Short Trips
BEND, Ore. -- Oregonians often refer to Central Oregon as the sunny area of the state because the Cascade Mountains protect the region from much of the nasty, rainy weather so predominant on the coast.
Bend, the area's largest city and urban center, is almost smack-dab in the center of the state. The town gets lots of sun and very little rain -- less than 12 inches per year.
By Jeff Larsen | May 20, 2004
Hike of the Week
The Necklace Valley Trail near Skykomish is an ideal late-spring route for hikers of all persuasions. You can make this trail as easy or as challenging as you like. After five easy miles, it crosses the East Fork of the Foss River on a damaged but passable footbridge before climbing steeply to a string of pretty lakes -- hence the name, Necklace Valley.
Trail No. 1062 starts low and, after a five-mile warm-up, climbs steeply to the first, Jade Lake. Most of the trail is inside the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Hikers have a choice on this trail:
By Karen Sykes | May 20, 2004
Gearing Up
Once upon a time, I could not take a backpacking or camping trip without forgetting some critical item. Once it was my headlamp. Another time it was the water filter. But the worst was when I forgot my sleeping pad on a five-day trip into Wisconsin's Porcupine Mountains.
My back still hurts when I think about that trip.
By Kristin Hostetter | May 20, 2004
MARROWSTONE ISLAND -- Must have been some sweet duty for those soldiers back in the day, you imagine, while gazing out over Admiralty Inlet from your lodgings in the century-old Non-commissioned Officers' Quarters at Fort Flagler State Park.
A huge bald eagle sits on a leafy tree not 50 feet away. Mount Pilchuck looms in a cloudy eastern horizon above and beyond the bluffs of Whidbey Island across the inlet. Ferries, cruise ships and tugs scoot past the Marrowstone Point Lighthouse. Hummingbirds buzz around honeysuckle blossoms.
By Greg Johnston | May 20, 2004
