Urban hiking in Seattle WA 28 Dec 2014

Cheryl and I hiked about 8-10  miles around the Queen Anne district and Uptown/Downtown area  including over 3000 stairs!  Views were wonderful! The clouds were ominous but let go of their moisture elsewhere, not on us.  We had a wonderful, full day taking lots of photos.  Thank you Cheryl!

Ferry crossing in the morning light

Seattle skyline

view from the Queen Anne district

cool stairs

coffee break

at the Sculpture park

Belltown P-patch stairs

Gum wall - Post Alley

World Spice

ferry back to Bainbridge Island

friends!

Dog Mountain 22 December 2014

I thought this would be my last hike in Oregon this year, then I realized I was in Washington!  Ha ha!  I decided to try Dog Mountain in winter.  Last time I was there, it was August and very hot.  There are advantages to hiking in winter for sure.

Pros:  Low angled light, increased visibility (no leaves on trees), brisk temperatures, solitude.
Cons:  Views may be obscured by clouds/fog, wind, wet

But overall, winter hiking rocks!

I managed to do this hike in 4 hours including stops for photos and lunch.  It is a 6.8 mile loop which gains 2800 ft in a little over 3 miles.  Steep.  The forest is pretty, flowers cover the meadows in spring and views are typically stunning.  Today the combo of forest, sun and fog were the main attraction.  I enjoyed the low light and how it lit up the forest. Very cool.

The trail begins in an oak forest

soon switches over to Douglas Fir and Oregon grape

Dog Mtn is in the cloud

took about a million of these sunbeam shots

the viewpoint is socked in

the remains of the balsamroot everyone comes to see in the spring

hikers leaving the summit

a peak of the river

Wind Mountain

a train on the Oregon side

Rooster Rock, Linn County, OR 19 Dec 2014

Rain, rain, rain everywhere but it looked like heading south would offer at least a glimpse of sun.  Daylight is limited at this time as well, with sunrise at 7:45 and sunset at 4:30.  Rooster Rock is a hike I would never do on a pristine day because it is so short and, for the most part, viewless.  But on a winter day, with changing low-angled light, the forest is the star so it makes a good winter hike.
The hike begins right from the road (Hwy 20) 20-ish miles east of Sweet Home.  It is a steady climb until the end when it becomes quite steep, but that part is less than a mile.  Overall distance is about 7 miles (if you do the Walton Ranch trail too) and 2200 ft gain.  The trail was clear at lower elevations but as I neared the top of the ridge, the blow-down from the storm a few weeks ago clogged the trail...but only one major obstacle required major maneuvering.  The rest of the time the trail just looked like it had been decorated for Christmas with fir boughs!  The forest was jumbled with moss covered vine maples at first, but later became very beautiful...Douglas fir, rhododendrons, salal, Oregon grape, ferns, and higher up madrones and manzanita.  When I saw Rooster Rock, I didn't think that could be it because it looked like an anvil, not a rooster! But it was the destination afterall.  When I got to it, it loomed massively over the trail and a photo was impossible (see below).  Too close and too many trees for a distance shot.  The view was beautiful from the rocky knoll.  7 miles, 2200 ft gain.  Only a little snow at the top.

light is glancing the forest

huge tree just snapped by the wind a few weeks ago

beautiful Madrone

lunch spot

the rocky knoll

Rooster Rock

rhododendron everywhere

Rooster Rock about 30-40 min down from the top

fog came back in as I went down

Trout Creek

Central Salmon River Hike 13 Dec 2014

Bethany and I arrived in this beautiful valley near Mt Hood around 9:30a on a Saturday morning NOAA had claimed would be mostly sunny.  We were greeted by raindrops at the trailhead.  We enjoyed the misty hike through old growth, moss covered trees.  The view point was beautiful and we enjoyed watching the fog change the look of the landscape.  We hiked 8.3 miles and gained 1500 ft.  We were not sure where the path to Frustration falls was located, but later found out from a fellow hiker that we had actually turned around at the trail going down to the falls.  Most of this hike is in forest with river views until 3.6 miles when it opens up briefly.

Salmon River

lunch spot

Urban Hiking in Chicago 6 December 2014

Eric and I enjoyed walking around Chicago and Oak Park taking photos on impromptu afternoon "wanders".  Enjoy!

Sears Tower

Marshall Fields

Trump building

old and new

rentals

the "bean"

selfie paradise

inside the bean

black and white beauties!

Oak Park bike rack

cakes in Oak Park