ポートランドでアウトドア体験: フッド山とコロンビア川渓谷でハイキング

Slow Berlinのアシスタントエディターのローラ・ハーカーさんに太平洋岸北西部の魅力についてお話を伺いました…

ポートランドは、国際的な都市生活を楽しめる人気の街ですが、周りには太平洋岸北西部の豊かな自然景観が広がります。ポートランドのホステルに宿泊している方は、フッド山とコロンビア川渓谷を訪れて、大自然の旅を満喫してください。市内からアクセスしやすく、フッド山まで車で90分、コロンビア川渓谷までは20分ほどです。

フッド山 (Mount Hood)

Mount Hood offers a plethora of hiking and mountain biking trails, and turns into a skiing and snowboarding paradise during the colder months. The Timberline Lodge – recognisable to many as the hotel from the film The Shining – is one of the mountain’s most popular starting points for hiking and mountain biking routes. Most paths snake off from the lodge, leading along the edge of Zigzag Canyon and through Paradise Park. Many of the hiking routes are beginner-friendly, while experienced hikers choose to extend their walks out to the secluded North Fork of Lost Creek.

The mountain village of Government Camp is another popular starting point, and its Mirror Lake Trail is one of the mountain’s busiest. The lake at the trail’s end is famous for its clear reflections of the mountain, and the area is extremely popular with huckleberry foragers in late August and early September.

コロンビア川渓谷

コロンビア渓谷は、ポートランド市内から20分ほど車で走ったところにあります。デシューツ川とサンディー川河口の間に85マイルにわたり広がる、オレゴン州とワシントン州の自然の境界線です。 1日パスのナショナル・フォレスト・パスは、オンラインで$5ほどで購入いただけます。渓谷を訪れる方はパスの購入は必須で、出発前にプリントしてご利用ください。

The gorge is made up of two contrasting terrains: in the west, you can hike through dense woodland, often shrouded in Oregon’s famous mist, while further east the forests are replaced by gentle hills, farmland and large ranches. One of the gorge’s main sights is Oregon’s tallest waterfall, the Multnomah Falls, and many visitors hike a mile from the base of the falls at Benson Bridge, up the steep path to the top of the waterfall.

The Pacific Crest Trail, an epic hiking route that stretches from Mexico all along the West Coast to Canada, passes through the Columbia River Gorge, and many hikers head to the gorge just to walk this particular section. Along this trail you’ll cross the Bridge of the Gods, the lowest point of elevation in the entire PCT, and also the main walking link between Oregon and Washington.