Another fantastic hike! And again, a change in plans at the very last minute! Originally I was planning on going to Eagle Creek which happens to be one of the most popular hikes in the Columbia Gorge. In that hike you can find a waterfall that looks like a cup pouring water. I’ve seen some pictures of it and it seems to be incredible. Anyhow, plans changed for a couple of reasons, One because I didn’t know very well the group that was going there and second because a friend called me to do a more interesting hike. I was very lucky to change as I learned that same day that Eagle Creek was closed. It seems a rock, the size of a truck was about to fall on the trail! At the end I met with a couple of friends (we were only 4 on this trip) and we went to the Mazama Trail on Mount Hood. The Mazama Trail has its name from a hiking/conservationist group that maintains that trail. This trail takes you up Mount Hood on the North side until it meet with a trail that goes around the whole mountain (ask me if I have that hike on my list). From the beginning of the hike we started walking on fresh snow. I’ve got to tell you that late snow from winter and new snow from the fall are two complete different things. This hike was accompanied all the time with the beautiful views of Mount Hood. Taking pictures was not an easy task, having the sun right in front of us made it a challenge. As you’ll see in the pictures, we crossed a couple of semi-frozen creeks and a small lake/pond also frozen. A very strange thing was to encounter a section of the trail, covered by trees, without any snow. The pictures are in the order I took them, so you’ll see what I mean with strange. The other views we got, looking north, included Mount Adams (the closest volcano on the Washington side), Mount Raineer further west (to the left) and Mount St Helens all the way to the back and west (You can recognize St Helens by it’s flat top, that’s the remain after the 1980 eruption). This trail had one curious note. You’ll see one picture with what seem to be footprints. Being round, big and close together, I though they were bear tracks. Two of my friends agreed with me on that assumption, the third was more inclined on thinking that it was just a biped animal looking for a tree…Last note (for me), it’s better to use waterproof boots on snow!
Mazama Trail, November 3rd
Another fantastic hike! And again, a change in plans at the very last minute! Originally I was planning on going to Eagle Creek which happens to be one of the most popular hikes in the Columbia Gorge. In that hike you can find a waterfall that looks like a cup pouring water. I’ve seen some pictures of it and it seems to be incredible. Anyhow, plans changed for a couple of reasons, One because I didn’t know very well the group that was going there and second because a friend called me to do a more interesting hike. I was very lucky to change as I learned that same day that Eagle Creek was closed. It seems a rock, the size of a truck was about to fall on the trail! At the end I met with a couple of friends (we were only 4 on this trip) and we went to the Mazama Trail on Mount Hood. The Mazama Trail has its name from a hiking/conservationist group that maintains that trail. This trail takes you up Mount Hood on the North side until it meet with a trail that goes around the whole mountain (ask me if I have that hike on my list). From the beginning of the hike we started walking on fresh snow. I’ve got to tell you that late snow from winter and new snow from the fall are two complete different things. This hike was accompanied all the time with the beautiful views of Mount Hood. Taking pictures was not an easy task, having the sun right in front of us made it a challenge. As you’ll see in the pictures, we crossed a couple of semi-frozen creeks and a small lake/pond also frozen. A very strange thing was to encounter a section of the trail, covered by trees, without any snow. The pictures are in the order I took them, so you’ll see what I mean with strange. The other views we got, looking north, included Mount Adams (the closest volcano on the Washington side), Mount Raineer further west (to the left) and Mount St Helens all the way to the back and west (You can recognize St Helens by it’s flat top, that’s the remain after the 1980 eruption). This trail had one curious note. You’ll see one picture with what seem to be footprints. Being round, big and close together, I though they were bear tracks. Two of my friends agreed with me on that assumption, the third was more inclined on thinking that it was just a biped animal looking for a tree…Last note (for me), it’s better to use waterproof boots on snow!
Camping at Elk Lake, October 27th
This trip was, as usual, a last minute plan. Knowing that the weather would be spectacular over the weekend, I was looking into possible places I could go camping. I did try to get a group together for it without much luck. By Friday everything was telling me I was going by myself. That afternoon Kristin emailed me telling me she was heading that night to Elk Lake on a two night stay. After thinking a bit and packing at high speed, I decided to wait until Saturday morning to leave. That ended being a good decision. Elk Lake is a place you can drive to, it also has “unimproved” campsites. This means there are some facilities but not all of them. It also means the road is not that accessible. On my way there, after about 20 miles of dirt road, I started to think I was in the wrong route. At that point I found a lake with no name that I was able to identify in the Topo map. Unluckily I didn’t take any photos there. Part was, well, because I was kind of lost. Anyway, after finding my bearings, I drove for about 15 minutes and finally got to Elk Lake and the camp site. The lake is beautiful, but I doubt that camping there in the summer would be a god idea. Being able to drive there, it must get pretty crowded. After a short rest, I set up my tent and then we decided to go on a day hike to Battle Ax Mountain. The trail is an arduous uphill climb to the top with view that open up as you climb. Probably the best part is the last three steps when you reach the top and a 360 panoramic view opens up. With a clear day like we had, we could clearly se Jefferson, Adams, Hood and St Helens. It was also very interesting to see another mountain where I was and say “I’ve been to that peak before”. It puts everything in a different perspective, and yes, it’s cool. After resting for a bit and eating, we started our descent on the other side of the mountain. On this side, the most amazing thing was to walk thru an area that probably remains in shadows most of the time. That area was covered with snow and all the small lakes where partially frozen. It looked almost magical. I will leave the pictures to talk for themselves. The rest of the trail was very nice and we ended back at camp with a nice dinner. That night was a bit cold but with no wind. We did think about doing another hike on Sunday but since we all woke up late, we didn’t. After a nice brunch that included eggs and toast, we tore down the camp and headed out back to civilization.
| Camping at Elk Lake |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)