My sister, Cindy Morical, and her partner, Tony Barnes, are planning a climb of Mt. St. Helens later this summer, and they are trying to work in training hikes whenever and wherever possible.

They traveled to Central Oregon earlier this month from their home in Vancouver, Washington, and Cindy suggested a hike of Tumalo Mountain. While the relatively short hike would not necessarily prepare them for the long trek to the summit of a major Cascade peak, it would help them get ready for some steep sections.

Tumalo Mountain is perhaps more known to Central Oregon locals as a wintertime destination, where they can hike to the summit then ski or snowboard down the prominent northeast bowl of the 7,779-foot peak.

Because of that, I have often discounted Tumalo as a summertime hiking spot.

But at about 2 miles, it is a short trail to the summit, and its location in the Cascade Range west of Bend offers a pretty easy route to some of the best views in the Central Oregon Cascades. The Tumalo hike also does not require a Central Cascades Wilderness permit, so spur-of-the-moment trips are possible.

The trail is steep in certain locations, but the 4-plus mile round trip can be completed in about two hours or less.

We made the half-hour drive to Dutchman Flat Sno-park, just across Century Drive from Mount Bachelor, and noticed the parking lot was starting to fill up on a summer Saturday morning, as Tumalo is no secret. The climb begins in thick forest, and we could hear cars along Century Drive as we made our way up above the tree line.

Once above the trees some, we could see Mount Bachelor as it came into view to the south just across the highway.

We encountered just a few other hikers making their way back down the trail, which increased in steepness as we approached the summit about an hour into the trek.

When we crested the final ridge, we were treated to the dramatic alpine scenery of the Three Sisters and Broken Top.

A trail cut along the summit near lingering snow, and we walked along it, identifying the peaks and also looking east toward Bend, Redmond and Smith Rock State Park. A few other hikers lingered on the summit, enjoying the view and the relative lack of crowds.

After exploring the summit for about a half-hour, we made our way back down, running here and there on the less technical spots along the trail. The path is pretty smooth for the most part, but hikers must negotiate rocks and roots on a few sections.

The descent took about 45 minutes, and by the time we reached the sno-park, we were tired but not completely exhausted. The stats on my Garmin watch noted that we hiked 4.5 miles in just over two hours, with 1,660 feet of elevation gain.

While Tumalo Mountain is a backcountry gem in the winter, it also makes for a relatively easy half-day hike in the middle of summer — and the alpine vistas are tough to beat atop Tumalo.

Cindy and Tony will need to tackle more challenging hikes to adequately prepare for Mount St. Helens, but Tumalo Mountain was a good start, and they certainly enjoyed the views.