Jim

November 27, 2015 7 miles 1,500 feet gained

Took Henry, my 5 month old German shorthair pup, out for his maiden hike. 'Twas great fun.

September 9 to September 11, 2015 16 miles 2,500 feet gained 2 nights

"Central Oregon" wilderness exploring -- mostly off trail. Very hot. Small lakes. Bull elk annoyed with my choice of tent sites.

August 31, 2015 13.5 miles 3,500 feet gained

August 29, 2015 8.5 miles 2,000 feet gained

August 3, 2015 9 miles 2,500 feet gained

Finally managed to get away for some hiking. I decided to visit some off trail lakes above Red and Averill lakes. Several of these lakes hold (held) small populations of trout left over from a previous aerial stocking program. It seems there is no natural reproduction from the efforts and the few remaining trout have disappeared due to the warm water temps t...

June 29, 2015 4 miles 1,000 feet gained

Quick 2 hour outing followed by a nice reward.

June 28, 2015 8 miles 2,750 feet gained

Snuck out for a nice hike while on vacation back east. I'd almost forgot how much I enjoy hiking the Blue Ridge mountains. The flora diversity is amazing and nothing smells quite like a deciduous forest. Plus, at 50F, it was a nice relief after 95+ at the Outerbanks the previous week. Not that I'm complaining about warm weather at the beach...

June 26, 2015 1.5 miles 500 feet gained

If only the "other" Mt Jefferson was so easy. This one has a road to the top and sits in the Blue Ridge Mtns of NC.

June 8, 2015 10 miles 2,750 feet gained

Took off from Grouse Vista up to the Indian Pits to Silver Star to Sturgeon Rock then back via Tarbell. I planned to hit Little Baldy but it was just too hot so I wimped out. Plus, the side trip to the pits plus stopping constantly to take pics put me behind. Beautiful day even if it was a little hot for my tastes.

June 5, 2015 7.2 miles 4,750 feet gained

Beautiful morning. Long story but no summit.

June 3, 2015 7 miles 1,750 feet gained

Not my favorite hike but quick and accessible. No vista view rewards today with the cloud cover.

June 2, 2015 2 miles 500 feet gained

Planned to do a longer fire lane hike after stopping at REI to p/u some ship-to-store gear but traffic delays put a stop to those plans. With a 45 minute window, I threw the bag-o-sand in the pack and made the best of a minimal opportunity.

May 28, 2015 5 miles 1,000 feet gained

Nice little out-n-back urban hike after running some errands. Beautiful morning. Hit the food carts afterward then went off to work.

May 26, 2015 11.5 miles 5,000 feet gained

Finally knocked this one out. It's a steep one, no doubt, but not as bad as I anticipated except perhaps the return trip which I decided I'd had enough of about half way down. Round trip took 6 hours including 30 minutes at the top paying peek-a-boo with Mt Hood.

May 25, 2015 2.5 miles 500 feet gained

Memorial Day trip with the family followed by a visit to Walking Man for lunch.

May 22, 2015 7.2 miles 2,250 feet gained

Managed to pull this one off before work...barely.

May 21, 2015 12 miles 2,750 feet gained

Any trip to MSH is special but I really enjoyed this trip. Nice forest hike. Interesting terrain. Incredible scenery. Crazy weather front that rolled in and bombarded the summit with thunder and lightning for half an hour. Perfect. Except for that last part of the Blue Horse trail that -- despite starting out wide and clear -- ends in massive doug fir blowdo...

May 20, 2015 8 miles 2,750 feet gained

First time hiking The Gorge this far east on the Oregon side. Looks like Defiance is now on the short list. I really enjoyed this loop and look forward to exploring longer versions in the future.

May 15, 2015 2.5 miles 750 feet gained

Short before work hike. Sure beats a treadmill.

May 12, 2015 8 miles 2,500 feet gained

May 7, 2015 6 miles 1,000 feet gained

Returned to NW Pa for a brief visit and managed to spend a day exploring places I haven't seen in decades. After starting in the wrong drainage, we eventually found the old steam locomotive and Pinchot road remnants I had found years ago. Nice to visit home even if I haven't lived there for 25 years.

May 5, 2015 4 miles 500 feet gained

Took my old hiking buddy -- a 50# bag of sand -- out for a walk before work. He's not much for conversation. And, he just sits there expecting to be carried everywhere. When it comes to testing out new packs, though, he's an expert.

May 1, 2015 6 miles 750 feet gained

Sure, I know. It's the low hanging fruit of the hiking world. Still, I got in a nice little hike before work and the weather is just too incredible to ignore.

April 28, 2015 7 miles 1,500 feet gained

Nice day for a stroll in The Gorge. Perfect weather. Everything is green or blooming. A stark contrast to the snow and rock of yesterday's trip. Took a short side trip down the 400 trail to check out the elevator shaft for a future outing.

April 27, 2015 10 miles 5,750 feet gained

Wanted to do a MSH trip before all the snow melted. The forecast called for partly cloudy skies with temps in the 80's in the valley so off I went. On a whim, I followed a different worm flow thinking it would bring me onto the same approach but that didn't work out as I ended up on the east side of Swift Glacier. Snow was soft, no freezing temps overnight. ...

April 24, 2015 8 miles 3,500 feet gained

April 22, 2015 5 miles 750 feet gained

Been laid up with the flu for the past 5 days and needed to go for a walk.

