I’d never even thought of it as an option until last year. It’s expensive, but totally worth it.

I go on one big hike a year; most trips are just one or two nights. The thing is for bigger trips I want to go somewhere really worth while, but there’s not much within a reasonable driving distance. I usually head to the Smokies, but that’s 10 hours. Shenandoah is like 14.

About two years ago I began traveling to Portland for work. I did a few day hikes every time I was there, and did a couple of single night trips, but renting a car and leaving it at the trailhead for several days is expensive as hell.

Last August I found out that there’s public transit from Portland to Mt. Hood. I flew to Portland (on my dime; no company trips until November) took the MAX light rail from the airport into the city, where I bought fuel. I got back on the MAX and took it to a terminal in the suburbs (Gresham), then caught a 30 minute bus ride for like $2 to another terminal in the exurbs (Sandy), then took a $2 shuttle to Mt. Hood.

I stayed at Timberline Lodge one night, then hiked for 6 days, stayed at the lodge another night, and took the same transit back to the airport..

Is there anywhere else with logistics this easy? I know most have shuttles, but the Mt. Hood shuttle busses run every 30 minutes so there isn’t much of a risk of missing your bus and being totally fucked.

Thanks for reading my blog post.

tl;dr Flew to Portland, caught the welfare wagon to Mt. Hood, hiked around, and came back. 10/10 would do again, but looking for other locations.