August 13 to August 14, 2011 Kyle Meyer 8 miles 1,750 feet gained 1 night
Another wonderful trip into Opal Creek. Hiked four easy miles, jumped off cliffs into pristine pools of water, caught eleven fish including a monster 3lb brook trout, slept in a hammock under the stars. Go there before it's fall.
August 13 to August 14, 2011 Michael 12 miles 2,500 feet gained 1 night
Beautiful hike along Cady Ridge to a saddle near Wards Pass with views of Glacier Peak and Poet's Ridge. Steep snow patches on the PCT and Dishpan Gap turned the initial plan for a loop into an out-and-back overnight. The high meadows along the ridge were outstanding; wildflowers are in bloom!
August 13, 2011 Christophe Deppe 10 miles 2,750 feet gained
August 13 to August 14, 2011 Sirhikesalot1 15.5 miles 1,500 feet gained 1 night
Met up with friends Saturday morning at the company ranch. The 6 of us, 3 dads and our 3 boys headed in to Green Lakes.. Awesome!! A few snow drifts lingering, but for the most part the trail is clear. Had great weather and enjoyed the full moon. Did a few short explorations from camp including one around the lake. To get back to camp we waded accross the st...
August 13, 2011 Eric Peterson 32 miles 6,500 feet gained
I was 10 minutes early arriving at 4:50 am, extra day hike bonus points for me. I think we started hiking at about 5:25 or so through the Eagle Creek Campground with headlamps waking up dogs and tent campers, although with the trains and freeway I don't know how anything could sleep there anyway. Mayhem and I went up Ruckel Ridge in 2 hours 45 minutes, slow ...
August 12, 2011 Bruce 5 miles 250 feet gained
August 12 to August 14, 2011 Roman 26 miles 4,500 feet gained 2 nights
My second backpacking trip ever in the Gorge. Spent the first night just after 7.5-mile camp, then the second night at Dublin Lake. Skipped Tanner summit because it was very foggy and no views anyway. There were red and black huckleberries, thimbleberries, and salmonberries at various places. Almost no views since got fogged in on the second day of the trip....
August 12, 2011 Sirhikesalot1 3 miles 0 feet gained
I was in Bend for a few days on business, waiting for friends to meet up with, we are going into Green Lakes in the morning. I did Tumalo Falls last night with a friend, but he had went back home, so I was bored... Found a little piece of BLM just outside of town and went for a quick hike. I wanted to make it back to Pilot Butte for the sunset so I had to ma...
August 12, 2011 Stacey 17 miles 4,750 feet gained
A few weeks back we were lucky enough to score permits both the Half Dome permit area and a campsite in Yosemite Valley. Since both of these are rare finds in August, there was no way I was going to say no, despite the mild cold I had gotten a few days before. We started from Upper Pines shortly before 6:30am, taking the John Muir trail to above Nevada Falls...
August 10, 2011 Bruce 8 miles 1,500 feet gained
August 9 to August 12, 2011 Jen 20 miles 5,000 feet gained 3 nights
A friend had a permit for 3 nights at Colchuck and invited me to join. It's a long drive, almost 5 hours, but worth it for this gorgeous alpine area. On the second day we went up Aasgard Pass to the Enchantment Lakes Basin. Since we only had day packs, it wasn't too difficult, we saw lots of goats, some gorgeous flowers, one fat marmot, a ptarmigan, and of c...
August 7, 2011 Jack K. 5.5 miles 1,500 feet gained
August 7 to August 9, 2011 Josh Mayer 42 miles 0 feet gained 2 nights
pics now on flickr: pieterpan The Timberline Trail is another rough one. Now up to about 42 miles due to going around the Eliot washout, which adds about a mile heading up soft soil to the glacier, crossing it, then descending similar material. Don't even try the old trail where it is closed. It drops off a tall cliff after you burrow through very overgrown,...
August 7, 2011 jon 12.5 miles 3,750 feet gained
An almost-summit. A couple of friends and I set out from the Green Lakes TH around 5:30am on what turned out to be a gorgeous day in Central Oregon. The first 4.5 miles were relatively flat as we made our way up Fall Creek, then turning East at the lakes toward an unofficial climber's trail (unofficial in the sense that it wasn't on my Geo-Graphics map) that...
August 7, 2011 Roman 10.5 miles 1,250 feet gained
Today was Ape Canyon and Plains of Abraham. There's a large marmot colony just after you pass a narrow spot in the headwaters of Ape canyon. Plains of Abraham still look deserted, but there are some good "islands" of flowers. I guess in 10-15 years the Plains will be a lush alpine meadow. Below the Plains, the trail goes on a ridge through sections of huge o...
