Norther Emily of Wild Solitude Guiding returned to the City Cast Portland podcast with a tale of how one couple celebrating their 33rd anniversary got lost in the spring snow.
She also offered suggestions for where to hike right now – below the season’s unusual snow line – and where to catch wildflowers:
“Bayocean Spit Loop Hike is my favorite coast hike. [It’s] a really cool little peninsula that goes out onto the southern edge of the Tillamook Bay. It's this really pretty meadowy area with a forest inland. There's some interesting rock formations. It’s somewhere that I would take pretty much anybody that I know, whether it's like my children or an older family member or a friend who is not in good shape, but it's also somewhere that I go a lot, too. [It’s] dead flat. But you can walk a long ways.”
“Wilson River Trail Hike, starting at the footbridge, is a great hike. You get to go over this neat little bridge and there are several waterfalls near the start of the hike, and there are other waterfalls that you'll pass along the way. It's quite a long trail, like 20 or 30 miles. And there is quite a bit of up and down. You do go over some mountains, but you can definitely just take a little segment and do a nice day hike.
“A lot of people, when they think of wildflower hikes in the spring, are thinking about hikes in the mid Columbia Gorge, like Dog Mountain. But there are a lot of really beautiful wildflowers in the coast range and it's a little shadier. It's definitely never crowded and right now everything is growing and it's just very lush and green and beautiful. It's the best time of year to go to the coast range.”
Dalles Mountain Ranch Loop Hike: "This is just across the river from The Dalles in Washington State. I like this area especially because you drive up into the meadows, so if you have younger children with you that are not actually that excited about hiking, you could still get into the meadows and enjoy that nature experience without there being a physical toll required. But you can also definitely get a workout out there if you need to. It's really pretty. I've heard recently that the flowers have started, but they're not at their peak yet.”
The podcast has more on those trails, and more advice on spring hiking.
