The Next Trailhead

Rialto Beach | Hole-in-the-Wall | Lake Quinault Lodge | The Largest Sitka Spruce | Hoh Rain Forest

We set out to explore the rugged West-end of Olympic National Park on a quick 2-night weekend getaway.

Trip Resources:

Norblad Hotel & Hostel (Astoria, Oregon) – We got a jump start on the drive to Washington state with a Friday night stay in Astoria. This was a super affordable, clean and friendly hotel right downtown. When we arrived late after work, it was a breezy one-block walk to Ft. George Brewery for dinner.

Street 14 Coffee (Astoria, Oregon) – The cuuuutest spot! We spent a cozy morning in this adorable coffee shop waiting out the rain.

Lake Quinault Lodge – Gorgeous grounds, cozy lodge with a delicious restaurant and plenty of hiking trails right in its backyard. We arrived Saturday afternoon and were still able to squeeze in a seven-mile hike before dinner. On Sunday we hit Rialto Beach and the Hoh Rainforest before the return to Portland

Olympic National Park – From the mountains to the sea, there is plenty to see. The official park site.

Tulips for dayyyys. A beautiful sign that Spring is here!

SOUTHERN OREGON

PATAGONIA | El Chaltén, Argentina

The only thing we’d change about our visit to El Chaltén, Argentina is we’d stay LOOOONGER! This Patagonian mountain town, and the nearby trails, will forever be somewhere we yearn to return to.

Like Perito Moreno, El Chaltén also sits within the Los Glaciares National Park. Chances are, with easy access to the park thanks to trailheads all around town and mountains like Fitz Roy or Cerro Torre, you’re there to trek or do some serious climbing. Backpackers are a mainstay and even looking out of our motel window we could see people climbing the granite walls all around town.

You know this is a serious outdoor town upon arrival – all public buses make a 10-minute stop at park headquarters for a briefing on the area. And there are more mountain supply shops than anything else. So its safe to assume just about everyone visiting is there to play and you're in good company. On top of the easy access to the national park, the town is a gem too. We had some great meals. And did you see all those vintage trailers!? There were at least 30 (we dream of restoring one for ourselves someday). 

There are two iconic hikes in this part of the park, one to Laguna Torre (Cerro Torre) and the other to Laguna de los Tres (Cerro Fitz Roy). You can find a map on the region here. 

On our first day, we took the 8 am bus from El Calafate and rolled into El Chaltén in just under three hours. We walked across town (it only takes about 10 minutes) to find our motel and grabbed bit to eat. By 2 pm, we were hitting up one of the trailheads.

The hike to Laguna Torre is roughly a 12-mile out-and-back trail, which is a mix of gradual uphill and flatlands. The scenery shifts from open meadows and vistas to a thin forest and eventual lake just under Cerro Torre, which had giant chunks of ice floating in it broken off from the glacier above. If it were clearer, we would’ve actually seen Cerro Torre, but we enjoyed our time all the same. The wind at the top was unlike anything I’ve experience. At times I literally couldn’t hold my camera up to take a picture because I was being blown over.  

The next day we set out to see Fitz Roy (an area called Laguna de los Tres). It’s normally an out-and-back, but some friends recommended that we take a taxi/shuttle to Hosteria El Pilar where the trail becomes a bit more of a one-way track. This is a great option. The hike starts in the thick, green forest. As you get closer to Fitz Roy, and pass the campground and base camp, it’s a steady, pretty steep climb to the lake that sits incredibly close to the mountain. We spent an hour on top hoping the clouds would part enough to see all of Fitz Roy, but no luck. It’s still magnificent. The hike back to town is fairly flat and downhill (we were thankful to have avoided climbing up!). In the end, it’s about a 12-14 mile day.

PATAGONIA | Parque National Los Glaciares (Perito Moreno)

Ice, ice baby!

My first "glacier" experience was trudging alongside Elliot Glacier on Mt. Hood. It felt massive. Sitting on the Cooper Spur ridge, I remember watching people make camp on the icy field thinking they looked like figurines.

So I was blown away by Perito Moreno Glacier, which sits on the southern side of Parque National Los Glaciares in Argentina. It’s accessible via the town of El Calafate, which is about an hour away.

Inside this part of the park, the main attraction is a series of large balconies stretching across a point overlooking the 60 meter high glacier wall. Don’t miss this viewpoint. Even when you chalk it up to the “touristy” thing to do (which it is), it’s pretty incredible. And photos don’t do it justice, although I tried. We spent an hour walking along the balconies watching the ice calve into the lake. Even the smallest chunk created a thunderstorm-like rumble before you have the chance to say one-one thousand. A few times we caught really big chunks fall into the turquoise waters.

