Tamanwas Falls and A Whole Lotta Ice

Thrilled to take my husband hiking for the first time in a very long time, but dismayed to discover thick sheets of ice over what was supposed to be an easy trail. I gave Dr B my microspikes, which rendered him impervious, and then tried not to plunge off a cliff in my trailrunners or break my coccyx on the ice. Once home, we toasted to proper gear for both us next time if we're to continue this "couples" hiking thing.

The Sun Chaser

The mountain must have heard I've been waiting 36 hours to get up there and try out my new snowhoes, because the forecast changed from mostly sunny and clear to cold as shit and gray in about the two hours it took me to get there. I got out of the car and started up the trail at Summit Ski Area, quickly decided that I didn't want to spiral from a mild cold into a full-blown flu, and kept on driving. The road was icy and a little sketchy, but the Subie did fine even without snow tires. On the other side of the mountain, I finally found my sun. So there's that, which was nice.

My First Snowshoe!

Gorgeous hike on groomed trails from Ski Bowl West on the Glade Trail on Mount Hood up to near the PCT at Timberline. Rented showshoes from REI, but I can see a new gear purchase in the immediate future.

Tamanawas Falls Winter Hike

I said back in October that I wanted to come back and do this hike in the snow, so I did. It was even better than in the fall, with a couple inches of snow coating everything. The trail was easily navigable, with some fun scuttling under low-hanging branches. I used my new microspikes for the first time, and I was impressed. The snowpack was pretty firm, but I was able to travel quickly and sure-footedly. By no means did I actually need them, but it was great to speed along without worry.

Mississippi Head Airplane Crash Hike (Attempt)

Last week I thought I'd try to reach the plane bits on Mississippi Head above Zigzag Canyon on Mount Hood. The weather seemed ideal from the Timberline Trail heading to Paradise Park, but it quickly turned sour once I hit the snowfields above the canyon. Fears of whiteout and injury made me turn back and retrace my 7.5 miles rather than ascending just another 1,000 feet to reach the Palmer Glacier ski lifts and then following them quickly downhill back to my car. It was a brutal return trip, but I'm confident about my decision, and someone on Portland Hikers snapped a shot of me hightailing it out of the clouds (below).

15.5 miles, 7 hours.