A quiet day on Mount Hood at Lost Lake
Most trips to my favorite lake on Mount Hood — Lost Lake — are full of the same kinds of experiences: stunning views of the mountain, refreshing swims, quiet paddles out into the middle, and plenty of newts.
For good reason, Lost Lake is almost always kind of full of other people, too. But there’s something about the crowds at Lost Lake that actually adds to the experience somehow. All the people swimming and playing, fishing and boating — having fun and enjoying life out there on the water — combined with the lake’s rustic cabins and painted rowboats, gives it a classic summertime feel; like summer camp as a kid.
All that said, however, it’s also nice to have Lost Lake on a beautiful day almost all to yourself. That’s exactly what happened a couple weeks ago, when my family was out from Ohio, school was still in, and the weather was perfect for a day on Lost Lake.
My dad, enjoying the peace and quiet of Lost Lake.
The views from Hood River Mountain
There’s no doubt about the views from atop Hood River Mountain.
The hike up this little hill just outside of downtown Hood River covers just under 2-miles roundtrip and goes up 600 feet or so pretty steadily. So it’s not going to blow you away in terms of exertion or exhaustion.
The view from up top, however, is another story.
Yet sometimes, despite the grand views like this, there are other, more subtle sights that can have just as big of an impact.
We hiked up to the top with the kids a few weeks ago, and even though the day was gorgeous, the flowers in bloom, the mountain and all of the Hood River Valley in big, full view, it just wasn’t enough to keep the little girl happy.
But then she started looking around a little more and found something much more enchanting than a jaw-dropping mountain view. And all of a sudden, Hood River Mountain became a much better place.
(Thinking this is a Western Fence Lizard; knowing that it is inside an empty Stack Wines glass — great for the trail!)
On Mount Hood at Powell’s City of Books
When On Mount Hood initially came out two years ago, we launched it at Powell’s on Hawthorne. And while that was a great event and a great venue to launch a book — and while this may sound a touch petty and ungrateful — I’d be less than honest if I said there wasn’t a part of me that was really hoping it could have happened at the real-deal Powell’s, Powell’s City of Books on Burnside. It’s kind of the dream spot that a lot of writers have in mind.
Well, maybe for the next book, I remember thinking at the time.
The next book did come along — the paperback version of On Mount Hood — and with it the incredible opportunity to kick it off at Powell’s on Burnside.
We did it last night in the storied Pearl Room, and it was great.
But it wasn’t just me and it wasn’t just On Mount Hood.
It was also Hood photographer and artist Gary Randall, who shared some of his favorite and most amazing Mount Hood images.
Gary’s been photographing the great Northwest outdoors for decades, and his work has been published and posted and shared all over the place.
He’s got amazing pictures from all around the mountain, and some engaging stories too, from shooting a fierce lightning storm from inside his truck one stormy night to catching the Dollar Lake fire two years ago right when it blasted a massive mushroom cloud up into the sky.
The night was also Jon Tullis, the spokesman for Timberline who’s worked at the landmark lodge for more than 26 years. Long a huge fan of the lodge and the mountain, Jon shared some thoughts and a couple short videos celebrating the lodge, including one on the book he wrote and edited, Timberline Lodge: A Love Story.
And last night was also the 70 or so people who turned out to celebrate the beauty and glory and the singularity that is Mount Hood.
There are a lot of people out there who love and enjoy and revere that mountain, and a bunch of us got together at Powell’s last night because of it.
(Thanks to Sue Bartz and John Burton for some of the event pictures.)
An ideal day on Mount Hood
This is the kind of day you hope for when you head to Mount Hood. It doesn’t always happen. When it doesn’t, a day on the mountain is still a great day. When it does, especially in late winter, my oh my.
We set out from White River Sno-Park on one of these days, Daryl, Wyatt, Oliver, and I. The sun shines, the blue sky bends, the parking lot waits for more, who for some reason never come.
There are some sledders, some other dogs who Oliver greets, a few snowshoers, a handful of skiers. In no time, we lead the thinning pack. A half mile in, we are seemingly alone on the mountain.
Slowly we climb, one of us continually reminding the others about the glory of the day. It’s so different than the trip we made nearby last year, which was great itself, but hardly this.
We break for lunch, then bask in the southern view: Mount Jefferson, the top of Bachelor, maybe a hint of the Three Sisters. And of course, Mount Hood all around.
The way up continues, invigorating and refreshing. It takes work, but this is good effort, the kind that pays off immediately. And at least for some among us, it seems no labor at all; simply joy.
I worry that Oliver is getting up there in his years, but after a day like today, I don’t know why. He turns 9 in August. He leads most of the outing, never runs out of steam, makes me wish we were all so full and happy, in the moment, outside.
There comes a point up high, where the moraine we have been pushing up all day, just one shelf below Boy Scout Ridge, comes uncovered, the deep snow giving way to exposed patches of gray. To ski up higher wouldn’t quite work. But Daryl isn’t done.
“It’s always good to get a little mountaineering in on trips like these,” he says, bolstering his case for wanting to climb a little higher.
So he and I step on, ridge jumping another half-mile or so, just to see what’s up ahead. It’s more incredible views, of course, more fresh alpine air and blue sky and white snow and gratitude and simple appreciation for all of it; for just having the kind of day we’re having on Mount Hood.
A Mount Hood viewpoint
They’re everywhere, really. Flying into Portland, driving up I-5, from the chicane at Portland International Raceway or the tram at OHSU, out in Hood River, from the top of Mount Adams or halfway up Hood itself. The list of incredible views of Mount Hood is seemingly endless.
There’s one that I came across recently, though, that I’d long seen in photographs but never taken in myself over my 15-plus years as an Oregonian. I don’t know how many people know about it, even though it’s actually a formal, designated viewpoint. There are no signs for it as you pass through the town of Sandy on your way to or from the mountain, but the name of the road it’s on — Bluff Drive — hints at something.
It’s called the Jonsrud Viewpoint — named for a local family who helped establish it — and to get there, you head north on Bluff Road off of Highway 26 in Sandy for just a few minutes. It’s on the right, but don’t worry. You can’t miss it.
Photo courtesy of the Sandy Historical Society.
New Year’s on Mount Hood
Though I’ve not yet celebrated New Year’s on Mount Hood, I’ve always wanted to. The setting, the snow, the festivities, it all just seems very inviting.
We won’t be up on the mountain for the holiday again this year, but for anyone who might be, there’s plenty to choose from.
Timberline Lodge — The mountain’s landmark lodge ushers in the new year with style: two dinner seatings in its Cascade Dining Room, dancing, champagne toasts and more. There’s also late-night skiing and snowboarding on into 2013, and at midnight, a one-of-a-kind fireworks display:
Photo courtesy of Timberline Lodge
Mt. Hood Meadows — The ski area teams up with Widmer Brothers Brewing to ring in the new year with skiing and riding till midnight, a dinner buffet, live music from Keegan Smith and The Fam, and fireworks beginning at 10 p.m.
Mt. Hood Skibowl — For its 25th annual gala, Skibowl will be packing in skiing and riding till 2 a.m., Cosmic Tubing until midnight, two fireworks shows, DJs, live bands, the torchlight parade featuring the Powder Hounds snow bikers and Olympic speed skier Petr Kakes, champagne toasts, a Glow in the Dark Dance Party, and tons more.
Happy New Year!
On MOUNT HOOD 