Hiking Through a Ski Area

Most folks who ski (and probably some that don't) assume that ski areas in the off-season months are bleak, bare, god-forsaken places.  Once the snow melts, skiers normally abandon the lifts in search of other weather-appropriate activities.  In the past, ski resorts sat empty all summer, even though many of them were in gorgeous mountain locations.

Ticket booth, height adjusted for snowpack

But now most ski areas have reinvented themselves to offer year-round outdoor activities.  Some have retooled their winter ski runs into mountain bike trails (with bikers riding the ski lifts uphill) or adventure parks with ziplines and alpine slides.  Others offer their venues for special events such as  weddings or festivals.  However, the best ski areas have created hiking trails through their boundaries, allowing people to discover that ski areas in the offseason are not ugly at all.

Dry ski lift, waiting for snow

This is what happened to my home hill, Mt Hood Meadows.  Although Meadows already had two USFS hiking trails crossing through their permit area, (the round-the-mountain Timberline Trail and Umbrella Falls Trail) management decided to create an entire network of additional hiking trails.  So during the summer of 2020, when the ski area couldn't open to the public due to COVID, Meadows put their crews to work constructing eight new hiking trails within their ski area boundary.

The fireweed still had some color

In June 2021 Meadows debuted these new hiking trails.  Throughout the summer they received rave reviews on local hiking webpages and Facebook groups.  By the time I finally returned home, I was dying to try them out.

Trails were numbered and well marked

On a sunny Monday in late August, I recruited my good friends Debbie and Barry for an exploration of the new Mt Hood Meadows trails.  Since this was only my second hike post-surgery I thought it was a good idea to have companions.  Besides, hikes are better when shared with a friend or two!

Goldenrod and pearly everlasting

It was a gorgeous late summer morning when we pulled into Mt Hood Meadows' enormous parking lot.  With only a handful of vehicles here, we got a front row spot (which never happens during ski season).  Besides rock star parking, my friends and I were delighted to discover the restrooms open.  So much better than the stinky Forest Service pit toilets at most trailheads!

More spent fireweed - still colorful

Walking out towards the ski lifts, I couldn't help marveling at how different the base area looked without snow.  The ticket booth was actually lifted a couple of feet higher to make up for the 5 to 6 feet of snow that is usually on the ground during winter.  There was a flight of stairs leading from the patio to the lift area which I'd never seen in the winter, because it's always covered with snow.  In the winter, there's so much snow this patio is normally level with the adjacent ground.

Who knew ski runs in summer could be so lovely?

One ski lift was operating, taking hikers up the first big hill to one of the hiking trails.  Since I'm a season pass holder, I could have ridden the lift for free and gotten a jump start on my hike.  But that felt too much like cheating.  Besides, my friends weren't pass holders and would've had to pay to ride the lift.  I don't mind climbing hills - that's part of hiking.  (As I always say, hills build character!)

Fireweed close-up

Although we had a map of the Meadows trail network, it still took a bit of searching to locate the start of Trail #1, dubbed "the Bear Grass Trail," our chosen hike for today.  We finally located it just past the Express and Blue lifts.  Despite our initial confusion, once we got going my friends and I found the trails well marked with nifty brown plastic paddles as signs.

My companions pose for a photo

It being late August I assumed that the summer wildflower bloom was long gone.  But to my pleasant surprise, there were still a few holdout wildflowers blooming.  Yellow goldenrod and white pearly everlasting covered the first slope we crossed (which during winter months, is called the "Stadium" ski run, one of my favorites).  Not only those wildflowers, but stalks of spent fireweed also added to the colorful mix.  Although the flowers had wilted away, these empty fireweed stalks retained their pretty pink hue.

Beargrass stalks

Beargrass blooms here in early summer and tons of their brown stalks still covered the hillsides.  The sheer number of stalks standing indicated it must've been a banner year for beargrass.  (Yup, I guess that's why they called this the "Bear Grass Trail!")

 

Fall color just getting started

Besides the still blooming wildflowers, I was also happy to see a few leaves starting to show some fall color.  The best of both worlds!

Unusual twisted tree trunk

I thought this twisted tree trunk along the trail was photo-worthy.

The beargrass bloom must've been spectacular!

Our trail of choice lived up to its name as we wound through more meadows covered with spent beargrass stalks.  I'm definitely gonna have to return next year during prime bloom season!

Mt Hood says "hi!"

Although we were in forest most of the time, Mt Hood occasionally popped out between the trees to say "hi."  The poor girl was looking mighty bare - this past blazingly hot summer had melted away more of her glaciers than usual.

Another colorful ski run

Trail #1 wandered through an area of the resort I recognized as served by the "Hood River Meadows" Lift - or HRM (pronounced "herm" by us Meadows regulars).

Taking a side trail to Picnic Rock

After about a mile and half of hiking, my friends and I came to a junction with Trail #3.  According to our map, this spur trail led to a feature called "Picnic Rock."  With a name like that, how could we resist not checking things out?

Nice views of the HRM lot and Nordic Center

The side trail was only 0.3 of a mile in length and passed by one very nice overlook of the Nordic Center and HRM parking area.  Despite a hot summer, the meadows down there were still green.

Debbie taking it all in

I didn't take a photo, but both this overlook and Picnic Rock had signs warning of cliffs.  I'd never skied over here, but was pretty sure this area was in the "Private Reserve" a place where the extreme (aka - crazy) skiers come to jump off cliffs and other kinds of nonsense.

Arriving at Picnic Rock - where to sit?

A short distance from the first overlook was Picnic Rock.  A large rocky ridge that jutted out over Heather Canyon, the views here were fantastic.  A great place to take a snack break, which is what my friends and I did.

Peek-a-boo Hood view from Picnic Rock

After sitting down, we discovered Mt Hood peeking through the trees!

Thick forest on the return trail

After our snack, my companions and I retraced our steps back to Trail #1 and continued the loop.  The trail led through dense forest so there wasn't a lot to take photos of here.

Passing under the HRM lift

We popped out of the forest to another trail junction.  Decision time - we could continue on Trail #1 up to the Stadium Lift or take Trail #2 back to the base area.  Since this was only my second hike back from surgery I decided not to overdo things just yet and opted to take Trail #2.

Pearly everlasting

Trail #2, called the "Bear Grass Cutoff" descended steeply downhill for nearly a mile until intersecting back with Trail #1 near the first wildflower meadow.  From there it was a just a matter of retracing our steps back under the ski lifts to the base area.

Lush meadow near the base area

Once back to the base area we treated ourselves to another trip to the bathroom (flushing toilets and sinks with running water to wash hands are luxuries for hikers!)  Then Debbie, Barry and I took a quick tour of the newest lodge at Mt Hood Meadows, which opened this past season but sadly couldn't be fully used because of COVID.  Meadows had opened one of their restaurants for lunch, but by the time we finished it was closed again.  I'll have to return again next season to hike and then have lunch and perhaps a beer.  :)

 

Can't wait to see this area covered in snow!

We ended up covering 4.75 miles and 800 foot of elevation gain, which was perfect for my post-recovery fitness level.  I came away super impressed with the trails we hiked - Meadows has done a banner job of creating this trail network in their ski area through areas of truly beautiful terrain.  As you can see, these snow-less ski runs are a far cry from being bleak, bare ugly places!  

Although the lifts, restaurant, and (sadly) bathrooms closed down after Labor Day, I will certainly return next summer to explore more of Mt Hood Meadows' new hiking trails.