We got up early and made our way back to Timberline Lodge ready for our hike. There is free parking in the overflow carpark outside of ski-season so we took advantage of this. We took trail number 798 and the first part of the hike took us to the Silcox Hut this was only just over a mile but it was very steep and we reached over 6,950 ft (2,120 m) we had clear skies and again fantastic views down through the valley below.

There was a group of snow-boarders being filmed and setting up tricks and jumps for the day, very cool! We walked across the top of the path to the cable car station and then took the trail down to meet the Pacific Crest Trail, this first loop is only around 2.5 miles but the terrain is pretty hard going. When we reached the PCT we found a little station mapping out the area and when there we bumped into Ryan, his 2 year old daughter Corah and their energetic collie Gracey.

We instantly got chatting and he included us on his backcountry permit so we decided to hike with them for the rest of the morning. We’ve found people to be very helpful and informative in Oregon, never shy to  welcome us to their neighbourhood! This part of the trail goes through lush meadows and all the while Mt Hood towers above, we stopped at the Zig Zag river area, enjoyed and quick lunch and then turned around. On our way back we took part of the 798 trail back to the Lodge. A fantastic walk covering around 7 miles or so in distance with amazing views all the while, we thought this would be a great place to come back to in the winter.

The next part of our road trip continued and we made our way to Sisters, around 2.5 hours away. We left mountains and forest area and went straight into desert, all part of a USA road trip! When we got to Sisters we set up our tent in The City Park Campground, back to our $12 a night camping fees. When the camp host is off duty you have to call the town hall for the code to get into the showers, again the method of payment was through the honesty box.

We had a stroll around the town, a little like a stage set but and perhaps a sleepy place but it has a good choice of eateries and nearly every weekend there is some sort of festival taking place so we thought it would be more interesting during those times. Still we were happy in our little campground, enjoyed a good dinner with a decent bottle of wine, and the temperature was good until bedtime.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We left rainy Cascade Locks as the weather was clearing and made tracks for Mount Hood, not too much distance to cover today but we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine. The only stop we made was at the Mount Hood Ranger station on highway 35 we picked up maps and information on campsites having read a little into where we were wanting to camp.

It was a further hour to get to the campsite at Trillium Lake, one of the only campsites in the area with a view of the Mountain, although when we arrived it was a little cloudy, this soon cleared up and after setting up our tent and drying out our gear the mountain was showing again. We did a 2 mile walk around the like to stretch our legs and when we got back to camp we paid the camp host the $19 fee along with $6 for wood. She was a little old lady whose RV is at the front of the campsite as we pulled in. No showers at this campground only pit toilets and very good views and we camped close to the Amphitheatre.

At around the golden hour we drove up to Timberline Lodge, a beautiful hotel located at around the 7000ft point on Mount Hood, it’s a popular ski resort and has lifts going up from there. This place is famous for featuring in Kubrick’s The Shining, although it played a minimal part! The lodge doesn’t cash in on this too much though and has a lot of history in its own right. We had a good nose around and found out that the rooms start at $165 we would like to come back here sometime to stay! We sat in the Rams Head bar and enjoyed a hot chocolate next to a large window looking straight up at Mt Hood, on the other side diners were enjoying the views of Mt Jefferson in the distance. When we left the cosiness of Timberline we asked about popular trails in the area that would take us onto the mountain and with the famous Pacific Crest Trail going straight across the mountain we decided to take a hike in that area the next day.

On our way back to the campsite we stopped off for views of the sun setting on the horizon, really stunning cloud seeping through the valleys below. Back at camp we had a fire, and dried out our boots! It was a really cold night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)