Salmon River Trail; Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness, Mt. Hood National Forest. March 1st, 2015

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mthood/recarea/?recid=53608

Above is the link for the the 7.8 mile Salmon River Loop we hiked today. It is a glorious hike (fairly busy) along the Salmon River, through the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness. There are several gorgeous and perfectly placed campsites along the trail, with easy access to the water, and plenty of room for a large group of campers. Be advised, if you bring your pups on this hike, we saw at least 7 or 8 other dogs, and most of them were unleashed so be ready to grab and lift if that's your protocol. The climb to the lookout is gradual and not too intense, an has several lovely creeks you cross over on swithbacks. The old growth through this forest is breathtaking, and you will spot several giant spruces to drool at.

We saw a wild basset in the river bed.

Toilet, that-a-way!

As you reach the viewpoint, be careful of steep cliffs, which have been fatal to some hikers who were a bit too curious. Make sure and leash the dogs here. This is the Salmon River Canyon, apparently in the 1960s this was a planned route to be paved to connect to Highway 26. However it is now forever protected based on a Forest Service Legislation in the 80s. Thank goodness for that! She's a beaut Clark! Apparently there are some waterfalls just out of sight below the ridge, however we weren't brave enough to investigate this day. We spent an hour hiking in the dark back to the car, we got to try out the dogs new collar lights! And also realize how badly we needed new batteries in our headlamps :)

Really lovely view up top. We saw an owl gliding all about just before we headed back down but lost it before we could grab at the binoculars!

My best girl. Love you Mags.

Gorge Trail #400, Middle/Upper Oneanta Bridge, Horse Tail Falls

We are so spoiled living this close to the Columbia Gorge, but we find that the trails often have too many people for our liking, so we don't really end up there too much. We decided to check out some trails here that we've not done, and found some pretty cool spots!

Searching for Eagles. Haven't seen many at all this year.

Another sunny Portland winter day. We're getting used to it this year.

View of the the Columbia from a low point on the trail

Skeletor

NORTH LAKE HIKE, Mt. Hood National Forest, via Hood River Orchards and Parkdale

We had been itching to get out to pick some apples and take a drive through Hood River and the abundance of orchards therein. Tim chose a hike in the Mt. Hood Wilderness to hit up on the way home. Here is the link to the hike we chose.

http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/North_Lake_Hike

There are several lakes along this hike, and you can make it a 2 mile or an 11 miler!

For some reason the directions on the Portland Hikers Field guide seem a bit off to me, but we will have to take that approach next time. We followed the directions from the USDA.gov website here (same directions that were in our book)

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mthood/recarea/?recid=53254

I cannot recall the name of the orchard we stopped by, you pass so many on your way out of Hood River, these are granny smith apples and they were delicious! Tim made a crisp.

On to the trail, cold and cloudy day, very mossy woods, we saw an elk, and lots of large mammal scat!

Chloe taking in North Lake and all her wonder.

Windy rainy day, just beautiful.



The clouds came out and played magical tricks around the sun on the drive back down the hill, we saw a few bald eagles but couldn't get a good shot of them. Oh well, sometimes its just as lovely to have the memory!

Chanterelle Hunt November 2014: Gifford Pinchot/Panther Creek Wilderness

A few of us from work went Chanterelle hunting last weekend, we pulled off on Warren Gap Road in the Panther Creek Wilderness, and walked down a trail for a quarter mile, we found several magical spots filled with Chanterelles as well as other beautiful mushrooms. It was my favorite mushroom hunting trip to date.

We came back to carson via a loop to Panther Creek Road. We decided to sneak in a trip to Panther Creek Falls. This is very hard to see if you have never stopped before, above is the only sign at the trail head on the north side of the road, but it may be easier to look for the gravel pull out.

Rob with his treasures.

 Lower Panther Creek Falls

Photo Credit: Dale Davis, Lower Panther Creek Falls

 Daydreaming in fairy land.

 Dale looking adorable as ever.

