Days 2-3 on the trail

 The above shows a typical Northwest scene. Pine and for trees, often  rock fall and a trail leading the way somewhere. As I got further away from Mount Hood, I could really see how far I’d gone. On day two I did 14 miles. Day three was 15 miles. And that up with they won, and that’s an even 50 miles over three days. So much scenery, so many trees, so many miles, and some tired legs. But the payoff was to come the next day when I got to the lakes by Ollalie Lake. Alpine Lakes for days…

Photos from day 2 and 3:

Good old trail markers leading the way 

Happy hiker  on his way To Warm Springs River, really a creek right now

Follow the trail they say...

My pack and newly acquired walking stick. Knees already feeling the miles

Dehydrated stew and a river ice bath on night two 

Hood getting further away, 30+ miles away now from where started hiking 

Out of the forest with cascade views behind and my su hat on setting the trends

Nicely maintained trails 

Out whooping it up!

Days hiking the wilderness

For quite a while now, I have wanted to do part of the Pacific crest Trail. It is one of the most iconic trails in the West, going from Mexico to Canada, and it runs right through Oregon, often where I have been hiking. To me, it sounded fun to put some miles on the trail, testing out the through hiking where are you bring all your food and gear and just hit the trail. Quite the test of endurance of both body and mind. Plus the scenery would be amazing. So with 2020 being such a wild year, and my European trip postponed, what better time to set off on an isolated hike for a week through the wilderness?

The plan was to hike from Mount Hood nearby me in Portland 100 miles south over a week of blissful hiking. I planned it out and rides to and from the trails, and set out last Saturday for the adventure. So cool to be on the trail at last, Ready to go as far as I wanted and run the show. I set out with Timothy lake as my end destination just over 20 miles away, feeling ambitious from the start. I would get water once along the way, and right before the lake, meaning I had to carry a decent amount of water with me, as often on this trail water would be spread out with miles between chances to fill up. 

Here are some highlights from day 1:

All packed and ready to go and set out from Mt Hood

First trail crossing. Still headed south with Hood behind

11 miles in and Hood looks pretty far away

The old PCT logo is still out there as a marker sometimes

Little Crater Lake, known for its clarity and taste. I can attest to both 

First night campsite overlooking the se set over Timothy Lake

20 + miles deserves a dip!

The Mighty North

As the NW explorations continue, I'm enjoying finding new places and seeing new landscapes.  Last year my uncle gave me a book entitled "The Seven Summits" of which there was one I didn't know. Mt Shuksan.  I had to look it up last year, saw it was way up almost to Canada and a ways east of Seattle.  Figured it probably wouldn't happen anytime soon, and yet there I was on the train up to Seattle last weekend with hiking plans for Mt Shuksan. Low and behold, some Seattle friends knew of a great hike to the base of the mountain that they wanted to try out and it sounded perfect for me.

The drive from Seattle early Saturday morning was great.  Leaving the cityscapes behind we turned off the 5 freeway and drove a couple hours on country roads, through small towns with names like Acme and Glacier, with great views of towering snow-covered peaks in the distance.  So nice and exciting to look at, knowing our end goal might be one of those mountains in the distance.  We were seeing a lot of the North Cascades National Park, which is full of all sorts of glorious peaks.

Parking by a closed visitor center and passing many masked day hikers, we headed up 800 feet, to get to the Lake Ann trailhead, our end goal.  From there it was another 800 feet down to the valley floor, full of open meadows, creeks and some good views all around.  Kind of like a Yosemite Valley vibe, minus the large rock monoliths.  Pretty soon we could see parts of the jagged Shuksan and cloudy bits of Mt Baker.

Zig zagging up snowy rockfall, we made it to the lake which was almost as frozen as an ice cube.  Snow and ice all over, but the best part was the view of Shuksun from there.  Just an open expanse of a view, which a half mile from the lake, we made our view, as we set up camp in an open flat spot overlooking the mountain, hills, valleys and peaks in the distance.  A winner of a spot with a creek nearby as well.

The rest of the time was spent exploring the climbers trail and talking to those who were coming down/heading up to climb the 9100ft mountain.  We turned around at the spot where you needed ropes, but got a great view of Baker from up high.  Hiking around Lake Ann and above it, offered new perspectives and entertainment.  Just an all around good spot for an overnighter and day trips.

In the night, we were treated to two planets, multiple stars and an epic moonrise that was so bright it cast shadows.

