Mileage Mike

July 12, 2015 10.3 miles 500 feet gained

My wife wanted to stay close to home as the previous two days were long drives. This is a nice paved trail (which killed my feet) but it's still nice to get out. Plenty of bikers, as you'd expect!

July 11, 2015 9.2 miles 250 feet gained

Quite a long drive to get to Cottonwood Canyon, but it was well worth it! We had purposely boarded the dog for the week so that we could venture much further than usual. There were several occupied campsites at the TH, and we were surprised considering it was a very warm day. This hike reminds me of the Deschutes River scenery, but without quite the grandeur...

July 10, 2015 11.6 miles 3,000 feet gained

This was the first day of a 10 day vacation, and being Friday, we decided to stay in Washington to avoid the Portland rush hour traffic. The weather was a bit warm, but it was a cloudy day so it cut down on the direct sun. The grasses were quite long and we were constantly brushing them aside while on the trail. In fact, the grasses were so high, on the down...

July 5, 2015 9 miles 2,500 feet gained

The last day of my week off and we need to stay close to home since our grandson hasn't been born yet. This trail is a mixture of clear cuts and forested areas, but still fairly nice for a close-in hike. Obviously, we didn't get any phone call since our grandson was born the following day.

July 4, 2015 10.5 miles 2,750 feet gained

After resting on Friday from our Bend/La Pine trip, we headed out to the Bonnie Meadow trail. The last time we were here was before I had meniscus surgery, and the pain in my knee was challenging. Happily, this time my knees felt great. We were going to try and make a loop on the ridge trail at Bonney meadow, but it was a bit further than we wanted to go. Th...

July 2, 2015 8.5 miles 1,250 feet gained

It was a very hot day and the burn area in Mt. Jefferson Wilderness afforded no shade. However, as we ascended north on the PCT the wind offered some relief. We stopped often to hydrate. The burn area followed us up the PCT for about the first three miles, and then we reached the treed area. The treed area and wind was amazingly cool and felt wonderful. Ther...

July 1, 2015 10.8 miles 1,500 feet gained

We always like to hike a portion of the PCT while on vacation and had only gone south into Diamond Peak Wilderness from Willamette Pass. This turned out to be a beautiful section of the PCT and well worth the time. The trail from the parking lot to the Roseary Lakes has a gentle slope and is well shaded, which worked well in the heat. The three Roseary Lakes...

June 30, 2015 10.4 miles 1,250 feet gained

We wanted to hike into Diamond Peak Wilderness and get a good view of the snow capped mountains. A bit of research led to the Whitefish Creek trail and ending at Diamond View Lake. The drive to this TH was on decent roads and finding the White Fish Horse Camp, where the trail began, was straightforward. However, the TH wasn't obvious, and we had to drive aro...

June 29, 2015 11.7 miles 1,250 feet gained

This was a last minute decision, to visit Horse Lake and spend some time on the PCT. I thought it would be more interesting to make it into a loop hike too. This turned out to be a great decision as there were very few hikers on the trail, except around Horse Lake. We also had the good fortune to meet two PCT through hikers (SheepWagon & Fuego) that had flip...

June 28, 2015 10.1 miles 1,500 feet gained

A coworker that is in the Mazamas recommended we try this trail, and it's a gem! What can I say is good about this trail....Everything! What can I say bad about this trail...It's crowded, but the people were dispersed along its length. This trail ranks up there with the finest hikes we've ever had the privilege to experience! Falls Creek presents you with a ...

June 27, 2015 10 miles 750 feet gained

We had originally planned a trip to Yellowstone for 10 days, but these plans were pleasantly interrupted by the potential expected delivery of our grandson in this time frame. So instead, we planned to stay within several hours of home by changing our plans to the Bend/La Pine area. Gratefully, our daughter-in-law gave birth to our grandson the day after our...

June 24, 2015 4.2 miles 500 feet gained

Another mid week de-stressing hike. Thank goodness the quarter is over today! This is a very nice area for a leisurely after work hike although the summer weather brought out plenty of people. There were many kids playing in Lacamas Creek but we found some solitude on the southern portion of the park! The smell of the exposed algae from the low water at Laca...

June 21, 2015 10.1 miles 1,250 feet gained

This is a favorite hike in Indian Heaven Wilderness, and it didn't disappoint today. The parking lot wasn't full, and it appeared that we saw all the backpackers headed back to the TH from Blue Lake. About three hours of our hike was without seeing any people on the trail! The water levels were low and it was weird to not see any snow this early in the seaso...

