Another BCEP Hike

Alright, just one more week before I'm off!

Last night I went on a 'Tripple Crown' night hike with my BCEP group through the West hills of Portland. Covering the three tallest spots of the city, we started at Carson Elementary in NW Portland, hiked up to the Pittock Mansion viewpoint, then hiked to the Hoyt Arboretum, then to Councill Crest park, and then back to Carson Elementary through extraordinary neighborhoods of early 20th century architecture. In total we trekked about 10 miles, half of which was in the dark (using headlamps). I couldn't get over all the amazing houses built back then. Even more amazing, each neighborhood had remnants of the old trolly lines that used to be the mode of transportation. After leaning how all the oil companies bought-up the Trolly lines back in the 30s, and replaced them with private buses, I realized how backwards some things have gone. Now we can't even afford to put a rail system 12 miles south to Oregon City.

Beautiful Portland at night, this pic doesn't do it justice

Anyways, I got a chance to break in my new shoes. Thanks to a co-worker, I got an in to the Mtn. Hardware/Columbia/Montrail employee store which saved me a lot of cash on shoes. I also carried everything that I would be taking on a 6 day portion of my hike (including 6 days worth of food), totaling more than 30lbs... Not to happy about the weight, but I'll figure out ways to tone it down. I'm trying to eat over 4000 calories a day to give me enough energy to last 8-10hrs of hiking per day. It's recommended to eat up to 5000 calories, but I'll figure that out on the trail (can barely fit everything in my 16L food bag). To get a better idea of what I'll be eating, and my food plan, resupply, and gear list, click HERE.

Hoping to get a few more pre-hikes in before the big one!

6 days worth of food...