Jefferson Explorations

Hi everyone!  The adventures have been grand this summer so far as I keep exploring the Pacific Northwest.  Recently, two friends and myself headed to Jefferson Park to explore.  It's been high on the list for a while and is renown for its lakes, views and meadows.  Which makes it a popular spot, although it is a couple hour drive to most cities.

We were definitely not the first to the parking lot and passed multiple people on the hike in.  It's about 6 miles up to the lakes, and due to a recent forest fire, we had some epic views on the way up.  All smiles going in, due to excitement, nature and some fun stories being passed around. Something about hiking with good friends that gets you laughing a lot more. 

You get up towards the lakes and are rewarded with views that are straight from postcards.  How can you top a trail curling along hillsides with lakes and mountain views all around?

Wildflowers were still in full effect all over, with multiple colors booming in different patches.

Mt Jefferson is the 2nd highest mountain in Oregon, and stands mighty fine.

Little ponds dotted the landscape on the valley floor.  Pretty much wherever you are down there, the view is fantastic and you are close to a lake for swimming.  Or a pond for catching reflections.

One of the 8 or so lakes that you could hike around, find campsites at and relax.  Loads of people with hammocks out enjoying the vibes, and swatting the ever present mosquito population.  Was it super beautiful?  yes.  Were the mosquitoes horrible?  Understatement of the century.

We did a day hike up part of Mt Jefferson and were rewarded with the valley floor below and Mt Hood in the distance.  I'm a happy man whenever I have a view of Mt Hood, and being up on Jefferson made it even better.  So much grandeur all around!

Here is our campsite, right next to a running stream, with a mountain view.  Can't beat that setup. 

Loads of creeks around to drink from as I'm partial to river or stream water. Lake water just has a certain taste to it that makes me look for running water.

Hello!

Hi everyone! Here are some fun pictures from a recent hike on Mount Jefferson. We blazed the trail up, found a spot with amazing views of Mount Hood in the distance, and soaked it up. Down below in the Jefferson Park wilderness, lakes, ponds, meadows and mosquitoes awaited us. Wait, the mosquitoes came up the hike with us. Apart from the mosquitoes, this was one of the most beautiful places in the NW. 

Back to nature

Well, it's summertime and that means I'm normally out backpacking around the mountains nearby Portland.  I got up this past weekend for the first time in 6 weeks, due to multiple adventures outside of Portland.  Two separate week+ long trips to the San Juan Islands/Olympic National Park and to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming were mixed in with camping trip in Central Washington.  It's been a great summer so far, full of adventures and it felt so good to be back on Mt Hood.

I hiked up around a reflective lake to a mountain spot perfect for hammock camping (see above) and enjoying the fine views of Mt Hood.  A perfect spot that was idyllic in it's view, silence and bountiful nature.  The mosquitoes did their bit to keep me awake all throughout the night, but waking up to the sunrise two mornings in a row was well worth it.  Here's how the sun progressed to rise over Mt Hood in the mornings:

And if I walked 10 feet, I was able to see the lake down below. Pretty damn good:

Another fine backpacking trip in the books.  More to come this summer as I keep exploring the NW and living the good life.

I hope the summer is going well with everyone!

What's that?  It's been a long while with no blog posts?  Has there been a white out?  Well, it's been winter and I've been out playing in the mountains, exploring the amazing city of Portland and catching up on my basketball.  Early summer is in full effect here, so expect more posts to come soon!  Here's a shot of me having fun while staying at a hut 5000 feet up on Mount Hood.  Always good times up on the mountain!

Some say that one baseball game is too long. Some would say that 3 in a row is way too many. I differ on both fronts. As noted in the below post, I went to Seattle to catch my beloved Dodger play the Mariners for 3 whole games. You bet I was there for that series!  This Ian just the third time the Dodgers have played at Safeco afield and I was at the last series as well. Can’t pass up a good weekend in Seattle, just a few hours north with my Dodgers in town.

Games 1 and 3 were huge Dodger wins. Felt like home run city as we scored 11 and 12 runs. The middle game was definitely the most entertaining, a quality baseball game from start to finish and had  a great Dodgers comeback in the 8th inning to be down two runs. And then after the Mariners closer came out to a thunderous standing ovation, full of bumping music, Max Muncy hit a game tying homer. Epic!  Sadly we lost on a balk off, which was ridiculous, but Arnold least we all were entertained.

It felt like Seattle was taken over by Dodgers fans. People all over the city wearing Dodger Blue. High fives up and down the streets and then, inside the stadium, it was nuts. Almost felt like a home game in there with all the celebrating. Damn, it felt good. Amazing experience in there. Can’t beat that feeling and I’ll be sure to come back whenever the next time is.