Girls Gone Wildwood

Life got in the way of our usual summer of adventures, but we made time in early September for two nights camping AND RUNNING in central Oregon. The second day, we decided to do a loop near Mt Jefferson to Pamelia Lake and Hunts Cove. I had still never been to Pamelia Lake, despite trying for YEARS-- between permits, wildfires, and other disasters, we always had to change those plans. Our happy place We got to the trailhead in the evening and settled in to eat dinner, relax, and enjoy the company of a family of deer who came to hang out. It was peaceful and perfect. We made a tentative plan to head out in a clockwise direction to get Jefferson views first, in case we didn't feel up to the full 17 mile loop after the previous day's run. Cedar explores a creek Spoiler alert: the day was perfect and we did the whole loop. It was absolutely magical, with glorious weather, perfect conditions, and the absolute joy of spending time together. I hope this becomes a September tradition f...

Susan looking at Mt. Jefferson with smoke coming from around Pamelia Lake In keeping with doing all new routes for our adventure runs, for August we decided we would head out to the Willamette National Forest area. My first thought was to run the loop around Broken Top , but the Ranger Station said that the snow was still pretty deep. My next thought was to do the loop around Three Fingered Jack , but the temperatures were predicted to be in the high 90s the week we were planning on running and most of the route around Three Fingered Jack was burned during the B&B Complex fires in 2003. Wanting more tree coverage I decided on Pamelia Lake to Jefferson Park and the Hunts Cove Loop .  The 3 Sisters and Mt. Washington Black Butte Pamelia Lake is a limited entry area and you must obtain a permit from recreation.gov beforehand. Normally you need to get a permit months in advance, but by some stroke of luck we were able to obtain one only a week in advance...

Crazy hat ladies at Breitenbush A few weekends ago Amber, Susan and I went to Breitenbush Hot Springs  for a few nights away. Of course being that close to new trails or trail we don't get to that often, I planned a route for Susan and me to run.  Emerald Forest Trail Beautiful, mossy Breitenbush River Breitenbush River The South Breitenbush Gorge trail leaves right from Breitenbush Hot Springs and follows the Breitenbush River for several miles, before dead ending on Forest Road 4685. Following FR 4685 for about a mile you reach a trailhead and reconnect with the South  Breitenbush Gorge trail, which you can follow for another 6 miles to Jefferson Park . Huge Skunk Cabbage Orchid blooming Jefferson Park is a very  picturesque area filled with alpine lakes and meadows at the base of Mt. Jefferson. I have backpacked there several times but Susan and I have not had the chance to run the trails to it yet. Having a  perfect...

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...