Mount Hebo 27 November 2015

Frozen roads in the pass and Black Friday/Game day traffic on I-5 made the hiking decision for me - the coast. Decided to do the 8 mile trek up Mt Hebo on this clear, crisp day.
There was a bit of debris on the trail but nothing like the Gorge. I flicked most of it off the trail between my out and back hike (took a pole for this purpose this time!). Snow started before crossing the second road. The road itself (near the top) was very icy so it meant I was not going to go to the other summits as I had previously with Ann. Too icy for road walking.
Had the summit to myself. Quite windy and cold, so after a quick bite to eat, I headed down to warmer temps in the woods. Beautiful day!
8.4 mi and 1500 ft gain.
map

Hebo Lake reflections

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Sitka Spuce

Douglas Fir and ferns

snow begins

Hoar-frost

Looking west to Cape Lookout and Pacific City

the sun came out on the way back

these trees are so interesting

frosty moss

Starved Rock State Park, IL 14 November 2015

Visiting Eric in IL, we did a short hike at Starved Rock on a sunny Saturday. We started at the far end of the park where the trails are not paved. Enjoyable day with my son!
our map
map of Starved Rock

Illinois Canyon

Illinois Canyon

Kaskaskia Canyon

Ottawa Canyon

South Breitenbush Gorge 23 November 2015

After discovering the Breitenbush area this summer, I am intrigued to hike over there more and more. This easy hike was a good one to do on an "iffy" day the week of Thanksgiving. Rain was a possibility in the forecast with snow on it's heels, so a close to home, short hike seemed like a good idea. We had great weather in the end, sun all day, no rain. The temps were in the 30's but we had proper clothing so it wasn't a problem. The hoar-frost and icicles were fun to see and negotiating the trail with ice wasn't much of a problem besides the occasional slippery root.  It was a lovely forest hike with possibilities for making it longer when longer days permit. We hiked to Roaring Creek and turned around.
6.2 mi, 700 ft gain
map

South Breitenbush River

one of several interesting bridges

this one looked like they just used whatever fell across the river!

frosty mushrooms

giant trees

log jam

Roaring Creek

our turn around point, Roaring Creek

three trees growing together

Gorge Waterfall hike 20 Nov 2015

My decision to hike in the gorge today was not very wise. I totally forgot there had been a huge windstorm there 18 Nov and that the highway had even been shut down for a long time because of the blow down debris. I need to pay attention to the news!
My plan was to visit Multnomah Falls, Horsetail, Pony Tail, Triple Falls, McCord Creek and Elowah. And perhaps Latourell Falls if I had time. I started at Multnomah - pretty windy so it was hard to get photos. Next was Horsetail. There was a sign saying a bridge was out so I hiked to Pony Tail Falls and turned around. Drove down the road to access the trail on the other side of the Oneonta Gorge to get to Triple Falls. The Oneonta bridge was not out,  however, so I am not sure which bridge they were talking about. I passed a huge trail reroute on the way up to Triple - I knew there had been a landslide last year and it had been fixed. But just before the falls, I was too intimidated by the precarious blowdown to continue. Later I talked with some folks who had gotten by that section and said it only got worse further up. They had eventually turned back too but they had reached Triple Falls first.
So, I headed down and went to McCord Creek - but that didn't work out either. Right at the end of the railing there was so much debris on the trail, huge root ball and logs, that I turned around. That section is very narrow and I didn't want to risk it. On to Elowah which was fine besides debris on the trail - until near the end. There was a tree in the middle of the narrow trail that had dislodged and was bringing the trail up with it. I crossed anyway - I was getting pretty frustrated at not being able to go anywhere!  There were some pretty massive logs at the base of Elowah too.
The map includes some driving:
map

Multnomah Falls

Benson Bridge

Horsetail Falls

Pony Tail Falls

trail reroute due to last year's landslide

Blow down I didn't cross to get to Triple Falls

Oneonta Falls

Much of the trail looked like this

Table Mtn with snow

Elowah Falls from the McCord Creek trail 

This is where I turned around on the McCord Creek trail

took out some of the railing too

this tree, in the middle of a narrow trail with a drop off, had fallen and was bringing the trail up with it

Elowah Falls

shattered logs at the base