Labor Day Weekend 2019 on Mount Hood

Summer’s going to fade fast. We know it is.

So around here, we do our best to make the most of all that we can, even if it sometimes makes us a little rough around the edges. Case in point: A three-day weekend on Mount Hood at the close of the first week of school.

We headed to a favorite area near the Sandy River and Zigzag, which was super crowded but not entirely crammed. It served as our home base for the weekend, which found us doing everything from picking early huckleberries, shooting BB guns and exploring a now-off-limits Sandy River beach to taking in “The Princess Bride” at Mt. Hood Meadows, hiking Tamanawas Falls and enjoying a tribute to the Grateful Dead at Timberline Lodge during their annual Mountain Music Fest.

The weather was amazing, the mountain bare but scenic and all of us having an escape that we’ll be thinking about once all this sunshine fades and we’re bundled up inside on a sofa in late January.

A few photos to illustrate the weekend:

Our secret Sandy River spot remains.

Picking huckleberries near the Sandy River.

Watching “The Princess Bride” like we’re at the drive-in at Mt. Hood Meadows.

This is when we first hiked Tamanawas Falls all together in 2012.

And here they are today.

Madeline’s Tamanawas selfie.

Timberline’s Mountain Music Fest.