Month: June 2020

Angels Rest is our favorite hike near Portland. It’s about 25 miles east of the city just off I84. It’s a moderate hike – steep but short. It’s 2.4 miles to the top (4.8 miles round trip) with close to 1500 feet elevation gain. It’s about 3 hours of hiking time though it’s worth spending some time at the top.

We’ve done a couple of summer sunset hikes here, packing a picnic to enjoy at the top while the sun sets. We highly recommend this, just remember to pack a flashlight for the trip down. It gets dark in the forest very quickly after the sun sets.

These pictures are from November of 2019 and guest star Bella, our friend’s very sweet yellow lab. Here we’re about a third of the way into the hike and already gaining elevation for some nice views of the Columbia River.

Looking north over the Columbia.

The forest clears to a talus slope affording a great view just short of the top.

A look northeast from the top.

More from the top.

Another view from the talus slope, this time on the way down.

The 2017 Eagle Creek fire swept through much of the trail area, closing the trail for over a year. You can still see lots of the fire’s effects.

This little gem of a hike is a few miles inland (east) of Lincoln City on the central Oregon coast. That said, the last 20 minutes of the drive is up a narrow and twisty fire road so it takes a bit. Is is paved though.

It’s a canyon hike – you hike down on the way out, but up on the way back. But it’s just three miles total. You wander through lovely coastal forest and come to a suspension bridge and the falls. There wasn’t much flow when we were there but the falls were still pretty.

We did a short hike out to Yaquina Head lighthouse, located just north of Newport. It wasn’t very long – perhaps two hours total – and was moderately difficult. It was mostly through forest. You emerged at the lighthouse with a lovely view of the coast and the ocean. I’m pretty sure you can just drive up and park at the lighthouse though there may be a fee for that.

South of Florence on the Oregon coast is the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. We did a 4.8 mile loop hike starting and ending at the Oregon Dunes Day Use area. There’s no overall elevation gain, but you do go up and down a bit on sandy dunes.

The hike starts in the forest.

You soon come to the start of the dunes.

Leena gives a sense of the scale here.

Here’s one of the trail markers.

After more than a mile going up  and down dunes you come to an area of trees, dense vegetation, and some swampy areas.

Fortunately there’s a raised path through the swamp.

You go through a final stretch in grasses before reaching the beach.

The loop back to the parking lot opens up to a few more open areas in the middle of the forest.

Cascade Head is a high point on the central Oregon coast between Lincoln City and Neskowin. We hiked up on the South Trail, 3.4 miles to the top (6.8 round trip) with 1300 feet of elevation gain.

The trail starts in the lush forest.

Our first view of the ocean was pretty foggy, but a taste of the views to come.

Our first view looking south down the coastline. This is perhaps half way through the hike. The rest of the hike just traverses higher and higher up the hill.

Fog came and went during the hike making for an ever evolving scene.

We were totally fogged in at times.

A look straight west over the ocean from the top.

There’s also a window through the trees for a look north up the coast.

A few final shots from the top.

With travel plans on hold during the pandemic, I’m going to dig into the photo archive and post some pics and recaps of Oregon hikes. First up, Saddle Mountain.

Saddle Mountain is the tallest point in Clatsop County at 3288 feet. Though a very modest elevation, it provides panoramic views all the way to the ocean on a clear day. Saddle Mountain is located a short ways north of Hwy 26 about 10 or 20 miles east of the coast. The trail to the top is three miles long (six miles round trip) with an elevation gain of about 1600 feet. It’s about a three-hour hike.

We hiked this in August of 2018. As is typical for summer in Oregon, the day was overcast in the morning with the clouds burning off by noon. We started around 11a. The views start less than 15 minutes into the hike.

A look up.

A panoramic view as the trail winds around the lower of the two peaks – hence the name “Saddle Mountain”. The trail does not summit the first peak.

A view from the highest point on the first peak.

I’m very close to the top taking a picture looking down at Leena as she comes up the steep final ascent.

Some views from the top.

A view towards the coast – you can see the ocean.

A look back up the trail from the low point in the saddle between the two peaks.

And a few more views from the hike down. The views brightened up since the clouds had burned off.