Here is the 1ST HALF VIDEO of THIS FULL HIKE, Mazama Trailhead to McNeil Point:
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Here is the 2ND HALF VIDEO of THIS FULL HIKE, exploring McNeil Point:
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This was a 10.7 mile, 3500 FT Elevation Gain Day-Hike in Oregon, Mount Hood National Forest & Mount Hood Wilderness, focusing on the NW Quadrant of the approximately 40-mile EPIC Timberline Loop that goes around Mount Hood (one of the two best alpine backpacking hikes in Oregon along with Broken Top Loop), Hiking an Approach from the North to Timberline Loop that is much less popular than the more common Southern Approach access points, starting at Mazama Trailhead and Hiking 3.6 miles & 2200 FT Elevation Gain to Timberline Loop, taking Timberline Loop to McNeil Point Trail Junction, and exploring the McNeil Point Triangle Zone to Ho Rock before returning back to Mazama Trailhead.
Road conditions - I consider this a "road not taken" Hike - Hikes like Ramona Falls, ZigZag Canyon & Elk Meadows get a lot more attention, in part because of the easier Southern access points. This Hike, in contrast, starts in the harder to get to North - to get to Mazama Trailhead, one must take Lola Pass and then go down a few miles of gravel Forest Road, approximately 18 miles in all total from the Highway. It is long and arduous, takes about 45 minutes of patience One Way, and one must watch for large pot holes particularly in the Lola Pass area. That said, the road itself is very passable for most vehicles with a proper dosage of caution and patience - I've been on far worse Forest Roads all around Central Oregon - so its the long slow burn of the drive that is more cumbersome than the actual bumpiness/condition of the road itself in my humble opinion.....of course DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK!
For this "road not taken" reason, I consider this a great contrarian hedge play Hike in the area on a Saturday in Summer to have a low traffic Hike. Also, particularly in July (this was Hiked July 29, 2023), because a large part of it is Burnout, it is a LOW-TO-NO Mosquito Zone - while some parts of the Cascades in July are absolutely mosquito infested with hordes of micro vampires exceeding your nightmares, I didn't get a single bite the entire day! *Hiking Burnout Areas during June/July in Oregon, particularly The Cascades, is my counter-mosquito contrarian recommendation Hike Hack!* Also to factor in, I had checked AllTrails, and the Trail had just been cleared of debris / downed logs earlier that week so it was clear and pristine and a downright pleasure for the entire Hike!
While I'd say some other Timberline Loop sections like ZigZag Canyon and Ramona Falls are objectively higher beauty areas, the Mazama Trail area is quite beautiful in its own right and is absolutely worth doing at the very least once if nothing else as a bucket list Hike - it is important to note that in some other States, Mazama Trail would be THE Premiere Hike, it just happens to be unlucky to be buried half way down the Trail list in the Timberline embarrassing sea of Hiking riches. So after having done it, I would highly recommend doing it as a "road not taken" Hike, and a great July low traffic low mosquito contrarian play (of course confirm access snow melt wise)!
