Hood River,Oregon

It was a bit foggy and overcast when we left the AirBnB.  Luckily, the first activity was a waterfall hike, not involving long-distance viewing.  The Little Zig Zag falls hike was very peaceful and along an old road bed from the early 1900's.

 

Just another roaring mountain stream.  Pretty popular.

 

The fog/clouds were lifting -we could see Mt. Hood part of the time.

I wanted to go to Trillium Lake because there was supposed to be a beautiful view of Mt. Hood from the lakeside.  We were displeased when we drove up to a checkpoint - a concessionaire handles the entry fee at this location (on Federal Lands!). Apparently, they do not accept Duane's Senior National Park pass.  We decided to go on and pay the $10 fee but it was not without a bit of angst.....anyway, the view from the lake was beautiful but the park was very busy.   I guess the weekend traffic and kids being out of school has conspired to give us crowds.

 

Selfie with Mt. Hood in the background.

A little closer shot.

Next we drove up the steep base of Mt. Hood to the historic Timberline Lodge.  The view just kept getting better.

I wanted to hike a short 2 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail (The PCT) to overlook White River Canyon.  Took us a little while to figure out the trails as this is really a ski mountain for most of the year.

The views were incredible!   Windy and we had to wear our jackets again.

We actually got grit in our teeth from all the blowing sand.

A PCT marker.  We only hiked a short distance - the PCT hikers are beasts.

By the time we were walking back, I was ready to be back sitting down! 

 

 Snow melt from the glacier on the mountain.

Back in the car, a different view of Mt. Hood as we drove away.

We were looking for a place to eat our sandwiches - saw a sign for Sahalie Falls trail.  You can see the falls from the main highway, but we opted for a nice 2 mile long hike.  Plus had a nice place to eat our lunch!

 Views of Mt. Hood....different from every perspective.

 

We did have a bit of time before we could check into our next AirBnB.  We noticed a sign that promised a mountaintop overlook.  10 miles of winding road.  Views were incredible! 

 Time to start driving to the next destination - Hood River.