If the day’s adventure ended here, we would’ve been mighty happy with what we saw. But there was more. Hielo y Aventura operates a series of trekking opportunities on the glacier. We signed up for the longer version (called "The Big Ice"), which includes the stop at the balconies, a boat ride across the lake to the glacial tongue, a mile or so hike in the forest hugging the glacier and then finally—crampons and all—a three hour trek on the ice. We had rad lady guides, both native to Argentina, and learned a lot about the glacier’s features while coming across deep lagoons, streams, waterfalls, ice arches, and many other features carved out by water.

The full-day excursion includes pick up and drop off at your hotel in El Calafate and runs $195 USD per person.

PATAGONIA | Torres del Paine

Every leg of our trip in Patagonia was spectacular, but Torres del Paine in Chile had a ‘lil-extra something special. And I can say that despite three days of drizzling rain. Maybe it was the holiday spirit (we woke up to snow Christmas morning) or the fact that I also turned 30 in the park, but I loved it. We saw diverse microclimates (shrubland, desert, glaciers and subpolar forests) and lots of wildlife, including large packs of guanacos (part of the llama family), huemul (deer), foxes and a variety of birds. My favorite: the lakes, rivers and streams are every shade of turquoise. And we truly enjoyed meeting people from all over the world along the trails.

Despite the Internet and travel books, researching and planning for Torres del Paine was not easy. We knew we wanted to hike “The W,” but there were a few logistical challenges to sort through: transportation, a border crossing, lodging, hiking distances and meals when there are strict restrictions on what you can bring into the country, which was all compounded by a tight schedule. There is a lot of information out there, but nothing answered all our questions and often sparked new ones. I poured through books, Trip Advisor forums and blogs. Thankfully, we had the chance to visit with some friends who where there just a few months prior. This post won’t answer everything, but might help you navigate some of the planning process. And maybe it’s a blessing that one of the most beautiful places in the world isn’t so easily accessible. Right?

Traveling East to West, here was our timeline in the park:

Day 1 | Arrive via bus from El Calafate (sleep: Hotel Las Torres)

Day 2 | Hike to Mirador Torres and back (sleep: Hotel Las Torres)

Day 3 | Hike to Los Cuernos (sleep: Los Cuernos campgound)

Day 4 | Hike the French Valley, continue to Paine Grande (sleep: Paine Grand campground)

Day 5 | Say good bye to the park, return to El Calafate

With limited time and a fixed schedule, we cut out a leg of “The W.” Since we were seeing the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, we decided to skip that leg along Lago Grey to Grey Glacier.

GETTING TO/FROM THE PARK

RECIPROCITY FEES. If you fly into Chile, you will end up paying their reciprocity fee ($160 USD) AND the Argentina fee ($160 USD). You can avoid the fee in Chile when entering the country by land so that might encourage you to access the park via Argentina. You don’t need a visa in either country.

NATIONAL PARK FEE. The park entrance fee was 18,000 Chilean pesos per person (about $32 USD at the time of our travel).

TRANSPORTATION. All buses that carry passengers from Puerto Natales, Chile (90 minutes away) or El Calafate, Argentina (six hours away + including border crossing checkpoints) enter the park through the East entrance, called Laguna Amarga. From the entrance, there is a bus that will take you to other parts of the park, but it was really hard to find any information or its schedule online in advance. It's also equally hard to find this information when you are there–nothing is posted—but there are friendly rangers at this outpost.

ALWAYS GLACIERS. From El Calafate, we joined a day trip excursion to Torres del Paine with Always Glaciers. This private outfitter offered a trip by bus into the park and back, and we were able to hop off upon arrival and then jump back on the tour four days later when we were ready to return to El Calafate. The tour picked us up at our hotel at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am (luckily we slept all morning on the bus) and we got into the park around 2 pm. On the return, a few days later, the bus leaves Laguna Amarga at 5:00 pm and returns to El Calafate around midnight. It wasn’t cheap (round-trip totaled $195 USD per person, which includes a lunch the day you travel into the park), but it was the most direct option with our tight schedule.

The public bus is certainly much more affordable, traveling from El Calafate to Puerto Natales before entering the park, but I had a hard time finding their schedule to make a reservation in advance and was worried about missing the transfer in Puerto Natales into the park. We needed to get there in one day.

