Old-Timer Returns

Mountaineering

Charles Loveland was 12 when he first ascended Oregon’s highest peak. That was in 1919. Forty-two ascents later, Loveland says that when he’s on top of Mount Hood, he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Now 90, the mostly blind climber tried to capture that sensation one more time recently. But soft snow up to his knees forced him to turn around at Devil’s Kitchen, about 1,000 feet from the summit.

It was, he said, the “most miserable, difficult yet pleasant” climb of his long life.

Loveland last climbed Mount Hood 27 years ago. He’s climbed almost every peak in the Cascade Range, except Three-Fingered Jack and Mount Washington, which he regards as dangerous.