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One of the attractions to living in Portland is proximity. To mountains, to the Pacific Ocean, to the music scene, to great restaurants, you get the picture. “If you wanted to”, they said, “you could ski Mt. Hood in the morning and be sunbathing on the coast in the afternoon”. Great in theory - of course, I’m gonna need to find out if it’s real.

There is a relic from the age of beautiful public works called Timberline Lodge near the mid-point of Mt. Hood. I took the above photo while sitting at The Ramshead Bar in said lodge.

Now don’t get me wrong, I haven’t yet done mountain and sea in one day. Consecutive days, yes. It takes about 90 minutes to get to the ocean from where I live. A little over an hour to Mt. Hood. About 10 minutes to PDX!

Driving to Mt. Hood is dangerous…for me, and anyone who might be in the car with me…my head is always swiveling around like a searchlight! (Hey! Would you watch the road please?!)

The panoramas are amazing, not only once you get to the Timberline Lodge area…

…but the entire hour’s approach drive is fabulous too. In fact, the ranger we met along the way recommended a scenic detour, and I have some photos from that for next time. It’s awesome how the air changes once you approach the mountain. So clear and fresh - that crystal clean thing that happens in the midst of great fir forests.

Here’s a tease for next time:

Here’s the summit of Mt. Hood:

More to come…