A Little Timberline Trail, A Little Orchard Walk

Our first hike is just two miles along the Timberline Trail on Mount Hood. We’re about 6,000 feet high and our guides have chosen a fairly easy route covering only a small part of the trail.  The Timberline Trail actually goes all the way around Mt. Hood for over thirty-eight miles, and much of it is strenuous and demanding.  But our first hike is just a ‘warm up’ for lunch.  A warm-up with staggering views....

 View from Timberline Trail on Mt. Hood

Along the trail we have beautiful, cloud-shrouded views of the world that extends beyond Mt. Hood. I love these vistas where the earth meets the sky.  It is one of those great ‘perspective moments’ for me.

And in stark contrast to the vast world ‘out there’, the world at my feet...small, bright, colorful flowers forcing their way through the rocky soil.

Phlox

We return to our van to go to Parkdale for a picnic lunch.  From there, we go for our second hike--more of a walk-- in the Kiyokawa Family Orchard, rated among the top ten in the country.  We walk three miles along cherry, apple and pear trees with an inspirational view of the mountain.   So far,  it’s beautiful, easy hiking and.... at the end of the orchard walk there are fresh picked cherries.   I think they may be the best cherries I’ve ever tasted.

 Cherry trees in Kiyokawa Family Orchard

We proceed to the town of Hood River to settle in before dinner.  Hood River is, according to our guides, the wind-  and kite-surfing capital of the world.  I’ve seen windsurfing.  I’ve never seen kite-surfing (also called kite-boarding).  I don’t think I could stay upright on a surf board unless it were on dry land (which kind of defeats the purpose).  So I am very impressed by the kite-boarders of Hood River.  And also impressed by the sight of their bright kites against the hilly backdrop.

Kiteboarding- Hood River

If you’re interested in seeing kitesurfers in action, check  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_4f65pCA6Y .

                                                                   #     #     #

This Kiyokawa family’s forebears were among the 120,000+  Americans of Japanese descent interned in camps during World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the government became anxious about the potential for espionage.  About 60% of those interned were U.S. citizens.  The Kiyokawa family rebounded from that to establish one of the country’s top orchards.  In 1988, Congress awarded internment survivors $20,000 as compensation for that violation of civil rights.

Mt. Hood from Kiyokawa Orchard