The Book. The Mountain. Everything in between.

Latest

Kids on Cooper Spur

For starters, let me tell you this: It is completely possible to go backpacking on Mount Hood — or anywhere for that matter — with kids who are 2 and 6 years old.

Let me also tell you this: it is not easy.

And thirdly, I will say this: backpacking on Mount Hood with kids is not easy, but it is worth it. Entirely.

We started our recent excursion with a night up at the Cloud Cap Saddle Campground, where we explored the remnants of the Gnarl Ridge fire, which came close to roasting not only the campground but also the historic Cloud Cap Inn, the Snowshoe Club Cabin, and a few other irreplaceable gems back in 2008. Thankfully, crews back then were able to halt the fire just outside the historic structures while also allowing nature to run its natural course.

The next afternoon, we loaded up and started up the trail toward Cooper Spur, quite possibly the best day hike on all of Mount Hood. With Spencer on my back, heading above 30 pounds even before I added any gear and leaning this way and that, I do believe I can say I’ve carried the heaviest and most cumbersome pack I ever will. But the going was slow and steady, and eventually he fell asleep, which added a nice touch of stabilization.

Madeline’s gripes started about 15 minutes up the trail, but a little break and the promise of a stone fort just up ahead kept her spirits in check.

We made the camp site in decent time and set up for an evening of bouldering, sunset and mountain gazing, and simply soaking in the greatness that is life more than halfway up Mount Hood. It sounds relaxing and idyllic, and in a way it was, but let me also say that it was so nice to have an attentive aunt along for the ride.

The next morning, we set out for a little walk up the spur, knowing full well that not all of us would make it. The kids are troupers, to be sure, but all the way up Cooper Spur is not exactly a walk in the woods. It’s tough, it’s scrambling, and it’s  a touch dangerous if you’re not completely careful. Even so, when I turned around with them at about 7,600 feet to head back down, I couldn’t help but think: Wow, how cool is that?

I wish I could say that every minute up on Hood was a smile and a grand view, but these pictures, they lie. Or at least they leave out the parts of the trip that weren’t incredible. The burden of the packs, the tantrums, the tumbles off the rocks, the spilled milk . . . But though we may remember those bits of this and any trip, there are other images, like those captured here, that we remember most, that make us smile in retrospect, entirely glad that we made the effort and the trip in the first place.

Posted by  |  September 13, 2012 | Categories: Hiking, Mount Hood | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Pure summer on Mount Hood at Lost Lake

Sure, it can be a little crowded — popular might be a better word — and a touch loud close in near the boat ramp, but there is something about Lost Lake on Mount Hood that absolutely spills out summertime.

Part of it is the nostalgic air of the rustic resort (which just sold for $1.2 million to some lucky someone who will hopefully maintain its endless charm), the rowboats, the campfire smells, the chill lake — just brisk enough to refresh, just clear and calm enough to  lounge about in for a while.

A simple stroll encircles Lost Lake as well, and despite the crowds on hot summer days, it still seems that you’re always able to find a spot here or there to set up for the afternoon and soak it all in. We did as much a couple weeks ago on one of the warmer Oregon weekends, and relished not only the lake, but trail-side huckleberries and salmon berries, squirt guns, elusive crawfish and newts, and a laid-out tree that invited all kinds of exploration.

Essential to a great day on Lost Lake, however, is actually getting out on the water. People do it in any number of ways, from renting rowboats and canoes from the resort to bringing their own boats, tubes, rafts, and even a few air mattresses. There is simply nothing better than being out on the water on days when the temperature and the sun are relentless, the air still and warm. Get on the water, and all of a sudden all is chill and forgotten.

But what makes Lost Lake the quintessential Mount Hood lake for kayaking, swimming, soaking in the rays, and simply enjoying a real summer day near the mountain, is the unmistakable view you take in from the middle of the lake. There’s no mistaking it. Summertime at Mount Hood.

Posted by  |  August 29, 2012 | Categories: Lakes of Mount Hood, Mount Hood, On Mount Hood: the Book | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Mount Hood view — or not

A few weeks ago, back before these hot and sunny days, back in mid July, when morning mist and clouds hung around far too long and blocked true summer’s appearance, my friend, Wyatt, and I headed east in search of some mountain sunshine. And we found it. Not, however, on Mount Hood.


Instead, we drove out of a Portland drizzle, Hood socked in behind a curtain of gray, and made our way over and up to the east side of Mount St. Helens. Up there, at Ape Canyon and all the way up to the Plains of Abraham — 13 miles roundtrip for us — we caught plenty of blue sky, sunshine, and giant if only partly cloudy views of the mountain.

Image

The next weekend, it was still gray in town and there was April-like rain in the air. Still, we headed out, for if you only ventured out on clear, bluebird days, you’d surely be missing too much. This time, we headed to Hood and a standby favorite: Zigzag Mountain via Burnt Lake.

The clouds lifted once for a nice far-off view of the mountain about halfway up and then just again — just — before we topped out. (Look hard. It’s there.)

We didn’t get much else in terms of mountain views that day, but I’m not sure we really needed much more. Sometimes just being out and about, rambling in the hills, is more than enough.

Posted by  |  August 14, 2012 | Categories: Hiking, Mount Hood, On Mount Hood: the Book | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Peek into the Mountain — reprise

It’s Pickathon time again, and what better way to get in the mindset for this weekend’s festival than to  look back to a bit of Pickathon past. From a 2011 post:

The first time I really ever heard The Heartless Bastards, an incredible band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2003, was at Pickathon 2010. And the first song I ever heard of theirs is one called, simply, The Mountain.

The band, particularly lead singer Erika Wennerstrom, hit me hard, sharing an energy I’d not felt about any band in quite some time. And the song came at just the right time. I’d been finishing up On Mount Hood and culling my notes and research for some quotes to head up each chapter. The opening lines from The Mountain seemed to convey just what I had in mind for the introduction of the book.

Oh you feel and you taste it
And you want to go higher, so what do you do
And so you peek into the mountain
Where your desire goes

I got to write about the Heartless Bastards and The Mountain a little earlier this spring, as part of Tim LaBarge’s Pickathonography book, which looks at five years of the music festival from 2006 through 2010. The piece went along with some fantastic photos of the band that really captured the musical highlights of the entire weekend for me.

Take a peek. (And look forward to their sets at Pickathon 2012 . . .)

Posted by  |  August 1, 2012 | Categories: Mount Hood | Tags: , | Leave a comment

On Mount Hood — on sale at Powell’s!

OK, so “On Mount Hood” didn’t get one of the coveted facing-out slots on this nice display rack of Sasquatch Books titles at Powell’s, but it’s part of it. (Second row from top, second book in.)  And I’m not complaining. A great display, a great sale and price, and my favorite bookstore ever. Couldn’t ask for much more.

Posted by  |  July 18, 2012 | Categories: On Mount Hood: the Book | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

A unexpected look at Mount Hood

I’m not much of an auto racing fan, but every few years or so, Amy needs a Portland International Raceway fix. So I indulge her, and now my daughter and my son, too.

We headed out there last weekend for the annual Rose Cup races, and rather than sit in our usual spot on a particularly fast corner coming into the straightaway, we asked one of the regulars where he liked to take in the action. He pointed us way down the track to a windy section called the chicane. From there, the vantage point of the races is much, much better. It also provides an unexpected view of Mount Hood way off in the distance.

And while that view didn’t completely convert me into a fan, it did help make for a fun — and scenic — day.

Posted by  |  June 20, 2012 | Categories: Mount Hood | 1 Comment