Hike?

At Scott's New Years party a few people expressed interest in taking a hiking trip sometime this summer. I wanted to check and see how many people would still be up for taking a trip or two. I was thinking maybe setting up a shorter hike to get people prepped and then a longer, say 20 or 30+ mile trek. We could set it up and spread it out over a week or so, so it wouldn't be a horrible hard march. If we really want to do this, I'd be more than happy to plan and coordinate the trip. I really would like to get out and camp again.

We have a couple of options for the trip. The first option is to do a straight hike, start at a trailhead and hike straight through to the other side. The other option is to start at the trailhead and hike to a destination spot, say a lake or some other nice camp site, and spend a day or two relaxing and then finish the trip with by hiking back out.

Some ideas of places that we could go:

Pacific Crest Trail
http://www.pcta.org/about_trail/overview.asp

This trail is a long, long trip, does not really have any places to stop for a couple of days of relaxing. We would also have to set up a pick up time and location since this trail does not loop back on itself. The trail runs pretty close to Portland, so its no trouble getting there. Some trails also overlap with PCT, such as the Columbia Gorge trails.

Columbia River Gorge
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/hiking/features/loops3.htm

This trail is a ~30 mile loop, so we'd end up where we started. Trail is about 45 miles out from Portland, near Hood River.

Oregon Coast

There are two recommended hikes along the Oregon Coast. First, there is trail, running from Bandon to Port Orford, it follows highway 101, and is 29 miles long. It is noted for going past some of the most pristine and quietest beaches. The other path is from Seaside to Manzanita, and is 31 miles long. It sounds like it has more variety than the other path, with the trail running through high cliff areas, as well as forests and hitting the beaches and tidepools in some areas.

Diamond Peak Loop

This path takes us through the Willamette Pass. There are several small lakes that we'd be able to camp by, and the path runs in a loop 27 miles long.

Eastern Oregon

We can select from several trails, ranging from high desert to rock formations. Seeing as how it will be hot with summer and all, this is at the bottom of my personal list.


Please respond if you are interested in taking the trip, and please provide feedback on hike destination preference. It might also be a good idea to take stock of your available camping equipment. If you are missing something, let the rest of us know, we may have extra equipment, or have suggestions how what to get. Also, disseminate this information to people who no longer read the blog. I know that a handful of people are still active, but I'm not sure whom.