Mt. Hood

Last year we did a roadtrip in Washington and had an excellent time, so this year for our summer vacation we did a similar trip in Oregon. Our plan for Oregon was oddly similar to what we did in Washington - a clockwise roadtrip around the state starting and ending in the big city and taking in the mountains and coast. 

Our trip started with a delayed flight. We didn't see anything, but the pilot announced we had returned to the gate so that a belligerent passenger could be escorted off. First time we've ever had that happen! We took off about an hour late, and then once we landed in Portland there was another 90 minute wait for the rental car since they were running a bit behind. Luckily, we had enough time built in to still have a late lunch, drive over to the Mt. Hood area, and sneak in one hike before sunset. 

Hello, Mt. Hood. We're going to walk all over you. 😉

We ate at Sa Bai Thai near the airport. It had great food, although it's in a weird industrial area. From there we set off toward our first destination of the trip, Mt. Hood, about an hour away to the Southeast. We checked in to our hotel at the oddly named little tourist town of Government Camp, and then went on the short Mirror Lake loop trail. It had nice view of Mt. Hood over the lake and plenty of wildflowers. Great for a first little hike! Next we checked out downtown Government Camp and had a pretzel and some beer at the Ratskeller before heading off to bed.

Our route for the trip - a full circle of western and central Oregon, with a tiny bit of California.

We were really hungry by the time we ate, especially with the delays and time change!

Part of the trail was almost completely covered in flowers and shrubs.

Mirror Lake was a nice start to the trip!

We woke up early the next day (partly due to the three hour time zone change), and started with our first big hike of the trip - the Ramona falls trail. It was a nice long trail - a little over 7 miles round trip. It wasn't a particularly difficult trail, but it provided some nice diversity with forested parts, a few streams, some mountain views, and of course the waterfall itself. Maybe the most interesting part was about a mile into the trail, where it crossed a pretty large stream. Luckily, there was a fallen tree that provided a natural bridge. In normal situations you'd have to forge the river (Oregon trail computer game flashbacks). The waterfall was nice, it was a big cascade in a shady canyon. Unfortunately, there was a very loud family hanging out there so we didn't stick around too long. 🤣

David crossing the stream on a log.

A lil spider in the morning light.

Ramona falls is an impressive and broad cascade.

Great views of Mt. Hood along the way.

After our Ramona Falls hike, we drove up to Mt. Hood - specifically, the Timberline Lodge area, which is the farthest you can drive up the mountain. It was surprisingly busy, with a large number of tourists up there to hike, check out the gift shop, and even... ski! Yes, even at the height of summer there were still people skiing at the resort. We just walked around for a bit taking in the views of Mt. Hood and the mountains in the distance. Next we drove down and had lunch at Mt. Hood brewing before a little nap at the hotel.

Mt. Hood towering over its surroundings.

A far off view of Mt. Jefferson.

Beer flight.

Big lunch after a big hike!

That afternoon we did another waterfall hike, to Tamanawas Falls. This was shorter than the morning waterfall hike, but still pretty substantial considering a few fairly steep sections over rocky hillsides. The falls were beautiful - a twin cascade into a green canyon. A couple that was hiking was about to drink some of the water but asked us if we thought it was OK and we advised them against it. 💀

After our hike we went back to town and had some ice cream at Volcano Cones, did a little shopping at the Govy general store, and relaxed with our leftover lunch at the hotel.

Lots of gorgeous views while driving.

Much more official than the log on the morning's hike.

Pretty stream/woods on the  hike.

Tamanawas Falls.

That ended what would be our longest hiking day of the trip. David has had a fitbit for almost 8 years and this was the fifth most steps he's taken in a day...so overall, a pretty successful start to a hiking/outdoors adventure week. The Mt. Hood area was just the start of our Oregon tour, and next we'd head south to Bend and Crater Lake.