If you are planning your own meals in the park, Always Glaciers is probably not the route you want to go – you’ll want to travel through Puerto Natales to stock up on food.

THE W

When you travel East to West along The W, here’s a run down of some of your options.

We liked the idea of starting at Las Torres, which offers a hotel, refugio and campground. This meant we could stay in one place for two nights and not have to hike with all our gear to the Mirador Torres. Even if you’re not staying at the hotel, Los Torres operates a $5 shuttle service from Laguna Amarga to the Los Torres area.

A couple lodging options closer to Mirador Torres includes Chileno, which offers a refugio and campground (this is a 1-2 hour uphill hike from Hotel Las Torres where you can buy meals and rent necessities like tent, sleeping bag, etc.). Beyond that, there is Campground Torres (about a 2-3 hour hike from Hotel Las Torres, just under the towers. No rental or food options). From here, the hike to Mirador Torres is a 45-minute uphill scramble.

The next leg, to Los Curenos, was about a four hour hike. Los Curenos offers cabins, a refugio, and campground. It sits on a hillside overlooking a gorgeous lake and just below the Curenos mountain features. There were two giant waterfalls cascading down while we were there. The cabins look amazing. We camped. You can rent supplies and buy meals here.

There are two other campgrounds beyond Los Curenos if you wanted to go farther that day.

Camp Francis is new, and it's between Los Curenos and Camp Italiano (about 1-2 hours West from Los Cuernos, with some ups and downs on the trail). I read everywhere it was tent only, but they had some cool structures so something to look into. No rental or food service.

Italiano, at the base of the French Valley, is tent only. Italiano is probably a 1.5-2 hour (I think) hike from Los Curnos. This campground wasn't anything special, but maybe that's because we saw it in the pouring rain. Neither of these campgrounds offer better scenery or a view than Los Curenos.

Ah, the French Valley. If it’s not cloudy, it’s supposed to be one of the most amazing places. Rangers closed it moments before we arrived at the entrance due to high water and avalanche danger. It would’ve been a brutally long day (about 18 miles) and at the time, amidst the rain, we weren’t entirely disappointed to be forced out of that option. Which is only to say we have good reason to go back.

We continued on to where we were to spend our fourth night in the park, another 2-2.5 hours away, at Paine Grande campground. There is a lodge, refugio and campground at Paine Grande. This is also where you can take a ferry across Lago Pehoe to Pudeto, where the bus will take you back to Laguna Amarga.

Since we were traveling in late December during the high season (everyone said January is even busier), we made all our lodging and campground reservations in advance. I’m glad we did. Everything was full, though if you’re traveling with your own tent, then you should be fine.

The lodges, refugios and campground reservations along The W or full circuit can be made through two companies operating within the park:

http://www.fantasticosur.com/en/

http://www.verticepatagonia.com/

There are a few other lodging options within the park, may of which operate a number of day hikes, so it is possible to stay in one place and see many of the main attractions.

PACKING TIPS

We rented tents at Los Cuernos and Paine Grande. The tents remain up in the high season so you never have to set up or take down, which was amazing considering the rain we endured for three days. They were high quality because even with insane wind and rain, we didn't have an issue.

Which is more than we can say for the sleeping pads you can rent, which look nothing more than a yoga mat. Not worth it. We brought our sleeping bags and sleeping pads….well I did. Jeremy's Christmas gift was a sleeping pad I bought at Hotel Los Torres when he realized I packed one and he didn't. I didn't get a visual on the sleeping bag rentals, but that is an option as well.

We decided to avoid the extra planning of meals and bought meal plans in the park, which means our nightly stops along The W were dictated by where the refugios or lodges were located. We had breakfast and dinner in the refugios and then got a box lunch to go each day. It was a pretty amazing option. We were in good company, the food was decent and all we had to focus on was getting from one place to another each day.

Bring a backpack cover! Hopefully you don't have rain, but it’s Patagonia so you probably will. Luckily we brought two plastic garbage bags that we ended up using to cover our packs on the wet days, but a cover would've been nice.

How do you recap a trip of a lifetime? How do you do it justice on a wee-little blog? I’ve been struggling with that in the weeks since we’ve been back. I’ve also been engulfed in work, which I knew was coming, so I’m all the more thankful for our time away. We had the chance to visit the second largest city in South America and hike nearly 60 miles around Patagonia.

Now we’re home; we’ve welcomed the New Year and are getting back into a routine—which included catching up on Season Four of Downton Abbey—when I was struck by a line from Mr. Carson:

“The business of life is the acquisition of memories, in the end that's all there is.”

