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.

Trillium Lake, Mt. Hood; Snowless February 2015

Trillium Lake is generally a snowshoeing trail this time of year, but it has been a crazy warm/dry year in the PNW, so although it was a bit soggy out today, the road to Trillium, although closed to vehicular traffic, was almost comletely snow-free. It's a quick 2 miles (or so) from the gate to the lake. There is also a 1.9 mile loop around the lake which we have done before, but didn't have the daylight to do it this time.

Maggie and Virginia in the usual pose



Maggie testing out the ice

This ice patch looks just like an upside down salmon

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!

ELK MEADOWS: Mt Hood Wilderness; Newton Creek

Maggie excited to be out on an adventure. It's been almost a month! (poor dogs right?) :)

Tim and I took a week day and drove out to Mt Hood Wilderness to do the ELK MEADOWS HIKE (click the link for the Portland Hiker's Field Guide reference page). This hike is moderate, 5 miles, and best time to go is Summer to Early Fall, any later the Newton Creek crossing gets a little sketchy. It was such a beautiful day, here are some pictures!



Stopped by the Barlow Trail and Pioneer Woman's grave turnoff to take a look at this view. One of my favorites. (same viewpoint as the cover photo for the blog).




Not sure how this tree got these hash marks... It looks very intentional and geometric, any ideas?




A nice peak at Mt Hood just after you start the uphill switchbacks from Newton Creek.



Branch Jenga

waterfall of branches, a secret spring was coming from underneath. Fairy land!

Adventure Dogs.

A lovely view from a clearing along the trail, this is about one mile in on the uphill switchbacks past Newton Creek.




The trails are really well marked in this area. There are several turn offs but you shouldnt have trouble staying on the right path! About 3/4 of a mile past this sign, we saw about 3 female perigrine falcons taking a bath together. It was so awesome!!!

Chloe Breault-y at Elk Meadows. This is a great place to camp, read, take a nap, and just take it all in!