakes provide moderate day and overnight hiking options in the Mt. Hood National Forest. A 30 minute drive from Sandy puts you at the Barlow Trail snow park where you can connect with the PCT and the Upper Twin Lake trailhead. July is prime hiking time, exemplified by the variety of people we met on the trail. A couple of young women and their dogs were making a 50 mile long weekend trip on the PCT. A family with a child and dog were just hiking out from an overnighter at the lakes. A jogging woman and her lab were running in and out several times from the trailhead to the lakes as a diversion from their campsite. They actually run around Mt. Hood at times. A young man, apparently an ultralight hiker, with an English accent gave a clipped answer to our inquiry about his destination.

Bunchberry

The trail leaves an open picnic and parking area to ascend into a Douglas fir and hemlock forest. The upper canopy is open over acreage of downed and decaying trees with a vibrant green understory of huckleberries, ferns and various wildflowers. Beargrass was not yet flowering but Indian paintbrush was poking its red blossoms through the greenery. Bunchberry clusters were scattered throughout the area as well as a possible siting of the invasive Allaria petiolata or garlic mustard. Tiny purple lupine and bright yellow Arnica cordifolia add colorful dimension along the trail. New growth lightly colors the tips of the conifers as they persevere in their stretch for the top of the canopy, albeit years and years from now. The renewal of the forest is a fascinating process to watch as nature handles it with skill and persistence.

This hike is typical of many in the forest, the trail generous and needle-padded, shady in the morning but sun-scorched at high noon, rolling and curving directions with an overall elevation gain of 1300 feet. The landscape is filled with downed trees, sun-bleached and weathered, lying randomly scattered and slowly being overtaken by seedlings of conifers and shrubs. Some of the downed trees lie across the trail so there is a bit of gymnastics in the mounting and dismounting of them. There are no views on this trail until the lake shyly appears through the stand of trees at the shore. There

you see a green-blue surface of water tightly lined with evergreens standing shoulder to shoulder right to the edge of the water. Marsh grasses populate the shallow sides of the lake, dragonflies busily fluttering and mating over the surface. Nasty flies and mosquitoes pester the resting hikers at lunch. The shallow water makes for muddy wading and a cool relief from the hot mid-summer sun.

Palmateer Point courtesy S. Conrad

The return trip offers a loop to Palmateer Point, a spectacular viewing platform from which to see majestic Mt. Hood and its surrounding verdant stands of timber. Six of the gals pictured here are prepped to make the challenging climb to the Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park soon. The uphill Palmateer loop adds about two miles to the 6.8 mile Twin Lake trail for a total of 8.6 miles, the extra "price" for the view. Otherwise, the return trip offers only a tiny peek of Mt. Hood as the trail descends back to the parking area. On this trip the trail tales got to wait at the picnic table

Waiting for them for once! No worries.

for the hardier hikers! Nice change-up.

No hike on the southern side of Mt. Hood would be complete until you've tasted a huckleberry ice cream cone at Government Camp. That just finishes the day on a grand note! Speaking of huckleberries, start making plans for scouting out your supply of wild berries this fall. There's nothing like a huckleberry pie at the holidays to bring back a flood of summer memories in the forest. Happy hiking!