February 12, 2012 - HIKE NUMBER 50!!!!!!!!!

Lost Palms Oasis, Joshua Tree National Park

9.1 miles round trip including 3 different Oasis.



This was a wonderful, challenging hike. The first part of the hike is deceptively easy. Most people just walk down to this first set of palms at Cottonwood Spring. They certainly are beautiful, but being only about 0.25 mile from the parking lot does not really seem like an Oasis.

The trail that heads to the Lost Palms branches off southeastwards and is essentially straight for the 4 miles to the oasis, with an elevation gain of 450 feet. The surroundings are impressive from the start. There are many outcrops of granitic boulders that rise from an the plateau. The ground is covered by coarse light colored sand. It is amazing how many wildflowers were growing in this rough environment. I can imagine that this hike would be covered in wildflowers in the spring.

I liked this hike better than the two we did yesterday. The terrain seemed more varied and the flowers and cactus were very interesting. At one point, we headed off trail to climb on some of the enormous granite outcrops of rocks. Ken especially enjoyed climbing on the rocks. I think it reminded him of his climbing days back in Scotland.

About 3.5 miles into the hike we finally reached Lost Palms Oasis. It really is spectacular to see this stand of palm trees in such a dry area. 



 

After reaching the Lost Palms Canyon which is rated a moderate hike, we decided to continue on to the Victory Palms and Munsen Canyon that involved a great deal of boulder scrambling. This part of the hike was rated strenuous. It certainly was strenuous as we had to climb on some rocks that I was absolutely amazed that water could transport.

After making it to Munsen Canyon, we snapped several pictures and then headed back up the wash to Lost Palms. This was a wonderful way to spend my day in the desert. I am very greatful for my adorable husband who took me on this trip to celebrate not only my 50th hike but my 50th birthday as well. 

WELL, there you go, 50 HIKES TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS!!!!



February 11, 2012 - Hike 49

Split Rock Trail, Joshua Tree National Park

2.7 Miles


A beautiful late afternoon hike in Joshua Tree National Park. The weather has been absolutely perfect for hiking today. I think it was about 75 degrees and the sun felt warm and comforting.


As we started out on this hike, we heard this crazy noise coming from under the big rock. I thought it was the wind whistling through the cracks of the rock. But it had a more melodic sound...deep moaning. We hiked around the rock to a group of muscians playing didgeridoos. The rock had a small cave under it which acted like an amplifier. They had recording equipment and seemed to be making a permanent record of their time under the rock. Seemed appropriate since the didgeridoo comes from the land down under.

After listening for a while, we started our hike. The terrain was beautiful and as the sun headed down it cast some beautiful shadows. I took a picture of the shadow of a catus on one of the granite rocks.

After hiking for a little while longer, I began to need a break. The desert provided the perfect resting spot of which I took full advantage.



After resting a bit, we headed for "Face Rock". The walk through the desert was very pleasant. This hike is relatively flat and not too long. The disadvantage to this is that there are more people around, including these couple of crazy guys.

Overall, great day in the desert. Between this hike and the Lost Horse Mine hike we logged 9.2 miles for the day.

February 11, 2012 - Hike 48

Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree National Park
6.5 Miles


YEA!!! Sunshine in the Desert near Palm Springs. Ken took me to Joshua Tree National Park for my 50th Birthday so I could finish my 50 hikes in the climate I LOVE.

Our first hike was a 6.5 mile round-trip to the Lost Horse Mine. Back in the 1800's, California was the place to be for gold and silver mining. The story of the Lost Horse Mine is that Johnny Lang and his son drove their cattle into the valley when there was nothing but cattle and Indians.

One night while camped, the Lang's horses got away from them. The next day while searching for their horses they came across a gold claim owned by another man "Dutch" Frank. Dutch was being threatened by cattle rustlers and was fearful for his life. He readily sold the mine to the Lang's for $1,000.

The Lost Horse Mine eventually produced 10,000 ounces of gold and 16,000 ounces of silver (worth approximately $5 million today) between 1894 and 1931. The picture above is what is left of that mine.

After visiting the mine, we headed down the mountain to an area that had many Joshua Trees. They are not the most beautiful trees, but for the Mojave Desert, they were very spectacular. We had a great time on this first day of desert hiking. OH! how I love the desert sun!!!!

February 2, 2012 - Hike 47

Horsetail Falls - Oneonta Gorge Hike 2.7 miles




Second hike at the Gorge today. This one is easily accessed from Portland by taking the Bridal Veil exit, #28, off I-84 from Portland. Drive east on the Historic Highway about 5.5 miles to the Horsetail Falls parking.

