Finally, we got to plan a hike with some of the guys I work with. In the past, whenever the remote guys are I town, I’ve tried to organize and outing. On every occasion we had to cancel either due to weather or because there was something else going on. This time we finally were able to do it and even despite the bad weather we had the entire week, we were lucky to have a small window of blue skies, crisp fall air and amazing views. In contrast with leading hikes with the group, I meet everyone at the hotel and we split into a couple of cars to head up to the mountain. After getting passes, parking and passing around some extra gear so nobody would freeze we started of the well covered trail towards Mirror Lake. It was wet and humid making it feel a bit cooler than usual, but we kept our pace and pretty quick got to the junction with the lake. On the way up, I decided to go around the lake so we crossed the bridge and took the west side trail where we got out first views of the lake and our destination. On the other side, we got the classic reflection that is always good for numerous pictures. After that short break, we took the trail to the top of the mountain which went pretty well making only a short stop in the opening that faces Hwy26 and gives you a limited view of Hood. From there we marched our way to the top which, for first timers is always a treat as you don’t see anything until the very last step when the view opens up with Mt Hood right in your face. We stopped there for the pictures and grab something to eat while being almost blown away. Just when our toes and fingers were starting to feel the effects of the wind, we started our hike back retracing our steps but without going around the lake. It was a great hike that ended with some beers at our usual stop at Sky Way.
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