Mileage Mike

December 28, 2014 10.8 miles 500 feet gained

This was the last hike of my vacation and also the last for the year. The weather was fantastic with the sun coming out occasionally and with only a few sprinkles! It was a great year and we're hoping for a repeat (minus the knee and back issues) in 2015! We wish every one a happy and healthy new year in 2015!!!

December 27, 2014 6.8 miles 500 feet gained

This is the last family hike of the year and it was a rainy but pleasant day at Sauvie Island. The first half the trail was fairly muddy but we had no problems walking around the large puddle. The second half of the trail was great with no standing water or mud! We only saw one couple the entire way out to the lighthouse, but on the return hike there were qu...

December 26, 2014 7.5 miles 1,750 feet gained

The Paradise Trail is not well known or traveled, from what we can tell. Typically, this time of year, Dry Creek Rd. is gated and this becomes a road hike. Fortunately, the gate was open, and we believe this was because there is a firewood cutting area on NF-201, and also there was no snow or frost. My wife didn't feel too comfortable driving up NF-201 (alth...

December 25, 2014 5.3 miles 750 feet gained

My son and I went for a short hike before family came over this evening. This is a very nice area with plenty of views of the Sandy River. The trail also had several small waterfalls located on it that were very nice! There were some people scattered throughout the park but nobody was on the trail.

December 24, 2014 7.2 miles 750 feet gained

We decided to stay in WA to avoid any pre-holiday traffic after finishing our hike. We decided to try Lewis and Clark State Park as I read there is more than 10+ miles of hiking/equestrian trails. We found the trails located east of Jackson Hwy to be muddy with a large amount of blown down trees! The trails west of Jackson Hwy were in much better condition a...

December 23, 2014 8.3 miles 1,000 feet gained

It was a beautiful cloudy and drizzly day in Capitol State Forest. Since this area is about 100 miles north of Vancouver we don't go here very often. We took the Mima Falls East trail and looped around using the Campground trail back to the Mima Falls Campground. There was plenty of mud and water on the trail but it really wasn't a big deal. The mood was als...

December 21, 2014 8.5 miles 500 feet gained

This is one our favorite trails, and for this reason we made this long drive to breakthrough the 6000 mile barrier toward our lifetime goal of 25000 miles! It was a cloudy day with some light drizzle throughout the day, and the wind was fairly tame. The Deschutes River was quite high and most of the rocks in the rapids areas were covered. We probably saw abo...

December 20, 2014 4.9 miles 750 feet gained

A nice little family hike in the pouring rain. There were a few people on the trail, but the trails were mostly devoid hikers. Plenty of water running over all the falls but the trails weren't muddy. We visited Woodburn Falls for the first time, and it was spectacular!

December 14, 2014 10.7 miles 750 feet gained

We just wanted to hike the Still Creek Trail and loop back onto the Wind Mt. trail after wrapping around along Still Creek Road, but the bridge over Still Creek was closed! We ended up walking the road and connecting to the Pioneer Bridle trail after walking much further up the road. Luckily, we met a very nice woman (and her dog) that escorted us on a short...

December 13, 2014 8.4 miles 1,500 feet gained

December 7, 2014 7.6 miles 1,000 feet gained

Beautiful day hiking on the Gales Creek Trail out of Reehers Camp. We ended up veering onto the Step Creek Trail, which wasn't completed the last time we hiked it, but it is now! The big treat for the day was that we crossed over a small stream, which runs into the Nehalem River, and there were over a dozen Salmon we observead heading up stream to spawn!!! I...

December 6, 2014 3.9 miles 500 feet gained

Went on a family hike for my son's birthday. This is actually a very nice area, and the two waterfalls we saw were phenomenal! Pothole falls reminded me of a smaller Lewis River Lower Falls! There are many short hiking trails in the park and we bumped into a gentleman that mentioned that there are many more trails which aren't documented.

November 30, 2014 8.6 miles 1,000 feet gained

We love this area and decided to try a hike in spite of the high winds. The last several miles on Larch Mt. Rd. were icy, but the Subaru didn't have any problems at low speeds. The temperature was parked at about 24 degrees F for the day, but we added an extra layer and had no warmth issues. We also wore our Kahtoola micro-spikes as the ground was frozen and...

November 29, 2014 8.5 miles 750 feet gained

We've never been to this state park before and wanted to check it out. It turns out that there is a tremendous amount of flooding in this area during the heavy rain seasons, and so the main road into the park was closed to the main parking area for high water. This park is also undergoing a large amount of restoration to return it to its natural state. All t...

November 28, 2014 8.9 miles 750 feet gained

It was a very wet day today and we both found out our boots have a leak in them! We only saw a pair of hunters as they returned to the TH, otherwise, there was nobody on the trail system today. There are so many trails here that we actually got disoriented and had to use the gps to get back to the return trail, and it was actually kind of fun.