And it’s that simple.

I’ve realized that’s what this past year has been for us—one adventure after another in an effort to capture memories with the ones we love. Every road, trail, peak or town has offered new discoveries. Now we’re ready to cement this trip to memory, and draw upon it for many years to come. I’ve sorted photos, created an album, provided travel tips to friends and daydreamed about when we’ll go back.

Here’s the thing, if you can take an entire month to explore Argentina…do it. Seriously. I know, who gets that kind of time off? After all our trip research, and where we are at this point in our life (sans kids), we decided to make it all about Patagonia. Someday we’ll go back to hit Mendoza, Salta, Iguazú Falls and the Bariloche region. I hope. But yes, it is a massive, breathtakingly beautiful country. And so worth it. Even when it feels like you’re flying to the end of the world (because you are) or it costs an arm and a leg (because it does…well at least the plane tickets do).

Here’s what we landed on:

ITINERARY

Day 1 | Travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Day 2-4 | Buenos Aires

Day 5 | Travel to El Calafate, Argentina

Day 6 | Big Ice Trek – Perito Moreno Glacier in Parque National Los Glaciares

Day 7 | Travel to Torres del Paine, Chile

Day 8-10 | The W Trek in Torres del Paine

Day 11 | Travel to El Calafate

Day 12 | Travel to El Chaltén, Argentina – Hike to Laguna Torre

Day 13 | El Chaltén – Hike to Cerro Fitz Roy

Day 14 | Travel to Ushuaia, Argentina

Day 15 | Hike in Ushuaia; travel to Portland, Oregon

Day 16 | Home Sweet Home

I’ll go into more detail on some of the areas of Patagonia, but overall, here are some highlights:

Most Breathtaking: Every day there was something that took my breath away—like when the clouds parted over Mirador Torres or when Fitz Roy said hi from town in the 10 pm twilight, which literally made us jump for joy. But nothing prepared us for the colossal sight of the Perito Moreno Glacier. Then the chance to trek across it. What’s crazy is this isn’t even the biggest glacier down there.

Favorite Hike: Our first leg of “The W” in Torres del Paine, Chile, from Hotel Las Torres to Mirador Las Torres.

Favorite Place: The hands down winner is El Chaltén, Argentina. This small Patagonian mountain town has trailheads sprouting every which way. We could look out of our small motel window and watch people climbing the granite walls all around the town.

Best Hotel: This is a hard one. I’m really good at finding awesome accommodations (though keep in mind our standards aren’t high). Hotel Home in Buenos Aires was a gem and a splurge. I loved that it was small (20 rooms), had an amazing pool and courtyard to retreat to, and the most helpful and friendly staff. Hotel Las Torres in Torres del Paine, Chile was also a pretty special place to spend Christmas Eve (it was also our last retreat before three days of hiking and camping in the rain). Booking.com was a great resource for all our lodging.

What Lived Up To Its Hype: Everything. Seriously. But if I had to name something, I’d say the Argentinian steak dinners. The quality of the beef, the value, and the Malbec to wash it down was amazing.

Favorite Dinner: Ocho Once in Buenos Aires. This puertas cerrada (closed door restaurant where chefs open their own homes to serve tasting menus) had the most amazing five-course meal. It rivaled anything we’ve experience in our foodie hometown of Portland, Oregon, at HALF the price.

Most Memorable Meal: The parrilla (traditional steak restaurant) Don Julio in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. We had a wonderful dinner with some friends who traveled over from Sao Paulo. And the most memorable meal was followed by the most regretful hangover. Naturally.

Favorite Breakfast Spot: We adored a little spot called Mathilda’s in El Chaltén.

Favorite Cerveza: Okay, let’s be real. We weren’t drinking a lot of beer in Malbec country. But when we did, the La Cervezaria in El Chaltén was a fun post-hike stop.

Best "It's A Small World" Story: About a month before our trip, we learned that Jeremy's host brother from when he was a high school exchange student in Finland would be in Buenos Aires. Twelve years later, the two got to reconnect over coffee. While in Chile, we also met a couple from Portland who had recently gotten engaged on their multi-month trip and are getting married at the same venue as we did in Hood River.

Biggest Surprise Factor: The Patagonian wind. We read this was a characteristic of this region in the Summer months, but holy cow.

Huh, Hadn't Thought of That: We were surprised to hear so many people were headed to Antarctica as part of their trip in this region. That never even crossed my mind! The town of Ushuaia is the launching off pad for the continent.

What Reminded Us of Home: It's green. Very green.

