We visited Mount Hood today. As we were driving eastward this morning the sky was gray and clouds were hanging pretty low to a point where we couldn't see the mountain. We almost turned around to head home when the clouds parted then lifted and we spotted the mountain close up. It is magnificent. The whole area surrounding the base of the mountain and part way up is ski, snowboard and snow mobile country. The towns are ski villages and there are many parking areas for the snow mobiles along with paths to travel. We thought of trying one of those paths with the Jeep but signage warned us off.
We found some gravel roads winding up one side of the mountain to a point where we could spot Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helen and Mt. Adams in Washington to the north of us. Later, at the Timberline Lodge Ski Area we spotted Mt. Jefferson to the east of us. All are snow capped and tower over the 11,000 foot mark.
At the Timberline Lodge we ate lunch with a view of Mt. Jefferson and then we watched the skiers and snowboarders coming down the mountain. This is the year-round training area for the Olympic ski team and other professional skiers as well as a training area for youth and other groups. At 6,000 feet hiking up the mountain was hard for me, especially since we did it right after lunch. John had the opportunity to stand in some snow which he absolutely hates! Ha Ha!
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