Green Point Mountain Loop via Herman Creek Trail #406
17.5 mi
Distance
8 hrs 40 min
Time
terrain
4,403 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult loop trail to Green Point Mountain in Mount Hood National Forest.
This trail goes by Herman Creek, Ridge Camp, Cedar Swamp Camp, and Herman Creek Trailhead.
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
stars
Hiked up to Green Point Mountain summit on May 12, 2019 from the Herman Creek trailhead and continuing on #406 until forking off onto the Nick Eaton Trail #447. As was the case last year, much of the trail on Nick Eaton ridge is filled with dry needles, burnt bark, and downed limbs making the trail easy to lose if you're not focused. Once you hit the Gorton Creek trail #408, you enter the unburnt forest which has preserved much of the trail until you get to around 4,200' of elevation. At that point, it's snow up to the summit.
The depth of the snow varies from 2'-3' all the way to the top - all of it a hard, rippled snow. There is no trace of a trail to be found, so have GPS ready if you plan to do this hike since it's roughly 2 miles of snow crushing to the top. You'll also encounter bear tracks along the way although I did not spot any black bear on this day's adventure. Most of the climb is gradual until you get to the final 100' climb where you'll need to just find the safest way up to the top. Once at the summit, it's nice and clear of snow since it's been exposed to the sun for some time now. The view was spectacular and all mountains in the area were clearly visible including Mt. Ranier.
On the way down I completed the loop by taking the Herman Creek trail all the way back to the trailhead. Fortunately, going downhill in the snow wasn't too bad since the descent was gradual. After about three quarters of a mile down from the summit at the Wahtum Lake Road junction all snow was gone. The rest of the hike down included rushing creeks and waterfalls from the season's snow melt.
Awesome hike which will give your legs a good workout, especially once you start up the Nick Eaton trail. Would give this hike 5 stars if it wasn't for the condition of the trail from Nick Eaton ridge to the summit. Still, if you have a GPS unit, this is definitely a hike to put on your list.
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