27 April 2013 Mirror Lake

Between being in Kenya and rainy Fridays, it  has been awhile since I was hiking.  It was a beautiful, warm sunny day in our area so I headed to Mirror Lake.  I had called the ranger at ZigZag, and his report was that snowshoeing conditions were excellent.  But, his information was a bit off, what snow there was on the trail did not require snowshoes.  The snow was mostly melted, and it was downright ugly, strewn with dirt and blow-down material.  I have been spoiled by the pristine beauty of new snow in the Cascades!
Once I made it to the lake, however, the snow was deep and mushy so I put the snowshoes back on to circle around the lake to get a view of Mt Hood.  I lost the path around the lake and ended up following some footprints that headed in the right direction...wasn't sure if I was walking over the lake or not.  I hurried, as if that would help me not to fall in.  I reached my destination, took my photos and headed back the way I came.  I could hear running water, and was not sure what I was standing on.  I didn't see a soul until I was well on my way back down.

the trail

looking southeast

a bit of unfrozen lake

Mt Hood with frozen lake in foreground

pan

logs over a little stream 

1 March 2013 Ray Benson SnoPark

Oops, forgot to post this hike!  Ray Benson sno park on a very warm day with very wet heavy snow.  We were slogging and happy to see the parking lot after 3.8 miles.  We did the North Loop in a clockwise direction.  Got off onto a bunny trail coming back but it was fine.  Ended up intersecting with the PCT then the North Loop again.  3 hr hike.

Three fingered Jack.  There was a high fog in the air.

Hayrick Butte

Trail maps at most intersections are nice

this was a confusing sign

Jack

8 March 2013 Ray Benson SnoPark

Jean, Mary Ann, and I headed to Ray Benson on a foggy Friday.  The roads were dicey when we got to the pass, but we didn't have long on the ice.  The parking lot was ice covered and pretty empty when we arrived around 10:45a.  The temps were in the 30's, and it was snowing!.  It was pretty obvious once we got to the trail that Ray Benson had gotten a decent amount of snow recently.  The trail was pretty indistinct and in some places non-existent.  But, Ray Benson is well marked and there are the mountains for reference.
We headed out in the opposite direction from the way we had gone last week on North Loop.  We did the bulk of the hike before lunch and by the time we came out of the trees and arrived at the hut, the sun was shining.  It was beautiful!  A glorious day!  We sat and enjoyed lunch and the scenery praising God for such a nice day.  A couple of skiers came up to lunch in the hut while we were getting ready to leave.  We headed back on the north side of the north loop trail, picking up some illicit snowmobile tracks which took us off trail for a bit.  They were so nice to hike on though, that we stuck with them until we had to turn west.  The snow was a pretty soft powder so it was quite the trek, lifting up your legs 6 to 12 inches each step.  Those tracks were a nice break!
 Beautiful day - we did the loop in a little over 3 hours with the lunch stop and were home by 4:30p.

a winter wonderland

stopping to take off some clothes as we warmed up

3 fingered Jack breaks out into the sun at the North Blowout Hut

Black Butte

Lunch spot

following the snowmobile tracks

much of the way back looked like this - it was kind of fun blazing the trail

photo op

neat clouds and trees

Hayrick Butte and Hoodoo in fresh snow

Pan near hut

pan of cloud

pan near lunch spot, Black Butte

15 February 2013 Neptune State Park, Sea Lions, and Cape Perpetua Scenic area OR

A 60 degree sunny day at the coast could not be passed up.  Headed south on 101 to Cape Perpetua area.  Stopped first at Neptune State Park, passed Heceta Head lighthouse, then stopped at the Sea Lion Caves just to what it was about.  Lots of odoriferous sea lions!  Headed north back to Cape Perpetua to hike the St Perpetua trail to the overlook (stone hut), then back to the Captain Cook trail to the tidepools and Thor's Well.  Had lunch near the Indian kitchen midden area.  Tide was high at 10:30 and I was at the tide pools around 1:30p.  Thor's well would probably have been more photographic a little later, but then there would have been the risk of getting hit with a rogue wave.  I thought the timing worked for me :-)

Neptune State Park

Bridge near Heceta Head

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Sea Lion caves

hiking up St Perpetua trail

Overlook

Skunk Cabbage bloom

Looking back at the overlook bluff

Kitchen midden

tidepools on Captain Cook trail

Thor's Well

8 February 2013 Yachats and Cape Perpetua, OR

I was sorely in need of ocean view and sunshine so I headed to the coast on a foggy Friday morning.  I had not explored the coast south of Waldport, so I determined not to get out of the car at any pull-outs until after I had passed that town.  Hard to do, I tell you.  I did make one stop even before I reached the coast - Basket Slough.  I couldn't resist the view of the land in the fog.
Fog lightened up after I went over my first rise in elevation and the sky was crystal clear.  It fogged up again when I got to the coast but not too bad.  You could see a big marine layer in the distance over the ocean.  By afternoon, even that was gone.  Temps were in the 40's with a bit of a breeze.  Sunny for the most part.
I made it to Smelt Sands State Park in Yachats without stopping anywhere else - a 111 mile, 2 hr 20 min trip via Hwy22/18 and Hwy 101.  The tide was up (going out but still pretty high) so I wasn't able to really get to the tide pools, plus the waves were pretty intense.  But it was picturesque and peaceful despite the ocean front hotels there.  I walked to the end of the 0.7 mile paved trail and had to turn around because the tide was too high to continue on the sandy beach.  You can travel another 6.3 miles to Waldport when the tide is lower.  After enjoying lunch on one of the benches above the rocks, I continued on into Yachats to check it out and get coffee.  It is a very small town, however, and not finding coffee and not realizing I was leaving town I had to keep on going.  I ended up at Cape Perpetua on accident but was very glad I had continued because it is a place I definitely want to come back to.  I hiked the short Trail of Restless Waters to Devil's Churn and then over to the tide pools before turning back to my car.  Next time I will try not to stop until I get to Cape Perpetua and hike the variety of bluff and forest trails the park has to offer.
On the way home, I stopped at Seal Rock (huge volcanic rocks of the same composition as volcanic rock from Hell's Canyon near Idaho).  I also made notes to check out Yachats State Park (rocky), Beachside State Rec Area for long strips of beach and Lost Creek on future trips.  Also take a drive on Yachats Ocean Road.  At Cape Perpetua check out Thors Well. Further on past Perpetua, is Neptune Beach...looks like there are trails descending to the coast from the cliff.
Or an idea would be to drive to Eugene, head to the coast via Florence, then North in a circle back to Keizer (270 miles)

Basket Slough in the fog

Smelt Sands foamy surf

Smelt sands

lunch spot

Devil's churn at Cape Perpetua

Near tide pools at Cape Perpetua

At Seal Rock

Looking straight up at the huge volcanic rock

Devil's churn at Cape Perpetua

Smelt Sands Yachats

Cape Perpetua by tide pools

Seal Rock

Map of Cape Perpetua trails