The Timberline Trail / PCT in July. Patches of snow on the ground, and a heatwave above ground.
Is Mt Hood the only place PCT hikers walk under an operating chair lift full of skiers? ๐ โท๏ธ
#timberlinetrail #mthood #oregon #pct #hiking #unlikelyhiker
Thinking of hiking the Timberline Trail - when can you start?
(a) Before July - expect extensive snow, consider this to require specialized skills and equipment.
(b) First two weeks of July - still some snow, microspikes are likely to still be needed.
(c) After mid July - generally snow free
YMMV - snowpack and early melt notwithstanding. I have written a little more about this here: https://hikeit.info/2025/04/13/when-to-hike-the-timberline-trail-a-guide-to-early-season-travel/
As we are already talking about hiking the Timberline Trail this summer - currently we are running at about 111% of average with a storm or two predicted over the next week or so. How this will melt - still to early to tell. But given this it leads to a pretty typical mid to late July time before the trail is snow free for most hikers.
There is a little more analysis of this here - https://hikeit.info/2025/03/23/how-is-the-snowpack-piling-up-on-mount-hood-2025/
I'll keep updating this as the spring progresses.
minty
MattBromley
