FULL HIKE Mount Hood Wilderness to Lower & Upper Twin Lakes! | Pacific Crest Trail | Oregon | 4K

Here are the Chapters & Timestamps:

0:00 Hiking by Mossy Trees in Mount Hood Wilderness
0:20 How Blue Diamond Tree Markers Work in Snowy Winter
1:01 La Nina Impact on Delaying the Annual Snowfall & Elevation Data
1:54 Biodiversity Ecological Footprint Differences Between Mount Bachelor vs. Mount Hood
4:21 Misty Fog Enveloping the Forest as we Hike
4:37 Just Turned Right at Trail Junction and Full Super Loop Hike Itinerary
5:04 Arriving at Lower Twin Lake
6:25 Checking out the Backcountry Campsites around Lower Twin Lake, particularly 2 on the North Shoreline and 1 on the West Shoreline
8:45 Circumnavigating Lower Twin Lake by hiking optional add-on 1-Mile Shoreline Loop
11:39 Final Look at Gorgeous Foggy Lower Twin Lake
12:00 Ascending the Forest to Upper Twin Lake & Arriving at Upper Twin Lake with a sheet of ice forming on its surface

On December 3, 2021, I went to Frog Lake Sno-Park, aka the Pacific Crest Trailhead to Lower & Upper Twin Lakes traversing gorgeous Mount Hood Wilderness. I was expecting some snow given that it was Winter and had even brought several kits with me aka snowshoes to decide the right traction control based on the conditions, but much to my surprise there was no snow whatsoever on the Trail. The cyclical weather phenomenon known as La Nina had delayed the start of the annual snow deluge by about 3 weeks, even causing one of the latest opening delays of the nearby Ski Lodges in history.

I was the only one on the Trail and in the entire wider Forest area for my entire hike down to Lower Twin Lake and up to Upper Twin Lake. I checked out the Backcountry Campsites around the Lake and added the optional 1-Mile Shoreline Loop around Lower Twin Lake. After hiking up to Upper Twin Lake I continued past it to reconnect with the Pacific Crest Trail and return back to trailhead by completing the Loop.

The entire Hike is approximately 7.2 Miles, 950 FT Elevation Gain through Classic Old Growth Forest, with a 1-Mile additional add-on option of circumnavigating Lower Twin Lake (I highly recommend!) for a total of 8.2 Miles. It was in the Low 20's temperature wise and thick, dense fog rolled in at Lower Twin Lake.