It might be the most Zen spot on Mount Hood. This is the western sibling of twin tarns located high on the shoulder of Cathedral Ridge, just below McNeil Point. The Timberline Trail travels between the pair (along the far shore in this view) making these a familiar highlight for thousands of hikers each year.
This early September scene captures an early dusting of snow on the mountain after the arrival of the first wave of cool, fall weather. Over the course of summer, the tarns shrink dramatically from their springtime high-water mark, with seasonal grasses quickly carpeting the expanding shorelines.
These tiny lakes fill hollows made by a long-vanished ice-age glacier that once filled this alpine basin. The patch of snow near the top of the distant ridge marks were the glacier once originated, and the cliffs on the left and mark the valley it carved.
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Image Description: A fresh dusting of snow covers the rugged, pyramid-shaped summit of Mount Hood in this view from the famous Timberline Trail. A brilliant blue sky is accented by thin wisps of swirling, white clouds. The mountain is peeking over a high, rocky ridge towering over a still mountain pond that mirrors the surrounding green meadows and alpine forests.
Photo © WyEast Images (2026)
WyEast Images 
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