Finally, we made it the Eastern edge of Oregon. We stopped for gas and it was Alyssa’s first experience with a full service gas station. Believe it or not, until January 1st of this year, it was illegal for you to pump your own gas in Oregon. It seems most Oregonians are not happy with this new development and at least for the foreseeable future, full service will be around. Will has now also contemplated moving here, so he doesn’t have to pump gas anymore.
Another 6 hours across the state, we made it to the Mt Hood area where we will finally get some skiing in. We have season passes to Angel Fire, which also gives us access to the Powder Alliance . The Powder Alliance is an agreement amongst 16 ski resorts, which provide season pass holders with 3 free days of lift tickets at the partner resorts. So, we can ski both Mt Hood Ski Bowl and Timberline.
Here for a week and are enjoying the luxury of the 2 bedroom condo that we rented. So, nice to be able to have a real kitchen and spread out a bit.
As our first full day iwas a Saturday and our ski passes don’t work, we thought we’d check out some hiking trails in the area.
This area in Oregon has quite a bit of variable weather, depending on your location. While we are only 12-15 miles from the ski resorts our condo is located in a more temperate zone of an old rainforest.
We took the Old Salmon Trail and did about 3 1/2 miles. This trail follows along the Salmon River and is a little over 7 miles one way. We were just trying to get a flavor for trails in the area and weren’t out to hike the whole 14 miles. It was a nice trail and very popular. It is really different hiking in such wet conditions with so many tall trees.
We then opted to take the Zig Zag trail. It’s a mile round trip to view Zig Zag falls. This trail is a little higher in elevation and therefore was snow covered and a little icy in spots. We brought out our ice cleates for the first time. Wow, those things are great! They really give you a good grip and are fairly easy to take on and off. The trail goes along the old highway from the 1920’s, remnants of which still remain. It ends at the Zig Zag falls, which was a pretty setting amongst the snow covered ground.
