North Cascades National Park

Cascade Pass Trail to Sahale Arm. It's 7 hours from Portland, and you must go there. Stay in Marblemount overnight, drive back after your hike. Do it.

7+ miles, approx 7 hours

Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain Hike

Tom Dick and Harry Mountain has great views, gentle grades, and moderate mileage. We even took The Russells on this one, and they were fine, if a tad hot. This is a good family hike, or for your friends who don't have a lot of experience on the trail but are game for a couple hours and a little effort. And if they're not, you can always leave them at pretty little Mirror Lake while you bang it out.

6 miles, 2+ hours.

Crater Lake National Park

Family road trip with Dr. B and The Russells to Crater Lake National Park and Diamond Lake. We relished in some much needed down time at one of the most beautiful spots in all of Oregon, as if we needed reminding why we came back.

I may have my ashes scattered there.

It's a five hour drive, but very scenic. Any excuse to see Smith Rock and the Three Sisters. And of course, it helps to drink lots and lots of coffee.

Crater Lake Rim drive 35 miles, with options for camping at Mazama Village and Diamond Lake (which I recommend). No dogs allowed on the trails.

Saddle Mountain Wildflower Hike

So, it took a while to get settled in after returning from Hawaii, but considering it was probably the worst four months of our lives and is going to take months if not years to repair the financial damage, I think we're doing okay again. We've got a home and jobs now, and can begin pretending that the whole disastrous move never happened. Friends and family know the details, I won't bore anyone who stumbled on this blog looking for hiking posts. In that vein, here's a hiking post! We're hitting the trails and loving hard on Oregon all over again.

The fenced-in, trash-littered summit of Saddle Mountain leaves something to be desired. But the trail is a fun thigh-burner, and we took some of the best pictures we have since moving to Oregon (the first time). See if you concur:

2-3 hours, 5 miles