Honestly, I found a way to shave 2 days off the Timberline Trail loop by skipping the official river crossing

3 comments

3 Comments

And honestly, skipping that crossing messes with the whole point of the loop for me (which is the full circle, you know?). Cutting that corner means you're not really doing the Timberline Trail anymore, you're making your own shortcut hike. It sets a weird example for new people who might not get why those crossings are part of the route in the first place, like for safety or to protect the area around the actual ford. Saving two days is cool, but it feels like you're just racing to finish instead of being out there.

jenny_hall22d ago

Totally get what @young.kim is saying. It's like when people skip the hard parts in anything just to say they did it. You see it with recipes where they swap out every ingredient, or building furniture without following the steps. The point gets lost. Choosing the easy way around a real trail problem changes what the hike even is. It becomes more about checking a box than having the real experience, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of being out there.

hart.sage24d ago

Yeah, I get that. Last year I hit a washed out bridge section on a different loop and had the same choice. I ended up wading across because the reroute felt like cheating the route. It was sketchy and cold, but finishing the actual loop felt way more real. That moment of dealing with the tough spot became the story. Skipping it would have just been a walk in the woods.