The area around Hood River is our first glimpse (yesterday) of farm country—lots of fruit trees and grape vines. We ran out of blueberry jam, Tony’s preferred flavor for PB&J, so our first stop today on our way to Trillium Lake was a market to purchase some locally made. We stopped along Oregon highway 35 for a waterfall hike, then backtracked a bit for a fruit market. Our home for the evening, Trillium Lake, is a beautiful lake surrounded by forest and with great views of Mt. Hood. It’s no wonder that this lake is a popular spot year-round. We were lucky to get the one night reservation.

Twin Peaks and Fruit Farms

We had views of Mt. Adams today from the car and of course, our views of Mt. Hood just get better as we get closer. These prairie dwellers are fascinated by snowy peaks on the horizon.

Stacks and stacks of white fruit shipping boxes were seen along our route. We weren’t sure what they were at first. Our first stop was the Apple Valley Country Store (opened at 8:00 am) for some blueberry jam.

Tamanawas Falls

The next fruit store we wanted to stop for was not open until 10:00 am. We drove on to the trailhead for the Tamanawas Falls hike that is right off Oregon highway 35. There were already several cars here so we expected company on the trail, but fewer than the Multnomah Falls crowd. Several dogs and some families with eager kids were also enjoying the hike.

This is an easy hike until near the end where there are a couple of loose rockslide areas (talus slope) that required careful navigation. The 3.5-mile trail is listed as moderate with an elevation gain of 600 feet. There are two sturdy log bridges that cross the East Fork of the Hood River and Cold Spring Creek so your feet stay dry. And the 110-foot drop of waterfall at the end is impressive.

Draper Girls Country Farm

We backtracked about 12 miles to the Draper Girls Country Farm store to get some more cherries, apricots, and peaches. They had lots of gifts, snacks, cheese, local wines, and apple cider as well as a you-pick cherry option.

Trillium Lake

Before turning into Trillium Lake, we ventured into Government Camp, Oregon, an alpine village serving the skiers who come to enjoy Mt. Hood Skibowl in winter, and the families who enjoy the summer activities on the slopes like summer tubing hill, alpine slide, go-carts, climbing walls, and much more. It has a Government Camp Loop for a main street with a general store, outfitters, coffee/ice cream shop and places to stay. We walked around a bit and bought pop and candy at the store. But walked away with no pictures—oops.

Trillium Lake is a very popular camping and day-use spot with beautiful views of Mt. Hood. It’s a small, shallow lake with water lilies and ducks, and is perfect for paddle boarding, kayaking, and swimming. The dam side of the lake was filled with people and chairs on a narrow strip of shoreline and lots of people were out on the lake, too. The north end has healthy wetlands with boardwalks allowing for a 2-mile hike clear around the lake. The south end is busy, but the rest is peaceful with tent camping in the woods on the west side and a campground in the woods on the east side. We very much enjoyed this 2-mile hike. Beautiful!

Evening at the lake

Catnip wanted her time in the woods. In the photo below, she is looking at the name-sake of the lake, a Pacific trillium plant that was in the woods behind Usain. She attempted to chase squirrels, a pair of Juncos, and a Stellers Jay. We wandered along a path across from Usain, too, and I got some plant pictures. She really had to clean her paws this time; she had some sticky pine needles to work out even after I attempted to wipe them down.

Later we walked around the southern end of the lake to see the view of Mt. Hood reflected in the calmer lake water after the breezes had died down and the people out of the water. The winds were picking up at the top of Mt. Hood, and we could see snow blowing off. (Makes one wonder what the beginnings of an eruption would look like…) Close to sunset, a gentleman carried out an alpine horn and serenaded the lake with evening taps. Fantastic!