Tom, Dick and Harry, Oct 27th

Tom, Dick and Harry located along hwy26 is one of those short nice hikes in Oregon that’s in the must visit list. If for nothing else, getting to Mirror Lake is just a stroll in the forest with great rewards. Once you get to the lake, you can circle it and enjoy the reflections of Mt Hood in its waters… that of course, requires a nice, clear, blue sky day which we didn’t have. But even with the overcast day we had, we had our treat as we hiked in the first snow of the season around the lake. From there, we continued up towards the summit. As temperature was not cold enough to keep the snow from melting, the whole trail was a small creek making it hard to go without drenching your boots. My original plan was to get to the summit, have lunch up there and then spend some time exploring the ridge but weather had other plans. Once we got out of the cover of the forest, we got rain, wind and snow to the point that we got there, took a picture and came back down just making a quick stop at the junction with the Mirror Lake trail, under a tree, to grab a quick bite and continue to the cars. At least we got a decent workout right?



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Yocum Ridge, Oct 6th

Scratched another one from the to-do list. This hike has been in my radar for quite some time but for reasons unknown to me, it was put in the backburner and never revisited. I guess it had to do with a previous hike long time ago where I think we did try to get there but whoever was leading didn’t find the way and we ended up in a section of the PCT that was washed out. So this time I gathered a bit more info and headed out with a small group of very fast hikers. We started from the Ramona Falls trailhead and quickly reached the Sandy River to cross on the seasonal bridge. It was a gorgeous day. From the two options to reach Ramona Fall, we took the northern trail that travels parallel to a small creek and some interesting rock walls that are part of the side of Yocum Ridge. This first section was quick and beautiful. When we reached the PCT, we needed to turn left to continue towards Yocum Ridge but instead we went to Ramona Falls to take a short break and then backtrack. I’ve got to say that this is still, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the region. After a quick bite=, we took off continuing on the PCT towards the Yocum Ridge intersection. In current maps, this trail is still part of the PCT although some parts have been decommissioned due to the washout I mentioned before. But before we even got there, we found the fork to the trail we needed to take. And the climbing began. It was an arduous trail going pretty much in a straight line up traversing the side of a forested hill. We passed a couple of turns where you can get limited views of the Sandy thru the trees. The trail didn’t offer much for quite a while but then it actually started flattening out. Towards the top of Yocum Ridge, there’s a big meadow you traverse en route to the end of the trail and the Yocum Ridge viewpoint. Even though we had gain most of the elevation for this hike, the views where still obscured by trees for a while but eventually the summit started showing big and bold right up ahead. The scenery was beautiful, a grassy meadow crossed by a trail, trees here and there and the looming rocks and glaciers ahead. A couple more turns and a last push took us to the end of the trail and a steep drop-off to the Sandy. Besides having an ample view of the river’s origin, we had a full view of the Reid Glacier and the top of the mountain. It was a perfect spot for lunch and a bit of sun bathing. From there, we hiked back to the PCT the same way we came up all the way to Ramona Falls for a third short stop. Then we continued on the southern trail to Ramona Falls which now if part of the PCT all the way to the bridge, the Sandy River and the parking lot.



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Horseshoe Ridge – Cast Creek loop, Sep 29th

This is the classic example on how much a trail can change… well, not the actual trail but the access road changing the hike entirely. In Mt Hood there are several trails that can be joined to form a loop. Some of those require hiking on a road for a bit to connect them. About three years ago I did this loop clockwise and learned the route I tried this time. On that occasion, we drove on Forest road 380 to the Cast Creek trailhead, did the entire loop and then, once we got back to road 380, we hiked back the little over a mile distance to the parked cars. This time I wanted to revisit that hike as I remembered the views and the hike itself being fantastic. I also wanted to do it in reverse, starting from Horseshoe Ridge and coming back on Cast Creek so we would do the road first. So we drove there and the first surprise we got was that road 380 has been decommissioned. We were not even able to get to the Cast Creek trailhead (the one I remembered). Without knowing anything else, I assumed there was only a big road block and that if we just went over it, we would find the road on the other side. Well we did, but the road was destroyed. Not only they had gone in with heavy machinery and dug big holes so not even a big foot truck could pass but they took all the bridges and even pulled some trees in the middle. The whole thing ended up being a 2 miles, hardcore bushwhack. Luckily we did this first as I could not imagine how it would have gone if we had to do it after completing the loop. In any case, on those two miles we had to descend and climb back out of three creeks, go over boulders, trees and branches. Eventually we made it to the old Horseshoe Ridge trailhead. From there I saw what originally was a second option to access this route from Riley camp. I guess now is the only way to do it. We stopped for just a minute to get our breaths and then started hiking up on a real trail. For a while the hike was in dense forest without a lot of views, but eventually it comes out to a wonderful open meadow that overlooks Lolo Pass road. On good days you can see Adams and Helens from there but not Hood behind you. A bit more climbing finally took us to the Zigzag trail and the view I was hoping for. Hiking in this area is just extraordinary. We followed the Zigzag ridge and made a stop for lunch at one of the prominent points with front row view of Mt Hood. From there we connected with the Burnt Lake trail and then Cast Creek to hike back down on another section of the dense forest. So now we know, with forest road 380 gone, this loop is now longer.



