HIKE DIRECTORY

THE NARRATIVE IMAGE'S HIKE DIRECTORY

Quite a few of The Narrative Image blog entries are related to hiking trails in close proximity to Portland, so many in fact, that I thought it might be helpful to create an index specific to hiking.

Abiqua Falls

Entering the amphitheater

A bumpy ride down into a valley over a road suited for all terrain vehicles leads to a short downhill slide and a river skirting/wading scramble toward a fabled waterfall that remains hidden until the last minute.

See: ABIQUA FALLS

Ape Canyon Trail

The Plains of Abraham via Ape Canyon Trail

The trailhead is on the east side of Mt. St. Helens. The trail itself is suitable for mountain bikes. It traverses a ridge that looks out over a massive lahar on one side, and an old forest that survived by hiding behind the ridge on the other. After passing the narrow throat of Ape Canyon, it isn't far to the Plains of Abraham, a vast, level, barren landscape of pumice and furtive new vegetation.
See:  APE CANYON TRAIL

Bird Creek Meadow / Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood as seen from Bird Creek Meadow

The trailhead is on the southeast shoulder of Mt. Adams in Yakima Nation territory (a long ride on a crappy access road is required). There is access to the ‘around the mountain trail’ which I took as far as crooked creek, but you don’t have to go that far to get to Bird Creek Meadows. The edge of Hellroaring Canyon makes a nice place to stop for lunch. Beware of renegade cows.
See: BIRD CREEK MEADOW

Burnt Lake

Burnt Lake from East Zigzag Mountain

Another challenging access road for 2WD cars to the west of Mt. Hood. The hike switches back and forth up a ridge to East Zigzag Mountain then down the other side to the hiding place that holds Burnt Lake. When the wind is calm and the lake is free of ice and Mt. Hood isn’t covered in clouds, then it is possible to get a pretty cool picture of Mt. Hood reflected in an alpine lake…but I wouldn’t know ‘cause I’ve never seen it happen. But there are several campsites located around the lake where such a picture opportunity is at least a theoretical possibility.
See: EAST ZIGZAG MT. AND BURNT LAKE

Coldwater Peak

View of Mt. St. Helens from the top of Coldwater Peak.

About a 12 mile round trip from the Johnston Ridge Observatory with about 2000 feet of cumulative elevation gain. There is remarkable scenery throughout: Barren pumice wastelands. An ex-forest log raft floating on Spirit Lake. A beautiful alpine lake. Ghost trees. And...Oh yeah, Mt. St. Helens. 
Life has pursued various strategies for regaining a foothold in the blown-up landscape, and you tell yourself that the chances that the volcano will erupt on the day you choose to hike there are very small, but still, it sometimes feels like you're looking down the barrel of a loaded gun.
See: COLDWATER PEAK 'Thee-Odyssey' - BOUNDARY TRAIL

Cooper Spur / Eliot Glacier

Mt. St. Helens as seen from the edge of the Eliot Glacier Moraine

Head to Mt. Hood via Hood River. The trail starts at the Cloud cap trailhead. Eliot Glacier is worth its own trip. The trail up Cooper Spur and ultimately to Tie-in Rock is also worth the effort, especially when you round the South-east corner of the mountain and see the Cascade Range disappearing over the Southern horizon.
See: THE ROAD TO CLOUD CAP TRAILHEAD
See: COOPER SPUR / ELIOT GLACIER

See: MONKEY-CAM MEETS PICASSO AT COOPER SPUR

See: COOPER SPUR HAIKU

Dry Creek Falls

Go to see the falls, but also look for the shoe tree.

You can find the trailhead for this short hike in Cascade locks. The falls are exceptionally aesthetically pleasing in their textured basalt cliff setting.
See: DRY CREEK FALLS HIKE

Eagle Creek

View of Punch Bowl falls from the lower side-trail

The sights-per-mile ratio of this hike are hard to beat. An incredible path carved, at points, high into the side of basalt cliffs that line the Eagle Creek canyon. You've probably already seen punchbowl falls on countless Northwest calendars, but walk a little bit further and you'll encounter the high bridge, tunnel falls, several camping sites and ultimately Wahtum Lake.

See: EAGLE CREEK TRAIL: LAST DAY OF THE YEAR

Hamilton Mountain

I was lucky enough to capture the tail end of
the annual spring snowman migration

Hike passes a waterfall with an interesting wind generating feature. The view from the top gives an interesting perspective of other features in the Gorge, particularly Table Mountain.
See: THE SPRING SNOWMAN MIGRATION

Horsethief Butte

She Who Watches will see you on the guided tour

Columbia Hills State Park is the setting for Horsethief Butte. There is a ‘lake’, picnic facilities, and if you plan ahead, you can take a ranger guided tour of protected petroglyphs.
See: VISION QUEST AT HORSETHIEF BUTTE

Hoyt Arboretum

Defensive leaves of the Monkey Puzzle Tree

Kind of like a tree zoo. 12 miles of trails and 1000 species of trees.
See: MEETING TREES @ HOYT ARBORETUM

Iceberg Lake / Mt. Adams

Size, shape and number of icebergs are subject to change.

Take climbers trail #20 which follows the edge of Hellroaring Canyon to an alpine lake that frequently has iceburgs floating in it. White mountain goats stand out against the black rocks, but usually in the distance.
See: MT. ADAMS / ICEBURG LAKE

John Day Fossil Beds 

– Painted Hills Unit

Painted Hills as seen from viewpoint.

