I visited, hiked and photographed Mt Hood more times than I can count during the 6 years I lived in Portland. It’s a place where I’d go in search of peace and calm. Seeing that magnificent mountain helps to put things in perspective, how small we and our problems are.

But I’d never spent the night up there. I guess that having a comfortable bed just one hour away didn’t make it sound very attractive. I took it for granted, as I prioritized farther away locations.

This time, though, I wanted to fix that. I wanted to do the Timberline Trail over 4 days and 3 nights, but the amount of downed trees on the trail from a recent windstorm made that option almost impossible. I still wanted to spend a night up there, so I hiked as far as I could in one day, set up camp, and enjoyed the views.

It was perfect: there was no wind, it wasn’t too cold, clear skies, an almost full moon, and the whole place for myself.