Letterboxing Adventure in Portland, OR area AUG 27 - SEP 4, 2005 |
Letterboxing Adventures of Wisconsin Hiker & Martini Man |
We began by spending 5 days in the Columbia River gorge. There were an amazing variety of waterfalls and it was fun to walk behind some of them! We especially enjoyed the free fall drop of Latourell Falls and Tunnel Falls. Up on the high points we usually had very good views of the river gorge (except on our way up Dog Mountain, when we were hiking in a cloud). Another highlight on some of our hikes were the blackberries - fat, sweet and juicy and more plentiful than we could believe! We ended up having stained hands not from our inkpads, but from gobbling up so many berries. It was also interesting to see those fat slugs in a variety of colors (however THEY certainly didn't look very appetizing!) Since we enjoy hiking in the mountains, we chose to do some of the more challenging hikes. These included Angel's Rest, Nesmith Point, Dog Mountain, Hamilton Mountain, Triple Falls and Tunnel Falls. We found lots of boxes along the way and especially appreciate the people that place boxes on longer hikes (Green Tortuga of course, Funhog, Der Mad Stamper and Double Tree). We enjoyed doing the Tunnel Falls hike with Funhog and Pungent Bob and appreciated Funhog organizing a dinner at a brewpub that evening. It was great to meet some of the local boxers, including Der (famous) Mad Stamper! We spent the next 2 days at State Parks. We had a very busy and long day at Silver Falls. Once again we enjoyed a variety of waterfalls and took a VERY BUMPY road way back in to find a box series in a remote area. Unfortunately we couldn't get to the best access point for one of the Green Tortuga's boxes the road to the trailhead was gated and we were told we would probably be ticketed if we parked there. Since we didn't have enough time left in the day to take the longer route, we had to pass it by. The next day was a little more low-key at Milo McIver Park where we did some shorter walks. We spent the last 2 days in the Mount Hood area. We hiked around Trillium Lake, up to Twin Lakes and Mirror Lake the first day. That night we headed into Gresham where Maiden had organized another group dinner. We appreciated her efforts to help us meet more local boxers and it was another fun night of exchanging stories and signature stamps. Our last day in the area we hiked to the pretty Ramona Falls and then hiked up to McNeil Point. This was our absolute favorite hike of the whole trip!! Fantastic views of Mount Hood and the surrounding mountain ranges in the distance. Even heard the glacier crack/rumble! And as the icing on the cake, we were successful in finding the box on the trail - but it certainly wasn't a quick find... A definite sense of accomplishment since we're not really too good at picture clues. We placed 2 boxes during our trip and will post clues soon. Wisconsin Hiker & Martini Man If you're curious to see the list of the boxes we attempted, click the star icon below. Unless we have a comment listed, we DID find the box and it was in good shape. Thanks to all the placers for bringing us to some great hikes and stamps! |
