Mt Hood Penstock Pipeline Trail

The Mt Hood Penstock Pipeline Trail starts on the east side of the Hood River near the town of Hood River. The trail soon follows along the railroad tracks of the Mt Hood Railroad, heading south along the Hood River. About 0.8 mile from the trailhead, the trail continues on a gridded trail above the old pipeline. The pipeline crosses the Hood River then continues through the forest. We found the trail closed about a mile further down. Our route was about 2 miles round trip. Soon after starting the trail, we saw an osprey up in a nest

Trail along the railroad tracks

View of the pipeline and trail going over the Hood River

Views of the Hood River from above the pipeline

Views along the pipeline on the way out and back

some of the wildflowers and blossoms seen long the trail this morning

Keechelus Lake

We walked down to Keechelus Lake from Hyak this morning. The water level in the lake is much higher compared to when we were here in December. Beautiful day, 2 miles round trip with minimal snow. Views at Keechelus Lake where the water has come up over the road looking eastward

view to the northwest, second photo is a zoom of Chikamin Peaks

As we neared Hyak on our way back, we could see Denny Mountain (zoom)

and Snoqualmie Mountain with Deeny Peak (zoom) in the distance to the west

Kopachuck State Park

This morning I went to Kopachuck State Park in Gig Harbor. This is the first time I have visited since the park has reopened. I parked in the main parking area and walked down to the beach on Carr Inlet, then continued to combine the various short loop trails into one large convoluted loop, overall 2 miles and 250 ft of overall gain.

Views at the beach

views along the loop trails

moss and fungi

Mouth of the Elwha Beach

We drove to the west side of the Elwha River and the Mouth of the Elwah Beach Trailhead, this afternoon. We hike down to the beach, over to the mouth of the Elwha, part way up along the Elwha River, back to the beach and walked to the west and back, found a side trail that took us up a bit further along the Elwha River, lovely 2 miles of walking here.