I'd like to traverse the Sisters wilderness west to east. The idea is to start at one of the western trailheads, perhaps Separation Lake Trailhead, following existing trails, then cross the Frazier Uplands between Middle and South Sister, get back to established trails, and follow them all the way back home to Bend.

So far I've hiked the PCT through the Sisters Wilderness and hiked South Sister, but I haven't explore the western and eastern sides as much. Do you have any route suggestions? Specifically:

• Initially I thought to start at French Pete Trailhead as the furthest west, but from reading about the trail conditions it seems like that might be better to do as a separate out-and-back, as it's not clear how easily those trails will connect to the ones furthest east. Has anyone done a similar connection from French Pete up to the higher country?
• On the east side, I was thinking of connecting to the Metolius-Windigo trail to the Mrazek Trail to Shevlin Park, but I'm open to other route suggestions.

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With beer 🍺

Is anyone still subscribed to this sub? Hi! Nice to see you all!

I'll be giving a talk about a long cross country / packrafting route I did through Owyhee and Malheur River country, along with some trip planning, gear selection, and conservation discussion. This sub has a tendency (as do most hikers) to be focused on the Cascades and the Olympics, and the Oregon high desert is a great answer to the question posted on this sub all the time "Where can I go in April/May or October/November".

Some teaser pics here: https://www.alongthewaypoints.com/post/may-16-6pm-at-the-mountain-shop

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Hope to see you there!

Ok, I figure this is kind of a long shot, but I'm going to throw it out there. I know there are other subs/facebook groups/etc. that get a lot more activity, but I don't want to put myself out there that much. Ha.

Me: 37F, works full time, has two young kids

What I'm looking for: someone to join me on the occasional 1-2 night trip within 3hrs of Portland, female preferred, maybe there's a fellow mom out there??

Other info: I'm not a super experienced backpacker, just getting back into it after not doing it for several years. That being said, I've upgraded the vast majority of my old gear and am in pretty good shape. I solo hiked the Timberline Trail last month in 2 nights, including a 21mi day with several difficult water crossings. An ideal trip for me would probably be 12-15 mi days, with the goal of working hard but still really enjoying it and taking it all in.

Feel free to PM me if you're interested. Maybe we could meet up for coffee/beer and see if it's a good fit? (Why does this feel like a dating profile...?) Anyway, thanks y'all. Happy hiking!

Throwing it out there to see if there's any interest...

Update: Ok so seems like there’s at least a handful of us that are interested…

Now what? A vote?

Happy Friday, everybody.

I'm hoping to get out for a hike next weekend (5/15-16+). I am looking for something around 40 miles, so I was thinking of the Rogue River Trail. But that's mostly out of a lack of knowledge around what is available this time of year. So a couple of questions for you all:

1. What's a solid ~40mi trip that's best this time of year?
2. Any interest in hiking the RR Trail with me next weekend? It's a point-to-point, so I'd prefer to shuttle & hike with another person.

I just moved to Portland, OR from the east coast. I used to have a well-organized and active UL backpacking community in DC that allowed me to go out as much as I'd like with others. How do I find a UL backpacking group in Portland? Meetup has a few hiking clubs, but not much activity due to COVID and mostly low-mileage. I like to hike all day and have minimal time in camp.

If there's no public group that fits, is anyone interested in planning some trips this year with me? I have a permit +1 for three sisters in August, and I'd like to do Loowit and Timberline this year as well.

Hey UL Oregon!

Anyone want to meet up for an overnight in the next month-ish?

My wife and I had twins last June so I completely missed last season. But I recently got the green light to treat myself to an overnight, so let’s goooooooo.

I’m in the Roseburg area so looking to go somewhere within ~2hr drive.

About me: 31yr old male Fully vaccinated Probably shooting for ~20mi/day

Got a post together on the possibilities hiking north from the Clarno boat launch area up to North Pole Ridge: https://www.alongthewaypoints.com/post/queen-for-a-day-clarno-to-north-pole-ridge

Hey I'm really hoping to get some good desert hiking in this spring. I'm coming from Olympia, WA so this is by far the closest desert hiking. My girlfriend is probably just going to come and pick me up or drop me off so I won't have to hitch. So I'll probably do 20 miles a day and get there Saturday and leave Saturday. So what's a good section to do? I've seen there's some badlands areas around Bend and I'm mostly convincing her to drive down to visit Bend so closer the better but I don't care if there's amazing sections nearer Idaho. I also haven't really done much desert hiking so I really would love a sandy rocky section.

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And of course this is a meet up sub! I never really have done any meet up stuff but I just moved here from Ohio and know nobody west of the Mississippi. Sounds weird to me but I hiked a LASH of the PCT two years ago and I really liked hanging out with people. I definitely won't just walk 10 feet behind you all day is what I'm saying. I don't know here's my website with youtube links and shit so you can see I'm a normal person. travelerasso.com Thanks!

Hi all, first post here. I’m looking to upgrade my 30degree down sleeping bag for a quilt for a few different reasons.

From what I’ve gathered, synthetic makes sense of conditions can be wet. Most of the backpacking that I do is generally higher elevation. (Wonderland trail, timberline trail, adams summit etc.

I’ve enjoyed my down bag, but was thinking of getting a 20 degree synthetic quilt. Should I go down or synthetic for these types of hikes in this location?