What We Didn’t Miss From Home: TV. Didn’t event think about it. Not once.

What We’ll Pack Next Time: Laundry detergent (so we could pack even less), a nice camera (we used our iPhone for everything) and probably a Kindle. I ran out of my reading material fast and we had a lot of travel hours.

Biggest Logistical Challenge: Getting to/from Torres del Paine, Chile. It's only a six hour journey by bus/car, but there are a lot of things you have to factor into on this leg (I'll get in to that later). That said, it's probably a blessing that one of the most beautiful places in the world (No. 5 on National Geographic's list) isn't easily accessible.

What We’d Do Differently With the Same Trip: Forgo Ushuaia for one more day in El Chaltén. This was always the plan, but we were late to book air travel in/out of El Calafate and couldn’t get a flight out in time to catch our connector in Buenos Aires. We had to fly out the day before and spend a night Ushuaia. We had a great time in the southern most city in the world (I was beyond thankful for a bookstore that had English books before the long journey home!), but nonetheless that would’ve been our trade off.

What Will Forever Draw Us Back: The chance to see all the mountains of El Chaltén in all its glory. We only had two days in the town and for anyone who has been there, as the serious climbers would know, that’s not enough time to wait out the weather. We caught glimpses of the iconic spires, and saw Fitz Roy from town in the evening when clouds briefly parted, but didn’t see the whole shebang.

So there you have it. Coming up in more detail:

PATAGONIA | Torres del Paine (Chile)

PATAGONIA | Parque National Los Glaciares (Argentina – Perito Moreno)

Happy New Year, folks!

2013 has been one for the record books. We set out to visit a new state and also added two new countries to the traveled list. We wanted to visit another National Park, and to our surprise, we hit four. We hiked, biked, and fished...a lot. I even nabbed my first steelhead. And we pushed ourselves in ways we never have before (Jeremy ran an ultra and I completed an olympic triathlon). On top of that, our hearts grew when we met a few little new members of our extended family (a nephew and two cousins).

We closed out the year with a trekking trip of a lifetime. I still can't believe we made it happen. Coming up on the blog: Patagonia.

Each adventure created lasting memories and provided inspiration to do something we think we're getting pretty good at: to keep exploring.

Now if only we could get at least one of our two cars to pass the DEQ test.

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

It was a bone-chilling 20+ degrees this weekend. But we saw sun, and so naturally it made us want to be outside.

We set out to hike the trail to Triple Falls knowing it would offer a number of amazing waterfalls in what was a frozen forest.

There are a couple options to get to Triple Falls, but we usually decide to park at Horsetail Falls and make a loop out of the hike. From the trailhead you head up a couple switchbacks, pass a viewpoint, walk under Ponytail Falls and then head into the Oneonta Gorge canyon to Triple Falls. We followed the Gorge Trail back down to the Old Columbia River Highway, and walked a stretch of the highway (passed Oneonta Gorge) to our car. All in all, it’s about a 5 mile loop.

Even if you weren’t up for a hike in these temps (I wouldn’t blame you!), there are plenty of waterfalls accessible from the comfort of your car along Old Columbia River Highway. It looks like you have a few more days to catch some frozen falls!

Leif Erikson Drive.

On Thanksgiving morning, we set out on a little 5-mile skip in Forest Park. It was buzzing with activity. I loved seeing all the families on the trail, enjoying what was a beautiful, sunny day. We even bumped into my cousin's wife and her 3-month old daughter out for a run before they were headed over to our house...that's small-town Portland for ya!

Today (and every day), I'm grateful for our loving, caring family and friends.

And I'm most thankful for this guy who keeps me going and makes me laugh, each and every day.

What’s not to love about Mexico!? Especially when you’re from the rain drenched Pacific Northwest (still love ya, Oregon!).

Some good friends were getting married and so we extended the celebration into a weeklong vacation with a fun crew.

Akumal (“place of the turtles” in the Mayan language) is a small town nestled between the jungle and beaches of Playa del Carmen and Tulum, on the Yucatán Peninsula. It boasts postcard worthy white sand beaches, turquoise water for snorkeling/diving and friendly people.

I wish I could tell ya we did some hiking and amazing sightseeing. But really this trip was lazy relaxing. Sometimes we can slow down and do a lot of day drinking.

Good Eats:

La Buena Vida – Amazing beach-front restaurant and bar with swings that serve as bar seats. Karaoke on Thursday nights!

