On our final day we drove up to Mount Hood to hike around some waterfalls and canoe on a lake with our sore, sore legs. 

Josh had done some research on which ones were the best and after we finally found the trails in the labyrinth of mountain roads and turn offs we began our hike along the HOT, dusty trail. People told us that we brought the heat with us because it was in the high 90's the entire time we were in the Portland area. I just can't escape the sweating this summer. Boooo!

On the drive Josh told me that we could be spontaneous and if there was anything we saw along the way that we could stop, well we just so happened to uncover a little Blueberry farm where you can pick your own berries! We made a u-turn and drove in...

We hiked up to Umbrella Falls and then thankfully hiked down to Sahale Falls which was connected to a real road that was F L A T and we walked back to the car. I was in bad shape on this hike and started taking breaks around every shady area!

1 1/2 hours later we finally made it up the mountain to see these falls!

Trilium Lake was a must see also! The water here is very warm, I would say that it was around 75 or 80 degrees and you can rent an inflatable canoe in Government Camp a few miles away. We rented the canoe for an hour and by the time we blew it up and took her for a spin it as already time to go back into town and drop it off. Josh was nice enough to look for another lake for me to swim in since I had already jumped in the water for a few minutes. We drove through about 3 lakes until we came upon another one of Oregon's best kept secrets: LITTLE Crater Lake. This is not the big and famous Crater Lake, but it's newborn sister.

Little Crater was secluded along a marshy walkway and once you see it you won't want to leave. The ground sunk into an underwater stream and turned into a small crater, 45 feet deep , full of 34 degree water. You can never know exactly what 34 degree water feels like until you try it. PAIN! I planned on risking my dear little life and jumping head into the 45 ft. deep crater just "for fun" until I stuck my feet in for 5 seconds. Those 5 seconds and a few minutes after were like walking on frozen needles. OUCH! I put my feet in several times and each time I would get out and say that I just couldn't do it. Well I asked Josh to dare me to jump in and of course he said, "no!", that was enough for me. I baptized myself for about 3 seconds in the 34 degree water and then jumped the heck out of there! 

Here is a little video showing the beauty of this tiny "lake". The 2 ft. deep ledge goes out about 3-4 feet and then it just drops to 45 ft of icy water! Can you see the trees under the water?