Treks and Adventures
I had not hiked the Paradise Park Trail #778 in a number of years and was happy to hike it again and see what had changed. My first challenge was finding the new trailhead and finding very large pile of logs taking up most of the parking lot. Once maneuvering around couple of piles of logs I found where the new trail head began.
By the numbers 15.5 miles, 3000 ft. elevation gain and on the trail for about 8 hours.
Lori, Jeanette, Sylvia and I did a 6 mile with 500 ft gain nature walk in Chehalem Ridge Nature Park. Afterwards we went to The 649 Tap House and Bottle Shop for some lunch.
A hike in Beacon Rock State Park up to Hardy Ridge. The ridge had great views of the Gorge and lots of wild flowers in full bloom. The hike was about 9 miles, 2300 elevation gain and on the trail for a little under 6 hours
This time out I was with Jeanette and Sylvia. We did a short hike (5 miles, 900 ft. gain) to Little Beacon Rock and Hardy Falls at Beacon Rock State Park. Afterward we went to Puffin Café, a place truly on the water.
Cast Creek Trail has become a trail to return to for me. It is basically a walk in the wood trail with some great views at the end. It is a good conditioning trail for the elevation you gain and because it is a horse trail it is an even up hill to it. It also has a subtle beauty to it as you pass through woodland. This time I made it up to the summit of East Zigzag Mt. and had a chance to walk around Cast Lake. By the numbers: 14 1/2 miles, Total Elevation Gain 3965 ft. and 8 hrs. 15 min. on the trail,
