Mountains and Rivers

Labor Day Road Trip, part 3

We had camped that evening near McKenzie Pass so were able to wake up the next morning in time to catch sunrise as the sun started to reflect off the column of smoke from the nearby forest fire. We chatted with another couple who were on their own road-trip and had decided to watch the sun rise over the forest fire. They told us of several fabulous hikes that we noted for future trips and then went on our way.

Back on the western side of the mountains we again followed river drainages up to Mt Hood, watching as the forest became less infused with Ponderosa and more of the forest we knew from home. But we liked the drier more open forests of Southwest Oregon and the arid Ponderosa forest of Eastern Oregon.

By early afternoon we had reached Mt Hood and her pumice slopes. Far up on the mountainside, a large snowfield help on against the summer sun and heat. Also defying the summer were a few die-hard skiers, slowly making their downward to the pumice and even more slowly, made their way back up.

Our route took us around the eastside of Mt Hood through the many orchards to the town of Hood River. Here wee stopped for a bit to watch the sailboarders and kite boarders play in the fabled winds of the Columbia River Gorge.

After that, we joined the long line of traffic - holiday travelers heading home.