Hike 23 - Larch Mountain

Larch Mountain

Date: 8/15/12

Time: 8.5 hours

Distance: 15.4 miles

Difficulty: Strenuous 

Stars: 4

View from the top!

Larch Mountain has been on our hiking to-do list since our very first trip to Multnomah Falls during our move out to Portland. There are a bunch of signs that say Larch Mounting is about 7 miles one way. We always figured we would do this hike for our 100th mile hiked, but we lost track of that.

So this hiked had some planning since it was the longest hike we have done! I had off on a random Wednesday (I worked on Saturday of that week) so we planned to do this hike then. In the middle of August we knew the trails would be busy, so we were hoping a Wednesday would help (and it did!). We had a later start than what we wanted, not getting to the trailhead until almost 10:30 am! And we were planning on at least 8 hours for the planned 13.8 mile hike. If you take a peak at the stats above, we took longer than 8 hours and went a total of 15.4 miles! It was wonderful! We had packs full of water, snacks, and lunch plus some layers even though it was a high of 90 degrees! 

August was a good month to hit this hike as there were a bunch of Larch Mountain huckleberries that were ripe for the picking along the trail. There were also lots of wild flowers! And unfortunately many spiders with webs (I hate spiders) but most spun their webs above head height on the trail.

Trailhead that leads to the bridge and top of Multnomah Falls
which then continues all the way to Larch!

Starting the hike and super excited!

A bridge we have turned around near on past hikes that was also a little shady!

Water break! There were lots of those!

BIG TREES!!!!!!

Rock slide!

Spider. Gross. Kyle took this.

Instead of opting to do a long day hike to the top of Larch, you could instead choose to drive to the summit. Not nearly as cool! There is an option of a 6 mile loop near the top so we did pass more people on this part of the trail. When other hikers asked how long we had been out, it was a good moment to tell them Kyle and I had started our hike at the Multnomah Falls parking lot area. People were impressed :)

The summit is called Sherrard Point with an elevation of 4,056 feet. Since the summit is so easily accessible there was a fence and some benches at the top of an old fire lookout post. We could easily see Mt. Hood from the top, but since it was a hazy day we could barely make out Mts. Adams, Rainier, and St. Helens. We took about a 45 minute lunch break and regrouped for our descent.

Kyle and Mt. Hood from Sherrard Point

The trip back down the mountain was a little frustrating. It was longer than what we were originally planning for (or what our hiking book suggested) and steep declines are so hard on the knees! Plus my feet were KILLING me! I kept telling Kyle that I wanted to walk barefoot. He wouldn't let me, which I now realize was a good thing.

We want to go back to the summit of Larch Mountain, maybe make an even longer loop and go backpacking. We would also like to drive to the top for sunset one of these days.

Sweaty, tired, and ready to go home in front of Multnomah
Falls where we had started our hike 8.5 hours earlier.

This past week (on September 13th) we did a shorter, but MUCH harder hike than Larch called Table Mountain. Stay tuned for that post!
-Megan

Smith Rock Climbing Trip

View of Smith Rock from the parking lot

For those of you who don't know, Kyle and I have been rock climbing since late fall/early winter of 2009. There is a small bouldering gym (no ropes, shorter climbs) in Columbia, MO called Bouldering Gardens which is where we first started climbing. We bought memberships, a chalk bag, and shoes! We were climbing at least 2 times per week, if not more, throughout the winter and early spring. When the nice weateher hit, our climbing definitely decreased and didn't really pick back up until we moved to Portland.

Our rock climbing has been a lot more consistent since moving to Portland. We really haven't taken more than a week off since being here. We also made it a point to find bouldering while we were in Hawaii. In Portland, we mostly climb at the Circuit, which is another bouldering gym. After about a year of climbing out here, Kyle bought us harnesses and we took a rope climbing class and learned how to belay at the Portland Rock Gym.

So for Christmas, we bought ourselves a climbing rope using the money we got as gifts from our wonderful families! I would say the climbing rope itself is the biggest expense when talking about climbing gear. Then in May, friends of ours asked if we wanted to go on a climbing trip to Smith Rock at the end of August. We happily accepted the invitation, but still had yet to use our new rope.

August rolls around, and Kyle and I have still been climbing at the Circuit and occasionally going to Portland Rock Gym, but still haven't used our new rope or really climbed outside. So we signed up for an anchor building class at REI to make sure we would be able to set up our top roping for our climbing trip! The class was super helpful and had us really excited about Smith!

