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December 31, 2020 15.8 miles 1,250 feet gained
I wanted to get out and see the place I have been going since I was an infant, while there was still some hope of social distancing. Really full waterfalls, lots of slippery spots and much greener than I expected. Until they get the railings replaced on the exit that were taken out by a landslide, you have to park at the Tooth Rock trailhead and hike 1.7 mil...
December 24, 2020 8.6 miles 1,500 feet gained
We had a great day up on Larch. The road was a bit icy the last mile. We parked at the snow gate and went up the road to the connector trail that hooks up with the Multnomah Creek trail to the top. Quiet, not much snow, just enough to be pretty. We also ran into Nat who used to post here. Always fun to put a face with the name. Nice and warm and sunny on top...
December 17, 2020 9.6 miles 2,000 feet gained
I did my annual hike up to the Multnomah Basin via Wahkeena this year. Hardly anyone the whole day except at the very end, coming back down. Great day.
November 26, 2020 9 miles 1,500 feet gained
Great day doing a stroll along the Salmon. A bit crowded late in the day, but fortunately there are good places to step off the trail.
November 25, 2020 7 miles 1,000 feet gained
The road in has apparently become much worse lately. Like everyone else I was surprised at how much larger and more magnificent the falls were in person. Pictures always made it seem like a regular sized waterfall. We are so spoiled here. We headed up to the top, had a nice view of the falls from above and saw some larches that were at the perfect phase of g...
October 30, 2020 5.6 miles 750 feet gained
Took a short Halloween costume hike with friends. We went early to avoid crowds and came back down the old road along the creek into Cascade Locks. We only saw two groups on that section and they were both lost. The fall colors were pretty nice for this area and it was beautiful.
October 29, 2020 9 miles 2,250 feet gained
Revisited a short offtrail I had previously done. I took the Newton Creek trail up to Timberline and then went up the ridge crest between Newton and Clark Creeks. Fabulous views and lots of waterfalls in the canyons below. Wonderful day!!
October 25, 2020 12.3 miles 2,000 feet gained
Great day up at Mt St Helens. A perfect dusting of snow as we approached Helens Lake and it wasn't yet icy on any steep pitches. I even saw a very distant snow capped peak to the north and east of Adams, that I had never seen before. Amazing day!
October 6, 2020 7.2 miles 2,000 feet gained
It's been a month since I could hike so I decided on a shorter route to the Timberline area that I had never explored. The White River winter snowshoe trail was great, offering fairly continuous views of the mountain and views of the river. In a very short time I reached the junction with the Timberline trail and headed up to familiar ground. Up here the sto...
September 2, 2020 14.5 miles 3,000 feet gained
When you think of high mountain hiking it evokes a certain picture that you We camped at Takhlakh Lakethink of as "it". This part of Mt Adams is definitely "it". We camped at Takhlakh Lake and did a stroll around the surrounding lake and meadows which was actually really nice. At one point we went over a lava flow and got a great north view of the mountains....
August 26, 2020 14 miles 2,250 feet gained
Marvelous plan B. We were going to hike into the lakes via Thomas Lake TH but one of our vehicles vetoed that idea due to the washout. Instead Susan quickly came up with the idea of starting at the Falls Creek Horse Camp TH which was close by. There are some nice offtrail and abandoned trail options in that area, but we stuck to the main trail to Indian Race...
August 17, 2020 13.8 miles 3,750 feet gained
A fantastic day up on the mountain! I had thought about redoing my Mississippi Head traverse over to the lodge. But heat and scree got the better of us. So instead we spent some more time in the meadows around Paradise Park and got to spend more time with the alpine blooms. After scrambling around all day we were so dusty and grimy that people kept asking us...
August 8 to August 10, 2020 17 miles 2,250 feet gained 2 nights
A friend got a permit for the Obsidian Trail for Sunday Monday. We headed down Saturday to camp in the area and explore the local lakes. Benson Lake was way to crowded, but Hand Lake was just right. So we looped the lake using the old wagon trail through the Lava bed to loop. The next morning headed up the Obsidian. The flowers were amazing and the bugs were...
August 3, 2020 12 miles 1,750 feet gained
Wonderful day in Jefferson Park via the Whitewater Trail. No too many bugs and the Lupines were in full perfume mode.
July 19 to July 20, 2020 6.2 miles 1,500 feet gained 1 night
Did some front country camping with friends at Cloud Cap Saddle campground. Beautiful trip. Both of my friends had recent injuries so we kept it pretty short. The penstemon is prolific but is starting to dry up with the hot spell. Dwarf lupine and sulpher flower are both looking good.We stayed up late to watch the comet and star show. The next day we took a ...
July 13, 2020 11.5 miles 3,250 feet gained
Fantastic day up to the ridge top above McNeil Point. I got an early start to avoid people. The heather is full on. The dwarf alpine pants are blooming. No significant bug action, great beargrasss bloom and the flowers are still peak around Bald Mountain.
July 6, 2020 11.4 miles 3,000 feet gained
I hiked the PCT from Barlow Pass up towards Timberline and the wandered uphill to about 7200'. The bloom above Timberline is amazing right now. The Beargrass is great and everything else is just getting going. Wonderful day.
June 25, 2020 10.5 miles 3,000 feet gained
Great day, great company, peak rhodie bloom, magical green forest and eleven snowcapped peaks visible from the top. The trail is getting overgrown and there was a good bit of blowdown, but totally worth it.
