Sandy Glacier Ice cave-Mt. Hood

Aug 15th (Saturday)
Ice caves of Mt Hood’s
Max 12 people. In conjunction with Sierra club.

Strenuous, 12 miles, 3,000 ft elevation gain
Off trail hiking
EXPERIENCED HIKERS ONLY.

Witness the grandeur of an ice cave up close and personal. An ice cave, at some place 50 ft in diameter, exposes itself in summer on Mt. Hood. The headwater of the Sandy. Once past Mc Neil Point, the group heads off trail for another 3 miles to the opening of the cave. Those with helmet, headlamp and courage are welcome to explore this unique treasure of Mt Hood’s Sandy Glacier, traveling up to a half mile inside this ice cave.

Need helmet, two forms of light, and a sense of adventure.
Full day affair. Start at 7:30 AM, return by 8:30 PM, possibly later

This hike is in conjunction with Sierra club. Suggested donation: $2 for Sierra, Trails Club, or Mazama members, $ 4 for non-members--a portion of which goes to offset carbon emissions from drive.

A few details about this hike.

WHAT TO BRING

1. POLES Half of this hike is off trail. That means DIFFICULT TRAVEL! We will be on scree, snow and brush. Hiking poles are essential for stability, safety and secure movement. Please bring them. If you don't have them, I have one extra pair to loan out. Its really important for stability on bouldering and snow crossing.
   2 Climbing or Bike Helmet. The mouth of the ice cave can have rocks fall from the top. Avoid an expensive helicopter flight back home! Must Bring Helmet.
2. Headlamp. (not a flashlight). You are going to want to keep your hands free to hold rocks inside the cave.
3. Warm clothes-its cold inside an ice cave. Bring proper gear (which means of course-no cotton) and gloves! (rubber gloves if you have them)
4. Bring also: gaiters, long pants or zip off pants, lunch, min of 3 liters water, sunglasses (or glacier glasses), sunscreen, snacks, hat, rain gear (pants and jacket) and, if you have them, traction devices for snow crossings (note-traction devices (crampons, yak trax, micro points are not required, good solid steps in the snow work as well if not better).
5. A few dollars ($2-4) for donation to Sierra club-if you so choose, who is covering us for insurance and a portion of which goes to offset carbon spewed into the atmosphere from our vehicles.
6. A few more dollars for splitting gas costs for carpool. Recommended is $0.10/mile split by the number of occupants in the car

A few details about this hike.

1. It is extreme strenuous. The route travels from 3800 ft to 6800 ft in 5 miles-that's steep and arduous. Rated "extreme strenuous" on Claudio's hiking rating scale. It should take us 2.5 hours alone to get to the McNeil Point (3 miles, 2600 ft gain)

2. It's off trail. There is a lot of bouldering, scree, bushes and trees to go through. Going is slow. This 12 mile hike is for the adventurous AND experienced off trail hiker.

3. It's a long day-starting from 7:30 am, probably wont get back to Portland till at least 7:30 - possibly later. (be sure to bring headlamp just in case)

4. If you haven't answered the questions I asked when you RSVPed, please do so now. If left blank, I will have to assume that you don't have much off trail or hiking experience.

There are 20 signed up and 1 on the waiting list. The limit for hiking in the Mt. Hood wilderness area is 12. There are however, a couple of other meetup leaders on this hike, so we plan to split the group in two if we need to. However, first a few caveats:

WARNING
If you don't feel you are strenuous hiker with experience ascending at a rate of at least a thousand feet per hour on rough or non existent trail, this hike is unfortunately not for you and best to change your RSVP to "no". This is a fairly difficult trip (even by my standards), and you, and your adventurous comrades will appreciate it if we all have relatively similar pace and off trail skills. Those who don't think they're up to this challenge have the time now to find an alternative hike, now that I have better communicated the challenges to this hike.

THIS IS AN EXPLORATORY HIKE-That means that there could be unforeseen circumstances, such as the leader(s) getting lost, the cave has moved (it moves every year and is never in the same place), the route may have changed, moraine has become too dangerous or difficult to travel. If you are not comfortable with a worse case scenario of not getting back till dark because someone hurt themselves-please change RSVP to no. There are more risks involved in this type of back country expedition, and want you to be aware of them and that this is definitely not an easy "walk in the woods"

UNCOMFORTABLE? If you get to a place where you don't feel comfortable continuing on (there is one rather arduous climb down into the moraine-and a snow field with a nasty run-out), don't continue! I don't want you to feel pressured to continue either. Let me know and well put together a plan to get you safely back to a safe spot, where you can enjoy the view of the mountainside for a few hours till the rest come back.

This is an awesome hike and an incredible cave. But, I want to avoid surprises and disappointment for any of us. Thanks for your understanding.

David