August 7, 2011 Stacey 10.5 miles 1,000 feet gained
Perfect day for a day hike in the central California Sierras. This hike was an out and back, starting at the Potter Pass Trailhead (8400' elevation) along the road to Kaiser Pass. I figured it would be a good hike to get in some acclimitizing, while breaking in a new set of boots before hiking in Yosemite later this week. Lots of late season wildflowers (lup...
August 7, 2011 Stephanie McCloud 2.5 miles 0 feet gained
Our first walk in the desert, and on our 1st anniversary. This was a nice way to experience a very unfamiliar landscape as the trail was short and we were in the presence of 700 year old petroglyphs. Really fascinating.
August 6 to August 8, 2011 Joe Omundson 33 miles 6,500 feet gained 2 nights
August 6, 2011 Jack K. 11 miles 2,000 feet gained
August 6, 2011 Water (Matt) 12 miles 6,750 feet gained
Went for Adams with good weather this time, single day deal. Bucket was pretty enthusiastic having felt great carrying up to a sub-LC camp a few weeks ago in lousy weather. We left the TH around 6am and were towards the tail end of the conga line. Glissaded from summit to plateau, and from pikers down to LC. Did a nice standing ski/glissade off the crescent ...
August 6 to August 7, 2011 Jen 10 miles 1,750 feet gained 1 night
I was in Agness for a wedding. We had some free time before the ceremony, so we headed out early to beat the heat. The first part of the hike is in oak forest, then some big firs before you hit the burn area ( from the 2002 Biscuit fire). My son hiked part of the way- 3 miles and 900 ft gain to Buzzard's Roost, then turned back with a friend. Three of us wen...
August 6, 2011 Roman 9.5 miles 2,750 feet gained
Hiked to McNeil Point via official trail and a little above (got too little time before dark to summit McNeil Spur), then down the short&steep shortcut trail. Still snow in the trees but most is gone from a couple of weeks ago. Flowers at McNeil are amazing.
August 6, 2011 Sirhikesalot1 6 miles 1,500 feet gained
Crazy off trail adventure... We left the house at 4pm, bombed up to the 550 trailhead by 6pm. Took the 550 to the Pansy Lake cutoff trail and bailed over the edge. We thought for sure we would cut some kind of trail getting to this lake, but not so... It was so steep there were times I could hear the buckles on my pack rubbing rocks behind me.Spent about 15 ...
August 6, 2011 Christophe Deppe 9 miles 2,750 feet gained
August 5, 2011 Jack K. 5.5 miles 1,000 feet gained
August 5 to August 14, 2011 Chris 132 miles 27,500 feet gained 9 nights
The High Sierras, especially the southeastern Sierras, are really something special. Maybe I'm overselling, but mile-for-mile, I know of no more interesting and beautiful terrain in the lower 48. The pictures do not capture the magnitude of the landscape. You must go for yourself. Day 0 - 6 hours driving I had been planning this trip for months, and finally,...
August 5, 2011 Eric Peterson 14 miles 5,250 feet gained
Got to the Yeon State Park TH around 9 am. Hiked up a mile and half and realized I left my cell phone plugged into the car charger in plain site so I had to hoof it back down and get it out. Guess I was trying to do a epic hill repeat hike! Glad it was only about 1200' of gain to redo. Just did a normal hiker hike today and kept the gain under 10k'. Was gett...
August 5, 2011 Roman 2 miles 500 feet gained
Were late to concerto @ Rose Garden, and had to park a mile away, but the hike on Wildwood trail (and a couple of adjacent trails) was nice.
August 5, 2011 Roman 5.5 miles 2,000 feet gained
Was going to boycott this Discover (pass) thing, but Hamilton Mtn is my family's favorite so it was not an option. Anyways, after driving to Stevenson and getting the pass for about $36, we hiked an almost deserted but beautiful trail to the summit. There were 4 cars besides ours in the beginning, and one car besides ours (featuring a ticket) in the end. The...
August 5, 2011 Bosterson 25 miles 5,500 feet gained
Started at Eagle Creek TH and went up Ruckel Ridge to the Benson Plateau, then across Benson Way to the PCT and on to Wahtum Lake. We sidetracked to tag Chinidere and spent some time eating and napping in the sun. Then down the Wahtum cutoff to the lake, and finally a 13 mile slog down Eagle Creek and back to the car.