June 20, 2015 10.1 miles 2,250 feet gained

We haven't been to Burnt Lake in a while and decided to head out and experience it again. The road to the TH isn't the best, but we had no issues, and the parking lot was full when we arrived. The trail dispersed the hikers fairly well, but Burnt Lake was crowded (as expected). After admiring the beautiful view of Mt. Hood in the background, we continued on ...

June 18, 2015 5.8 miles 0 feet gained

A nice mid-week break to get rid of some stress from work. It was surprising that there were so few people on the trail. Water levels were very low. A nice breeze cooled us down.

June 14, 2015 10.3 miles 2,750 feet gained

We intended on hiking the Eagle Creek trail in Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, but Harvey Road had a very large tree stump/root ball in the middle of the road! Pissed us off as we traveled a decent distance but had no recourse but to turn around. Perhaps this was the wrong road, but we followed the directions from Oregonhikers.org. Plan B: We headed out to th...

June 13, 2015 7 miles 1,500 feet gained

Had to work all morning so we wanted a close-in hike since we started late. It was nice to get out at all today, and we simply did a casual loop hike around the horse bridge and Upper Hardy Creek trail. There was a 25km and 50km running event going on, but it still wasn't very crowded, considering.

June 7, 2015 8.7 miles 2,250 feet gained

Another hot day in paradise! We decided on hiking the Upper Fanton Trail to the summit of Tumala Mt. The summit of Tumala Mt. has a stellar view of Mt. Hood and the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness. It was also hot up there and we didn't stay long. We then headed east on the Fanton Trail towards Sheepshead Rock. A rock field on the trail afforded an amazing vie...

June 6, 2015 10.4 miles 2,000 feet gained

We finally made it to Indian Heaven Wilderness, and the car survived the drive! Surprisingly, we were the only car parked at the Falls Creek Horse Camp, and we were the only car parked when we returned! Only one couple was seen during the entire day, and it was an outstanding wilderness hike with almost complete solitude! The Bear Grass is in full bloom and ...

May 31, 2015 9.4 miles 2,500 feet gained

We haven't been on this hike for years, and it was about time to explore it again. Unfortunately, the humidity today was overwhelming, and it was taxing to go up the steeper part of this trail. The parking area is rather small, but we were lucky enough to have a spot for our car! The crossing at Little Cheney Creek was easy since the water level was so low. ...

May 30, 2015 11.2 miles 1,750 feet gained

We decided to head out on the east side of Mt. Hood to hike the Surveyor Ridge Trail. To gain access, we took the Zig Zag Trail. The Zig Zag Trail is a nice workout as it gains 750 feet in the first mile, and you'll go through many switchbacks until you meet an intersection with the Dog River Trail. There is also a trail to a viewpoint of Mt. Hood, but we op...

May 25, 2015 12.2 miles 1,250 feet gained

I wanted to end this excellent weekend with a great hike. I proposed that we hike around Timothy Lake, but my wife convinced me it would be full of people and generally crowded and noisy. I was sure she was right, so we opted to hike the PCT into the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It was an excellent choice as we only saw two groups of people the entire da...

May 24, 2015 10.1 miles 2,250 feet gained

It's been years since we've been to this trail and we decided to go there despite the cloudy weather. The Google directions to this TH were excellent and the road is paved all the way until the parking lot, which was gravel. We were the only car there, and we saw NO hikers the entire day! Truly a perfect Wilderness experience!!! This TH was rerouted and is v...

May 23, 2015 9 miles 1,500 feet gained

My son likes to keep our family hikes to about 8 miles maximum, but I goofed. I remember this being a short easy loop with little elevation gain, but he didn't quite feel that way! I think the distance signs are wrong for this loop but they weren't that far off. Although there were plenty of dirt bikes and off road vehicles, it wasn't too bad for the most pa...

May 17, 2015 13.4 miles 3,250 feet gained

Another solo day of hiking, and the weather was amazing! I planned on taking the PCT out for 7-9 miles but got to Bonneville Hot Springs a bit late. Also, I didn't have enough water and had no way to filter it at a stream( I do carry tablets but they take 4 hours for sterilization). I was getting signs of significant dehydration and decided to just turn back...

