We did the Tom Dick and Harry Mountain hike which has a stop at Mirror Lake about half way up. The trail to the top was just under 3 miles with about a 1700 foot elevation gain that was never strenuous.

When we made it to the top we had a stunning view of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier (when the clouds cooperated), Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Jefferson. I was starving so I busted out my double decker PB&J sandwich while Kristen did some exploring. A lady passed me on the way down and made a comment that she was jealous of my sandwich. She should be. Kristen found a great sitting rock that was rounded out very well and faced Mt. Hood. We ate, we napped and we enjoyed the great weather and the view.

This hike alone has made me want to stay in Portland so I can get a real paying job and have money to make more trips this like around the rest of Oregon.

Here are the photos (or view the photos here):

If you hike the full 8+ mile loop trail, you will come across 10 official waterfalls (e.g., there are others, but they are not on the map). Towards the end of the hike, I wondered how many feet of water falling we saw. I found this brochure online and added up the numbers – 977ft. That’s a lot of water falling! Comparatively, Multnomah Falls in the gorge, the tallest in the state, is 620 feet by itself.

Here are some photos (or view the photos here):

Unfortunately, the trip had a very bad event. A college student fell off the top of a waterfall and died. The scary part is that we were at that waterfall when it happened but luckily we did not see it happen.

While driving down I-5, we saw a sign just north of Salem that stated that we were crossing the 45th parallel. This means that I am living an equal distance from the equator and the north pole. Kind of cool.

Here are some photos (or view the photos here):

Here are some photos (or view the photos here):

This year I went hiking on half of the 4-T Trail. The 4 Ts stand for Train, Trail, Tram and Trolley. The tram was closed due to the holiday so I just took the train out to the zoo and took the trail up to Council Crest. It was a pretty easy hike that took me down the on ramp of a freeway, through the hills and walking through a neighborhood.

Went I got to Council Crest I quickly realized that it was a dog park for their were a few dogs running around and chasing balls. Alright, not really what I expected, but that’s cool. I was walking up a hill and noticed that people were taking pictures of something behind me, so I turned around and found out what they were looking at. Being that it was a rare clear day I was looking directly at Mt. Hood. Cool. Time for me to take some photos.

I kept walking up the hill and at the top was a circular brick wall that pointed out where each mountain was, how tall it was and how far away it was. Again, since it was a clear day I was able to see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. Time for more pictures.

Unfortunately, even though it was clear out, the wind was blowing cold wind so I decided to find cover on the other side of the hill behind a nice tall thick tree. I sat on the ground and enjoyed the warmth the sun was giving off. I read for awhile and then headed home.

That night I went with another VISTA member to see It’s a Wonderful Life. Yes, it was at a movie theater. It has been a long since I saw it and it is still good.

Here are some photos (or view the photos here):

To get to the garden, I can take the train to the zoo and then catch a bus that goes by the garden.  I get to the bus stop at the zoo and look and the schedule and see that I missed it by a few minutes and that the next one was not for about 30 minutes.  I did not feel like waiting so I decided to start walking.  I could see on a map where the garden was, but had no idea how far I had to go.

About 100 yards from the bus stop I come across the entrance to Oregon’s Vietnam Memorial.  Considering it was Veteran’s Day, I thought that this was meant to be, so I went in.  It had a cool sidewalk design that was circled up along the hill.  Along the sidewalk were 5 or 6 memorials split into groups of years that had the names of Oregonians on them that died during that time period.  It also had a little history of what was going on in Vietnam at that time and, as a comparison, what was going on in Oregon.  It was a very moving experience.

After leaving the memorial, I came across another trail and decided to take it to see where it goes.  I guess I should mention that the zoo is located in Washington Park which is about 200 feet up in the hills and there are a lot of hiking trails in this area.  I probably ended up hiking a couple miles and walked through maples, redwoods and other colorful trees.  Never did make it to the Japanese Garden.

Here are some photos (or view the photos here):

I forgot about the pictures that I took until tonight when I was checking the batteries on the camera.  Oops. Here are some photos (or view the photos here):