November 27, 2014 9.1 miles 2,000 feet gained

We enjoy going out on Holidays as the trail system is seldom crowded, wand only one person was seen on the trail. Warm day but it cooled down as we hiked out toward Camp Creek. It rained lightly for a short while, but was mostly just cloudy. This trail is always a pleasure and Herman Creek is spectacular!

November 23, 2014 9.1 miles 750 feet gained

We wanted an easy hike as our feet have been hurting. This was a very nice hike, and although the weather was nice at the start, it was raining fairly heavily and unrelenting throughout most of the hike. This is a great trail that is fairly level, and we managed to get some great views of the Zigzag River and Still Creek. The trail was basically a stream dur...

November 22, 2014 8.7 miles 1,500 feet gained

The day started out nice and then a hard rain came down for a while. Nice dusting of snow above 1000-1200ft, but typically in the shadowed areas! Beautiful day for a hike on the east side of the Cascades.

November 16, 2014 7.8 miles 1,250 feet gained

Finally, a nice leisurely hike with NO wind. Plenty of debris all over the forest floor. Only saw one person on horseback, but otherwise we had this beautiful place to ourselves! Temperatures in the low to mid-30's, and it felt refreshing. Had to get back home early for family, so cut the hike a bit short.

November 15, 2014 2.4 miles 500 feet gained

I wanted to go hiking a bit more after the short hike this morning.

November 15, 2014 4.2 miles 750 feet gained

Went with my wife and son for a short hike. We needed an easy level trail due to my son recovering from hip surgery about 5 months ago! He tore his labrum, which was successfully repaired, but the healing time is very looooong. This is a very nice trail that has great views of Lacamas Lake with Mt. Hood in the background. Tremendous amount of debris on the s...

November 11, 2014 8.1 miles 750 feet gained

I had the day off and we decided to stay away from possible falling trees. So we stayed close to home and went on the Columbia River Dike Hike, which was generally far enough away from the trees. We started our hike by heading east into the Gorge, so that the winds would be behind us on the way back! Heading into the wind gusts was definitely interesting, bu...

November 9, 2014 7.5 miles 1,750 feet gained

Hiked solo today on the Hardy Ridge Loop. Hadn't been here for years and appreciated the nice switchbacks on the east access route! It had previously been a direct assault, which is okay, but I prefer switchbacks. Only one person on the trail, but then, it was rainy and windy in the open areas. I love being out in these conditions alone, and the mode was eth...

November 8, 2014 7.3 miles 1,500 feet gained

We had intended to go to Red Rock Pass at Mt. St. Helens, but the hunters were out in record numbers! I haven't been seeing any hunters on most hikes, but this (fairly level) area is a real hot spot. We decided to just drive on and see if there were any trails that didn't have many hunters. The June Lake TH was devoid of any trucks (all were sedans), so it a...

November 2, 2014 9.4 miles 2,000 feet gained

November 1, 2014 8.7 miles 2,000 feet gained

October 26, 2014 7.1 miles 500 feet gained

October 25, 2014 8.1 miles 3,250 feet gained

Gale force winds but beautiful area. We almost got killed after we heard the splintering of wood! We looked up and saw a 40+ foot snag falling directly at us!! We had no time to speak and both pushed backward. My wife had grabbed my backpack at the same time we moved back, and I knocked her over. The tree made a muted thump on the ground about 4 feet in fron...

October 24, 2014 6.2 miles 1,250 feet gained

First day of Oregon Coast long weekend

October 19, 2014 12 miles 2,000 feet gained

October 18, 2014 10.5 miles 1,750 feet gained

October 12, 2014 9.1 miles 1,750 feet gained

October 11, 2014 10.7 miles 1,250 feet gained

October 5, 2014 9.1 miles 1,500 feet gained

October 4, 2014 2.5 miles 500 feet gained

October 4, 2014 6 miles 1,250 feet gained

October 1, 2014 8.3 miles 2,000 feet gained

September 28, 2014 10.1 miles 1,750 feet gained

September 27, 2014 9.4 miles 2,000 feet gained

September 21, 2014 9.8 miles 1,250 feet gained

September 20, 2014 10.2 miles 1,750 feet gained

September 14, 2014 8.1 miles 2,250 feet gained

September 13, 2014 5.1 miles 750 feet gained

September 7, 2014 8.2 miles 1,500 feet gained

September 6, 2014 10.3 miles 500 feet gained

September 1, 2014 9.2 miles 750 feet gained

August 31, 2014 8.1 miles 1,750 feet gained

August 30, 2014 8.2 miles 1,250 feet gained

August 29, 2014 4.5 miles 1,250 feet gained

Long travel day home so we kept the hike short. This is a very worthwhile loop hike with absolutely fantastic views of the Blue Basin. It was hot, but almost no people, and great for pictures!

August 28, 2014 9 miles 2,000 feet gained

We loved this hike around Strawberry Lake and to Little Strawberry Lake. The air wasn't very clear due to smoke from fires, but the scenery was still spectacular. We had to wait for the forest service to cut a tree that blocked the road to the TH, and others had waited for 3 hours. It only took about an hour from when we arrived though.