Hood

Incredible trip out to Oregon.  The mountain was waiting for us even before we landed.

Hood is quite the grind but it's nothing we weren't ready for.  On Thursday we woke up at midnight and started hiking at 2AM.  Just under six hours later I was drinking a beer on the summit.

It's mostly a steep slog up snow and ice, but the crux is the final quarter mile or so which is a ~50% grade snow climb.  Doesn't sound so steep if you've never done this but a fall could be pretty bad.  

Pretty long day, 11.5 hours total for the climb, plus the early wake up.  We headed to Hood River for pizza and beers before finishing up in Portland for the day.  Stayed in a great neighborhood there, Ladd's Addition, which had quite a few quality drinking establishments within walking distance.

Took a trip to Eugene on Friday to visit Pre's Rock, Hayward Field, and Track Town Pizza.  Got in a nice five mile run on Pre's trail.

Got in a few early morning coffee hikes to explore Mt Tabor Park and the downtown riverwalk in Portland, but most of our two days there was spent exploring all the breweries and dive bars we could.  

Landed in COS at 3:30PM on Sunday, and the SAR alarm went out at 4:30PM.  Back to the grind.