After parking, you will need to walk along the highway a short distance to the old tunnel. Walk through the tunnel to access the trialhead on the other side.

The trail begins with some easily graded switchbacks. At about a half mile into the trail, you will come to Ponytail Falls. The falls are very pretty and the trail goes under the falls to the other side of the valley.

After leaving ponytail falls behind, continue west along the bluff. There are some very nice views.The trail then continues into Oneonta Canyon.  Just past a weeping wall, the trail begins to switchback down to a crossing of Oneonta Creek. There's a view into the upper end of Oneonta Gorge from the second switchback. The trail crosses Oneonta Creek on a metal bridge.

This was a very nice hike. Being the second hike of the day, we left very tired and hungary. We stopped at Multnomah Falls lodge for some Cream of Red Pepper Soup, yummy and warming to the tummy.

February 5, 2012 - Hike 46

Latourell Falls Hike - 2.7 miles


Amazingly, we had another clear day for hiking, but was very cold and windy in the Gorge. We chose Latourell Falls for my 46th hike. It is the closest of the Columbia Gorge waterfalls to Portland. It's just barely visible from the highway, but a short walk up a steep paved path leads to a clear viewpoint. On this day, we chose to do the 2.5 mile loop which visits Latourell Falls, Upper Latourell Falls, decends down to the road where you can cross over to Guy Talbot Park.
To do this loop, begin at the Latourell Falls Trailhead, follow the paved viewpoint trail up to the viewpoint. From there, a dirt path leads away to the left, steeply around the basin. The picture at the left of a side view of the falls was taken along the trail.

The main trail continues and passes over several pleasant, small wooden bridges and then comes to Upper Latourell Falls.

After hiking past the upper falls, you will descend towards the road. You can return to the trailhead by hiking across the bridge, but there's more trail across the road. Look to the left of the trail exit, across the street and you will find a trail that leads to an old set of stairs. They take you into Guy Talbot Park. Guy Talbot is the man that owned Latourell Falls. The trail drops down to a parking area with picnic tables. From there another paved trail heads back under the highway bridge to the base of the main Falls.

Nice hike for a cold but sunny day. Our GPS showed a final distance of 2.7 miles round-trip.

February 2, 2012 - Hike 45

Nike Campus, Beaverton 2.7 Miles


Today was one of those rare sunny-winter days in Beaverton. It was almost painful to have windows in my classroom. The students were restless and I really wanted to get out and feel the sun on my face.

At 3:30 I rushed out the door to pick up Ken so that we could go for a hike before it became dark. We headed down Murray to the Nike campus. The trail that surrounds the campus winds around the parking area surrounded by well maintained grounds. One corner of the campus is predominately a natural wetland area. It has great big bull frogs that sing in the early mornings but today they were quiet. The wetland area is also a home to several varieties of ducks, geese and an occasional nutria.

If you choose to hike around Nike, be sure to take one of the trails to the center of the campus to check out the man made lake surrounded by gardens. It really is beautiful. If you happen to hike or run there in the early morning you will be able to experience a great solitude and watch the mist rise from the lake. It really is a great place for a little exercise in the morning. My friend and I have walked there at 5:30 am so many mornings I lost count. Usually we are alone on the trails and it is very peaceful.

Today, there were several people on the trail: runners, walkers and Nike employees just getting off work. Still a great way to spend an early evening. The sun did not start going down until about 5:00. Great time.

January 28, 2008 - Hike 44

Wild Cherry/Dogwood Trails
Forest Park - 3.5 Miles

What a beautiful day for a hike. After what seemed like weeks of grey weather we finally had a beautiful sunny day. Still a little cold but what a wonderful treat to feel the sun on our faces.

I often find myself wishing that I lived somewhere that has more sunny weather but every time I enter Forest Park, I am greatful to live in this area. It is such a joy to be able to decide on a hike and be at your destination in a matter of minutes.

Forest Park is the largest wooded city park in the U.S. It is a wonderful retreat from the city and covers 5,000 acres. The longest trail in Forest Park (and one of my favorites) is the 30.2-mile Wildwood Trail that traverses the park in a zig-zagging northwest/southwest direction.

Very few sections of the Wild Cherry trail is flat, as most sections climb and descend gradually. Occassionaly you will catch glimpses of the Wullamette River and Portland from the trail that is surrounded by Douglas fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar.

You can access the Wild Cherry trail from the trailhead at the end of NW Thurman Street—about 1.5 miles west of NW 23rd Avenue—you will need to walk along Leif Erikson Drive in a northwesterly direction for 1 mile. The Wild Cherry trail is on the left side of Leif Erikson Drive (permanently closed road) accessed from the parking area at the end of NW Thurman Street.

