Monk's Paw: An Amazing Getaway to Portland

Enjoying a meal at Prasad

Being back from our amazing trip to Idaho and Portland doesn't seem quite real. We had a week-long getaway filled with friends, fab food and TONS of hiking. In just a week, we were able to fit in 4 full day hikes. I almost feel like I need a vacation from vacation (as I always do).

Juniper Gulch

We started our trip visiting friends in Idaho for a couple of days. We had a great visit complete with chamber music and a hike to Juniper Gulch (the hike actually ended up being in Oregon). I've never been to a desert state before so I was dazzled by some of the breathtaking terrain.

Our hosts, Laurie and Marv, were incredible going out of their way to provide healthy gluten free and vegetarian food! I have never eaten so well on a vacation before - what a treat!!!

Views from our hike to Cape Lookout

We then headed to Portland for the rest of our trip. Too short as always!!

We took a roadtrip to squeeze in some hiking on the coast, in the Columbia Gorge and near Mount Hood.

Starfishes Galore at Pacific City

After hiking on the coast, we drove to Pacific City where it was low tide. We had fun scouring the tide pools for signs of life, finding crabs, fish and starfish in abundance!

From Pacific City, we headed back to Portland for the night before setting out for the Table Mountain Loop Hike the next morning in the Hood River area! After our hike, we rushed to the Naked

Descending after our hike to the Table Mountain

Winery for some last minute tasting. I'm still very sad that this winery does not ship to Canada. I really love their wines. After tasting 16 different varieties, we checked into the Hood River Hotel - our second stay with them and dined at a great local restaurant that starts with a C (I sadly can't recall the name at the moment).

Next we headed to the Lolo Pass to hike to Bald Mountain for some incredible views.

This year, we were lucky enough to stay at the Timberline Lodge - simply gorgeous both inside and out! I highly recommend a stay there if you have the opportunity.

Amazing to see that the top of Mount Hood was still covered in snow. Last time we visited in July we were hoping to do some hiking at higher elevations. Unfortunately, at that time, the weather was such that there were still skiers out on the slopes making hiking less than ideal!!!!

This year in Portland, we discovered a wonderful gluten free vegetarian restaurant called Prasad, nestled inside a Yoga studio in the Pearl district. I admit that we managed to eat there 4 or 5 times on this trip. How many times do I get to experience a place where I can eat almost everything on the menu!

I am slightly ashamed to confess that I took over 1,000 pictures on our vacation, which made parring down the shots for this post incredibly hard.

Here are some of my favourites!