May 16, 2015 13.1 miles 2,500 feet gained

I got to hike solo this weekend as my wife visited her parents. I tend to stay close to home since I'm doing the driving (my wife drives on weekends as I put in 400 miles/week to get to work). The weather was quite a bit cooler than expected, but I was well prepared for the wind and drizzle. Parking at the horse camp, I hiked the longest path I knew to the s...

May 10, 2015 3.6 miles 250 feet gained

A somewhat nice ending to an absolutely HORRIBLE day! We had originally decided on hiking to Red Mt., in Indian Heaven, at the beginning of the day. We were going to start at the Falls Creek Horse Camp off of NF65. When we were about 1/2 mile from the destination, my wife complained that she was pressing down on the gas pedal but the car wasn't accelerating....

May 9, 2015 7.4 miles 1,750 feet gained

We needed a hike close to home so we could get back for a family gathering. We went on this hike with two of our sons. The parking area was packed and the trail system full of hikers. I would have like to summit Hamilton Mt. but they weren't up to it, so we hiked the Hardy Creek trail to the picnic area, and then returned. Gorgeous sunny day and a fun time w...

May 3, 2015 9.5 miles 1,500 feet gained

We haven't been on this trail for years, and decided to head out and see Jackpot Meadows! There's several trees across the trail but nothing that would slow you down. It would be nice if a trail cleanup crew could look into improving this trail, especially past Jackpot Meadows. The trail descends down to the Salmon River where there is a well built bridge al...

May 2, 2015 8.7 miles 1,500 feet gained

This was actually two different hikes in Capitol State Forest. We ended up at the wrong TH and just hiked at the North Creek TH. Unfortunately, there was gun fire just below the trail and so we turned around! The second hike was at the Mima Falls West Trail. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great view of Mt. Rainier from the Mima Falls trail at a clearcut ...

April 26, 2015 10.3 miles 250 feet gained

We decided to go on the Willapa Hills Rails to Trails hike again. This time we started near the Chehalis TH, but parked in the wrong area. We ended up walking down the road to the real TH, which only added about 0.25 miles. The trail is asphalted, but it has an edge that is gravel and much easier on the feet/knees. Thankfully, our knees have been doing bette...

April 25, 2015 7.7 miles 1,500 feet gained

Beautiful sunny day on the east side of the Mt's! My son and I headed out to Catherine Creek but it was so crowded that we couldn't find a parking space!!! I never saw it this crowded. So we just drove to the SW side of the Rowland Lake access to the old road access to the Coyote Wall trail systems. Plenty of colorful flowers and even though it was crowded e...

April 19, 2015 9 miles 2,000 feet gained

With such a warm beautiful day we decided to head out toward the Mt. Hood area. Not having hiked to Clear Lake in many years, we decided to park at the Frog Lake parking area and hike this seldom used trail. Hardly any vehicles at the Frog Lake parking area, which surprised us! So we crossed Hwy 26 on the PCT and then turned left on the Blue Box trail. There...

April 18, 2015 10.5 miles 2,500 feet gained

Gorgeous sunny warm day and we felt like getting out to the Tillamook State Forest. We hadn't been to the Elk Creek area so we headed out there! The parking area outside the closed gate was almost full and we got one of the last spots on the north side of Hwy 6. There were no cars on the south parking area but it was full when we got back. The trail is in ex...

April 12, 2015 11 miles 2,250 feet gained

Nice leisurely hike from the Toothrock TH towards the Tanner Creek Cutoff trail. The weather was cool, and refreshing, with very few people on the trail.

April 11, 2015 7.2 miles 1,250 feet gained

I thought this area would escape the weather forecasted, but no luck. a few storms rolled in and the temperature went down and the wind increased. I was dressed properly but my wife forgot her mittens and my gloves weren't sufficient for her Raynauds. Her hands were very cold and we ended up turning around after reaching Riordan Hill Drive.

April 9, 2015 5.2 miles 250 feet gained

The tide was coming in during these hikes and so our hiking distances were limited, primarily because we didn't want to hike on the large round river rock that put us above the tide. Also, the beach was being hard on our knees and we ended up just wanting to get home to our own beds! Beach 1 & 2 are very nice, but there are no sea stacks along their length. ...

April 9, 2015 2 miles 0 feet gained

It was the last day of our vacation and we wanted to visit the Olympic National Park beaches on the way home. In my opinion, the best coast hike is the Ozette Triangle, but these hikes needed to suffice! I'll summarize Ruby Beach as gorgeous but very overcrowded! The parking lot was full and the beach swarming with people. We escaped some of the crowd by hea...

