McNeil Point

Our good friend, Chris, was recently in town to fill his stomach with Voodoo doughnuts, ride bikes through the west hills, and backpack up the mountain.  Originally, we had planned on going to a place we had been before which included a short hike in to set up camp near a lake and then continue on for a long day hike.  However, the day of, we decided on something a little more challenging and chose to go to McNeil Point instead (found in 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington, by William Sullivan).

We started out at the Top Spur trail head.  I have never seen so many cars at a trail head before and was super nervous getting out of the car.  Our dogs don't do well when the trails are swarming with dogs and I was unsure about finding a good place to set up camp.  Fortunately, most of the folks were day hikers, few dogs, and there are many trail options that the whole hike up didn't seem too crowded.  The beginning of the hike is through a forested area with tons of huckleberry bushes.  The trail eventually curves around Bald Mountain and opens up with a beautiful view of Mt. Hood and tons of wildflowers, where we ate lunch.  

The trail then re-enters the forest until it opens up again to a meadow with a couple ponds.  We looked around this area, to set up camp, but didn't find any place that satisfied us and continued on.  I am so glad we did.

After the ponds, the trail continues to climb.  There were a few small snow fields that covered the trail, but nothing too treacherous.  At this point, due to the amazing weather, we had great views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams.  We followed the ridge up through Cairn Basin, looking for campsites along the way, until we found the perfect one.

About 5 miles in, we found two campsites with views of all 4 peaks and overlooking a valley of hills.  I stayed at camp with Bandit, while Willis, Chris, and Banjo continued on for another half mile or so to the shelter at McNeil Point.

While they were gone, the clouds started rolling over.  Fortunately, the rolled right through and by the time they returned, we were well above the clouds for the rest of the evening, playing cards, eating s'mores, and enjoying the sunset over the valley.

The hike out was quick, but still filled with amazing views.

Serene Lake, Pyramid Lake & the Roaring River Wilderness

This past weekend, we attempted to backpack our way to the Serene Lake in the Mt. Hood National Forest.  We left Portland around 10am and drove towards the trailhead near the Frazier Turnaround.  Unfortunately, the long gravel road also had some snow patches, so we decided to not go any further.  We turned around and drove down to another connecting trailhead at Shell Rock Lake.

After passing Shell Rock Lake and starting our ascent, the trail was basically a creek, due to the amount of snow melt.  We ran into a family hiking with their JRT and they were on their way down after losing the trail due to snow levels.  We decided to try our luck and continued on.  They were right, the snow levels were out of control.  In previous years, these trails have been snow free during the early summer months, but we'll need a few more hot days to help clear them out this year.

We followed the blazes on the trees until we hit the Frazier Turnaround and our original starting point, the Serene Lake trailhead.  There was a nice campsite with a park bench, so we stopped for lunch.  This clearing, and knowing we were starting to descend gave us a little hope that we would get to Serene Lake after all.  After lunch, we started going again from blaze to blaze.  When we stopped seeing noticable trail markings on trees, we started flagging our way, just in case we want to turnaround.


We eventually made that decision.  As we headed back, we met another group with a JRT who had also made the grueling hike up through the snow, only to decide to turn around.  We hiked back to Shell Rock Lake to post up for the night.  Although it was crowded during the day, as the evening rolled around many of the families who were there for the day headed out and it ended up being a really nice and quiet spot with a few camp fires spotted in the distance.  While Willis fished in a fishless lake, the pups and I soaked up the remaining sun rays.

We hiked out on Sunday morning and went to find another place to set up for the night.  After helping a stranded camper get back to a campsite so he could get help with his truck, we drove to Pyramid Lake.  It was another rough gravel road, but this time it wasn't covered in snow.  It was a short hike up to the lake, where we dropped our packs and scoped out the scene.  We were hoping for some hiking trails to spend the day on, but the overgrown trail just circled the lake.  After the dogs and I soaked up more sun and Willis attempted to fish in another fishless lake, we decided to head back to town a night early. 

Overall, it was a good weekend.  I'd like to go back in August or September when the trails are a little more clear and hiking one mile doesn't feel like hiking three. 