Hey y’all, it’s that time of the year when the hiking slows down a bit for some and we look forward to spring and summer. Would anyone be interested in meeting up for a beer or happy hour somewhere to talk backpacking and network? We could plan ahead so that we could get a larger group going. Please respond if interested. I’m personally based in PDX

I have the opportunity to go on trip this weekend and I was looking to get some recommendations. I’m thinking between a 2-3 hour drive and around 20-25 miles. Thanks!

Looking to do the Timberline Trail in mid August. Mostly wondering about the condition of the stream/river crossings, though info on bug pressure would be nice as well. If you've been out there let me know!

Hello Everyone! 

I wanted to put the first group hike of the season on the calendar! I am officially dubbing it the "First Annual /r/ULoregon April fULs Day" Overnighter. 

When: March 30th through 31st (Overnighter)

Where: Lewis River Trail 

What: Group overnighter.

How Long: 23 miles round trip

Difficulty: Pretty easy. Just a rolling trail along a beautiful river.

Conditions: Rain or shine. But probably rain. 

Details: 

• Meet at the Quartz Creek Trailhead at 8am on Saturday.
• Hike 11.5 miles to the Bolt Creek Shelter on the Lewis River Trail (Gain of 2K and loss of 2.5K)
• Camp at the shelter area (there is room for 7-10 tents/tarps + anyone who wants to sleep in the shelter)
• Hike back out to Quartz Creek Trailhead. 
• Caltopo Link: https://caltopo.com/m/5GHK

Anyone and everyone is free to join. Bring or invite friends if you want to. I would recommend carpooling as much as possible to be friendly to the TH (and the planet). My wife an I can pick 2-3 people up on the way out if anyone doesn't want to drive. There shouldn't be any snow out there by that time, but with the weather we have been having...who knows. If there is snow.. we may have to cancel due to road conditions. I don't see that being very likely though.
Should be a lot of fun to finally break out of winter and get a solid group hike in with friends!

With thru hiking season closing in I thought it could be nice to have a meetup and talk about upcoming plans, or share winter trips. Any interest?

UL Portland people - a few of us are going to meet up at the Labrewatory at 4pm on Sunday! Just a casual meetup and nothing is really planned. But it is always fun to meet like-minded people.

I will wear my Purple Melly. So look for a tall eggplant looking white guy.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get after it this weekend and don't really have any friends that are into backpacking as much as I am. Really bummed that I missed the meetup you guys had a few weeks ago. For this weekend I'm thinking:

• When: Leave either Friday after work or very early Saturday morning, be back home by Sunday night
• Where: Somewhere within a reasonable distance of Portland (I live in NE)
  • I'm doing research now and will post an update when I've narrowed it down
  • Also totally open to suggestions
• Who: Pic of myself so you know I'm a real person
  • Would like to bring my dog (Husky), if it's cool with you and as long as it looks like there will be enough water sources on the trail
• What: Minimum of 15mi/day, ideally hike almost all day
• Here's my Lighterpack

PM if you're interested!

Edit: formatting

Update: Some trail options:

• Goat Rocks Wilderness (longer drive)
• Indian Heaven Wilderness
• Section of the Timberline Trail
• Hop on the PCT here and go either North or South as far as we can

Hi r/ULoregon ers,

I am new to r/ULoregon and I see that u/darienpeak coordinated a meetup lasting season. But, he is off hiking (lucky!), so I thought I'd get one together.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Edit: I will be outside in a red shirt and white/Grey hat. See ya'll soon!

Just trying to gauge interest. Let me know if this sounds fun and I will coordinate something!

Anyone been up the east side of Hood or around Sisters lately?

I have one of my only solo trips planned for the 16th-17th and I was hoping to circumnavigate something. Timberline looks pretty clear from the instagrams I've been looking at but I'm worried about the high point on the east side.

Sisters shows as almost no snow depth on NOAAs website but I'm still a little worried about trusting that and getting halfway through and having to turn around.

And hike the Little North Santiam trail tomorrow after an early apt with the eye doc in Salem.

Got the CDT loaded up with most of the gear I'm planning for our Wallowas trip this summer, minus the ice axe and food load. BV450 and microspikes are in there, though.
19lbs total with water & snacks. Trying to convince myself the CDT'll work with 26lbs total and not just cheat and use my Cadillac Atmos =)

It's been a couple months since I've made it out for anything resembling a hike, so wish me luck! It's time to shed the winter weight.....

Hey /ulOregon im gonna be doing the major mountain loops this season and want to throw out an invite if anyone is interested. I don't have any dates planned aside from ranier (early Aug.) gonna be doing Adams, St. Helens and hood.

Edit: I'm from Pdx

The recent warm weather in Portland made me curious about the snowpack this year. It is indeed low:

February 5th data:

https://imgur.com/Iyx2hYW

I guess if this holds we'll have snow-free trails a bit earlier this year? As usual I'm eager for the summer hiking season to begin again, but I sure do hope these snowpack numbers aren't paired with the August-September dryness we had last year.

Here's the source data (updated daily I think):

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/or/snow/?cid=nrcs142p2_046169

My wife and I have been looking for a summer 2018 hike. We are still somewhat new to hiking and Don’t have much experience with elevation (Live in the mid west). That’s what made this loop so attractive with a moderate elevation and options to go higher. I’m just worried about the crowds. It’s why we’ve decided not to do the maroon bells in Colorado. I’ve been reading that this is one of the more popular trails in Oregon.

If we started the trail mid week in late July would it still be a somewhat solitary experience?

Sorry for the formatting, I’m on mobile.

There is a rain gap forecasted from tomorrow to Sunday afternoon. Gonna hit Bull of the woods for an overnight. If anyone wants in let me know!