Herman Creek to Indian Head

Did I mention I hate the winters here? But I love Oregon, and I'm determined to make the best of it, so between early training rides for July's STP I am forcing myself to hit the Gorge trails. After all, they're really quite pretty this time of year. That being said, Herman Creek via the Gorton Creek trail is not the most spectacular hike I've ever done. It's a fairly dull and not particularly challenging slog through mossy trees, and you're never far enough from I-84 to get a feeling of being in the wilderness - you must delve a little farther south into the woods via many connector trails for that. However, for viewpoints of the Gorge and a little titillating high cliff adventure, Indian Point is a worthy goal. Follow the narrow catwalk out to the middle vision quest pit and enjoy the bird's eye view of Wind and Dog Mountain. Just hold onto your hat, and your footing, because it's windy and a looong way down. Return via the much nicer (and steeper) Nick Eaton Ridge, which had misty glimpses of the Gorge's tallest peaks, still covered in blankets of snow.

7 miles, 2 hours.

Multnomah Falls -> Devil's Point-> Wahkeenah Loop

Nice winter loop via some of the gorge's most popular trails. Can't beat it for moody seasonal beauty, and got some good miles in. Devil's Point sucked, but it was a fine bunch of rocks on which to eat my tuna fish sandwich and wait out a pretty, peaceful hail storm. Start at Multnomah Falls, descend to Wahkeennah via the Foxglove trail, and follow the connector trail along I-84 back to your car. For this hike I grabbed one of the maps for this section of the gorge from REI, but you can also find route maps searching the forums on local hiking blogs such as Portland Hikers.

14.5 miles, 3-3.5 hours.