patrick and i were planning on heading up to olympic national park this past weekend, but then i found out that my good friend danny starts school this week, and we had been talking about doing a weekend trip to mt. hood together. so we decided to put off olympic and head south instead.
portland has a very active hiking community, with lots of forums and websites that allowed me to pick a great overnight hike for us. i found a hike that was moderate to difficult, 8.8 miles total and 2000' elevation gain, with amazing views of mount hood's summit. we were hiking through mount hood national forest, essentially on the side of the mountain.
the hike started out in a dense cedar forest, but quickly entered a section of forest that had been badly burned last year in a wildfire caused by lightening. although the ground was very sooty, and matthew jr got really dusty trotting through this section, it was actually a beautiful part of the hike. the cedar trees had been burnt to a black crisp last year, but are now shedding their dead bark to reveal vibrant strips of red wood beneath. this contrasted with the blue sky had me in a bit of awe.
the air was noticeably crisper as we climbed steadily and continued to near mount hood. there was a remarkably tough, steep, section of the hike that marked the end of the burnt forest. this part had me panting and struggling, and wondering if i really had picked an appropriate hike. but shortly after the steep section, mount hood loomed visible over the ridges we were hiking on, renewing my energy. the hike flattened out for a bit here, and we reached the wy'east basin, which is a beautiful grassy meadow with the most picture-perfect stream running through it. the boys all dipped their heads in the water to cool off, and i enjoyed the views of mt. rainier across the valley and mt. hood directly behind us.
beautiful views always rejuvenate my energy on hikes. the second half of this hike was a welcomed change: we now had much better mountain views, and the hike was significantly less steep.
we reached our final destination, elk cove, about an hour before sunset. this "cove" is a sloping meadow full of wildflowers that sits right below the glaciers of mt. hood, at 5800 feet! here, we found a place down the hill to set up camp. i admit, i'm in pretty terrible shape right now, and had a horrible headache from the exertion of the hike. but, true to form, i spent lots of time walking up and down between elk cove and our campsite for sunset pictures before making dinner.
i spent a sleepless night in the tent trying to ward off my headache, but was thankful for the beautiful setting, the cool mountain air, matthew junior's stellar performance on the hike, and the prospect of hiking downhill the next day.