August 4 to August 7, 2011 Julia 20 miles 6,000 feet gained 3 nights
August 3 to August 4, 2011 Josh Mayer 33 miles 0 feet gained 1 night
pics now on flickr: pieterpan Started from June Lake (pond) headed for the Loowit Trail, which encirlces Mt. St. Helens. Climbed over the Worm Flows heading west. This was slow. After crossing Monitor Ridge climbing route the trail exits the forest. From here until the Restricted Area there were a lot of steep snowbanks to cross. When the trail leveled out I...
August 2, 2011 Jen 4.5 miles 750 feet gained
Nice morning hike to stretch the legs a bit. Flowers are on the wane, but great views today!
August 2, 2011 Shane 7 miles 1,750 feet gained
The snow is gone. The water is cool, but eminently swimmable! The views, amazing!
August 2, 2011 Bosterson 10 miles 3,250 feet gained
Scrambly ridge fun. Loop down Horsetrail Cr./Oneonta trails. The Rock Arch is so quick to get to (~ 1/2 mi) that you could easily run up there to catch the sunset after doing another Gorge hike.
August 2, 2011 Michael 8 miles 2,750 feet gained
Afternoon hike and easy scramble to Kendall Peak under blue skies (and much better weather than our original Sunday plan). Great views (looking away from I-90) towards Red Mountain, Mt Thomson, and Snoqualmie Mountain.
August 1 to August 3, 2011 Julia 8 miles 250 feet gained 2 nights
August 1, 2011 Anne S. 14.5 miles 2,000 feet gained
Started off at Johnston Ridge Observatory early, undecided as to whether I'd try for Loowit Falls or Coldwater Peak. Had initially intended to scope out Mt Margaret snow levels for next week's hike, but have been wanting to head out to the base of the crater for some time. the hike along the blast zone was phenomenal, had actually never done that one before,...
July 31 to August 1, 2011 Julia 4 miles 0 feet gained 1 night
July 31, 2011 Joe Omundson 7 miles 1,250 feet gained
July 31 to August 1, 2011 Kyle Meyer 11.5 miles 3,500 feet gained 1 night
My wife Christy's sister was in town from Florida and was getting the whirlwind tour of everything Portland had to offer for a week. My portion of that tour was picking a perfectly representative location to backpack. I decided we'd head up to McNeil Point and stay in the shelter up there. At the trailhead when asking about conditions, a lady told me the she...
July 31, 2011 Josh Mayer 1 miles 0 feet gained
Fantastic falls cutting through volcanic rock. Cute viewing platform.
July 31, 2011 Josh Mayer 1 miles 0 feet gained
Whitehorse Falls is 272 feet, fourth highest in Oregon. Amazing! Looks a bit like Multnomah, but all one freefall. Lots of vegetation I have not seen elsewhere.
July 31, 2011 Josh Mayer 1.5 miles 0 feet gained
Fun hike. Leads to the watchman tower overlooking Crater Lake. Short, but much of the trail is still under snow, creating a steep, somewhat slushy bank you cut steps into. Great panoramic shots. If it wasn't a little hazy, could have seen to Mt. Shasta, but we saw to the Kalamath Basin.
July 30, 2011 Jack K. 11.5 miles 5,000 feet gained
One to cross off the list-not particularly one to enjoy.
July 30, 2011 Sirhikesalot1 3 miles 500 feet gained
My youngest son missed out on the spelunking last weekend, so we went back again today to do the upper portion of the caves. It was a balmy 40 degrees underground and 85 outside..
July 30 to July 31, 2011 Water (Matt) 15.5 miles 2,500 feet gained 1 night
My pops is able to tack on a weekend or so in Portland every few months when he has to fly to Oakland, CA for business. He knows we're (or me at least) are hiking addicts, especially at this point in the year, so, we take him out for the best we know of, when the weather is right for adventure. Large Marge BC captivated us to no end last year. Even on a fogg...
July 30, 2011 Josh Mayer 2.5 miles 0 feet gained
Newly built trail off Pinnacles Road, which is a spur off of the Rim Road at Crater Lake. Very level hike to a beautiful falls and cascades. My aunt thought it looked like a small Ramona Falls. Listed this as 2.5 miles, even though 2.2 because Cleetwood Cove was also 2.2, so the extra 0.4 has to get in somehow.
July 30, 2011 Josh Mayer 2 miles 0 feet gained
This is the trail that leads to the shore of Crater Lake. Lots of people leaping into the lake from the cliff. Lake was beautiful, as usual.
