It’s been a bit of a break since my last post, so I have some catching up to do.
On July 4th, 2013 I ran my first Oregon 5K and placed 1st in my age category! I then won a pair of shoes from the Portland Running Company after they picked my submission to name leg 4 of the Hood to Coast Relay race. Then on Monday the 8th I won 3 pairs of Portland Running Company (PRC) socks in a raffle after their weekly Monday Night Run from the Beaverton location. Needless to say, it’s been a good 10 days!
Mia and I also hiked the Maple Trail in Forest Park, which was a total blast and then found a nice bike loop on Sunday! We then hit up Bliss Cupcakes in Bethany Village to end the weekend.
This past weekend was a kind of last minute (which I am learning is the way things seem to happen in Portland) hiking and camping trip on the Eagle Creek Trail. Myself, Mia, Juston, Laurel, Molly and Greg all met up on Saturday morning at Lovejoy Bakery and then drove out into “The Gorge” to hit the trail head.
The plan was to hike in 6-7.5 miles where there were supposed to be plenty of campsites. Along the way were a plethora of waterfalls and swimming holes, plus some stellar sights and interesting trail routing.
Hands down this was a KILLER weekend of hiking and camping. We had perfect weather, awesome food and one heck of a primo campsite. The pictures will not do it justice, but this hike is well worth it. While we could have easily made this a day hike, the camping just added to the fun.
The trail was never steep, but it sure did have some pretty gnarly sections like the one above. Narrow with a 100+ foot drop down to Eagle Creek at times. Never any unsafe areas, more just a few areas to keep focused and not mess around. It could have been a little dicey if it was icy or slick from rain.
The highlight of the hike is seeing and passing through Tunnel Falls. Back in the early 1900’s the builders just bored a hole right behind the falls. A very neat little addition to this trail.
We dropped our packs about 6.5 miles in at one of the best campsites we had seen. Then headed out to about mile 9-9.5 to “Inspiration Point” before turning around for a night of camp cooking and s’mores (of course).
It got pretty chilly at night, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Then another killer camp meal by Juston and Laurel, ending with the walk out and playing around at Lower Punch Bowl Falls. Totally recommend this hike, and you have to camp. It makes it so much more fun.
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
WoW!!!! what an edgey hike. Glad to see you made it. That dish of veggies looks yummie too….Thanks for posting.