Karl

March 1, 2014 16.5 miles 3,500 feet gained

Forecast was glum just about everywhere. Decided it'd be better to be in the snow than the rain, and no need to seek high ground! So we had a most excellent walk in the old growth up the Herman Creek trail to Cedar Swamp. It snowed nearly the entire day, which provided a most beautiful flocking on everything. Last storm had melted out to almost 2500', so eas...

February 22, 2014 5.5 miles 2,250 feet gained

Returned to an old favorite for an excellent morning jaunt! First time here in winter, and actually first time here in nearly eight years. This one's always fun, if pretty short. Trail was in excellent shape; just a bit of snow up top.

February 21, 2014 10 miles 1,250 feet gained

Returned to Silver Falls, after not having been there for at least a quarter-century. It's still as beautiful as, actually more than, I remembered! I think the "trick" here is to go on a weekday. I only crossed paths with maybe a dozen other people, tops. The trails are real pedestrian, requiring little effort beyond paying attention. They are for the most p...

February 17, 2014 9 miles 1,500 feet gained

It was storming in the city until about noon, when the sun magically broke through. In a flurry of radar checks, we decided to hightail it down to Estacada, to explore the Clackamas River Trail a bit. Ended up doing an in/out from Fish Creek Campground to Pup Creek Falls, and totally enjoyed it. There were a few *extremely hazardous* new landslides along the...

February 15, 2014 16.5 miles 3,000 feet gained

Surely a new "personal best" for wetness! Nearly 17 miles in relentless - at times driving - rain, along the western end of the Wilson River Trail. We started at Keenig Campground (MP18) and north, then east, for almost 8.5 miles to the Wilson Falls. Had a little snack, and hiked back. The Wilson River itself was fully raging, and there were uncounted little...

February 9, 2014 8.5 miles 500 feet gained

Okay, this time it was with gaiters and microspikes, due to the freezing rain on top of 12" of snow! Most of the open water was frozen, which really seemed to irritate the wading birds. Not sure where all the migratory waterfowl went; only a few were left. Ski and snowshoe tracks marked the trail today. Really excellent prescription for cabin fever!

February 5, 2014 7.5 miles 500 feet gained

An escape to the "wilds" of suburbia, while down with the flu. Lots of wildlife, good exercise compared to napping and looking at screens. Took a side trip up Cougar Creek, too, this time.

February 2, 2014 7 miles 250 feet gained

An escape to the "wilds" of suburbia, while down with the flu. Lots of wildlife, good exercise compared to napping and looking at screens.

January 26, 2014 16.5 miles 3,750 feet gained

Magical day in the blast zone! We followed South Coldwater Ridge up to the saddle over Saint Helens Lake, where we enjoyed lunch with an absolutely priceless view. Then found our way down a forbidden valley towards Harry's Ridge, made possible by nearly complete snow cover. We finally made our way over to Johnston Ridge Observatory, then down that ridge and ...

January 24, 2014 7 miles 2,000 feet gained

Had some extra time, so we did a quick loop of Cape Horn, in hurricane force gusts, before the annual Falcon closure kicks in on February 1.

January 24, 2014 8.5 miles 2,500 feet gained

Really fun loop up and over Cedar Mountain, then wandering around in the woods north of it before descending along the Hamilton Creek drainage. Only gone down Cedar before. Going up was an eye-opener, with the initial push of nearly 1000' EG in just over a 1/2 mile! Ai yi yi... :-)

January 20, 2014 8 miles 2,000 feet gained

Snowshoed in from Hood River Meadows. Followed the Elk Meadows trail to the Newton Creek junction, and were pretty much off-trail from there on. We followed the canyon, or actually the ridge directly west of it, to the Timberline Trail. From there, traversed over to the next ridge to our west, and climbed up that to a nice lunchspot view above the trees. The...

January 18, 2014 10 miles 3,000 feet gained

Introduced a good friend to Silver Star on Saturday, hitting the summit a couple times, in between forays onto different ridges radiating outward from it. Incredibly little snow given it's already mid-January! Roads to all trailheads were clear. No need at all for spikes or snowshoes. Amazing.

January 12, 2014 10.5 miles 3,000 feet gained

Did a real fun loop up that started up Catherine Creek, but then went right and followed Tracy Hill almost to the top. Then we just sort of rambled across game trails back over to Catherine Creek, which proved easy enough to cross, but a bit of a bear to escape! Sort of a scramble back up. We kept heading west, before descending down another game trail towar...

January 10, 2014 13 miles 1,500 feet gained

The forecast called for doom and gloom. What better excuse to head into an old-growth rain forest? It turned out to be a simply fantastic day! We hiked until we figured about half our daylight was gone, then turned around and came back out. This place is really hard to find, but worth it. Driving directions on gpsfly here: http://gpsfly.org/g/2971

January 5, 2014 19.5 miles 5,000 feet gained

Wonderful first trip up to Tanner Butte, with a whole slew of PortlandHikers folk. Two big takeaway impressions: a) Beargrass alley is vastly more significant than any trip reports or photos ever convey! b) I don't think there's an easier 4500' descent anywhere in the gorge.

January 4, 2014 8 miles 1,750 feet gained

Did the classic loop around Cape Horn before they close the lower section to preserve the sensibilities of some nesting falcons. Wanted to see how badly WTA had messed things up with re-routes and viewpoint closures. I guess it's not as bad as may have been feared, but it's still rather disconcerting at times. :-/

January 1, 2014 14.5 miles 4,250 feet gained

Rang in the new year with a "new favorite" loop through Beacon Rock State Park, tagging both Phlox Point (on Hardy Ridge) and Hamilton Mountain along the way. Good friend, good weather, good views, great hike.