Turtle Bay Bakery & Cafe – A great spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner that will forever be remembered as “that place we watched No. 2 ranked Oregon lose to Stanford.” Ouch. Thankfully they had a mean margarita.

La Cueva del Pescador – Seafood! Seafood! Seafood! The lobster was amazing.

Loncheria Akumalito – Delicious, affordable little open-air taco stand in the center of town. To give you a sense of the size of this community. both times we had lunch at this spot, we ran into the wedding crew.

Ana y Jose (Tulum, MX) – A gorgeous resort and spa in Tulum. We enjoyed their restaurant (fish tacos) and beachfront on day trips to the area.

And there you have it.

Cheers to friendships, love and destination weddings!

With a stretch of sunny October weather, we decided to try for one more camping trip before the nasty stuff sets in. And why not try crabbing while we’re at it!?

After a quick look online for a boat rental outfitter w/ crab rings, we were off. Netarts Bay, here we come. We didn’t even look for a campground until we were in the car (not advisable!).

In just under two hours time, we made it to the coast, set up camp at Cape Lookout State Park, and were back at the Pelican Pub in Tillamook to catch the second quarter of the Oregon football game. Not bad!

After a Duck win (sorry UCLA), we headed back to camp for a starry night around the campfire with smores. Side note: Try a Ghirardelli Square with caramel instead of your standard chocolate bar. It’ll put you out $2 more, but it was a game-changer.

Cape Lookout State Park is on a sand spit between Netarts Bay and the ocean. In other words, you get salty sea air and can hear the waves from your tent. And with more time, we would’ve explored the 8+ miles of hiking trails around the park and out to the cape. So we’ll be back at some point.

In the morning we fueled up at The Schooner (donut French toast…say what!?!?), which is right on the bay and just down the road from the boat rental.

In three hours, we caught tons of Dungeness, but unfortunately most were too small to keep. Apparently the ocean temperature is still a bit warm so the bay is not seeing the big guys just yet. In a few weeks time, with the help of some weather systems to bring the temps down, it’ll be great. So you’re not too late…get out there!

We ended the day with a quick stop at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum. My grandmother is from Tillamook so it was a chance to learn more about the native people and early white settlers (something I never wanted to do as a kid, but I'm growing up!). Apparently I have photos of ancestors in the museum, but I was unsuccessful in identifying them.

Trip Resources:

Cape Lookout State Park – We didn’t need a reservation for the $15 campsite in late October, but chances are you will most other times of the year with 170 campsites in total. The state park also has 13 Yurt rentals, which make for a fun, affordable Oregon coast experience in the Winter.

Netarts Bay Garden RV Park & Boat Rentals – The friendly folks here got us set up with our shellfish fishing license, boat rental, crab rings and bait. The boat with rings and bait was $75 for three hours (obviously would've been a better deal if we actually went home with some delicious Dungeness).

The Shooner – This has been a mainstay eatery on Netarts Bay for nearly 60 years. Big outdoor patio with a bay view.

Pelican Pub – The Pelican Pub is a craft brewery in Pacific City, but their new Tillamook location was just eight days old when we stopped in. They had several big screen TVs to catch sports games and shuffle board tables.

If you have an Oregon “Bucket List,” the Pendleton Round-up should most definitely be on it. It’s a world-class rodeo, and a family friendly event. Plus it's fun to wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.

Some weekend highlights:

The Cowboy Breakfast. Since 1949, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #922 & Auxiliary has been serving breakfast for Round-up visitors in Stillman Park, just off the main drag in downtown. We enjoyed pancakes, ham, a fried egg, coffee and milk for $7 ($4 for the kiddos).

Hamley’s Steakhouse and Hamley Western Store. This huge restaurant, eighteenth-century bar and retail space with an American Old West feel is packed to the brim with people all weekend. We had a great steak dinner on the upstairs, outdoor patio. 

The Let ‘er Buck Room. The famous bar beneath the grand stands. Hope you like well drink or whisky. That’s all they serve! This place gets pretty rowdy during the rodeo. We enjoyed a drink before.

Moraine Lake, Oregon.

Over Labor Day weekend, our family made their way up the South Sister for a 6+ mile round trip trek to this lake. This hike is actually the trailhead for the full S. Sister summit climb, with a detour to the lake about halfway up. 

We found the trailhead just off the Cascade Lakes Highway, but it officially starts at the campground at Devils Lake (just past Spark's Lake). The first two miles are uphill and then level out in the third mile as you make your way to the lake...and then of course there is the return trip.

This was a perfect day hike. We capped it off with a stop at Goodlife Brewing in Bend.