Being dropped off at Timothy Lakes. Look how clean we are!

Very nice trail!

First campsite

Very thankful for a bridge!

We follow the footprints of those who've gone before us...this was a little extreme. It did lead to a water seep though!

Nice trail and beautiful forests.  We love Oregon!

We camped near this intersection.

The Lupine was plentiful and so very beautiful. We want to grow some at home.

An early view of "the Hood." What an impressive mountain.

More of Mt. Hood. The trail was starting to go seriously up and in soft sand. Like climbing Cape Kiwanda only much, MUCH longer!

Looking back. See Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

In case you couldn't see it in the last photo, here's a zoom.

Our first glimpse of Timberline Lodge. It's still a LONG way off. Can you see it peaking through the branches?

You don't wander too far off trail--another step and I would have been on my way to a permanent swim.

It looks like the trail just goes off into the sky toward Mt. Jefferson.

Yippee, we are here...sort of.

Only one more trail to hike to the lodge...

We've had lunch at the lodge and are on our way. Don't hike on a full stomach...Blah.

Everything is so far away...

Yup. We had to cross this one. Our first "get our feet wet" crossing. We were a little nervous but it really wasn't bad. It was cold, but very refreshing. 

We crossed just above the rocks in the lower right corner. It's wider than this photo implies. There was one couple that just bounced over without even getting their feet wet (I'm not sure how they did it) and then there was a solo woman who contemplated every angle for about 30 minutes before going barefoot in a scary place. Notice the waterfall in the distance.

Not only was it wider, it had a pretty good current. We were wise to be cautious.

Mt. Hood from a new angle.

Mt. St. Helens

Very loose gravel. You can just barely see the trail. Naturally, the mosquitoes decided to start being annoying about now. I decided I'd rather cross the river than do many of these kinds of trails. Unfortunately, there are a lot more trails like this.

Looking back at the trail we just came down.

Another face of Mt. Hood.

Mt. Adams in the distance

Mt. Hood

The view from our tent that night.

If you look out the other side of our tent, you see the view mentioned above. This photo was taken from the trail. There was about 10 feet on the other side of the tent before it dropped off into the canyon. We were cautious about our midnight bathroom breaks! We were so desperate for a site that we grabbed this one. It ended up being a favorite one due to the fantastic sunset.

Our view as the sun began to set...

The setting sun...

From our tent.

On the trail.

The sun was going up over the Sandy River bed. We filled our water bottles here and then crossed on a scary bridge.  (see next photo) I'll try to upload the video of Jeff crossing it.

The couple you see in the  photo walked the 20 feet across the bridge like they were grocery shopping. Not me. There is a rope between the posts that gives absolutely no assistance, but I hung on to it for emotional support anyway. Jeff had no qualms about crossing, but I don't like walking over raging water on three wobbly logs.

A beautiful new bridge going in over a stream. They had to carry all the materials in several miles. We couldn't use the new bridge yet so Jeff used the old one and I waded.

The old "bridge."  The water was shallow and I enjoyed the refreshing coolness so I didn't hesitate to wade.

Another crossing. This one actually had warnings up to not cross as it was too dangerous but the warnings were a week old so we checked it out. The current was strong, but it never got over our knees and we did just fine.

Yes, there are spiders on the trail. This monster was well over an inch long. No wonder I kept getting caught in them on the trail. Yuck!

Very nice trail. I wish all of it could have been this nice!

Guess what! Another side of Mt. Hood!

Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood

Do we try for Indian Springs (13.7 miles)? We've already done about 10, it would mean we'll have to hike in the dark. Why not...we're feeling good...

Hood as the sun begins to set

Mt. Adams

The trail is getting yucky, narrow and rocky and, it's starting to get dark. Did we bite off too much pushing for Indian Springs?

Mt. Adams

Pebbles in our path...

At least it was warm enough for shorts.

We found Lost Lake!

These berries were so good until Jeff mentioned he wondered where the bears were. I hightailed it out of the area.

The setting sun was pretty

It gets dark fast in the woods.

Sunset on Mt. Hood.

It got too dark and we were too tired to make it to Indian Springs. Campsites were non-existent and we were a little concerned. Even views like this don't alleviate concerns but I'm glad I took the photo anyway.

Finally we said we have to stop. Scouting for a site using headlamps was challenging. Finally we found a relatively level area and mashed down seedlings and grass. It was a little lumpy but it worked. The funny thing--the next morning we looked on the opposite side of the trail and not ten feet off was an old level and clear road--perfect tent site. At least we started the morning with a chuckle. About an hour after we made camp the wind started blowing--HARD and it blew all night and most of the next day.

Our site in the day light.

We didn't make it to Indian Springs but were glad we didn't or we would have missed the morning sun on Mt. St. Helens. The wind and cold were the only drawbacks.

Did I mention the wind and cold? I was so glad I still had one pair of clean socks to use as gloves. I even wore my buff and scarf. It was about 40 degrees and the wind was whipping. It felt like about 10.

You can't see it, but the wind is whipping up the dust on the trail. It was literally hard to walk and nearly knocked Jeff over one time. We were on the crest of the mountain and very exposed. A little scary.

See Mt. Adams in the distance? The wind was literally moving the rocks on the cairn.

More from the windy top.

Sites like this make trees much more appealing. This one is in Indian Springs campground.

Yes, there is a trail through this mess of rock.

This thru hiker bounced over the trail like nothing. Show off!

water on the way

More water. I'd splash in streams every chance I got. By this point I was wearing my Keens all the time!

Eagle Creek has the most spectacular falls. Photos can't do them justice. We were still fresh on the trail at this point. After having just come down about 4 miles of the most miserable DOWN and rough trails from Indian Springs. That trail makes Elk Mountain and King's Mountain trails look like a walk in the park. We thought the rest of the day would be smooth sailing--gentle down on easy trails and lots of water falls. Well, there were lots of waterfalls and it was down...

The tunnel part of Tunnel Falls

going in the tunnel

Look

Looking down from High Bridge. It's a VERY long way down.

More falls.

Nearing the end of the trail and our hike.

Our final night. Hey, we finished well over a day early, we deserved the break!