25. West Gumjuwac – Gunsight Butte
2024 Status
The hike description below is based on my last visit in 1993. I plan to field check in 2024, and will update the hike description, photos and map later in 2024.
Summary
Length 2 ½ miles one way to Gumjuwac Saddle; 4 miles to Gunsight Butte
Difficulty Moderate to difficult
Season Summer to early autumn
Elevation range 3,550 – 5,220 feet (5900 feet at Gunsight Butte)
Human imprint Moderate (Highway 35 below)
Information Mount Hood National Forest (Hood River Ranger District)
Primary old growth features
Diverse mixed-conifer old growth across an eastside elevational gradient.
Description
The Gumjuwac Trail (480) ascends from Highway 35 through a variety of old conifers topping out at Gumjuwac Saddle, where the trail intersects the Bennett Pass Road (FR 3550), the Divide Trail (458), and the Gunsight Butte Trail (685). A wooden sign at the saddle explains that ‘Gumjuwac’ derives from Gumshoe Jack, a French-Canadian sheepherder who always wore gum shoes.
From the parking area, the trail begins a series of switchbacks through Douglas-fir dominated, mixed-conifer old growth for the first 1 ½ miles. Grand fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, white pine and occasional ponderosa pine are some of the notable associates. Noble fir, Pacific silver fir and scattered western larch become more prominent with increasing elevation, and there is a beautiful noble fir stand on a north-facing headwall near the saddle. There is also a rock outcrop about 1 ¾ miles up with a spectacular cross-valley view of Mt. Hood.
There are several options from the saddle. A natural add-on is to take the Gunsight Butte Trail to the southwest for almost 1 ½ miles to the top of Gunsight Butte. Views to the west highlight Mt. Hood and the Bluegrass Ridge Fire (2006). The trail also passes through the Gumjuwac Saddle Fire, which burned at the same time as the Bluegrass Ridge Fire.
Hikers can also extend their adventure by following the Upper Badger Loop (described as Hike 24), or by hiking north on the Divide Trail to panoramic Lookout Mountain, the second highest peak in the Mt. Hood National Forest.
30 Years of Change
The main changes are views of the Bluegrass Ridge Fire (2006) across the valley to the west, and the Gumjuwac Saddle Fire (2006) that burned across a small segment of the Gunsight Butte Trail. I plan to field check in 2024.
How to get there
Turn east into a trailhead parking spur off of Highway 35, approximately 27 ½ miles south of Hood River, just south of Robinhood Campground (10 ½ miles north of Highway 26/Highway 35 junction.)
Map note
The map below was created in 1993 and accurate at that time. I plan to field check and update the map in 2024.
