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!

EAGLE CREEK: Spawning Chinook: October 2014

Over the past few months, we've been on a quest to find the the best spots to catch the salmon running. We have taken family and friends to the ladder windows at  Bonneville Dam, as well as the Bonneville hatchery to catch a glimpse of the hard working fishies. We visited Eagle Creek in late October to find a massive amount of very tired, and very determined, mostly Chinook, salmon. 

(and also several very dead, if you can't handle heavy smells maybe this isn't for you, or at least just stay further down the creek towards the river).



Flying Salmon!

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.

STRAWBERRY LAKE(wildfire weekend): via Fossil/John Day/Strawberry Mountains

Some late photos of our trip to Strawberry Lake and the Strawberry Mountains last month. Click the Portland Hikers link for more information. Strawberry Mountain Loop. We had to delay this trip the first week because of several uncontrolled wildfires in the area, we passed several brand new fires on our drive out, and back home on this trip. (see pictures below). We are so grateful for all the selfless fire workers and volunteers, and can't imagine how hard they are all working to try and keep us, and all the animals in the area as safe as possible. Thank you!

Chloe the camo Basset.

Smoky Oregon.

Giant Bug friends. He kept trying to play Yahtzee with us. I approve.

This may have been the Murderer's Creek/Wilderness Fire, or the beginning of it.

Murderer's Creek Wildfire. Malhuer National Forest.

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!