April 8, 2015 10.1 miles 750 feet gained

Today started out to be a fantastic day. We started out by visiting Hurricane Ridge to get a spectacular view of the Olympic Mt. Range. It was such a long drive that we weren't able to go hiking until about 2pm in the afternoon. We decided on the Spruce Railroad Trail as it was very close to Hwy 101 and on the way back to Forks where we were staying. All we ...

April 7, 2015 13.3 miles 750 feet gained

The Hoh River Trail is a premium forest hike in Olympic National Park and we didn't want to miss it on this trip! We decided to head out for the Happy Four Shelter, which we hadn't seen before. The actual hike to the shelter is more like 5.7 to 6 miles depending on where you park, but we ended up on other trails to add the additional mileage. This is a beaut...

April 6, 2015 8.8 miles 1,000 feet gained

We spent a fantastic four days (except for another deer collision :(, and I'll go over that in the last TR ) in the Olympic Peninsula during the Washington Spring Break. We stayed in Forks for our basecamp and so decided to stop along the way in the Lake Quinault area for a hike. We didn't expect much from this area since it's near a populated area that is p...

April 5, 2015 10.1 miles 1,000 feet gained

It was a great day for hiking and we decided to visit the PCT in the Bunker Hill Area. We also went around the Whistle Punk loop as well as heading up Bunker Hill in addition to the other trails. The only area with people was on the Whistle Punk trail, where the people were yelling to try and find their dog that was running all over the woods. None of the th...

April 4, 2015 7.4 miles 1,250 feet gained

My son came home for the weekend and wanted to see this area after we talked about it! The parking lot wasn't as full as last week, but then, it wasn't spring break. The weather was great and there was a cool wind blowing the entire day. We had a great hike and were glad to have chosen this area today!

March 29, 2015 8.9 miles 1,500 feet gained

My wife and I were looking for a new place to go and were inspired by the recent Columbia Hills Hike from Woodswalker! We had tried this hike in 2008 and didn't get anywhere because of the lack of signs and online documentation. The Crawford Hills TH is quite nice, but the parking lot was full, so we parked along Hwy 14. There is a great map on the bulletin ...

March 28, 2015 9.3 miles 2,500 feet gained

The Cinnamon and Toutle Trails orginate at the Kalama Horse Camp near Mt. St. Helens National Monument. The Cinnamon trail is on a ridge that paralles NF-81 from the Kalama Horse Camp and terminates at Red Rock Pass. There are some spectacular views that can be had of Mt. St. Helens, when it's a clear day, but today was anything but that. We initially drove ...

March 22, 2015 10.9 miles 250 feet gained

My knee wasn't feeling too well after yesterdays hike, so we tried out a new Rails-to-Trails hike. This trail is 14.5 miles long and is asphalted and is paralleled by a busy road (didn't know it would be). I was hoping there would be either gravel or bark chips on the side of the trail, but this wasn't the case. We tried staying off the asphalt as much as po...

March 21, 2015 10 miles 1,750 feet gained

We had a house warming party to attend in Gaston, so we decided to hike in the area at Reehers Camp. Very little rain and we only saw one person on the trail at the end of the hike. The Nehalem River was very low but has great scenic value. The Trillium were starting to bloom with plenty of smaller flowers all over the forest floor. A very enjoyable hike in ...

March 15, 2015 4.8 miles 500 feet gained

I wasn't very pleased with the failed beach hike so we stopped of to do a bit more hiking on the Banks to Vernonia trail. The wind was still whipping the tops of the trees, which spooked us a bit, due to our near death snag falling experience, but we still managed to enjoy this short hike. We stopped early as my wife was feeling drained from the Sunset Beach...

March 15, 2015 2 miles 500 feet gained

I knew there was going to be a storm on the beach, and the winds gusts of 25-35mph I had seen looked tolerable, but it didn't turn out as expected! The winds turned out to be intolerable and down right hurricane strength. We turned around after only one mile after having to duck down to lower our center of gravity due to being pushed around and beat up! On t...

March 14, 2015 8.3 miles 1,250 feet gained

We wanted to stay close to home and with easier terrain for the knee issues we're having. We just kind of wandered around on the trail system, and saw very few people on the hiking. It drizzled for the entire hike and then the rain picked up as we drove away after the hike. We did see a large group of bikers on the Banks-Vernonia trail and talked for a while...