We made time to do one more high altitude hike on Mount Hood before departing for a six week camping trip that will swing through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Compared to last week’s Mazama trail, the Elk Cove trail is slightly less challenging but longer trek It departs from the Vista Ridge Trailhead […]
It’s been a while since we hiked in our own backyard, which in our case is Mount Hood. One of our favorite trails was up to Cairn Basin on the northeast flank so we thought we’d approach it from a different trailhead, a little further up Lolo Pass, instead of from Top Spur. We arrived […]
With temperatures forecast to be over 100 degrees in Portland, we decided to escape to the Oregon coast for a week. We had no specific destination in mind, other than to camp at Cape Lookout State Park for the first night. Having gotten a later start then planned, we weren’t completely surprised that all 205 […]
After taking a horse-packing trip through eastern Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains in late July of 2007, I knew we’d return someday and try to cover the same territory on foot. So that’s what we set out to do in June. We’re also frequent users and contributors to an online camping resource called Campendium, and very few […]
We drove south on April 23, intending to check out the community of Sunriver which is about 15 minutes south of Bend, Oregon. This was our “shake down trip” since the purchase of a 12 volt ARB refrigerator— we needed to find out what the drain would be on our batteries. While we didn’t much […]
With five days of rain headed our way, we decided to get a hike in while the weather held. We decided to try Angel’s Rest again which is less than a half hour away from our house. The temperature hovered around 50 degrees with overcast skies. About half the parking lot was full when we […]
Be sure to check out the most recent update of our van conversion: Transit Enhancements We promised a full report from our original post about the 2015 Ford Transit cargo van conversion upon returning from our five-week, 3000 mile trip to the southwest this fall. We didn’t make it as far as we intended (Tucson, […]
With a retirement date of October and our departure-from-Oregon on October 5, the last two weeks of September were consumed with putting in my last two weeks of work at school, retirement paperwork, and weeding through decades of files, both paper and digital. I kicked off the new academic year as usual and participated in […]
The information in this post has been updated and published as “Update: Ford Transit Camper Van” BACK STORY: Because of the greyhounds, in 2014 we transitioned from backpacking/tent camping to car camping with a pop-up tent trailer at state parks. We enjoyed the Livin Lite Quicksilver 8.1 trailer— it was sleek, lightweight and had everything […]
After the Black Butte hike, we arrived at the intersection of NFS 1110 and 1120, (the road up to Black Butte trailhead) intending to drive back through Sisters. We spotted a sign “Lake Billy Chinook- 20 miles” on FR11 and confirmed the route on a paper map, we turned the van toward home, going “the […]
We packed up relatively early (for us) on Saturday morning with our goal of the summit of Black Butte clearly laid out before us, but still cloud-covered after the night’s rain. That’s it on the left of the panorama below. There were only two other cars parked at the trailhead which was just a few […]
After yesterday’s challenging trek through the lava flow at McKenzie Pass, we thought a low-elevation stroll along the West Metolius River to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery and back was in order. We headed north along the river’s west bank to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery from the trailhead at the Canyon Creek Campground. After […]
We got a late start for a “pre-Labor Day” excursion because of a delayed roof replacement project at home. After looking at the weather for next few days, we decided on central Oregon as our destination, and focused on the Sisters area. That’s as far as our planning went. We had a full cooler of […]
2014 was a year of big changes. Sorely missing our little whippet, Willow (she died in 2012), we finally felt ready to find another sight hound. Enter the newest member of the Beyond family, Prospect. Prospect is a 3-year old brindle-colored retired racing greyhound from Kansas. After arriving in Portland in August 2013, he spent […]
Wow! This first part of our hike, Lookout Mountain Loop is a keeper, featuring the most dramatic views in the shortest distance for the least effort. True to form, our arrival at the High Prairie trailhead was straight up noon. On the dot. That left less than six hours to get back to the car […]
This eight mile, scenic loop trail starts at Tumalo Falls, 14 miles southwest of Bend. The parking area was small and full when we arrived, but we found a spot along the road. From the number of cars coming and going, we got the impression that most of the people were there for the viewpoint […]
We headed to central Oregon to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather, intending to hike around Smith Rock State Park and then drive south to Tumalo State Park to camp overnight. Unfortunately, Smith Rock was packed full of people (an archeology event and lots of other like-minded hikers/climbers). To avoid the crowds, we thought we’d hike […]
Since both the school year and the rainy season started three weeks ago, our weekly hikes have been on hiatus. September set records for rainfall throughout much of Oregon. When the clouds cleared over Mount Hood in early October, we were surprised to see it completely blanketed in white. Saturday dawned bright and clear so […]
We’d hiked McIntyre Ridge trail three summers ago with our sweet little whippet, Willow, and have wanted to give it another try ever since. When we tried to reach the trail head in March we were stymied by too much snow so we hiked the Clackamas River Trail instead. We’d read about trouble with people […]
