This was a 15.2 mile, 3100 FT Elevation Gain Day-Hike in Oregon, 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), starting at Top Spur Trailhead, climbing up to the Timberline Loop, briefly going to the Mount Hood Viewpoint Ridge South of Bald Mountain (as a little bit of a viewpoint cherry picking hack) before turning around and doing the lion’s share of the hike exploring the NW quadrant of Timberline Trail hiking past Cairn Shelter to the INCREDIBLE Mount Hood Viewpoint Section above the Elk Cove Camping Zone as our turnaround point of this out and back Day-Hike.
Weather was a low in the low 30's, high in the 50's, overcast day and very windy.
This was hiked on 9/12/2021, trail was completely clear of snow, and there were NO Mosquitoes!
On Alltrails, this hike is called "Timberline Trail Around Mount Hood", hiking a section of the NW Quadrant.
As far as road conditions, it's highway until a turnoff paved road that isn’t too bumpy but does have some large pot holes in the middle of it periodically you need to swerve around.
The last 1.5 miles is gravel and very doable but requires cautious and slow driving, particularly around somewhat blind corners and a narrow road.
In my opinion, the road DOES NOT require 4-Wheel Drive.
As far as permits, the Top Spur Trailhead DOES NOT require a Recreation.gov permit.