9 miles northwest of Mitchell. Unique hills striped with unlikely color caused by oxidizing chemicals (?). There are other units close by in this National Monument that feature fossils from a time when this area grew avocados. Lots of short hikes over remarkable landscapes.
See: THE PAINTED HILLS

The Labyrinth

A trail in the Catherine Creek Area through a geologically interesting area. The Coyote Wall is just to the west.
See: THE LABYRINTH: ANOTHER DAMN HIKE

Lava Canyon

The Invisible Bridge

I haven’t been here myself, but MONKEY-CAM has taken some pictures of the trail up until the suspension bridge because the trail was closed to humans at the time.
See: LAVA CANYON - CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

See: THE LONG HIKE BACK FROM LAVA CANYON

McNiel Point

McNiel Point Shelter

Followed the melting snow up the flank of Mt. Hood in the heat of July. Snowfields transform into alpine lakes or tarns, flowers burst through the thinning snow. You can keep climbing the ridge above the McNiel Point shelter as long as energy permits.
See: McNIEL POINT - MT. HOOD WILDERNESS

Mt. Tabor

Looking down Hawthorne street on toward downtown Portland.

A park built on top of an extinct volcano within the city limits of Portland. Contains several open water reservoirs that you shouldn’t spit or poop in.
See: A TIME TRAVEL HIKE

See: RESERVOIR OF MEMORIES

Mt. Margaret

Mt. St. Helens beyond Spirit Lake as viewed from Boundary Trail #1

It takes a long time to get to the Norway Pass trailhead from Portland - almost 3 hours - whether you thread your way through Cougar or Randle, but once you set out on the trail and scale the ridge/pass, the scenery is non-stop...I don't know...transcendence inspiring. The snapped off trees and barren landscape are still potent reminders that you are standing in a former blast zone, but surveying the progress of returning vegetation...watching clouds spawn above spirit lake...or monitoring a weather front threatening from the west all contribute to a sense of wonder before nature.

See: A MILLION PICTURES OF THE SAME THING: MT. MARGARET HIKE VIA NORWAY PASS TRAIL HEAD

Muddy Fork

Sometimes wrong turns turn out O.K.

Accidently found McGee Creek Trailhead and accidentally took a wrong turn on the way to McNiel Point and ended up at what I think is Muddy Fork. But the scenery was stunning and I need to go back.
See: SHOOTING FOR McNEIL POINT – ENDING UP AT MUDDY FORK

Multnomah Falls

The lower portion of Multnomah Falls

Hiked up the short mile long trail at Multnomah Falls during a freezing rain event.
See: FROZEN WATER, FROZEN TIME
See: MULTNOMAH FALLS - THANKSGIVING DAY 2010

Opal Creek

Deserted mine.

Evidently a sanctuary for rain. Features along the trail include small waterfalls, blocked off mine tunnels, old mining equipment and pools of vibrantly colored water.
See: OPAL CREEK TRAIL

See: OPAL CREEK TO CEDAR FLATS

Ramona Falls

I think it's hard to get a good picture of this
waterfall because of the bridge being in the way
and difficult lighting conditions.

An obligatory hike to a picturesque waterfall. When I went, the bridge leading to the trailhead had been taken out from the flooding caused from excessive rainfall and snowmelt. The resulting landscape had been gouged out by the swollen rivers and appeared almost lunar in areas.
See: SCOUTING THE ROAD TO RAMONA FALLS

See: RAMONA FALLS TRAIL (SUPERSIZED)

Silver Falls State Park

A giant waterfall museum.
See: SILVER FALLS STATE PARK, TRAIL OF TEN FALLS

Table Mountain

The steep approach to the summit is finally worth it.

Started this hike at the Bonneville Trailhead which makes for a fairly challenging trip (There are other closer places to start from). The view from the ridge at the top of Table Mt. is dramatic and the exposure can be, frankly, scary. An awesome hike.
See: TABLE MOUNTAIN - COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

See: BRIDGE OF THE GODS

Triple Falls Trail

Triple Falls

Horsetail Falls, upper Horsetail Falls(?) and triple falls in a loop that swings back past Oneonta Gorge.
See: PARANOIA ON THE TRIPLE FALLS TRAIL

Wahclella Falls

This is just a bonus seasonal waterfall,
not Wahclella Falls, which is already behind me.

An easy hike to a waterfall on a trail that loops around both sides of a mini-gorge.
See: WAHCLELLA FALLS - COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

Warrior Rock Lighthouse / 

Sauvie Island

Warrior Rock Lighthouse always feels a bit
impotent when his relatives from the coast
come to visit.

This hike sets out along the beach and heads to the Northern tip of Sauvie Island. Along the way you can explore wetlands and a river lighthouse. Periodically, immense ocean traveling ships travel up and down the river, their wakes breaking on the shore.
See: WARRIOR ROCK LIGHTHOUSE

Wilson River / 

Footbridge Trailhead

Wilson River Footbridge

I meant to meet some of my fishermen friends here, but I missed them (because I was late) and so spent some time exploring the trail. Mountain bikers utilized this path but I think you want to be pretty comfortable about exposure.
See: FOOTBRIDGE TRAILHEAD MYSTERY