June 2014: ALBERTA, BC, ROBSON PARK, JASPER and BANFF NATIONAL PARK: On the Road Again

We recently returned from a 6 day whirlwind trip spanning Portland, Seattle, Valemount BC, Edmondon Alberta, Idaho, Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and back home. Tim wanted to visit some old friends in Edmonton, and we decided to make a road trip out of it, it was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on. The Rocky Mountains are so breathtaking up North, they seem to reach forever in to the sky, and the wildlife is quite a treat as well. We got to see a grizzly bear and her two babies! I'll see a moose next time, that was on the "never have" list.  If you ever happen to be making a similar trip north, or are headed to Jasper National Park, I highly recommend staying at Robson Shadows Campground (http://www.mountrobsonlodge.com/), the pull in spots are right on the river and very quiet and private considering how close you are to the next campsite. There is one liquor and beer store in Valemount BC, the last town before camp, so make sure and pull over here to grab provisions and maybe gas up. It's a special place with special people, where a 6 pack of corona costs $25 Canadian Dollars. Yikes! 

We had an excellent time in Edmonton visiting Tim's old friend Ollie and his lovely girlfriend Michelle. We walked around the city, went to the "Leg", visited the largest mall in North America (after business hours which was pretty cool), and ate some amazing veggie meals. Hopefully they will be coming to visit us soon so we can take them on a tour of Portland!

We headed south and cut west just before Calgary on the "1",  through Banff National Park, and stopped by Lake Louise or "Lake of the Little Fishes", an awesome glacial lake just before crossing back in to British Columbia and seeing tons of bears and traveling the hot springs highway.

We used Tim's campground finder app to help us find a place in Idaho, somwhere north of Sandpoint so we could be "outside the city". We ended up in Smith Lake Campground in Bonners Ferry, ID.  It is free to camp, great fire pits and clean restrooms, plus we met a magical owl. He is my favorite. And he kept an eye on us all night long (we slept in the Kia for the first time, it was so cozy and warm) tent schment!!!

We finished off the trip by driving through Enterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, and staying in Union, Oregon at the http://thehistoricunionhotel.com/, dog friendly, very neat old hotel, its not the fanciest, but if you like the laid back, rusty nail kind of place, this is your spot.  Tim's favorite golf course (http://www.buffalopeakgolf.com/) and favorite bagel shop in Oregon are here, plus my new favorite rummage sale out of the old local church!

 Mt. Robson, view from the Robson Shadows Campground in Valemount, BC

There were about 700 hummingbirds outside the main office, they each were different shades of bright pastels.

The fur pigs settling in to camp. It was their first drive in camping trip, and our first one in a very long time! So much easier than the backback route :) Plus I could pack way more clothes!

Furmily.

We finally got to try out our new tent that I ordered from Sierra Trading Post. The 3-person, all season, Alps Mountaineering, Zenith tent. We love it, soooo much more room than the last one! Lots of head room. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/alps-mountaineering-zenith-3-al-tent-3-person-3-season~p~1480c/?filterString=s~alps-tent%2F&colorFamily=03

The double doors and vestibules work great for 2 dogs and wet gear, easy to move in/out of the tent w/out stepping on everything and everyone!

Good Morning British Columbia!



Horny Moose, sounds like an adult beverage. For the record, I didn't see a moose. With or without horns. 

One of the first little friends we made.

Big horned sheep in Jasper National Park.

Black Bear makes a go for it.

Lake Louise, Alberta

Lake Louise, Alberta, still mostly frozen.

One of several black bear families we saw near the road in Banff National Park.

 Mama and Baby Grizzlies in Banff, so amazing to see these gorgeous creatures up close. (Disclaimer: it is not a good idea to pull over and take pictures of grizzlies. It is not a good idea to get anywhere near grizzlies, especilly a Mother with babies, Tim and I are setting a horrible example here, if we had stayed a second longer, Mom probably would have charged our vehicle to protect her cubs.  But aren't they sooooo beautiful!!!!?)

so much of our drive was through this kind of country. It was quite a breathtaking trip.

Wallowa Lake

Trout in Wallowa Lake, this water is so clear!

Tim saw some kind of large bird land a few hundred feet from our campsite at Smith Lake, in Idaho. And we walked out to find this handsom devil, I believe he or she is a great horned owl. But his "great horns" are hiding somewhere!

A lovely spot by the little creek outside of Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, Oregon. http://www.terminalgravitybrewing.com/

Lunch Snuggles.

The road warriors. Maggie Mae and Chloe Breaulty

Happy Campers