The highest hiking trail on Mt. Hood switchbacks up Cooper Spur’s cindery shoulder to Tie-In Rock, where mountain climbers traditionally rope up.  From this vertiginous perch, peaks from Mt. Rainier to the Three Sisters dot the horizon. The massive Eliot Glacier writhes below, a splintered river of ice.  And if the thought of a 2800-foot ascent leaves you winded, Cooper Spur has a much easier hiking option: a 3-mile loop to a historic stone shelter at timberline.

Drive Highway . . .

This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes: Northwest Oregon