June 22, 2020 7.8 miles 1,750 feet gained
Great day out with a fun group. We headed up to Coffin Mountain. It doesn't look like a peak beargrass year, but I saw lots of other amazing flowers in the meadows and the view was amazing. The tower wasn't staffed yet, but probably will be soon. Then we headed over to Triangulation Peak and down to Boca Cave which frames Jefferson perfectly. The snowy peaks...
June 21, 2020 3.5 miles 250 feet gained
Just a fun day exploring the creeklets that feed into Bridal Veil Creek.
June 18, 2020 7.2 miles 750 feet gained
I was scouting a fieldtrip and took a short jaunt down the road from Rooster Rock and then drove up to the closed winter gate on Larch Mountain road and hiked a ways down Palmer Mill road which is the road that heads Northish toward the river and eventually eastish to Multnomah Basin. It was amazingly lovely. 100's of shades of green and 5 or 6 springs and c...
June 17, 2020 11.4 miles 3,750 feet gained
Went up the Benson Plateau from Herman Creek TH up to the junction with Benson Way. The beargrass on the way up was at full bloom.
June 3, 2020 15 miles 1,500 feet gained
We started at Clinger Camprgound and had a great day walking along the ridgeline and climbing a few buttes. The 44 Trails Association has done some great maintenance work up there as well as having added some options and done some rerouting.There are new signs, but it's still confusing in a few places. Caltopo has most but not all of the new updates if you v...
May 24, 2020 10.3 miles 2,000 feet gained
This one had been on my list for far to long. Beautiful day in wonderful late spring forest. Anemones, trillium and glacier lillies, even a little paintbrush and the biggest log of petrified wood I've ever seen. We started from the north and headed south to Three Corner Rock, then back to the PCT and headed south until our turnaround time. Considering it was...
May 10, 2020 9.5 miles 2,500 feet gained
Did some creative wandering using old abandoned roads and powerlines for a wonderful day.
May 8, 2020 1 miles 250 feet gained
Glorious day. With a nice east wind everything was green hued flickering light and shadows. I saw an owl right next to the trail and a very large tree up hill snap off in the wind.
May 8, 2020 10.2 miles 250 feet gained
April 13, 2020 11.3 miles 1,000 feet gained
I picked a local hike in a quieter section of Forest Park, masked up and went for it early in the day.
March 20, 2020 15.4 miles 2,750 feet gained
Great day out on Herman Creek Trail to the river crossing beyond Cedar Swamp. There was still a bit of slushy snow up at Cedar swamp, but it was beautiful as always.
March 16, 2020 11 miles 2,000 feet gained
Practiced a little social distancing out near Catherine Creek. Lovely day with snow, flowers and even one of those snow pinwheels, that usually show up on mountains during avalanche season.
March 9, 2020 10 miles 1,500 feet gained
Amazing day out exploring Horsethief Butte and the over to the Crawford Oaks TH and up to the ranch. The flowers are just barely starting, but the quiet and the views were magnificent.
March 1, 2020 13.5 miles 1,750 feet gained
Waterfalls everywhere! Heading up Siouxon creek we took a side trip to Chinook Falls, scrambling down to the base of lots of falls. Then we headed back up Siouxon for views of Middle and Upper Siouxon Falls. Lots of weeping walls and even a rainbow in the spray. Turned around at the crossing near Calamity Creek. Totally amazing day.
February 27, 2020 11 miles 3,000 feet gained
Great day in the gorge. The trilliums are blooming near the trailhead. Looks like there is still a lot of snow over in the Silver Star area. Snow was visible near the top of Table area.
February 18, 2020 9 miles 1,250 feet gained
Beautiful clear day walking up to the Clear Lake Lookout. The road in was well consolidated by ATV's and the couple staying in the tower let us up for a quick look at the view. Afterwards we did a short add on down to Clear Lake which was drained and fairly empty. Astonishing! Awesome day.
February 12, 2020 10 miles 1,500 feet gained
Glorious day in the snow. We started at the Frog Lake side and went up past the lakes. Trail # 482 from Upper Twin was untracked so we went up trail #495 from the north of the lake and took a short connector over to a more heavily traveled section of the #482 and from there up to Palmateer. Had lunch and birthday cake up at the top and basked in the warmth a...
February 10, 2020 8.3 miles 1,750 feet gained
Grass widows are sparsely blooming down low and south of the road I saw one Columbia Desert Parsley blooming. Such a great area.
February 3, 2020 5.6 miles 1,500 feet gained
Great day just doing the Multnomah Wahkeena Loop. Super quiet up there today.
January 25, 2020 10.6 miles 2,000 feet gained
Lots of clearcuts, but beautiful creeks and moss. There are some super nice sections of the trail with creeks and mossy trees. No rain and a nice view of distant snowy peaks.
January 9, 2020 14.2 miles 250 feet gained
Sunshine to the east and great rock formations!
January 4, 2020 6.1 miles 0 feet gained
Just a double report because the last one goofed up my mileage and wouldn't let me edit or delete
January 4, 2020 1 miles 1,500 feet gained
Did a one way from the Herman Creek TH to Bridge of the Gods with a friend. I've been trying to do easier hikes to rebuild my strength after a couple months of being sick. This was perfect! Water flow is good in the falls right now and you could see snow up on the Benson Plateau. Looked like it started at maybe 2500 -3000'. Great day.
January 3, 2020 10.4 miles 1,250 feet gained
The forest was pretending to be a summer day today. Except for the very full stream crossings as I got further up. Water, moss, blue sky, warm breeze. Just what I needed to start the year.
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