kloomis's blog

This weekend Jason and I backpacked to Jefferson Park in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness in Central Oregon. Jefferson Park is a gorgeous area situated at the foot of Mt Jefferson boasting large meadows, gorgeous lakes, and breathtaking carpets of wildflowers. Our 6.3 mile (one way) journey gained approximately 2900 feet in elevation as we hiked along the South Breitenbush Trail #3375 to Bays Lake. We began our hike at a trailhead off FS Rd 46.

On Sunday Jason and I were invited to hike to Angel’s Rest in the Columbia River Gorge with a group of longtime friends. Though we have done a few other hikes in the area, we’d never come to Angel’s Rest. This hike is just over 2.1 miles one-way, gains approximately 1350’ elevation, and boasts panoramic views of the Gorge from the top. On a clear day, one can see downtown Portland, Beacon Rock, and (contrary to most accounts) also Mt Adams peaking over the hills in Washington.

On Friday Jason and I met up with our friends Kyle and Tiffanie for a backpacking trip in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area. The weather forecast was great and we were excited to do some backpacking with good friends. Our intended destination was Sheep Lake, a 2.3 mile hike in on the Red Lake trail #719. The main trail begins off spur road 380 from FS road 46. In the interest of cutting off some elevation gain on our hike, we intersected the trail off spur road 076 thanks to Kyle's navigation and 4x4 driving skills (high clearance 4x4 vehicle required).

With Jason's school and work schedule this summer, we knew we would be unable to join our family on their week-long trip to Yellowstone. Thus, we reserved a space for six days in the LaPine State Park campground. The State Park's proximity to SunRiver and the Cascade Lakes Sceneic Byway make it an ideal location to serve as a base camp for outdoor adventures.

On Wednesday Jason and I planned another longer hike from our base camp at LaPine State Park, this time to Paulina Lake via the Peter Skene Ogden Tail #3956 in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. The trail starts at Ogden Group Camp off Paulina Lake Road/Road 21, just North of the city of LaPine, Oregon. Having hiked this trail from Ogden Group Camp to McKay Crossing campground many times, we decided to start Wednesday’s journey at our usual end point.

While camping at LaPine State Park in Central Oregon, Jason and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful sceneary and planned a couple hikes. For our first hike, we planned to make a 12 to 13-mile loop, beginning on the Soda Creek Trail #11, continuing to the Todd Lake Trail #34 and then on to the Broken Top trail #10, finishing the loop on the Green Lakes Trail #17 back to our starting point.

After a long, wet few months, we finally had enough sun and dry weather to enjoy our first spring hike on Sunday. We decided to venture to Saddle Mountain State Park in the Oregon Coast Range. The trailhead to Saddle Mountain is located 7 miles off Hwy 26 in Northwestern Oregon. The turnoff to Saddle Mountain State Park Road is on the North side of Hwy 26, between mileposts 10 and 11. This out-and-back hike covers approximately 4 total miles (according to Jason’s GPS) and gains approximately 1600’ elevation.

In an effort to take advantage of the relatively good weather promised on Sunday, Jason and I decided to venture to Cooper Spur and snow shoe 7.4 miles round trip to the Tilly Jane A-Frame Cabin and Cooper Spur Stone Shelter. We left Portland early and arrived at Tilly Jane SnoPark just below Cooper Spur Ski area around 8 AM. Cooper Spur is located on the Northeast side of Mount Hood approximately 23 miles South of Hood River, Oregon. The parking area was nearly full when we arrived, with most vehicles having obviously been left for a day or more.

The first lower elevation (around 4,000 feet) snow of the season around Mount Hood started to fall this week. I wasn't able to find anyone to go snow camping with me, so Katie and I decided on a day hike to Mirror Lake and then on to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain (above Mt Hood Skibowl ski resort). We were hoping for enough snow to snowshoe and for me to test out my 5th Element LK Pro Ski Boards.

Katie and I left our home in Portland, Oregon around 6 AM and drove North to Johnston Ridge Observatory in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (North side of Mount St. Helens). Our plan was to hike the Boundary trail #1 to the Coldwater Peak trail #1E to the summit of Coldwater Peak (5,727'). This 5.9 mile (each-way) hike offers excellent views of Mount St. Helens, the pumice plain, and the surrounding blast zone from its eruption on May 18, 1980. Over 30 years later, the landscape is still very barren compared to before the eruption.

After our long, but spectacular hike of South Sister on Friday, Katie and I decided to take it easy on Saturday with a couple shorter hikes. For our morning hike, we climbed Tumalo Mountain. The trailhead starts at Dutchman Flat SnoPark across from the Mount Bachelor Ski Area off Cascade Lakes Highway. The approximately 1.9 mile (3.8 miles round-trip) Tumalo Mountain trail # 38 climbs over 1,400 feet to the summit. The views of Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters from the top are amazing.

After spending Saturday cleaning house and hearing about Jason’s summit attempt on North Sister, I was ready for another adventure. Never one to sit still for long, Jason was game for more activity after a good night's sleep. Temperatures were expected to climb into the upper-80’s on Sunday, so we decided it might be fun to beat the heat with an adventure to Illumination Rock on Mount Hood. At 9,543’ elevation, Illumination Rock sits on the Southwest side of the mountain, North-Northwest of Palmer chairlift.

We headed to Washington state this weekend for a summit attempt on Mount Adams. The weather forecast was not stellar, but we were hopeful that a weather break would allow us to make a push for the summit. Mount Adams is the second highest peak in Washington, standing at 12,276 feet. We opted for the easiest and most popular South Climb Route, which begins near Cold Springs Campground on the South Climb Trail # 183. This route gains over 6,600 feet in elevation over approximately 5.7 miles.

Thursday marked the day for our Half Dome hike up the popular cables route in Yosemite National Park. The cables were just installed the day before, as conditions were finally safe enough for hikers on the subdome. This 14-16 mile round-trip hike begins at the Happy Isles trailhead and gains roughly 4,800 feet of elevation to the summit of Half Dome. Currently only 400 hikers are permitted up the cables per day via a permit system (new in 2010). We were fortunate enough to be able to reserve permits months in advance.

On Wednesday we went on a loop hike to Sentinel Dome, then Taft Point along the Pohono trail, and back to the starting point. This roughly 5 mile loop begins and ends off the Glacier Point Road. Sentinel Dome and Taft Point lie on the South wall of Yosemite Valley. There was once a famously photographed Jeffery Pine tree that grew atop Sentinel Dome until it died during a drought in the 1970's. Taft Point offers similar views as Glacier Point (but without the crowds) and is know for its giant fissures that open up to the valley below.