Popular shot of Mount Hood into Mirror Lake that most Portlanders own.
TOM DICK AND HARRY MOUNTAIN |
ELEVATION: 4970 feet (Tom Peak); 5066 feet (Dick Peak); 5027 ft (Harry Mountain), with vertical gains of (700 ft for Mirror Lake alone) 1570 ft for the W-most summit (Tom Peak), 1666 ft for the highest summit (Dick Peak), 1700 ft or so for the counterclockwise loop down ski runs
DISTANCE: 2¼ mi to Mirror Lake, 4½ mi round-trip; 4¼ mi to Tom Peak, 8½ mi round-trip; 4½ mi to Dick Peak, 9 mi round-trip; around 8 mi round-trip counterclockwise loop around Tom Dick and Harry Mountain
DURATION: Less than 1 hour to the lake, 2 hours round-trip; 2 hours to Tom Peak, 4 hours round-trip; 2-plus hours to Dick Peak, 3½–4 hours round-trip; 4–5 hours round-trip loop
DIFFICULTY: Mix of easiest to Mirror Lake (wide, solid trail, gradual, very popular), moderate to the W-most or highest summits (rocky, narrowing, scree), and strenuous loop (longer, trail-finding, wide, steep ski area/roads)
TRIP REPORT: This charming mountain with a strange name and three separate little summits shares half its terrain with Mount Hood Skibowl and lies directly across the highway from Mount Hood and the town of Government Camp. The other half of the terrain is highlighted by Mirror Lake, which lives up to its name, and a mellow hike to the lowest of the three summits along an open ridgeline. Part or all of the latter also makes for a great snowshoe in winter. Both the trail to Mirror Lake and the TH were relocated and finished late in 2018. The new TH is much safer and larger (fifty spots) a few feet off of US-26 at the W end of Mount Hood Skibowl. The old TH will become inaccessible and the old trail will be revegetated. Northwest Forest Pass is required at the primary TH (Sno-Park Pass required in winter and also at Mount Hood Skibowl), and restrooms are present and also at the ski area open mid-June through Labor Day and in winter.
TRAILHEAD: Mirror Lake TH or Mount Hood Skibowl. Take US-26 E from Portland to milepost 52 just W of Mount Hood Skibowl’s sizable parking lot. The town of Government Camp with more facilities is another mile up the road (55 mi, more than 1 hour from Portland).
ROUTE: Begin W of the parking lot and the larger parking lot at Mount Hood Skibowl on Mirror Lake Trail 664 more than 1½ mi WSW to a juncture with the old trail. You will rise up around a half-dozen switchbacks SW through the woods to cross the bridge over Camp Creek, then continue SW then WNW easy up steadily through the beautiful forest with some good-sized trees and rhododendron (blooming in late June) to the juncture. Stay left (S) on Trail 664 at the old trail juncture more than ½ mi up steady switchbacks to Mirror Lake.
Popular shot of Mount Hood into Mirror Lake that most Portlanders own.
Explore the lake on either side, the left (E) continuing over a bridge at first, but the right (W) side is more popular with more options for swimming or sightseeing. The Tom Dick and Harry Mountain Trail takes off from the right as well, toward the end of the lake at a signed juncture. From there, take the quick spur left first only a hundred yards over wooden planks around the end of the lake to the viewpoint for the reflection of Mount Hood into the lake on a clear day. Return the same way or visit one of the summits above to claim you actually hiked!
Continue a mile (WSW) on Trail 664 to the high ridge with a pleasantly graded contour, crossing another scree field after the first ¼ mi. The rock-embedded trail is easy to follow to a gigantic 6-ft tall rock cairn where the trail turns left (ESE) up the wide ridge face. Follow the rocky path without any difficulty ½ mi while falling off the ridge center to the right (S) a bit before you have to make up for it and hike steeper ¼ mi back to a more pronounced ridgeline near the fake summit. The trail turns to scree on the rockier section of ridge where, as a rule of thumb, you can walk straight over, following cairns. Or take the more distinct trail just to the right (S) of the ridgetop less than ¼ mi to the W-most summit (whether it be Tom Peak or Harry Mountain; there are arguments for both depending on what map you have). There’s no argument however that Dick Peak is in the middle and the highest of the triad.
Have a picnic and return the same way to Mirror Lake and the TH as most do or if it’s near winter and the ski area is open or running ski-related operations. If snowshoeing back, you may be tempted to run down the steeps to the right (N) from the popular summit (Tom Peak), but you should wait until you are well out of any potentially avalanche zones and much closer to the lake (for a 200-yard-long section where it is safe) since the W side of the mountain is not maintained or watched by ski patrol.
For the high point and loop, continue SE down the ridge crest from the W-most summit (Tom Peak) as Trail 664 pitters into a user/animal trail. Follow it interestingly or take the brief bailout trail just right around a steeper section of larger rock, back to easier walking on the ridge. You see Mirror Lake and others N over to Mount Hood; to the S are the rolling forested mountains of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness with Mount Jefferson far behind. The final bit through the trees is steeper to Dick Peak almost ½ mi from the W-most summit. Notice the solar-powered seismograph station with a small antenna and a couple rock fire pits on a flatter area that is the top.
From Dick Peak to the last summit ½ mi away, follow the thin user/animal trail and pass the ski area boundary on the counterclockwise tour ESE over the wider easier ridgetop; there are more trees closer to the crest and snow lingering until early summer, but it’s not a nuisance. Walk past a satellite tower with attached green structure then past a small A-frame building up a thin path to the left of the main trail/road to the nearby top of the final bump, another small flat spot, this unassuming peak just above the highest chairlift at Mount Hood Skibowl.
For the descent on the loop, take the wide gravel road, down the signed “Easiest” route right of the ridge, ¼ mi steeply to an alright viewpoint off to the left of the ski area. Stay on the wide ski area road N for better shots of Oregon’s tallest mountain a bit easier. Then go down 2 big switchbacks to a large blue sign that shows the “Base Area.” Move to the left on the thin path just before the third actual switchback. Come down to the clearing above the warming hut and just below the highest chairlift. Follow the gravel road down left a few hundred yards as it curves to the signed Gnar Gnar Trail in the middle of the open ski runs. Follow the Gnar Gnar bike trail toward the lodge as it winds quite a bit, or bushwhack the faint trail straight down less than a mile passing the summer Alpine Slide on your right (and tons of wildflowers including lupine and Indian paintbrush), to the bottom. Ascend briefly to the huge parking lot for Mount Hood Skibowl and walk left (W) to the nearby TH.
