Trapper Creek, Sep 10th

With many things going on, I was about to post a hike on my own when Zach, one of the hike leaders in the group, posted a hike in Trapper Creek. Since he had been doing some really nice hikes that involved considerable distance and elevation gain and I needed a bit of exercise, I decided to join him instead. I’m not sure what was it but the day did not start very good. I guess I might have been a bit dehydrated which combined with the high temperature and humidity triggered a headache that left me walking almost by remote control. I was not happy. As if that was not enough, my well worn hiking shoes gave out and started bothering me. About half way thru the hike I opted for taking them of and hiking barefoot. That didn’t work well in the long run as I couldn’t find a god way to keep my socks and insoles in place (despite the duct tape) to protect my feet. At some point Val came to my rescue (thank you sweetie) and gave me her shoes which worked nicely for the rest of the hike while she wore mine. I guess the way I break shoes didn’t affect her at all… go figure. Anyway, despite all of the above, the hike was not terrible at all. The Trapper Creek wilderness is wonderful and incredibly beautiful forest with some old growth sections, many creeks and streams and some great scenery. It does offer some trails for backpacking adventures and explorations as many spur trails cross the area giving you more than a couple of options to reach different destinations. Zach’s choice was great as it gave us a good sample of all that and left the possibility open for future hikes in the area.



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Battle Ax, Sep 3rd

I did Battle Ax about three years ago and was fascinated with the views from the top as well as the wintery scenery on the back trail coming back down. For some time now, I had been thinking of re-doing this hike but stayed away from it as it requires a long drive for a not so long hike. For this weekend though, I had not planned anything with the group so, considering the good weather forecast, I took of with Val to do this great little hike. Views were as expected with the added bonus of being able to see the big smoke cloud hovering over Mt Hood due to the Dollar Lake fire which was, coincidentally, the place we visited two weeks before. Looking at it from the distance gave us mixed feeling. ON one side it looked incredible but on the other, it was hard to imagine the destruction it was coming from. This hike is still one of my favorites for some reason and being able to share it with Val was the icing on the cake.



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