The Opal Creek Wilderness is the site of a former mining operation that dates to the 1850s, an hour east of Salem, Oregon. The Opal Creek Trailhead is 100 miles from our house, and several hikes depart from this point. To celebrate David’s birthday today, we hiked both Jawbone Flats and the Cedar Flats. Opal […]
We thought we’d switch it up from our recent Mt. Hood hikes so we focused on the Columbia River Gorge, settling on the Herman Creek Trail to Indian Point. The trailhead is a few miles east of Cascade Locks and, being relatively early on a Monday, parking was readily available. The trail immediately starts climbing […]
After camping overnight at Elk Meadows, we got an early start on the day and returned to the Hood River Meadows Trailhead where we ditched our packs. We thought we’d travel light to checkout the Umbrella Falls after not quite making it that far last week when we hiked from Timberline Lodge over to Mt. Hood […]
We thought we’d try an overnight on the mountain by starting at the Hood River Meadows Trailhead. Before departing, we each weighed our packs and came out pretty even at 27 pounds. In addition to our clothes, sleeping pad and bag and three liters of water, David hauled the tent and I carried the cook […]
In typical fashion, we got a late noon start from Timberline Lodge. This time, our goal was to head east on the Timberline Trail #600 from the lodge and get over to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area where Umbrella Falls is located. To do so, we’d have to drop about 1300 feet down to the […]
We first took up road cycling four summers ago. I (Chris) signed up to participate in the 2010 Tour de Cure fundraising event that benefits the American Diabetes Association. By committing to this early August event, I figured I’d have the whole summer to get in shape once school ended in June. Our daughter Hannah […]
After a donut run to Joes Donuts in Sandy to fuel up and a pit stop at the handsome new Zigzag Ranger District Office, we arrived at the Top Spur trail head at noon Monday. On the weekends, the parking spills out along the road for a long way in both directions, but today we […]
We vowed to get an early start for Sunday morning’s hike from Timberline Lodge. Which means 10-ish. Expecting the parking lot at Timberline Lodge to be sparsely populated at that hour, we were surprised to see it nearly as full as during a prime winter skiing day. Apparently for many, July 14 is also a […]
We had made plans to climb Mount Saint Helens in Washington and reserved climbing permits months ago. With the climb less than a week away, we double-checked our equipment and did more online research in preparation. Recent reports included words such as “ice ax”, “crampons”, “snow field” which really got our attention. We read that […]
On the way back home from Sun Valley, Idaho, we decided to take a different route once we got to Oregon border. We left the interstate (I-84) at Baker City, had lunch and then took Hwy 7 towards Sumpter, which also turns out to be the southern half of the Elkhorn Scenic Byway. This is […]
It was a rare occasion for us to have both of our daughters and their significant others in town. Since the forecast indicated solid rain for the Portland area, we decided to head east where we’d have a better chance of finding some dry weather. Neither John nor Kevin had been to Eastern Oregon, or […]
We finally found Pup Creek Falls, after two unsuccessful attempts earlier this year. Once, we ran out of time when approaching from the west via the Fish Creek trail head. On the next attempt, we started from the east at Indian Henry trail head, but the water was too high to make the final 1/3 […]
The forecast for the Memorial Day weekend was nothing but rain so we headed to central Oregon for a spur-of-the-moment excuse for a meeting with David’s client, Kara Wilson Anglin of Wilson Ranches Retreat in Fossil. The bed and breakfast was full up, so she graciously offered us the use of an unfurnished house on […]
Trail #791 – Salmon Butte Trail. We haven’t been up to the Salmon Butte trail since the winding mountain road leading to it was converted to trails-only in late 2010. That summer, Chris and nephew Tyler got part way up the trail when he got the itch to burn a few calories with his off-road […]
Today was a beautiful Spring day so we decided to head up to the Salmon River Trail for a hike. It’s an easy 30 minute drive to the trail head just south of Welches on Salmon River Road. We’ve been on this trail a few times, but never all the way out to the Goat […]
We started out the day intending to hike up McIntyre Ridge to Wildcat Mountain, but encountered the true meaning of “snow line” 5 miles before the trail head. Stymied by sudden deep snow on the road, we changed direction and headed to a lower elevation to try the east end of the Clackamas River Trail […]
Cougars and skunks and smelt oh my! Well not really, but Wednesday’s weather looked like the usual Spring Break mixed bag— partly cloudy, imminent rain showers, possible sun breaks. With that in mind, we thought a quick stretch-of-the-legs was in order to break up another day at the computer prepping for spring term classes. The […]
We headed up to Mt. Hood for some Valentine’s Day snowshoeing and were the first ones to arrive at the White River Junction Sno-park even though it was late morning. Dramatic clouds formed all around us, with patches of blue sky. The snow was un-tracked with two inches of fresh powder as we followed the river […]
On the way back from two nights at the Pickett Butte Lookout, we took the scenic route home via the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway. One of the features along this three hour road detour was the dramatic Toketee Falls which is invisible from the highway. It flows out of a graceful columnar basalt formation that frames […]
