Timberline Trail/Pacific Crest Trail

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge, built in 1937, is a rustic ski lodge that transports you back in time. The movie “The Shining” used a mock of of its exterior but was not filmed there.

There are various trails you can take from the lodge. The one my daughter took me on during my chemo days and the one I recently returned to with a friend is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

Pacific Crest Trail

The PCT, made more known from the book/movie “Wild”, starts at the California-Mexican border and goes up through California, Oregon and Washington to the Canadian border. Many trails off-shoot from it. In fact if you wanted, you could loop around Mt. Hood. People do, camping in the woods along the trails.

What I like about this particular trail, aside from the natural beauty, is the varied topography. One minute you are walking through Alpine meadows with flowers, the next you are in the woods, followed by a bare ravine where the trail is literally sand, making you feel like you are in the dessert. Soon, trees return to the trail.

When I went with my daughter, we crossed a stream that people sat by to fuel up. This time around, my friend and I started a bit late so we did not make it that far. There were also a lot more downed trees, one blocking the path where we turned around. Note that there were ways to get around the downed tree, but since we had gone four miles and time was moving faster than we were, we decided to head back.

Animals!

What was interesting about the hike this time around were the animals that we saw while hiking. I will list them in order of appearance: four horses resting on the side of the trail (waiting as one from their group slid down a ravine), various dogs wearing booties and carrying packs, one lost dog lying under a tree on the side of the trail, a pack of large dogs followed by four goats, one horse and their owners.

I want to mention the lost dog did reunite with his owner. When we passed the dog, a solidly large black dog, another hiker was with him and said he was skittish if you got too close. It was hot so we thought the dog might want some water. The hiker lent me the cap of his water bottle and I filled it with water and placed it in the sand near the dog and stepped away (after taking off my sun glasses so he could see my eyes). The dog ignored the water. As I passed by the dog, I looked him in his eyes and told him to hang tight, his daddy was coming. He looked back at me. I believe he understood what I was saying.

I said a silent prayer for God to safely reunite him with his owner. Five minutes later, we hear a guy yelling “Jasper” and then see him on the trail across the way. We shout to the guy that his dog is safe, waiting for him about five minutes behind us. I didn’t realize that I audibly said “Thank you Jesus”. The guy, now behind us, heard me and responded “JC never lets us down”.

We never saw the horse in the ravine but we did hear the rescue team was able to get her out safely and that she was not injured. We had been praying for her as well. God is good and faithful. He loves His creation.

Trail photos

Here is a snippet of the beauty we saw hiking (I unfortunately did not get any photos of the animals).

“Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)