Training Hike With Mom Cannon

Tori's mother was in town this past weekend for a short visit. We left rainy Seattle and headed south to Portland for a few days of day hiking and typical tourist shenanigans. After a healthy Saturday breakfast of waffles, biscuits & gravy, and donuts, we headed east into the Columbia River Gorge for a day on the Eagle Creek trail. Tori hiked this trail years ago so she was somewhat familiar with it. On the ride to the trailhead she told us tales of high cliffs, steep drop-offs, and beautiful waterfalls. I was excited and wanted to get there as soon as possible. I had a tough time gauging Mom’s level of excitement over the trail description. She maintained a poker face when the treacherous cliffs were mentioned and didn’t bat an eye at the talk of slippery trails with steep drop offs. She was as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce.

Thankfully, the sun stayed with us throughout the day. We were blessed with beautiful weather and wonderful views. Our mileage for the day was 8 miles. Not bad for a little day hike. Mom Cannon kicked butt and kept moving at a pretty good clip all the way back to the trailhead.

We were all hungry after the hike so we drove 5 minutes down the road to Cascade Locks for an early dinner at the Pacific Crest Pub & Hostel. They have great pub food and – get this – a huge selection of uber hot horseradish. I’m a wimp so….I didn’t try any. Enjoy the pics below.




The next day was filled with cheesy touristy activities. Our first stop was…..the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We were there on a Sunday so we were unable to see the magical process by which Tillamook cheese is created. Luckily, we were able to watch curds get packed into large bricks by a strange looking curd packing machine.

The cheese factory was a quick visit and we were soon on our way to Cannon Beach for a little ocean cliff hiking and beach-town strolling.

Cannon Beach is a small, touristy beach community on the Oregon coast. An hour and thirty minutes from Portland, Cannon Beach sees its fair share of tourists. Oh…I almost forgot to mention that Cannon Beach is the town in which the film Goonies was filmed. Check the pictures below.


Our next stop was the Lewis & Clark Museum at Fort Clatsop. The fort was named after the Native American tribe that lived on the land prior to the United States claiming the land for its use. We watched a film in the museum about the expedition’s first winter on the Pacific Coast. The film told the story of how local tribes assisted the soldiers and traded goods with them to help them survive the dreary Northwest winter.

The next day we packed up and went back to Washington hoping that we would be able to visit Mount Saint Helens. To our dismay, the visitor’s center on the mountain had not been opened for the summer. So, we would have to save that visit for another day. Instead, we jumped back on the highway and headed for Mount Rainier. One of the things I love about the Pacific Northwest is the fact that you’re always within a couple of hours drive from a glaciated volcano. Gosh, that’s cool! Enjoy the pics of Rainier below.