Shi Shi Beach to Lake Ozette

This post will help any of you interested in doing this 3 day coastal hike.  Thanks to Langley and Ruth, we have some amazing pictures from our most recent trip.  Willis and I accidentally left our camera at home.

While planning for our Memorial Day weekend trip, Langley suggested going to Shi Shi Beach, in the Olympic Peninsula.  After some searching, I found Kevin Yang's posts about this trip.  Due to certain restrictions around permit reservations we decided to do the hike backwards, starting at Shi Shi Beach and ending at Lake Ozette.  It was an amazing and kind of challenging hike.  Lots of steep trails with rope assists to climb, seaweed covered rocks to scramble, and one river to ford (plus some other wading depending on the tides).

Prior to doing this hike, we needed to get*:

- a Makah Recreation Pass (since some of the hike is on the Makah Indian Reservation) - purchased at the General Store in Neah Bay

- a Wilderness Camping Permit as well as make a reservation  - you can call ahead and pick permits up from the Olympic Wilderness Information Center (WIC) in Port Angeles

- a hard-sided bear canister (if you don't already own one) - you can rent them from the WIC.

- a tide table - also available at WIC.  This is important because you can only pass the headlands when the tide is low.  You don't want to get caught at high tide.
- a map - you can get one from REI.  Almost always essential for backpacking new areas, a map is a good way to find water sources.

*On our first day of hiking, a park ranger stopped us to make sure we had our permits and bear canisters.

What we should have also made sure to have:

- water shoes - I had my Chacos.  Everyone else waded in their hiking shoes.  Although I had no problems with my sandals, it would have been nice to have close-toed water shoes, like Keens, while wading along the rocky coast or fording the river.

Horsetail, Ponytail, & Triple Falls Hike

What an amazing weekend.  On Friday night, two friends flew into Portland from Chicago.  We all met  up with some friends and ate an amazing Ethiopian feast at Bete-Lukas, located on SE 50th, just south of Division.  The restaurant is located in what looks like the upstairs of an apartment building.  Right across the street is a food cart pod.  We ordered a variety of dishes, but the Misser Wot (lentils) was by far my favorite.

On Saturday, an old high school friend, who is currently living in Seattle, came down to visit for the weekend.  She brought her cute little pug, named Malcolm.  After introducing the dogs, a whole group of us grabbed some brunch at Gravy on Mississippi.  The wait was long,  but that's to be expected in this town.  But like most brunches, it was well worth it.  Willis and I split an egg sandwich with  sweet peppers and provolone and a side of hashbrowns.  I always forget how giant the portions are there.  When we sat down, I looked over my shoulder and saw a remainding half of a huge scramble someone had ordered.  I'm glad we decided to split.

After brunch we walked up and down Mississippi  Ave. and I discovered some dapper animal prints by Ryan Berkley that I think I really want for our kitchen.  We then went to Powell's Books and Voodoo Doughnuts.  I am always amazed at the amount of people who are willing to stand outside in the cold waiting for a doughnut.  But, I guess it's all apart of the experience?

Aisling & I with Bandit & Hunter at Horsetail Falls

We spent the rest of the evening at my sister's house, eating doughnuts and pizza, and enjoying each others' company.

Becca Yates left this morning to return to Seattle and the rest of us drove out to the Columbia River Gorge for a nice day hike.  We decided to go to Ponytail Falls after a recommendation from friends and our hiking book claiming that it was "less popular."  Less popular? Maybe.  But definitely still crowded!  I'm sure that had a lot to do with the fact that this was possibly the first nice weekend we've had since like October.  Regardless, it was an awesome hike.

It starts at Horsetail Falls, and winds up some switchbacks until you reach Ponytail Falls.  The trail winds behind the waterfall and beneath a lava flow, which is amazing.  The sound is incredible.  After another climb, the trail starts to descend until you cross Oneota Creek on a metal bridge.  The bridge is not the best for little dog paws, so Hunter had to be carried across and Bandit scrambled trying to get comfortable with the footing.  After the bridge the switch backs continue up until you eventually hit Triple Falls.  We stopped for a small lunch break after crossing over the wooden bridge and then hiked back down.  Overall about a 4 mile hike.

Ponytail Falls

Currently Listening to:
Prince Buster - Enjoy Yourself