Snow Elevation

At last the long awaited beginning of our trip (June 10-21) approaches. Does anyone know the snow elevation around Mts Hood and Jefferson? We had planned to visit Pamelia Lake and Top Spur, but I suspect we may be confined to the Coast and the Gorge.

Yes - I was up at Hood yesterday, and there were 2-4 foot drifts on most of the Little Zigzag Falls trail (about 3,100 feet), and Wildcat Mountain Road was also snowed in above about 3,000 feet. The reports from a few hikers who have pushed to the top of Larch Mountain and similar 4,000 foot peaks is that a snowpack of 8-10 feet still remains up there.

Top Spur will likely not open until sometime in late June or July this year - and then you would still likely hit snow as you approach timberline. At the current snowmelt rate (and very cool weather), it could easily be the end of July before the main Timberline Trail circuit is snow-free. It's going to be a very short season in the high country this year..!

I did hear that the Lost Lake area was supposed to be open by now. Has anyone been up to the lakes for a Hood reflection shot yet?

Possibly - but take a look at this [url=http://portlandhikers.org/forums/thread/40283.aspx]recent trip report[/link] on PortlandHikers.org from about a month ago! Lots of snow up there! If it's open, it might be that the road is plowed, but that the campground is still snowed in. The lake is at about 3,100 feet elevation, so based on other areas at that level that I visited yesterday, there is probably still snow up there.

Thanks for the update. Forest Service says snow line is about 3000 feet. So we were forced to change our itinerary. Perhaps we will see you on the Coast or in the Gorge. I'll be wearing a Nature Photographers cap. And the weatherman is forecasting SUN toward the end of the week and weekend.