Somewhat on the spur of a January moment, we made on online reservation at the Pickett Butte fire lookout in Southern Oregon. We’ve stayed at a couple of other Oregon fire lookouts, but this would be our first tower. As in 52 ladder-like steps up into the frosty winter air. After driving several hours, we […]
We began our hike at the Fish Creek Trailhead to get on the Clackamas River Trail which would take us to Pup Creek Falls. The trail roughly follows the south shore of the river for miles and miles. It’s a beautiful 7 mile out-and-back hike, with many opportunities for a swim in the warmer months. […]
We tried out our new Atlas snowshoes on the trail, but pretty quickly discovered that they were unnecessary for the conditions (packed snow, not slippery). The view was limited by the tree-lined road. Mt. Hood was visible from a meadow and again at the lake, but that’s about it. Met a handful of cross-country skiers […]
We arrived at Cape Lookout just before dark and checked in with the camp host. We had reserved the “Nestucca” Deluxe Cabin online a few days before, a steal at $56 a night. The path from the parking lot to the cabin was lined with small lights mounted on wooden posts. The cabin itself was […]
Portland’s been under an inversion this week with dull gray skies, very cold freezing fog and and high of 30 degrees if we’re lucky. So David and I decided to follow the sun and head to the coast where it was bright and sunny with temperatures in the 60s. We found brand new “deluxe cabins” […]
We’ve been looking for ways to get outside during the winter months here in Oregon. We don’t get much snow at our elevation (1000 feet). Instead it’s an unrelenting cold rain which isn’t much fun for hiking or cycling. But, we do have easy access to snow with Mount Hood basically in our back yard […]
This trail is one of our favorites because it’s only a couple of miles away from our house, and we rarely see other people during our monthly hikes. The footing is soft and well-maintained. This particular post documents our Christmas Eve hike down to the river. We follow the equestrian trail, which starts out at […]
Central Oregon offers landscapes that contrast greatly to what we’re used to in the Portland area. Smith Rock reminds me of Arizona in so many ways— from the smell of the stunted Junipers to the wind-carved sandstone pillars. While it’s known around the world as a destination for rock climbers, it also has some challenging […]
I’ll start out this post by stating up front that we’ll never return to Badger Lake or its campground. While it’s less than 60 miles from our house, it’s almost impossible to get there from here. What should have been a hour’s drive turned into almost four by the time we had hurled our new […]
This Columbia River Gorge hike is extremely popular, so it’s best to get an early start to beat the weekend crowds or choose a weekday. Either way, it’s a worthwhile, relatively easy hike with tremendous scenic payoffs throughout the journey. Many PCT through-hikers take this route north from Mount Hood to reach Cascade Locks and […]
Our second trip to an Oregon fire lookout, took us to Gold Butte at 4618 feet elevation in the Willamette National Forest near Detroit, Oregon. To get there, we drove several hours, taking the beautiful “back way” through Estacada and Breitenbush. The lookout is a steep hike about 3/4 of a mile from where you […]
Originally, we headed to Bend for a hike around Smith Rock, but changed our minds as we drove through Sandy. Instead, we decided to check out a more local destination, and if we could make it to the trail head (the guides say the road was ‘difficult’), we’d do the Burnt Lake hike instead. The […]
Another one of our favorite hikes on Mount Hood. We started at the crowded Top Spur Trailhead off of Lolo Pass Road. We’ve done parts of this hike before which included Bald Mountain. This time, though, we decided to extend the hike by adding a loop on the Timberline Trail down to Ramona Falls which […]
Timber Butte Lookout is about 20 miles from Lowell, Oregon and sits at 3650 feet elevation. This Willamette National Forest lookout features a picturesque little cabin that is at ground level. We were able to drive to within several hundred feet below the lookout and park at near the vault toilet. The warm days promoted […]
I’d been trying to get David on this bike trail ever since it opened up a year or two ago. It’s a 21 mile long rail-to-trail that has been constructed over old train tracks which includes two dramatic 700 foot long, 80 feet high trestles. We started at the Manning trailhead, shaving 6 miles off […]
We started a few miles southeast of Estacada in the parking lot at the PGE Powerstation off of Faraday Road. A 5 mile paved pedestrian/bike trail starts there and follows the North Fork Reservoir of the Clackamas River to Promontory Park where it joins Hwy 226 again. It’s a gradual incline for dozens of miles, […]
We needed to escape the heat of the valley so we headed up to the east side of Mount Hood, where it was still hot, but bearable in the forest. It was our first time hiking out to Tamanawas Falls. The first part of the trail parallels the highway. The view wasn’t bad, but the […]
We finally managed to get down to the Bend, Oregon area for three days of sightseeing and hiking. We stayed at a surprisingly authentic adobe pueblo style house we found through AirBNB. Our first stop was the High Desert Museum where we enjoyed lots of interesting historic displays and wildlife. Next up was Lava Lands […]
Silver Falls State Park has an extensive, well maintained trail that can be hiked in several different lengths. The full loop is 6.9 miles and features 10 waterfalls and the trail even passes behind Silver Falls. We decided to do a shorter loop on this Mother’s Day outing with daughter Hannah. The trail’s beginning is […]