The hiking fiesta on Mt Hood does not stop. Back to back weekends up there, soaking up time in the high altitude, surrounded by pine trees and that gorgeous mountain. This time, we decided to toss in some lakeside living to balance out the hike. It was my buddy Mike's idea to bring our rafts/inner tubes up with us on the backpacks, to float around in the lake. Despite going straight uphill for the first 55 minutes with this extra rubber weight, it ended up being way worth it. Nothing finer than just floating around and enjoying the view, relaxing, resting the legs and enjoying life. Nice twist to my average hikes of long distances and resting in the shade. One drawback was that lake water does not taste as good as river/glacier water.
The start of the hike was weird to me, as we walked uphill, pretty much with no turns. Literally just 2 small switchbacks in a straight ascent; no turns or deviations. Meaning, just keep moving upwards and keep that head straight ahead. Not many trails just keep going up, with all the hills, slopes and trees out there causing turns. This one just kept going, uninterrupted.
On top of the hike was a flat meadow, surrounded by trees, with sweet views of Mt Hood, plus a little creek going through it. Can't beat that, just picture perfect and well worth the hike up. After, was straight down, again without many switchbacks for another couple miles to the lake below. Decent sized, there were some day trippers there and a few campsites already set up. We set up our tents nearby the lake, and found a perfect grassy meadow along the shore to rest at and eat lunch at. Turned out to be the perfect place to cook, relax, watch stars and enjoy the ambiance. Awesome one night trip out there, with a good hike out the next day, followed by exploring the funky town of Hood River. Great trip outside of Portland as always, beating the heat, and continuing my exploration of Mt Hood. Here's some pictures:
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