what are your favorite semi-close hikes. Basically looking for day hikes so Montana is too far. I recently hiked Dog Mountain out by Stevenson and I highly reccomend that hike. But beware, it's pretty steep for the first couple miles.
Mine is more a beach walk. I like doing the Manhattan Beach-Hermosa Beach strand. Its really close and easy.
in Portland, I like walking from Downtown, throughout the city, across the Hawthorne Bridge, to the Eastside Espalanade to the Rose Quarter and then take across teh Broadway bridge back.
My all time favorite Oregon hike is oneonta falls. Its about half swimming in freezing water though so July and August are your best bets.
In the Portland area - There are many nice trails near Vernonia - and forest park off Skyline is always quick and easy to get to (if you live in the Portland area). Of course, tons of places on Mt. Hood. In the SF area - Tons of places on Mt. Tamalpais, the Samuel P Taylor area is great and all Miur woods, Miur beach or my favorite - the Pt. Reyes national seashore - the last truly virgin beach area I have seen in a long long time, near a major city. It was great to just get there on a Friday afternoon. Hike in for 3 hours, camp and get back in a couple of days. In San Diego - there is an embarrassment of riches - Torrey Pines, Lake Hodges, Point Loma, too many places to list in Anza Borrego and if you are willing to drive a bit more - Joshua Tree, Salton sea etc..
I hike the Cascade Head trail bottom to top about 30 times a year in an attempt to stay in shape, so have to say it is default favorite. Worth it at least once. The most spectacular reasonably nearby day hike I've ever done was last September from Sunrise to the summit of Third Burroughs in Mt. Rainier NP. Incredible mostly tundra hike ending in the closest thing to a Himalayan-type vista you can get in the lower 48.
I did the Mount St. Helens area last year. There are various trails and difficulty levels. It was really cool.
One of my favorite hikes is over Tillamook Head, from the south end of Seaside Beach to Cannon Beach. Maybe 8 miles though virgin Oregon coast timber. Big stuff! You break out of the timber up on top where it had be logged off years ago, where you can actually measure the size of these trees. I stepped off a Spruce stump the last time I did the hike, it is about 17.5 feet in diameter. It feels something like being in an ancient cathedral hikiing through that timber. The only other place on the Oregon Coast that has trees like that I know of, is in the Silver and Gold Falls park on the Millicoma River.
Silver falls has always been one of my favorites but that's pretty low key compared to a lot of the hiking near by. I found a website a while ago which has tons of local hikes listed by length, difficulty, etc.. Let me see if I can find it Edit: http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org
I haven't done this one but its on my radar for when I get back out and get serious about hiking again. It's out in the gorge, and looks like it offers great vantage points. http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Angel's_Rest-Devil's_Rest_Loop_Hike
Ape Caves, Mt St Helens, is awesome! Rent or bring a lantern. Flashlights don't do shit. Also the hike to the summit of Mt St Helens is incredible. Don't be an idiot, get the permit.
I was just looking at the Crater Lake webcam today and I was amazed how much snow they still have for this being one of the worst years ever for (lack of) snowfall.
Summit Mt St Helens. Seriously do this, but you need to be looking into buying your passes right now. This is a serious challenge though but its something you can do and something you can use to motivate you in the mean time. I still consider this one of my major physical accomplishments in my life and one of the most memorable experiences. Standing at the top looking into the crater with the other mountain peaks around you is quite a moment. The best part though is that if you go early in the season you can bring garbage bags with you and sled the snow packs most of the way back down.
It wasn't that hard. The most difficult part was the last 100 yards, for a while there it seemed like I would take one step in that ash/sand crap and slide back down two steps.
It's great hike from Breitenbush Hot Springs, up and over Mt. Jefferson, down to Marion Lake an out to Marion Forks on Highway 22. About 25 mile as the crow would do it, about 35 miles is about as short as you can make it. But watch yourself, you can get caught in a snow storm, even in the summer so have a weather forecast first and be prepared to hike until you are out of there. I did it when I was 18 in a little over 26 hrs, but I went light, just sandwiches. Several years later I took my wife, same hike, planned two days, still light. It took three.
