Forest Park

After a quick 10 min walk from work I can leave the city behind & be immersed in a magical forest.  At least it's magical to me.  Nearly 300 steps lead through NW Portland neighborhoods to a winding residential road lined with large homes.  Follow this road and you come to the Cumberland trailhead which in turn connects to the Wildwood trail in Forest Park.  This is my place for early morning runs and weekend hikes.  It has a network of trails that connect to the main Wildwood trail which zigs and zags through the center of the park.  To learn more check out the website here:  forestparkconservancy.org.  Sunday I loaded my pack up and did a training hike.  However it was such a beautiful day I just meandered slowly soaking up the sun.  Here's a picture of the stairs complete with "false summit".

Training Day

Mt Defiance is one of the hardest and highest hikes in the Columbia River Gorge.  Climbers use it to train for Mt Hood and other mountain ascents.  A friend of mine is training for an Everest climb in April/May and invited me along.  We had great weather with temps in the mid 60's and mostly sunny skies which, I was told, was rare for this hike.

The trail switch backed up and up through trees.  We were soon shedding layers as the sun rose and from exertion.  We had a picnic lunch by a snow covered frozen lake.  Yes, snow and the adventure began!  The trail from that point on was buried in snow and markings were difficult to follow.  We began bushwacking in the general direction.  As we headed up the snow got deeper.  It was slushy from the warm temps and we were post holing.  I punched through up to my thigh at one point.  So we strapped on snowshoes for the remaining climb.  Mac did an excellent job of navigation with the gps.  We found the trail, lost it, found it again and so on but made it to the top!  We were rewarded with great views of Mt Hood and the Columbia River.  The gps said 5000 feet of elevation gain!  It was a long, knee jarring descent but there was one more obstacle.  A mile from the car was a waterfall that we had to cross below.  Because it was late in the day and there had been a lot of snow melt the water was swift and ankle deep on the rock crossing.  The spray from the falls got saturated my shirt.  It was better than a water ride at an amusement park!  

This morning my muscles are sore but happy.  I need to get used to carrying a pack again and my legs need to get stronger.  In the same way my "pen" needs to get used to writing again.  It's a bit rusty and needs to get flexed & stretched too.  I'm on my way.

Packing Up

My bedroom is in great disarray. Boxes are in a pile, bags of dehydrated food & a variety of bars clump together and stacks of paper consisting of maps, address labels, data & more add to the chaos.  There is some organization though. I've numbered the boxes.  The mess is  waiting for me to finish shopping, cooking, & dehydrating.  I am shipping 15 boxes to myself to town stops along the trail.  Factors such as no canister fuel, lack of a good grocery store, shoe swaps, & snow gear dictate this.  After my boxes the preparation is just about complete and involves looking at more details in the maps and route, water information for the first section, finalizing my itinerary, and training!  Busy, busy, busy.