Misty Mountain Hop

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Hi Everyone,

Well we have finally decided to leave Oregon. Oregon was so amazingly beautiful everywhere that we went but the weather was less than desirable. We have weathered five long days on rain with no let up in sight but our spirits are still high that the sun will make an apperance soon. We spent a week touring around Oregon, hitting the major cities and the coastal regions. After leaving Florence, where we spent two glorious rainy days (but at least we did not have to set up and break down our gear) we headed up the Pacific Coast highway to see the Northern Coast of Oregon. It was so beautiful. I could spend forever sitting on the shores of the Pacific without a second thought. The coast gets a lot rockier the further north you go, we really enjoyed the drive.

We made our way into Portland and thanks to my generous father we were able t o spend a night in a hotel after spending three nights sleeping in a very wet tent with very wet sleeping bags. It was such a well needed respite (Thanks Dad). Today we left Portland to visit the Colombia River Gorge, it was amazing. It is a scenic drive along the historical highway that is so narrow and windy that it is an adventure all in itself. It started off really foggy and misty but thankfully it burnt off in between rain showers. The mist on the mountains really made it feel like we were experiencing the true Pacific Northwest. It also made me think of the long road ahead of us to Alaska. We will be seeing so many of these scenes on our way through British Colombia.

Along the Gorge Scenic Byway there are so many waterfalls and not just little tiny waterfalls. They are amazing, large waterfalls everywhere. We hiked down to Latourell Falls, it was beautiful. Then we made our way to the Multnomah Falls, the largest waterfall in Oregon. It is separated into the upper and lower falls. The upper falls drops 542 feet into a pool below and then another 70 feet into the lower falls. There is an bridge that you can hike to and see the view from the upper falls into the lower falls. The only annoyance at this particular stop was the massive amount of tourists and we are not talking about friendly tourists either! But we continued to go down the Gorge and to see Horsetail Falls. Horsetail is much smaller compared to Multnomah but it is more impressive I think. There are no crowds of tourists or people trying to get the best photo opportunity. It was really peaceful and beautiful.

After that we headed to see Mount Hood, the largest peak in Oregon at 11,200 feet. I wasn’t sure we were even going to be able to see it because it was hiding around some clouds but it made a brief appearance. Mount Hood is a snowboarders paradise so we decided to check it out (Jen is a snowboarder, not me, I do not have the coordination for that!!) We had a bout a 20 temperature degree drop when we ventured near the mountain-it was only about 40 degrees and there was snow still on the ground. Mount Hood has a really nice atmosphere and people seemed to be really laid back and friendly. After that we crossed the border into Washington and made camp for that night.

Right now we are in Castle Rock, Washington. This is the entrance to Mount St. Helen National Volcanic Monument. Pam, you will appreciate this one, the campground we are staying in puts our white trash campground in British Colombia to shame (the one with no toilets and a wedding party) and its called Paradise Cove!! We have already been visited by a raccoon. Now I love furry woodland creatures but in there respective wilderness habitat not invading my campground. It’s just a different lifestyle out here; apparently people live in their trailers year round. I guess I am spoiled living on the East Coast where trailers are a summer vacation not an actual home. It actually really makes me appreciate what I do have in life.

We are headed to Olympic National Park tomorrow and I am so excited- another new National Park!!!

I hope all is well at home and everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day Weekend festivities. Jessie- I hope the cookout is awesome and I want to hear all the drunken stories (hopefully Alyssa stayed away from the Keg stands ;) I’m bummed I couldn’t be there, but there is always next year. Please don’t forget to leave comments!!

Pray for sun

Love Laura

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