Trails Association of Oregon is a new group that PortlandHikers helped to start. We do volunteer trail work and advocate for hikers. We have a bold vision for new for new trails around the state called "20 Years / 20 Trails". But first we have motivate hikers in Oregon to give back to the existing trails they already love. This weekend we're heading to the lush and beautiful Salmon River near Zig Zag for a bit of sprucing up from another harsh winter. Trail work parties are hard work, but are educational and no doubt FUN - and we'd love to see you join in. Click here for more information.

See some photos from our last trail work event on Angel's Rest

I got an early start to Coyote Wall today. This was my first trip in the area, but after a good Catherine Creek trip last Sunday, I was hoping for good flowers to complement the geology. I arrived just after sunrise and the entire wall was shaded. Since the typical loop route involves some road hiking at the upper end, I drove to the top looking for the upper trailheads...I followed a bike path up the hill, generally turning left at every junction to stay close to the ridge. Most of the way up the crest there is an old road, that bikers use as a fast track down and a single track near the edge of the cliffs. There are several obvious attempts to organize the trails and the results are really good...The flowers here were really strong. The only downside was a biting wind...
(see full trip report...)

Rolling out of the tent on a crisp Saturday morning, I awoke to the view of an empty parking lot surrounded by a fortress of snow. A nice weekend of snowshoeing and climbing lay ahead of us. We packed up loads of winter camping gear and climbed up out of the parking lot to try and follow the buried Mt. Thielsen trail. Judging by the visibility of the bathroom and the height of snow piled up on its roof, we guessed that snow would obscure the trail right from the start...As we approached tree line, about 3.5 hours after we set out, we began to look for a good camp. The corniced west ridge dropped off steeply to our left and the sparsely vegetated forest leaned downwards at a moderate angle to our right, leaving a small tract of relatively level, snowy ground on which to build our camp. We spent some time digging out a flat campsite in a small nook with tremendous views east to Mt. Bailey and north to the Three Sisters. I thought I caught a glimpse of Crater Lake to the south as well... (see full trip report)

With the excellent break in the weather today, I decided to hustle out to the Gorge and attempt the Rock of Ages Arch hike. Weather was awesome and wasn't even windy, as well as unpopulated since is was Monday morning. ...The weather was awesome up there, no wind, and the sun poked around the mountain just as I was getting up there. The Arch area landing had tons of loose rocks, and felt very unstable. The Arch itself looked like it was about to crumble over. I spent about 10 minutes up there, taking 1000 pics just to make sure I got it...This by far was the coolest trail I have been on so far. I will do it again this summer, when the trail isn't quite a mudslide! (see full trip report)

I spent this past weekend down in Central Oregon. On the first morning of my trip I always go for a run along the Deschutes River Trail. The Benham Falls trailhead was inaccessible, except for vehicles with high clearance. I had to begin my run from the railroad tracks about one quarter of a mile before the trailhead. The run was on packed snow for the whole route. I ran this trail on the first weekend of April last year and didn't encounter any snow. What a difference a year makes. After my run I quickly c hanged gear and headed off for a quick snowshoe up Tumalo Mt.. What an absolutely beautiful day in Central Oregon. Tumalo is a great snowshoe. I start from the Dutchman Flat sno-park. The trek is really a no brainer; head straight up, then turn around and head straight back down!... (see full trip report)