Sunday, August 16, 2009

Camping on the Coast



I picked my sister up in Portland on Sunday night and we decided to spend all day Monday in the Columbia River Gorge, hiking with my friend, Karen. We hiked Larch Mountain. A nice little 6 mile loop can be had by hiking Larch Mountain Trail, Multnomah Creek Way and Oneonta Trail. Along the way, we saw lots of wild blueberries, but they were still not quite ripe. A little sour. I was able to pick up a couple of letterboxes along the way too! The view from Woman's Forum looking back along the river was lovely.

On Tuesday, we left Portland and headed for Fort Stevens on the Oregon Coast. We stopped at Camp 18 on Highway 26. They have a little trail there called the Humbug Creek Trail, so I hiked it for a measy little 3/4 of a mile. We stopped at McMenamins Sand Trap in Seaside, OR for some of their terrific beer and pub grub. By the time we got to the Campground at Fort Stevens and had the tent up, it was almost sunset. We thought we could knock out the 1 mile trail around Coffenbury Lake before it got totally dark. So we are hiking and hiking around the lake and it gets darker and darker and I am thinking that this is more than one mile!! It turns out the lake is one mile long. The trail around the lake is actually 2.4 miles! So we got in more miles than I had planned for Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we visited Fort Clatsop and I hiked the Netul River Trail for 1 mile. We spent most of the day in the galleries and shops at Cannon Beach. It was raining most of the day and we didn't feel like slogging along the trails. We also visited the Astoria Column and saw the Goonies house!

Thursday, we got up bright and early to return to Seattle. Took some photos of the Wreck of the Peter Iredale on the beach at Fort Stevens and then headed back to Washington State and Cape Disappointment State Park. We hiked the Cape Disappointment Trail to see the lighthouse and also the McKenzie Head Trail for more views. (and letterboxes) On the drive home, we also cruised through Raymond, WA to enjoy their sculpture trail. And we were able to make another stop at Burgerville in Centralia this time, for their Walla Walla Sweet Onions Onion Rings! With the Garlic Aioli sauce they are awesome! My sister has already posted some of her photos from the trip on Facebook!

So I have a total of 37.5 miles and $783 for WTA Hike-a-thon. Many thanks to my letterboxing friends who have contributed so generously. You Guys ROCK! or is it SPOR? Don't forget if you are mailing a check to me to have it in the mail by September 3rd. Checks should be made out to WTA or Washington Trails Association. And my Fundraising Page is set up to take credit card donations.


2 comments:

Nick H. said...

Next time you get the chance you should hike the Fort to Sea Trail. It follows the path that Lewis and Clark took when they were bunking down for the winter at Fort Clatsop. I can't remember how long it was, but it was between five and ten miles.

Rabid Quilter from California said...

Great photo of your smiling face with the lighthouse sign!

~~Doublesaj~~