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Arikok National Park - Boca Prins to Conchi, Aruba, Sep 20th

Although most people that go to Aruba go there to enjoy the sun, the beach, the year-round mild weather, the food and even gambling, there are also other things worth visiting. One of those is the Arikok National Park. This park is located in the north-east side of the island facing the rough Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps that’s reason enough why this side of the island is not as prone to tourism as the milder Caribbean south-west side. Still, this park offers more than just a couple of things to explore. The park itself covers about 34 square kilometers which is roughly 20% of the islands size. Considering that Aruba is roughly the size of Michigan, this is a considerable sized park. Among other things, you can take guided tours in the park to explore its flora and fauna or you could take a tour to the natural pool. For more adventurous souls, you can just wander around and walk in completely unmarked paths and trails in any direction you want. One thing to keep in mind for this is PLENTY OF WATER. Not only the park is hot without a lot of shades areas but there have been cases where the authorities have had to go pick up unprepared people. Besides all the above, the park is remote enough that, even after being in Aruba more than a couple of times, I didn’t even know it was there. I guess that’s what maps are for. So after spending 4 or 5 days in the beach with Val, we were ready to do something different and what better place than this to go on a hike. With a small rented car we drove and drove and finally got to the entrance of the park where we were greeted by a friendly guard that couldn’t tell us if the park was open or not. In the end we learned that the governor was having a party in the main building but we were able to get tickets and continue on our way. From there on the drive was long and tedious. Don’t get me wrong, the road is good but every hundred or so yards there are ruts to probably divert water deep enough to make any compact car bottom out. After a while we finally made it to Boca Prins and parked in front of the only building in the area, a very desolated restaurant that, at that time, we didn’t know if it would open or if it was abandoned. Then we started walking. At first we found a very nicely marked path going towards the coast. For a moment we thought the park was very well developed, but shortly after, once we got to the staircase that climbs down to the Boca Prins, that was it. From that point on the trail was barely marked with 4x4 that looked exactly like washout logs from the sea. It wasn’t much of a problem though; having a huge ocean on the side makes it real easy to navigate. As we hiked north, we noted the terrain was incredible rough. It felt like solid rock that has been eaten up by the constant hit of the waves. Erosion at its best. As you can imagine, the views were fantastic although not changing much. On one side we had dry arid land with several goats eating anything that looked barely green, some white patches of sand and the multiple shades of blue of the ocean. Watching the waves hit the shore repeatedly was almost hypnotizing. Eventually we lost the trail, more than a couple of times but we continued along. At a point we saw some white deposits on the rocks that ended up being raw sea salt in big crystals. The terrain made our pace slower than what Val and I normally do but in the end we got to the parking lot at Conchi where you can descend to the natural pool. We still had plenty of water but it was a very hot day. Luckily for us, we found a guy in a pickup truck selling or sorts of drinks and snorkeling gear. A few Gatorades and some lunch later we decided to head back roughly the same way we came and not follow our original plan of a big lop that would have lasted more than a day. Coming back was equally impressive as going out although being early in the afternoon, it got extremely hot to the point that we both had to stop and hunch down under a tree to recover a bit. After a short break we decided to just push for the car and go get something to drink but were pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant opened. Without thinking too much, we went in and sat down for a nice lunch and cold drinks which brought all the energy back. We knew that there were some caves nearby so having still some time, we got in our little car and drove south to Guadirikiri Cave. At first we thought it would be a tiny cave not offering much but as soon as we walked in we were wowed by the space and beauty. The cave has several skylights that open to the blue sky and allow you to walk without a flash light. We visited several rooms in the cave admiring the different shades of yellow, orange, green and even blue. It was a magical place. After that we tried to visit the Fontein Cave but we found that park authorities had decided to close it to human traffic to protect the bats that inhabit the cave. It was an incredible day in a very surprising part of the island I never knew existed.



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Baby Beach walk – Aruba, Sep 17th

This is not an actual hike or a park or even a trail. So you may ask, then why am I posting it right? Well, it was a nice long walk following the coast line from Baby Beach and it did have a couple of interesting things to it so I thought I’d share it. Besides, I was geeky enough to carry my GPS and track it just for the fun of it.
Back in September Val and I took a weeklong vacation to Aruba to celebrate my dad’s 80’s birthday. While there, we spent most of the time on the beach but we managed to do a hike (that I’ll post later) and this nice walk. Baby Beach is a nice little bay located on the southern coast of Aruba near the town of San Nicolas. It’s a great place to go spend the day in crystalline blue water and white sand and do pretty much nothing. But if you are like me or Val, there has to be some leg stretching or walk or hike. So the day we went there, after spending some time in the beach, we decided to go for a walk. One option was to cross the bay but on the other side we could see some small structures that are on the southern side of an old refinery in Nanki. Instead, we started walking east following the coast line. Near us, the coast was white and shinny to the point of almost hurting the eyes. Beyond that it was crystal clear blue water and then deep ocean. We took our time to check little shells and corals as we went. Not long after, Baby Beach disappeared behind us and I started noticing what looked like crosses farther on. At first I attributed that to my bad sight but as we walked we realized that yes, there were a lot of crosses on the ground. At first it looked kind of creepy but we still decided to go check it out. As we got closer, we realized it was a pet cemetery that spread over a large portion of terrain on the right side of a dirt road. It was almost parceled but clearly not an official cemetery. Almost all crosses had the name written on it, some old enough for the paint to have completely faded, and some sort of toy or food plate or something that probably belonged to the pet. To say the least, it was interesting. From there on, there was pretty much nothing, just a dirt road, the coast line and the sea. We saw some old structures but couldn’t make what they were supposed to be. Going further we got to a spit on the south end of the island where the coast turns north. This point is where the calm blue Caribbean Sea meets the dark, blue rough Atlantic Ocean. On one side of the spit you have calm waters and on the other big waves crashing into the shore. We continued just for a bit longer as we couldn’t walk comfortably on the rough rocks eroded by the sea, but managed to take some nice pictures of waves hitting the rocks. Not a hike, but definitely a very nice walk




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