Saturday September 30, 2023 Hidden Valley Park south on Bonneville Shoreline trail

Bonneville Shoreline Trail south from Hidden Valley Park

Hikers: Mark and Lecia

Distance:  20 minutes out and 20 minutes back.  Not sure how far that was.

The idea was to hike from Hidden Valley Park to the Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge in Draper on the Bonneville Shoreline trail.  But this was between conference sessions and there wasn't time to go all the way.  We parked at Hidden Valley Park and made our way to the Shoreline trail from there and headed south.  We hike about 20 minutes and turned around.  We passed a few people on the trail.  

A very pretty section of the trail.  

The trail goes down some stairs and then you cross over this cute little bridge.  

No water in the creek!

This is the view of the valley from where we turned around.  

According to a map that green area is the Hidden Valley Country Club.

There were a few patches of fall!

We will definitely have to do this again when we 

have time to go all the way to the Suspension Bridge.

Saturday, August 5, 2023 Cecret Lake

 Cecret Lake

hikers: just us, as it seems to be on most hikes we do these days!

distance:  4.5 miles, out and back

elevation gain:  1210 feet

mosquito population on the trail:  trillions

We hiked to Cecret Lake from the parking lot at Alta, right before the toll booth!  This meant we didn't have to pay, we got a longer hike, and we hiked through the wildflowers!  Win, win, win.  The wildflowers might or might not have been at their peak but if it wasn't their peak it was sure close.  And there were lots of people taking photos.  

There is a parking lot just before the toll both.  The trail starts at the edge of the parking lot between the Albion Grill and the Ski School building.

As you head towards the ski lift you see a sign pointing the way to Cecret Lake.

Starting out there were some areas were ropes along the 

trail to keep people on the trail and out of the wild flowers.

After the wildflower meadows we eventually found ourselves on a utility road instead of the trail.  There were some steep parts, and lots of mosquitos!  They were eating us alive.  I know people use that phrase to mean a lot of mosquitos but they really were eating us alive!  Some other hikers offered us mosquito spray and I gladly used it.

That's one of them on my wrinkly skin.  I lost count of how many there were.

You can see where one of them got me on my leg.  They attacked anything that wasn't covered.

We found our way to the Cecret Lake trail and made it to Cecret Lake.

There were lots of people at the lake but by the time we got back to 

where we started there weren't many hikers  and it was almost dark! 

Saturday, July 15, 2023 BEAR CANYON SUSPENSION BRIDGE

 Hike to Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge from Orson Smith Trailhead

time started:  6:31 am

hikers:  Mark & Lecia 

elevation gain: 439 feet, probably a little more with the extra loop we did

distance:  2.3 miles according to alltrails.  If that's without the extra loop then we did a little over 2.5 

This was a great time of day to do this hike.  There was plenty of parking and not so many people on the trail.  We started at the Orson Smith Trailhead  and went up to the suspension bridge.  We also did the upper loop which is a less used trail that goes up to a much smaller bridge.  We haven't done this before but it is a great addition to the hike.  It might be a little much for small children but I highly recommend it for anyone else.  

Trailhead

Beginning of the trail.

Warning signs are posted, and yes there are rattlesnakes in the area.  We 

have seen one on the trail but you just keep an eye out and stay away, wait 

for it to leave if you see one. No rattlesnakes today, at least not that we saw.

Keep on, it does get better.  

View of the parking lot, not too crowded this morning.

View of the valley.  You can see the sun is up but the east side of the valley is still in the shade.

On the suspension bridge, looking toward the canyon where you do the loop.

Looking down from the suspension bridge.  It's a long way down!

On to the bear creek bridge.

This is a view of the suspension bridge and the valley from above.

And here we are, the smaller bridge.  It says bear creek 1997.  

Amazing, this is the same creek we looked at from way up high on the suspension bridge!

Looking up the canyon from the bridge at a waterfall.

It is so wooded and beautiful here.

Back down to the Bonneville shoreline trail where 

it splits to go to the bridge or back to the trailhead.

Coming back down.  You can't help but look in the backyards of these pretty homes.  

The sun has been creeping and bringing sunlight to the valley.

2 short hikes on the Oregon Coast

 Tuesday, June 20, 2023

2 short hikes:  

Hug Point & Short Sand Beach, Oswald West State Park

Hikers: Mark & Lecia

Hug Point

After spending some time at Cannon Beach and taking a look at the tide pools by Haystack Rock we headed down the coast to Hug Point.  So named because the stagecoaches used to hug the point at low tide back in the day so they wouldn't be in the water.  

This really wasn't a hike because the parking area is right above the beach and we just walked down some stairs and then we were on the beach! But it was a nice, easy place to explore and we did maybe a half mile walk to see some shallow caves a waterfall, more like a water trickle, and Hug Point! 

 

Down the stairs to the beach.

The caves.

The trickling waterfall.

A little exploring.

Short Sand Beach

This lovely little beach is just a short hike, maybe a half mile, through the forest from the parking lot.  There are a few paths that will take you there. Once you arrive it is a sheltered cove, called Smuggler Cove, and the day we were there we saw surfers and people reading on the beach. It was windy and cool but people were still enjoying it and so did we. The hike was shady and pleasant and not difficult.

It was a beautiful trail.

The logs on the trail we went on made it feel like you were really in the forest.  And we were!

And there's the ocean.

And the surfers.

Beautiful view and beautiful flowers

Ecola Point to Indian Beach + Clatsop Loop Trail

 June 19, 2023

Ecola Point Day Use Area to Indian Beach and Clatsop Loop

hikers:  Mark and Lecia

distance:   7-8 miles

elevation gain:  843 + 784=1627 ft

We started at Ecola Point and hiked 2-2.5 miles to Indian Beach, then went on the clatsop loop trail to the hikers camp, back to Indian Beach, (about 2.5 miles for the loop) and back to Ecola Point.  7-8 miles total in a beautiful sitka spruce old growth forest.

Starting out.

Lots and lots of ferns.

Amazing trees growing out of fallen trees.

A view of Tillamook Light House from the cliffs on the trail.

Mark on the trail.

Indian Beach

us

Hiker's Camp

The forest was beautiful and so was the beach!  It was an awesome hike.