April 15, 2015 6.8 miles 2,750 feet gained

Apparently I've never hiked Dog Mtn in shorts before today because until today I hadn't noticed just how much poison oak lines the trail. It is A LOT! The clothes are cleaned, shoes are scrubbed, legs are washed --the waiting begins.

April 14, 2015 10 miles 3,000 feet gained

After a week in SoCal, I was anxious to get back out on the trail. Desert hiking is fine in small doses but rattlers, tarantulas, and scorpions aren't really my thing. Today was more to my liking -- rain, sleet, snow, with splashes of sunshine in between. Unfortunately, clouds rolled in along with heavy snow as I made my way down to the point so no views. Du...

April 8, 2015 11 miles 4,000 feet gained

Managed to break away from the family and the beach for this aggressive little hike in the foothills east of San Diego.

March 31, 2015 5.5 miles 500 feet gained

Another first (for me). I've learned there's an inverse law that governs over The Gorge -- the worse the weather, the more beautiful the scenery. Not sure if that applies to ice, though. Anyhow, I'd hoped to do a MSH summit trip yesterday but with the looming crazy forecast, I abandoned that plan -- glad I did considering the lightning and sleet/rain/hail --...

March 30, 2015 11 miles 2,750 feet gained

In the 3 years since moving here, I've hiked all over the PNW from the Pasayten to Coeur d'alene to central and eastern Oregon. Today was the first time hiking in the Mt Hood Wilderness however. Not really sure why I've avoided it. Probably just a general aversion to "busy" trails. Sometimes you find out the best places are right in your own back yard.

March 26, 2015 14.5 miles 3,750 feet gained

Thursday I hiked to Observation Peak to enjoy some sunshine. This particular loop ran counter-clockwise up the Observation trail to the summit, returning via the Trapper Creek trail. Interesting signage pointed the way.There was about 4-5 inches of wet, slippery snow the last couple miles to and from the summit. Generally, the trails are in good shape with o...

March 25, 2015 6 miles 500 feet gained

The original plan was a trip to Greenleaf Falls via Two Chiefs trail but I ran out of time running errands. I ended up wandering around Lacamas Lake park, new iPhone in hand.

March 18, 2015 4.8 miles 1,500 feet gained

March 12, 2015 12.5 miles 2,750 feet gained

My original destination was Sheep Canyon but NF-81 was gated at Kalama Horse Camp. I hadn't been to this area and even though recent trip reports mention this significant detail, it just didn't register. With no "plan B", I quickly scanned the kiosk at the campground, took a cell phone pic of the map, then set off for Goat Mtn, naively assuming the trail wen...

March 11, 2015 7 miles 1,500 feet gained

I had a rough plan to spend my rainy days this winter exploring the area between the Columbia and Sunset-Hemlock rd, and bounded generally by Hamilton Mtn and Bonneville dam. I figured I'd follow the snow line throughout the winter as the mountains filled up and TH access became limited. Obviously this didn't happen and I didn't spend much time in this area ...

March 3, 2015 9 miles 3,000 feet gained

Starting just below Huffman peak down N Siouxon trail (#126) to creek bottom then east to saddle N of Siouxon peak. Eventually connected to Huffman Peak trail (#129) at Siouxon peack then back to start. Lots of bushwacking and trail finding. Tough hike for just 9 miles.

February 26, 2015 11.5 miles 1,500 feet gained

North Siouxon Creek seemed like a perfect rainy day hike to shake off 9 straight days at work. Still suffering from the lingering effects of an annoying cold, I was looking for a place not too steep and not too long. Eventually, I plan to figure out a loop option connecting this trail with the Huffman Peak trail but I wasn't feeling it today. About 2.5 miles...

February 15, 2015 8 miles 2,250 feet gained

February 13, 2015 12 miles 2,000 feet gained

February 12, 2015 11.5 miles 3,000 feet gained

Apparently I don't pay much attention to nor learn from others' experiences. After several dead end attempts to find the Sedum Ridge trailhead, I eventually bushwacked straight up the ridge for several miles before bisecting the actual trail which I had by now assumed was lost to time. In hindsight, a prior trip report from Pablo mirrored my same findings/fr...

February 6, 2015 4 miles 1,000 feet gained

Just a quick in and out hike with weighted pack before heading off to work. Actually, it's just an excuse to make a guilt-free trip to the food carts. Burn 500 calories, replace them with a 1000. You betcha...

February 4, 2015 4.5 miles 1,500 feet gained

The plan was a quick loop hike before work starting at the I-84 parking area. As it turned out, the connector trail from Multnomah Falls to the Wahkeena Falls trail is closed. Oh, well. Ended up doing an up and back.

February 2, 2015 11 miles 4,000 feet gained

Decided to shake off the post-Superbowl blahs with a long gorge hike. Starting at the powerlines, I started up Cedar Creek. Using the trail along the west side of Aldrich Butte, I eventually crossed the creek, climbing and following Cedar Mountain until reaching the PCT. From there I took the west side trail to TM summit. The gale force winds made the trail ...

February 1, 2015 6 miles 1,250 feet gained

January 28, 2015 5 miles 1,000 feet gained

January 27, 2015 3 miles 750 feet gained

January 23, 2015 3.5 miles 500 feet gained

Roaming the trails before work today while testing a new pack out. 60# of sand makes even a gentle walk thru the forest into a workout.

January 21, 2015 4.5 miles 750 feet gained

Took a short hike before work. Just too nice a day not to.