Another mom's day out hike! Adrienne, Elise, Mary, Anne, Crystal, and I drove to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and hiked 13 miles to Paradise Park - a series of alpine meadows on the slopes of the mountain. The trail crossed over numerous glacier-fed streams, across scree slopes and through gorgeous coniferous forests. It was a clear day, with amazing blue skies and wispy little clouds, and the perfect temperature for hiking. We picnicked in a grassy meadow, clambered atop Split Rock, and then hobbled our way all the way back to Timberline Lodge.
Our lunchtime picnic spot! So pretty!
A 7:30 am start - bit chilly and breezy, but the sun was already up and we were ready to get on the Pacific Crest Trail - Canada here we come!
Mt. Jefferson off in the distance - and a glimmer of a lake down below - Trillium, possibly.
Down into the first of many stream gorges - most of them extremely low on water at this time of year (and given the current drought). This first one was actually dry at 8 am when we crossed it, and was a steadily coursing brown when we returned at 3 pm. Must be fed by the snows up above, which were not melting overnight.
You can't see it from this photo, but it was a really steep dropoff down the side of the hill.
The lovely ladies, looking down into Zigzag Canyon, with Mt. Hood behind them.
Crossing Zigzag River - nice little waterfall in the background.
Our picnic spot - about 5.5 miles in, surrounded by alpine meadows and a gorgeous Mt. Hood behind us. Sadly, the wildflowers bloomed about a month earlier than usual, and we saw very few - just lots of dry, dead grasses. It would have been amazing in full bloom.
Atop Split Rock - who can resist a good clamber?? Not me!!
Crossing more dry canyons and a scree slope, on the way back to the lodge. We were getting a little hot and footsore after this point. We made it back at 3:30 and drove home to Portland - another fantastic hike on the books!
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