Hiking with Hans

I was going to call this post Thursdays with Hans after the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" but then I remembered that one of our hikes was actually on a Friday.

One day I had a voice mail message from my friend and coworker Hans asking if I were interested in hiking the next day. My first lesson as a housebound invalid (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration since I can walk and ride the bus, but I haven't been able to drive or ride a bike, so it feels a little houseboundish) was "never turn down a social outing." So I eagerly called back and said that Tucker and I would love to go hiking.

Since it was a cool, rainy day, we opted for a Gorge hike. There's no point going to the mountains for the views if you can't see anything anyway and waterfalls only get better with rain. So we drove about 35 miles down the Columbia River Gorge to the Oneonta Trail where we hiked past Oneonta Falls and Triple Falls before continuing up along a stream toward the summit of Larch Mountain. This trail doesn't see a lot of use, but is well-maintained and signed nonetheless. We didn't have the time to hike the 20 or so miles round trip to the summit and would not have been rewarded with a view anyway, but we did go six or seven miles before we turned around. Despite the overcast weather, we didn't get rained on too much and Tucker had a blast running wildly after squirrels until he realized we still had to go all the way back to the car and tucked in behind Hans for the remainder of the hike.

A week later, Hans called again to see if we were interested in hiking. Rule #1: never turn down an outing. Of course I was interested! This time, it was a clear, warm October day and we headed toward Mt. Hood for one of very few trails within an hour of Portland that I haven't hiked before. There are two routes to a viewpoint on a ridge and we opted for the less traveled one--the Bonanza Trail that goes along a creek and past an old mine before climbing wickedly up. Again we went about 6.5 miles before turning around and most of the 3,100 feet of elevation gain occured during the last four miles. The creek was beautiful, the trail steep, the forest amazing. From a meadow atop the ridge, we had an awesome view of Mt. Hood and the warm sun made for a comfortable lunch stop. On the way back to the car, we spent an extra half hour picking chanteurelle mushrooms to saute up that evening.

Alas, this week Hans is visiting family in Wisconsin and next week he starts training to fly the Q400 at Horizon Air, so I have to find a new hiking partner for the remainder of my time off work.