Snow on the Mountain

We continued our annual tradition of snowshoeing on Mount Hood for MLK weekend. This year we had tons of beautiful snow, although it was a little melty by the time we got to it. You know you’re in Oregon when you have to wear a raincoat while snowshoeing to stay dry!

Orion learning about snow!

The poodle dog came along with us and even learned to wear booties. His initial reaction to the booties was to walk like a drunk beetle but once he figured out they kept his feet away from the demonic, cold stuff he was all for them. When he eventually got too cold, we put him in a front-carrier under Hendrik’s coat. We hiked the Enid Lake Loop by the Glacier View Sno-Park (about 3 miles after you add in all of our side trips) and to Lower Twin Lake from the Frog Lake Sno-Park (4 miles round-trip, with about 500 ft elevation gain). Poles are the best, especially for going uphill!

Staying warm in Hendrik’s coat!

Thanks for that annual Sno-Park Pass, Amy! We’re getting our money’s worth out of it!

Christmas in Portland

After catching a couple of colds in a row right after Thanksgiving, I recovered just in time to host Christmas for the first time! My parents visited for three weeks and my sister for one week.

That gave us plenty of time to go to holiday parties, take my parents to the symphony Christmas carol sing-along, see Star Wars, go Christmas tree hunting (at tree farm), play a ton of board games, walk the dogs, go hiking in Forest Park, walk along the Columbia, take my mom out to Southpark Seafood, and take Amy to see the symphony play a Viennese New Year with ballet dancers from OBT. No wonder I didn’t have any time to write updates!