On Sunday September 23rd, Laina and I took on a trail that I thought was only a dream or that crazy people would do. This was often the joke between me and David about who does these things....well as you guessed it Laina and I are just crazy enough to tackle it....Mt. Hood and the Pacific Crest Trail.
The day started off early as we headed on up the mountain and as always we were excited to see what we would encounter this hike. This would be one our longest journeys to date but we knew that we are going to have to stretch ourselves if we are going to reach our ultimate goals...(yes those are secrets so that I can keep you all reading...lol)
As we got the parking lot the view of the mountain was breathtakingly beautiful. I love being at the mountain and see it's pure beauty. We got out of the car to take pictures, prepare our stuff and get going...well that is when the adventure started... before we even got our packs out of the car. My camera would not work...ugh this was a travesty to me because how was I going to take pictures on this hike without my camera, the cellphone camera would not do on this long journey. We decided to wait until the gift shop opened up to get a photo card and see if that would work. As we start to walk away from the car towards the gift shop we could hear the car making a boiling sound...yeah I was thinking this is not looking to be a good day. I keep my thoughts to myself and we keep getting ready. Well a new card and reset later the camera is working, the packs are on our backs and we are up the hill.
Mt Hood - Our morning view - what a beauty it is
A view of Mt. Jefferson in the clouds
All the time we were walking around getting ready to go on the hike, there were a ton of chipmunks not only outside but in the buildings scurrying around. As we start up the hill this little guy was sitting on the rock looking at us, probably wishing us luck.
We head on up the hill and Timberline Lodge is behind us in the rear view mirror and I was thinking - I can't believe we are doing this - who would have ever thought I would be hiking on Mt. Hood.
As we get to the trail sign it reads Pacific Crest Trail - this is one of the most famous trails in the US and I am about to embark upon it. I turned to Laina and said it was too far to walk to Canada that day we would have to make it another time.
As we walk across the trail towards the chair lifts we see the mountain off to our right.
We continue across country and through the meadows.
and ditches...
and under the chair lifts. The last time I had been at this part of the mountain was about 15 + years ago and I was on the chair lift or on ski's...my how the time flies.
We had researched this trail so we knew that there was going to be a lot of hills and that we would have to cross a stream, with each saddle the anticipation of what to come was looming in my mind. I kept thinking I wonder how much farther until the stream and what are we going to see when we get to where we are going.
And with each peak we reached we could see we were to go down again and then back up the other side....someone really should build a bridge across them it would have been a lot faster but not nearly as scenic or challenging.
We came back up to this peak and I saw the grey hill ahead of us and I said to Laina "Are we going way over there?" and she said "yep I think so", I was thinking OK let's keep moving.
And again we come up to see we have along ways to go ....up and down we go across the mountain side.
The beauty and serenity of being out on the mountain was so relaxing to me. We met up with many hikers on this trail so we knew we were headed the right direction.....just keep going up and down.
Red berries on a hill side
First signs of fall in the NW
As we come around the corner we can just see the peak of the mountain over the next ridge.
Now I am not sure if you noticed the greyness of this trail but this is sand up on the mountain, I was so shocked to discover that way up there at 6000+ ft elevation that there was sand and just a side note it is as hard to walk on up there as it is at 0 elevation on the beach.
As we continue to hike, I have my senses up, I try to be aware of what is around us in case we encounter some wildlife or people. As I was coming down the trail I heard a scratching sound and I looked under this rock and here was another chipmunk filling his cheeks to take to his home for the winter.
He didn't look to worried about us and I thought he was adorable.
It is about this part of the trail that we were in heavy wooded area, we are continuing on feeling pretty good about the day and how well we were hiking. We knew we were a long way from the car but we were still feeling good - this was a great day and hike. As we pass a couple of guys going to the opposite direction on the trail, they said "Don't forget you have to go back up hill."
I was furious and steamed inside until we got farther down the trail, how dare they insinuate that we were idiots and didn't know that if we went down we would have to come back up...but a little farther down the trail, I had got back into my serenity and was relaxed and happy to be going again. For those of you who really know me, know that for anytime I get the feeling someone is saying you can't I show them I can. I am glad that Laina has the same spunky personality and drive - that's what makes us a good team,
A look back at the trail we had just come down and yes we are half way up the other side.
