In the past two weeks I've done some great hiking. Last Saturday, August 19, my uncle (David), cousin (Katie), and I went to Washington in search of huckleberries (my uncle picks a few gallons every year for pies, sauces, etc.). The berries were not there in enough numbers for picking; however, we did get in a good eight-mile hike with great views of the and a few lakes. It was hot (sweating through your pack rocks!) and the extremely vigilant and plentiful flies created a cacophony of sound and swarmed the exposed skin if one stopped for more than five minutes. Still, I enjoyed the steep ascent in the first few miles and the time spent with family. The first three pictures show some of what we saw on Trail 33 in the Gifford Pinochet National Forest, near Northport, WA.

On Wednesday, August 16, I went to the Columbia River Gorge and hiked Oneonata Trail 424 which leads past Pony Falls and Triple Falls. One can take the trail east, where it hooks up with other trails, or west, where it eventually leads to Multonomah Falls and later, Larch Mountain. I made it to Multonomah Falls that day. Larch Mountain is for another hike. Trail 424 parallels Horsetail Creek as it gains elevation and winds north and east, leaving beautiful glimpses through the thick forest. The best part was finding an area just past a narrow bridge covered in a carpet of thick, vibrant green moss. The nearby creek was barely audible there though it ran just thirty feet away. The last two pictures are from this hike.