TRIP REPORT: Rho Ridge Backpack

Higher elevation trails in the Cascades are clear of snow, and the sub-alpine parkland is ablaze with wildflowers. Summer has come to the mountains! Next Adventure Outdoor School hit the trail last week for another mountain backpack trip, hiking along Rho Ridge on Mt. Hood National Forest.

The Rho Ridge Trail winds through shady Douglas-fir and Silver Fir forests near 5000 feet elevation. Rocky basalt outcrops and flower-filled beargrass meadows provide scenic panoramic views at regular intervals along the trail. Mt. Adams and even Mt. Rainier peek above the horizon far to the north. Mt. Hood, Olallie Butte and Mt. Jefferson loom large on the horizon, while the Central Cascades peaks form a jagged clump of white teeth to the south.

And the wildflowers .... oh boy! Penstemon, lupine, paintbrush, yarrow, cat's ear lily, desert parsley, Oregon sunshine, sunflowers, pearly everlasting, stonecrops, catchfly, plus the bees and butterflies to sip all that sweet nectar.

R2 and I explored some additional trails in the area, turning a 15-mile hike into a 30-mile trip. That's a good thing about Next Adventure backpacking tours - we can customize any trip. Don't want to hike as far as the trip listing? Want to hike more? No worries - we can help you stay in your comfort zone and hike your own hike.

This week we'll be out hiking a section of the Oregon Pacific Crest Trail. We have one more backpack trip scheduled after that this summer, hiking and camping the sub-alpine lakes of the Oallie National Scenic Area. There is still room if you'd like to join us!

Otherwise, plan on coming by the shop 7:00 pm next Tuesday for a mountain wildflower presentation. Learn what blooms when and where on Mt. Hood, and how to identify some of the most common flowers.
(After that we've got another free presentation on August 16th about hiking the Camino in Europe.)

Then there's a wildflower hike scheduled for September 1. Come join us!