Great hike! I recommend it for anytime of year.

January 21, 2012 Hike 43

Hagg Lake - 4 miles round trip



What an incredible day for a hike. The picture to the left is actually at the end of the hike. The sky was blue and there was a beautiful rainbow over the lake.

Our hike did not start out like that. When we arrived at the parking area, it was pouring rain. It was cold and the sky was very darkened by the clouds. I almost did not want to get out of the car. Below is a picture of the lake when we started out on our hike. Quite a bit of difference from one picture to the other.

I love Henry Hagg Lake. During the summer, I like to ride my bike around the lake. The traffic around the lake is usually light and the round-trip is about 10 miles. It is then easy to vary the distance you want to go. The park has more than 15 miles of hiking trails, and observation decks for wildlife and bird watching. For those that like fishing, the lake is stocked and has two boat launches.

This hike was quite the adventure. The lake must have received a great deal of snow because many areas of the trail were still covered with snow nearly a half week after the snow event. The trail under the snow was very muddy. We passed several runners. They were muddy from foot to waist but certainly seemed to be enjoying the challenge.

If the trail was not covered with snow, it was covered with water. many places we had to be creative to get across the puddles. The water on the trail was probably 5-6 inches deep. You can also see that there is a tree down across the trail about 20 feet in front of me. The storm brought down many trees in the park, mostly small ones.

It is such a good thing that I have such a great partner who enjoys these little adventures as much as I do. Little did we think at the time I made this goal that most of the hikes would have to be completed in the Oregon rainy fall and winter seasons. It sure has been fun and adventurous. I really do enjoy being outside and if it were not for this goal, I would probably have stayed home cleaning house or some other boring, mundane thing on this day. Well this makes 43, only 7 more to go to reach my goal and about 4 weeks left before my birthday.



January 16, 2012 - Hike 42

Another Snowy day hike - Power Line Trail, Beaverton Oregon

3.5 miles Round trip

Another snowy day in Beaverton. Again, we did not want to travel far so we did the power line trail in Beaverton. We started at Scholls Ferry Road and went North about 1.75 miles. The power line was a little boring so we skirted over to a gravel road for part of the way back.

The snow was wet and very slippery but all seemed very quiet. We only came across a few other people who had braved out this early. As we passed one older gentleman and his son, I watched them pick up snow and start to make snow balls. Funny, my fight or flight reaction kicked in for about 1/2 a second. I think that was an indication of way too many snow ball fights when I was a kid.

Overall, it was good to get out, but the trail is not overly exciting. 

January 15, 2012 - Hike 41

Camp Rivendale and Jenken's Estate

2 miles round trip

Rivendale is part of the 68-acre historic Jenkins Estate, an English-style country estate that is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The grounds have a few miles of trails and natural areas. The Jenken's Estate which is accessed by the trails from Camp Rivendale has maintained gardens, a fish pond, a foot bridge and lots of open grassy areas.

We chose this hike because it was the first snowy day of the year and we did not want to travel far. Jenken's Estate is only about 4 or 5 miles from our home. The roads and ground around the area was covered in snow, but the trails which are covered by evergreens did not have any snow. It was a pleasant hike but very cold.

 

Playground at the Camp. Snow covered ground.

Trail - Amazing, no snow

Bridge and pond at Jenken's Estate

January 8, 2012 - Hike 40

Trillium Lake, Mount Hood - 5 miles on snow shoes

Another beautiful day on Mt. Hood snow shoeing with Ken and Lindsey. The sky was brilliantly blue and the air was not so cold. The snow was a little crunchy though and not as soft and light as last weekend. Trillium Lake is a very popular snow shoe and cross country ski area. The parking lot was packed when we arrived. There is also an area here for sledding so not everyone was there to go on the trails. Still, this is not a trail to "get away from it all". The views of the mountain were gorgeous just the same. We often went off trail to get away from all of the other snow people. In fact Lindsey even found a nice place to do some snow yoga. See below:

We had a very nice time. The hike, although only 5 miles, is challenging in snow shoes. At one point, Lindsey asked how far we were going to go. At that point we had already travelled about 3 miles and I knew if I said 5 miles she would be sad so I said "over 4 miles". That did not seem so bad to her since we had done 3 miles the weekend before at Mirror Lake. When we got back to the car, I told her it was 5 miles. She argued that "over 4 miles" means below 5 miles, but I disagreed.

I really do love spending time with my family. I am greatful that I have such a great hiking partner. Ken is always ready to accompany me on my many adventures. He also takes charge of bring the GPS, the survival gear and anything else we need for our adventures.

