Our first camping trip of the summer has come and gone already! This past weekend Alex and I ventured down to Mount Hood, Oregon and met our friends Ali and Tyler and their seven month old baby Vivian, and of course their dog Glory. We had never been to Mount Hood before and had a fabulous time exploring.
The trip started off with a very, very, very long drive. It was supposed to take us 4.5 hours to get there but we both got stuck in traffic and it ended up being a 7 hour trek down to our campsite.
It was an absolutely gorgeous drive – we hauled off the highway once we found a back way and ended up meandering our way through some little towns that Alex had actually ridden his bike through a couple weeks prior. Once we got to Oregon we were in uncharted territory and were in awe of the views of Mount Hood from our drive. We didn’t end up arriving until after 9, but thankfully Ali and Tyler had gotten there with enough time to get themselves unpacked and get ready to make dinner for us when we arrived.
Little Jackson had never been camping before and we were a little nervous about how he would deal with sleeping in a tent and not in a crate or a confined space. He surpassed even our best expectations and handled it like a champ!
Since we didn’t arrive until after dark we hadn’t seen our campground or surroundings, not to mention the spectacular view of Mount Hood. Makes me wonder why our campground was called “Hoodview,”
We hung out at the campsite most of the morning and then embarked on a little trek back up the road to Timberline Lodge. Timberline is a ski area on Mount Hood that is actually still currently open. It stays open about 10 out of the 12 months each year, depending on the snow.
Once we arrived at Timberline we went for a 5 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a 2,600 mile long trail that spans from Mexico all the way to Canada.
The trail was fairly easy but it was extremely sandy, which was quite unexpected. The sand made it a little bit more challenging to walk in – it felt like we were walking along the beach for 5 miles. Also it was mostly in the sun with limited shade, so that made for one hot puppy.
We got some great views of Mount Hood’s peak and then Mount Jefferson in the horizon. It was a gorgeous day for a hike.
After our adventure we carted ourselves back to the campsite and made dinner and just hung out for the rest of the evening. Of course we made s’mores both nights.
It’s hard to believe the trip went by so fast! Sunday morning we woke up and chatted for a bit while I made pancakes and bacon on the grill, then packed up and hit the road again.
We decided to meet up in Hood River, which was about an hour or so up the road from our campsite, and have lunch together. What a darling town Hood River is! I will definitely be back. Hood River is situated right along the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon/Washington border and is famous for its kite surfing.
After lunch we headed back for our cars and ended up spending the entire rest of the day on the road for another 7 hour drive back home. It sure was worth it for such a fun weekend, though!
