I was told by many people that “you can see Mt. Hood on a clear day”. I’ve now been in Portland 3 weeks plus a week over the summer and not even seen a trace of it. I can’t say that’s totally been “clear” for the entire area, but it hasn’t been cloudy all the time either. Point being, I wasn’t convinced it really existed! This weekend I decided to finally get up there and find out, it could be the biggest Snipe hunt of all time!
Yeah so it was there.
But the top wasn’t visible, bummer. And although the picture looks cloudy it was actually really sunny, I think it was so bright it played mind games with the iPhone’s camera.
Click for full size picture.
Here’s the view looking away from Mt. Hood.
Click for full size picture.
So then after that I went back down to Government Camp and stopped in a ski shop where I met the nicest people ever, at their store Mountain Soul (website, not so good). I want to give them a big plug if anyone in the area is looking to buy ski equipment.
The opposite could be said for the Ice Axe Grill down the street. After going in and sitting for 5 minutes while no one acknowledged me, I left. The interior was very basic as was the menu, so there wasn’t much to keep me there in the 1st place. So no lunch for me today, off to the trails!
I wasn’t really dressed or equipped for a big hike, so I thought I’d do a short and popular one, Mirror Lake.
But 1st I had to buy a pass to park at the trailheads? So I did. I have no problem supporting the parks.
Hmm, looks like I need to clean my windshield once in a while.
It’s a good trail, short, but a lot of climbing. Going up I passed no one which is always cool. So, here are some pictures…
About 1/3 up, just hitting the snow.
Things were melting, so there was a nice lite fog along the trail.
A little log bridge across the brook.
Alright here is Mirror Lake. So yeah, not so mirrorish, eh? I didn’t think about the fact that at this time of the year it would actually be “Frozen Over Covered In Snow Lake”. Oh well, just have to go back later I suppose!
Click for full size picture of a bunch of snow on a lake.
Jonas Goes To Portland 