4/60 Angel's Rest

Completed: 2/4/11

Difficulty: Difficult (steep)
Rating: 5 stars
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Length: 4.6 miles


It was a cool 40 degrees out that morning, but the sun was shining and we were excited to get out on the trail! We checked a forecast quickly, saw a report for some rain (60% chance), but were too excited about the current sunshine to pay much attention to it. The book described Angel's Rest as having a great view of the river and gorge on a clear day, so we packed a lunch for ourselves to enjoy the view from the top. Anxious to get out, we hit the road for the Columbia River Gorge.

The hike starts steep. A lung burner, and sad reminder of how much work we need to do before the ultimate season begins (this is a start, of course!). It winds past a waterfall early on (a big theme in the Columbia River Gorge area), that had a cool view of it near a tree with a big hole in it. It seemed possible to fit through the tree, but then again there wasn't much on the other side other than a little cliff, so no attempt was made.

Probably could have fit

Coopey Falls

The trail winds itself up, with numerous switch backs that alternated between giving us great views to the east of the gorge and great views to the west of the gorge. We continued up, eventually finding the source to Coopey Falls, and conquering it!

Treacherous!

The hike mellowed out through the middle, then finishes steep again and features a rock scramble near the top. A debate ensued as we were nearing as to what exactly classifies a "rock scramble". I was envisioning big boulders that you must use all four limbs to traverse safely. We were also constantly questioning every large rock on the trail as to whether that was considered the "scramble", concerned about our next direction. We finally rounded a corner and the trail disappeared, replaced instead by a small field of rocks, some in very precarious positions. We both had a "ohhhhhh, this is the rock scramble" moment, and finally felt confident in our next direction.

The top was not far from the scramble, and though some clouds had started to set in a little, the view of the river was still great. The top was fun as well, with lot's of big rocks to "play" around on and explore.

Columbia River

We were just about to settle into a spot to enjoy our lunch at when the exposed rocks we were on got wet, and windy, and cold. In a short instant, that 60% chance of rain that we glossed over earlier in the day became all too much of a reality to us. We quickly decided to postpone our lunch plans until we could seek shelter, and with just one piece of rain equipment between the two of us, realized we may have been just slightly unprepared for the weather. We made it back down the trail in double time, reaching the car damp and cold, but still smiling. Our overall trail time was almost a full hour less than what our book predicted it would be, so if there was a positive to come out of this it is that we were efficient.

The fact that our leisurely lunch plans were "washed" away that afternoon didn't upset us too much because this hike has a 3 mile "extension" route that will take us up to Devil's Rest. So, we already have plans to revisit this trail some time down the road, and take the advanced route. We will be sure to 1) Bring another lunch to make up for this hike and 2) bring better rain gear.

Me out on the point. Already looking a little cold...

3/60 marquam trail to council crest & kyle's birthday!

Completed: 2/2/11 (Kyle's birthday!)

Difficulty: Moderate

Rating: 3.5 stars

Time: we forgot to look! and we got a little lost!

Length: 3.7 miles

this picture is a view from the top of our hike! (the photo isn't the best and didn't do all of the views justice because i, unfortunately, do not have a great camera! also, if you are thinking of buying kyle and i a gift anytime soon, a fancy camera is very high on our 'want' list!)

so one of the things kyle wanted to do on his birthday was go hiking! so the plan was to wake up semi-early and go hiking, then go for lunch, hang out and watch a movie at home, go climbing, and then eat cake!

so we decided to do the marquam trail to council crest hike because it is in town (about 5 minutes from downtown!) and the author of our hiking book recommends doing this on a clear day because you have a view of mt. st. helens, mt. rainier, mt. hood, and mt. adams--which all happen to be volcanoes! and i know how much kyle loves mt. hood, so i suggested this one!

the trail starts out near ohsu (which happens to be one of the hospitals i want a job at!) so i knew exactly how to get there. marquam trail happens to be a little nature preserve-type area that has a nice loop and that connects to the council crest trail! the trail crossed 2 different roads and cut through the woods near some awesome houses, so you could tell it was right in town. it did also cross over the road that leads up to council crest park. it is good to know that there is a road because all though i really enjoyed this hike it would be

nice to take friends and family who are visiting up there and there isn't always enough time for everything!

this hike was DEFINITELY worth it because the views on top were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! this was also a pretty busy trail and i can only imagine hiking it everyday as a nice start to the day kinda thing! there were some pretty parts to the forest area that we were walking through including a fallen-log bridge (and a real bridge that i crossed...kyle took the dangerous route!) and a stream.

kyle and i also happened to get a little turned around. at one point there was an option of taking the higher path or the lower path. we chose the higher path. well eventually this took us way to far to the left (council crest was to the right of where we started) so i thought it felt wrong. we finally happened upon another hiker so i asked if we were going the right way. NOPE! so we turned around! we did walk about 3/4 miles out of our way though! just a little extra exercise!

we took our time up at the top and took lots of pictures! sadly, most didn't turn out that great! once we got back down to our car we drove downtown and went to deschutes for lunch. it is a little expensive but kyle and i really like it! so far we have taken my mom, ryne and sam, and kyle's family all there! the place has good food and great beer! plus we filled up kyle's growler! we stopped at belmont station so kyle could buy himself an expensive bottle of beer with some of his birthday money and one of his co-workers suggested we check out rocky butte if we were looking for views of mt. hood! thats another place in portland (this time you drive to it!) and it was really cool! more great views!

later we got home and watched groundhog day which was a very fitting choice and i had never seen it! then we went climbing and came home and ate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cake from cold stone! cold stone ice cream cakes are one of kyle's favorites!

so right now if we are to get all of these hikes done by the end of the year we should already be at 7! eek! we have 4 done (we are a little behind on the blogging!) and we are doing another tomorrow! we are still playing catch up!

and i finally got new hiking shoes! i LOVE them!

2/60 - Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge 1/25/11

Nom nom nom nom nom nom

3 miles
1 hour
Easy
Two Stars


Fish...Duck..Frog...Duck...Fish...Duck......Pacman!

The Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is a nature and wildlife preserve located within the city. The concrete trail leading down to the lake is painted with duck's and fish's and frog's, all being eaten by Pacman! There is a big lake that attracts ducks, geese, beavers, heron's and other's. The bird watching is great (though not quite the season when we went out). They have a tadpole pond that is used as a study site and attracts many classes to the park. In fact, a class was leaving as we arrived.

Nature! In building form!

The lake and trail are in the middle of an urban setting, but the area is doing it's best to fit in with it's natural surroundings. The building imitates the scene from the surrounding area.

The hike was nice. The area is great. It would be the ideal place to walk your dog, especially if you were close by. The birds would give us a reason to come back, but not much else.  All in all it was a nice little way to spend an hour!