Oregon Impressions

After getting Olive settled with the cousins in Portland, we left the city to explore some local rivers.

First stop, the Hood River for a paddle down the Dee to Tucker run. Despite a slightly sketchy put in requiring a hike across the “mushroom factory” to get to the river, it was a really fun run! It had a series of great creeky 3+ drops at the beginning, and really fun class 4 splash factor boulder gardens at the bottom.

Second stop, East Fork Lewis just up the hill from Battleground, Washington. This river and the surrounding forest is the epitome of the Pacific Northwest. It was lush, green, and rained the ENTIRE two days we were there. 

(we found a newt!)

While I took a day to myself for a long jog and to recover from wet cold kayak clothes, Jeff took a paddle down the river with our new friend Jack. Jeff loved this run, I’m sure you can tell why from the pictures below...

After Jeff's paddle, my jog, and a quick detour to save a couple stranded in the middle of the woods with two shredded tires from off-roading their bmw x5 (Yes, two tires. No, we don't know why they off-roaded this vehicle.), we ended at a nice rainy campground right next to the Lewis river for a fancy campside birthday dinner!

Then one last quick trip back to Portland for a final birthday celebration with our friends Heather and Erik...

... and we were back on the road headed for our final paddle in Oregon on the amazingly beautiful and scenic Molalla river. We were fortunate enough to be joined by our new friends Jack, Keith and Steven for almost all of our first time paddling the “Three Bears” section of the river.

For our last Oregon adventure, four days snowshoeing around Crater Lake... 

First campsite of the trek

View from the top of the watchmen

Dry ground to take breaks were rare, so we were sure to take advantage when we found them...

Our photos of Ghost Ship Island don't quite do it justice

This almost vertical hike to bypass a sketchy avalanche zone was incredibly tiring ... 

Final campsite of the trip!

Back home!

Now off to Arizona! Special thanks to Aunt Laurie and Uncle Art for letting us lick our wounds for a couple days in Ashland after Crater Lake.