 

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you about the adorable snow woman we found along the trail. We just had to take a picture. It looked amazingly just like my brilliant daughter Lindsey.

January 3, 2012 - Hike 39

Willow Creek Park and Waterhouse Park Powerline Trail - 4 miles round trip.

We did not even take pictures of this hike so I grabbed a picture from the THPRD website. It was just one of those hikes you do to get out of the house. Again, it was wet and cold. We started at the hike in Waterhouse neighborhood near the Sunset Highway and Cornell Road.

There is a cute little park that has a wetland area. Most of the Willow Creek Park area is covered in boardwalk to protect the wetland area. We would hike a little bit and then try to find a geocache here and there. I think we attempted 4 or 5 but only found 2. It was not a good day for us. Actually, most of the geocaches were hidden by the same person and they are certainly good at what they do because the eluded our search.

Oh well, at least we got out of the house and got some fresh air and exercise.

New Year's Day - Hike 38

Mirror Lake - 3 mile round-trip on show shoes.



A beautiful day to start the new year. Blue skies and cold crisp air made for a wonderful snow shoe hike around mirror lake. The picture to the left was taken by Ken. Pictured from left to right: Alex Ernie, Lindsey Baker, me, Brian Ernie, and Evelyn Ernie. Missising was Brian Baker, who we dearly missed. He had to work at Starbucks that day. As soon as we get some nice snow, we are going to drag Brian around the lake.

Mirror lake is just a couple of miles this side of Government Camp. Parking is just off the side of Highway 26. There are not a lot of spaces so I suggest getting there early on weekends.  After you leave the parking lot, you have to cross rushing Camp Creek across a very narrow log bridge. It is only wide enough for one snow shoe. A little challenging if you are new to snow shoeing but amusing if you are able to watch a newbie cross the bridge. A better idea is to put the snow shoes on after crossing the bridge. We figured that out after crossing the first time. After crossing the bridge you immediately enter a deep forest. The trail soon enters more open woods, then begins a series of switchbacks across open scree slopes that provide interesting views of the Zigzag Valley.

As the trail approaches Mirror Lake, you will hear the outlet creek, and see a third bridge leading to the loop around the lake at the 1.4 mile mark. It was here that Ken and Lindsey left their snow angels. Pictures below:

Then be sure to complete the loop around the lake to take in the marsh boardwalk at the south end of the lake. Here you will see picturesque views of Mount Hood.

December 30, 2011 - Hike 37

Lacamas Lake Regional Park, Washington - 5 miles



I love this park. It holds a great deal of memories for me. A few years ago, when I was running marathons and half-marathons, my running partner and I often ran through this park. This park is often compared to our Washington Park. It has a beautiful lake (Round Lake) and many miles of trails.

You can fish and boat (non-motorized) in the lake as well as swim.  There are also many excellent bird-watching areas around the park, and the upland forests support a variety of wildlife, including deer, raccoons, beavers, coyotes, osprey, bald eagles and many other birds.

A few years ago, during the summer, our family came to the park to escape the heat. Lacamas creek that flows from the lake has some great swimming holes. Although, we took pictures of our favorite on this trip and it does not look as appealing after several days of rain.

The picture below is of Ken standing above one of the favorite swimming holes. During the summer, you can jump from the upper rocks into the lower portion of the creek.

I also have attached a picture of a portion of the creek flowing from the lake to show the power of the water after rain drains from the lake into the creek.

Picture taken at the dam.

Although this was a very rainy day, it was a beautiful hike. The trees shielded us from most of the rain and it was delightful just to be out in nature after all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I would highly recommend this park to anyone who wants to go for a hike but does not want to drive long distances.

December 29, 2011 - Hike 36

Rock Creek Trail - Rock Creek to Kaiser Road  3.6 miles








We accessed this trail near Cornelius Pass Road. The trail heads east from Rock Creek Boulevard passing the Rock Creek Soccer fields on the north side. The trail passes through the Rock Creek Golf Course, which at the time of day and the cloud cover appeared very eerily like a cemetary. Not sure if it was the mood I was in, but I felt like dead people were going to start walking toward me on sections of the trail. I think you will agree that the photo above has a halloweenesque sort of feel.

After passing through the golf course, we found ourselves in Bethany Lake Park. I think the picture above was actually taken on this part of the trail. The water level was nearly at the bridge level as it had been raining for several days. The park was the nicest portion of the trail. Once we passed the park, the trail follows the utility corridor which is nothing but a narrow strip of green with power lines above. After hiking for nearly a mile and 3/4, we were tired of the cold and rain and headed back to our starting point making sure to look out for any zombies along the way.

A very wet Ken near Bethany Lake