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I visited this spot again last summer, twenty-two years after I took this photo. It was among my first with a digital SLR – back when that was still a novelty! This old Whitebark pine still survives here, in one of the harshest environments Mount Hood has to offer. 

Gnarl Ridge is located high on the mountain’s southeast shoulder, where the ancient grove of Whitebarks gives the ridge its name. The trees here suffer the dual-punishment of howling winds and bitter cold from winter storms, followed by hot, dry summers, thanks to their southern exposure and the rain shadow effect on the east slopes of the mountain. 

Whitebark pine have faced die-offs in recent decades, threatening this keystone species across the west. There’s more about the challenges these trees face in this 2013 blog article.

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Image Description: An ancient Whitebark pine grows in the gray, volcanic sand and cinders on Mount Hood’s Gnarl Ridge. Its massive, contorted trunk lies low to the ground, bent by the extreme winters and bleached by hot summers on this high, exposed ridge. Old survivors like these give the ridge its name. Overhead, saucer-shaped lenticular clouds are forming over the Cascade crest, marking the approach of another Pacific storm from the west. On the far horizon, the rain shadow effect of the Cascade mountains can be seen in the golds, yellows and tans of desert country.

Photo © WyEast Images (2026)