Girls Gone Wildwood

Pamelia Lake After Susan and I ran the Three Sisters Loop , Susan asked me if there was a loop around Mt. Jefferson. I told her I didn't think there was, but of course once I got home I pulled out my Mt. Jefferson map to verify. There isn't, but looking at the map it jogged my memory of previous Mt. Jefferson backpacking trips I have done in the past. Knowing that I was going to have a low key Labor day weekend, I thought if by chance I could get an overnight pass to Pamelia Lake , I would go camp and do a run and head back to Portland.  By some luck I was able to secure a camping permit for Friday night. I originally thought that I could run the Hunt's Cove loop  but come to find out the trail is closed due to a forest fire. However the PCT North and South were open, so I thought I could run to Jefferson Park and back which is ~15 miles. I emailed Karrla and asked if she wanted to join me on this short trip, we backpacked Hunt's Cove years ago, but we have

As our love of trail running grows, so has our interest in its people, history and events. Which is why Ann & I now anticipate and eagerly follow the Western States 100-- the world's oldest and most famous one hundred mile race. We are, however, under no delusions that we will ever run it. Not only is that distance too far, it's a lottery to get in and the odds are not good. After all we've seen, heard and read about the race, though, we thought it would be fun to run on part of the course. Which is why, when I read an article about the legendary Ann Trason's return to running and her inaugural 100k/50mi/50k event on the Western States Trail, I knew we had to run it. We registered for the 50 mile race, nervous about the 13,000 ft of elevation gain but happy to see that it was all under 3,000ft altitude-- high altitude is part of what made our Three Sisters run difficult. Some of the complications of preparing for a race we had to travel to were alleviated by th

North Sister at sunrise 11 years ago my first multi-day backpacking trip was the 50+ mile loop around the  Three Sisters  in Central Oregon. Since then I have done multi-day hikes all over the world and in the Pacific Northwest, but the Three Sisters trip still remains one of my favorites and most beautiful. I have been back to the Three Sisters Wilderness several times in the last 11 years for overnight trips and even to climb  South Sister , but never to do the full loop. Once Susan and I started talking about doing the loop around Mt. Hood, I knew if we completed that we could do the Three Sisters.  Ann backing the 3 Sisters Loop 11 years ago Mt. Hood is shorter distance wise (~40 miles), but it has almost double the elevation (10,000 feet), and it has the  Eliot Creek washout . We almost completed the full  Mt Hood loop in 2013  and we would of completed it if it wasn't for getting lost and running out of day light. Even though we didn't complete the loo