I heard Jason moving and saw his Kindle light come on. It was pitch black outside and the dull glow of the Kindle looked light a spotlight. I fell back to sleep for a bit and finally heard him say,…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Swamp & Steamboat Lakes Backpack day 3 (Steamboat Lake), Aug 2018
Happy 40-something birthday to Jason! What better way to spend the special day than by visiting a new Eagle Cap Wilderness lake? After a quiet night at Swamp Lake, we were crawling out of the tent at 5:00 as the…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Swamp & Steamboat Lakes Backpack day 2 (Swamp Lake), Aug 2018
“It got cold last night and everything’s covered in dew”. It was a little after 5:00 and just barely starting to get light. I reached out of my warm down sleeping bag and felt the outside surface. It was wet with dew. On summer…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Swamp & Steamboat Lakes Backpack day 1 (Copper Creek Meadows), Aug 2018
Beat the crowds on the eastern side of Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness by visiting lesser known Swamp and Steamboat Lakes Distance: 27 miles round trip Type: out and back Difficulty: moderate with approximately 4,350′ total elevation gain Best Season: July…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Main Eagle Backpack day 4 (return to civilization), July 2018
Final day of our four day backpack into Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness. It had been another peaceful night at Bear Lake. Our only company was the doe that visited us again for the second night. We had a 6.5 mile…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Main Eagle Backpack day 3 (Lookingglass Lake), July 2018
Day three of our Main Eagle backpack in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness. We woke around 5:00 to another clear morning with mild temperatures in the low 40s. It has been a peaceful night at Bear Lake. Like the previous night…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Main Eagle Backpack day 2 (Bear Lake), July 2018
Day two of our four day Main Eagle backpack in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: after a scenic day one on the trail, we enjoyed a quiet campsite at Cached Lake. The only noise we had during the night was that…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: Main Eagle Backpack day 1 (Cached Lake), July 2018
Great backpack to wildflower filled meadows and a handful of beautiful alpine lakes Distance: 24.25 miles Type: Y shape Difficulty: moderately difficult with ~4,700′ elevation gain Best season: July – September Normally, a backpack to a dammed lake would not…
Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness: McCully Basin Backpack, July 2018
Backpack to a beautiful wildflower filled mountain meadow surrounded by snow covered peaks Distance: 10 miles roundtrip Difficulty: moderate with 1,900′ elevation gain Type: out and back Best season: summer and early fall Finally—we were in the prime summer backpacking…
Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge: Tom McCall Point & Rowena Plateau, April 2018
Two short trails off the historic Columbia River Highway—both with stunning views and wildflowers Tom McCall Point: 3.65 miles round trip with 1,018′ elevation gain (moderately difficult) Rowena Plateau: 2.2 miles round trip with 300′ elevation loss (easy) Type: both…