Continued From The Oregon Trip: Spines, Lines, and Woods.

The conditions on the final day were less than epic, and with our day-packs overloaded with extra gear, spare parts, extra clothes, trash, etc. we decided to just schuss straight back to Halfway via the snow-mo path and steal a few turns here and there as the opportunities presented themselves. The snow predictably grew heavier, wetter, and slower as we lost elevation culminating in literally skating and poling the final 6 miles out of the woods.  Brad declared it to be torture, and Ryan dubbed it the trail of tears.  I offered no argument here. We skulked back to Carson House, showered ate snacks and then made a hasty egress, across Oregon and toward a civilization rife with beer, pizza, more showers, couches and other amenities that we hadn’t realized we might miss so much.

Back to Halfway, OR.

Goodbye, Wallowas…

We arrived back in Portland late that night and crashed.  The next day we feasted on unreasonably large breakfasts and took a ride out to Mount Saint Helens for some casual touristry.  The scenery was every bit as stunning as in the Wallowas.  The visibility and lighting were exceptional and we got great views into the crater.

The very next day we realized we hadn’t quite had our lift served resort skiing fix for the year, so Rob, Brad and I piled into the car and set out for Mount Hood.  Again, we were greeted by uncharacteristically blue skies and overall pleasant weather.  We found ourselves lacking sufficient ambition for the usual profusion of still photos, but we managed to snag a few minutes of quality chase cam footage on some of Hood’s more exciting terrain.

Mt. Hood.

Eventually we realized that we all had real lives that needed attention, so after a week of exceptional fun in the mountains we parted ways with half-baked plans of a round two already beginning to formulate in our collective consciousness… Gear List (click links for more product info):