Another look at the mountain as we again come to a deep ravine.
See way down there that's the creek..lol
Pure majestic beauty
A cool looking tree on the hillside
More berries
A wall built on the trail to keep the hillside up (I guess anyway)
More berries pretty fall colors
Yep the creek below but we are getting closer
Down at the creek
As we got down the creek there were lots of rock stacks that people had made, I thought they were really cool but who has time or energy for that. There we a lot of hikers down at the water looking at the creek to figure out the best way across. I watched the other people then Laina and I tried to figure out our best approach across the creek. The water was not deep but we knew if we got our feet wet that it was going to be cold since it was pouring right out of the mountain above us.
I was thinking hop on this rock then that rock and then the next what I didn't know was that Laina was more nervous about it than me.
Customary self portrait - Laina said why is your cheek all red on one side so I thought I better take a picture to see what it was.
It was so cold up there even the trees had a coat on
Now that we are on the other side of the creek we head back up the hill and through the trees.
See that gap in the trees on the left - that's where we are going. It is at this point we are trying to determine how much farther we are going to go - we had hiked over 6.5 miles and it was 1:00 pm in the afternoon. Laina had hurt her leg crossing the creek and was having a hard time walking so we thought we should start to turn back. Normally we turn around about 2:00 no matter what so we can get back to the car.
A butterfly I saw along the trail.
Bright red berries this time
We look back at the hill we had just come from- as you see we had come from beyond the farthest trees and remember we had to go down and up and down and up over and over again,
Yellow berries
A rotted tree that added to my wonder of what was in it.
If we are to keep going we have to hike to the top of this hill - this is the point we decided to turn around and head back. We passed a few hikers who had spent the night out there and they said it was about another mile up and over the hill.
A view of where we had come from.
As we were headed back through the woods I again hear a noise that peaks me senses and as I look around I see something in the tree so we stopped and watched.
Out of the crack in the tree comes a squirrel and he stopped on the branch to watch us watching him.
We stood and watched for a few more minutes and he went right back into the crack in the tree. Now I knew squirrels lived in the trees but I didn't know they lived IN the tree - I thought that this was the coolest thing. It was such a great place to hide.
We come back down the hill and to the creek again - now we have to figure out how to get back over so that Laina does not get hurt more since we have another 6+ miles to the car.
A view of the waterfall off the mountain.
More hikers trying to figure out how to get across
Laina decided the easiest way for her was to take her shoes off and walk across - she looked so happy to relax in the water. She was cooled off and I was hot and tired from hopping across the rocks.
Back up we got - again a view of where we had just come from.
It was around this part of the trail that we had a bit of an emotional break down, we were tired, we had to go to the bathroom, we were getting hungry, we had a long way to go and frankly we were just pooped. In spite of it all we kept putting one foot in front of the other and kept trudging along.
Another view of the mountain as we are getting closer to the car.
And as we get to this spot on the trail I think Hallelujah we made it!!! It was a long hike, one that tested us not only physically but mentally and emotionally.
Timberline Lodge from the backside
Before this new journey that I am on this hike is one that I would never in a million years of thought that I would have done. I never thought that I would hike over 13.5 miles and 2300 ft in gained elevation. For those of you thinking 2300 ft in elevation note this was gained elevation but we went WAY DOWN and then hiked WAY UP again - I am not sure what the elevation change was but let me tell you it was a lot. I never thought I would be signing in as a climber on Mt. Hood and hiking it, I never thought I would be on the Pacific Crest Trail!!
What I learned from this hike is that there is nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it, put aside your fears and put one foot in front of the other. I now know that there is no mountain to high or valley to low if you are determined to make it your mission to accomplish it. I am blessed everyday to have a best friend like Laina to discover with and to live in the NW where we have majestic places like Mt. Hood, the Columbia Gorge and the Pacific Ocean so that I can explore and expand my dreams.
