Mount Hood

It was another nice day in Portland so Nike and I drove to Mt. Hood for some hiking. Mt. Hood is about an hour drive to the east for us (closer for East Portlanders) and is an impressive member of the Cascades Mtn. Range.

We drove up to the Timberline Lodge, which is at 6000 ft and is, as the name implies, at the timberline of the mountain on the south flank. The lodge was built in the 30's, and is famous as the hotel used for the outside shots of the Stephen King horror movie, "The Shining". A few snowboarders and skiers were heading up to ski on some of the snowfields above the lodge that are covered year-round.

Our hike was only a few miles towards the west flank to view the Zigzag Canyon. The views up toward the peak of the mountain and to Mt. Jefferson in the south were both impressive. It was really windy during parts of the hike and we had to brace ourselves against the wind and cover our eyes against blowing sand at times. Maybe the good weather will hang around a few more weeks!