The week of our planned trip rolls around and unfortunately, no one else can go. So Kyle and I decide to head down there anyways despite not really knowing what we were doing with little expectations. At least we would get to go camping! We drove down early Saturday (August 25th) morning, camped that night, and headed home late afternoon on Sunday(August 26th).

Smith Rock State Park is BEAUTIFUL!!! There are hiking trails and a picnic area that make this a great destination for anyone! It's actually a canyon with a river (the Crooked River) running through the middle.

Our first day, we were planning on climbing on the smaller rock for top roping called Rope De Dope. We met an experienced climber and mountaineer named Deon, and his lady friend, Bonnie, and it was her first day ever climbing. Deon ended up helping us out a LOT and then offered to show us how to lead climb on Sunday. So on Sunday we were on the Dihedrals climbing and Kyle led his first route ever before setting up our top rope.

Real quick explanation of the climbing options out there:
Top rope: Anchored at the top with the rope through to the bottom
Lead climb: Tied into the rope, but not attached above you. You climb for 6-8 ft before clipping in (at Smith Rock there are a lot of sport routes, which means there is fixed protection, or bolts, for lead climbing).

Saturday night we drove down to Bend, Oregon and had a beer at 10 Barrel Brewing and Bend Brewing Co before driving back to the park and camping.

We had a REALLY great time and definitely want to go again. We also think it would be a great place to take family and friends when they come visit!

Kyle looking into the canyon on our way down the trail to begin climbing!!

Kyle top roping on Rope De Dope

Farther up the rock...

Climbing on Sunday on the Dihedrals

Kyle getting ready to do his FIRST EVER LEAD ROUTE!!!!!!!!!

Top roping with Kyle belaying

View of the canyon while walking in Sunday morning with the trail on the right side

View from our tent in the morning; only issue with the campsite
was that no fires were allowed due to it being too dry

Kyle top roping with me belaying and Deon at
the top waiting to show Kyle how to repel back down!

A snake!!!!

Leading his second route ever!!

A well deserved beer at 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend

Dinner and beer

Who's in for a trip to Smith?!?! Now we need to buy quick draws so we can do more lead climbing!!

-Megan

Maybe A Comeback...

So it has been almost an entire year since we have last posted and the time has just flown by. Oregon continues to amaze me and there are still so many places Kyle and I have yet to visit!

A few quick updates from our lives over the past year:

-We bought a real camera!! We got a Sony Alpha 580 and have been really happy with it so far! We purchased it last November.

-I'm still working as a pediatric dietitian at the local children's hospital and love it! Everyday is a new challenge and I have the privilege of working with both the inpatient and outpatient populations.

-Kyle is currently unemployed :( Last February he quit his bar tending job after getting a job at Rogue working in the sales department. Unfortunately it was not a good fit and he was let go after 3 short months. 

-We traveled to Hawaii last November with our frisbee team! It was both of our first time on the islands and I can guarantee it will not be our last!!

-We moved into a new place. We are currently living in a triplex (think duplex with 3 units) and our unit has a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, 2 bedrooms, and a patio! It's not everything I want in a place, but the location more than makes up for it!

-Ultimate frisbee continues to be a big part of our lives. We are still playing with the same team that we started on and have traveled to many tournaments throughout the spring and summer.

-Our love for rock climbing continues to grow and we went on our first outdoor climbing trip just last month. I'll have a post on that soon!

-I'm playing basketball again!!! Kyle and I have been playing recreationally with friends about 1 time per week for a few hours. I then also joined a women's league for a few months that I really enjoyed. Kyle was sweet enough to come to my games and cheer me on :) I'm not currently in the league, but I'm planning on rejoining here this fall.

-Sammie, the cat, she's still as crazy and fluffy as always! 

-As for hiking, we have only been on 5 hikes so far this year. That number is so incredibly disappointing when looking at our previous goal of doing 60 in 2 years. We have done 24 total from our book. I'll have a few posts coming up about recent hikes.

We have traveled places, entertained visitors, and just hung out in Portland. Here are some pictures to hopefully give you a better idea of what we have been up to this past year! No promises that they are in any type of order!!

If you want any other updates between now and the next post, call or email us!

-Megan