I ended up hiking my third selection after discarding the other 2 due to too much driving for their experiences. Spencer Butte had not been hiked in weeks, so logically Ridgeline Trail from Spring Blvd starting early in morning. From Spring Blvd at 6:22, it was straight to Spencer Butte summit with headlamp on between…
After yesterday’s good hard rain, all the weather peeps said that Tuesday, Sept 30 would be clear until 2pm when the rains come again. A perfect time to hike Ridgeline between storms – an often occurrence in fall and winter. My objective was to get a good set of miles and elevation gain, too. Sunrise…
When you wake up in the morning just unwilling to drive a long distance, Spencer Butte is just so close … especially worth considering after recent rains softened up that hard gravel path. Alpine Trail and Hardesty Mt were discarded as too far to drive … I crossed the Mt Baldy meadows without a headlamp…
I was watching the weather closely last night and this morning, including precipitation radar and weather reports, to best determine which rain shell to wear. Spencer Butte was the targeted hill – Blanton Ridge and then up / down the butte until tired. On the way, it rained … the closer to Blanton, the bigger…
I needed to stay in town for a possible run to PDX so Spencer Butte was the hike and a bit later than typical. The weather prompted rain probably but light – huge dilemma on top outer gear. I chose to stay light – started with just base-layers (2) and hiking vest (pockets, camera and…
As of last night, 50-50 Alpine and North Fork were my destination with colder weather and possible rain / snow. When I got up this morning the NOAA (quite important to keep funding) snow depth had the snow covering all of Alpine and very close to North Fork. The weather had temperatures in the high…
The night before plans were set to drive to Westfir to hike North Fork of Middle Fork; of all the idea hikes, Marys Peak, Silver Falls, and Ridgeline, North Fork was the only one forecasted to have sun without fog. Then morning of the hike while checking weather one last time and finding no changes,…
Weather report was foggy and low 30s – no chance of rain. Sounded like one of those days with valley fog and sunshine above. The northern valley was colder with possible freezing fog that ruled out a longer drive to Marys Peak. Time for a Ridgeline Trail hike with as much time above the fog…
The weather was unstable and the night before it rained hard for OR. With my sinuses still not back to normal the thought of getting caught in rain far from home was not high on my list. Plus, after a couple illnesses, my conditioning is not quite normal, and a Ridgeline Trail conditioning test seemed…
Today started foggy in the valley but the fog stayed on the valley floor and soon disappeared. A great day to hike Ridgeline Trail. The Route Another hike started after breakfast, around 7:30 from Spring Blvd TH. Then to Spencer Top and down to S. Willamette TH; back to Spencer Top and then down to…
