A New Year, an Old Resolution
With the start of the new year, I—like so many others—have made a fresh resolution. It’s one I’ve made before, about 15 years ago: hike once a week, no matter what.
Rain, snow, travel—I will find a way to make a weekly hike happen.
The last time I committed to this goal, I lost a bunch of weight and grew to genuinely enjoy the challenge, even when the weather was less than ideal (a.k.a. an Oregon winter).
January 1, 2026 — Cape Horn Trail
Despite a terrible weather forecast, I decided to kick off this resolution on the very first day of the year. I chose the Cape Horn Trail in the Columbia River Gorge—a trail I’ve done before. It’s a decent distance, not overly challenging, and close enough to home that I could ease into the day without rushing.
I arrived around noon and quickly realized I wasn’t the only one with the idea of spending New Year’s Day outdoors, the parking lot was packed. From the moment Lily and I hit the trail, we were accompanied by a steady, cold rain.
Hard-core hikers will tell you there’s no such thing as bad hiking weather—only poor gear. The older I get, the more I disagree. I have great gear, but cold and rainy is still cold and rainy.
By the time we reached the top of the climb, wind and ice joined the party. Normally, the summit of Cape Horn offers incredible views of the Columbia River Gorge—when you aren’t hiking through clouds. At about 2.5 miles in, with freezing rain and zero visibility, I decided to cut the loop short and call it a day.
Not the most inspiring start to a hike-a-week challenge, perhaps. But I still showed up, put in the miles, and found moments of enjoyment. Come summer, I’m hoping to be fitter and ready to fully appreciate the beauty that hiking in the Pacific Northwest truly offers.
January 5, 2026 — Multnomah Falls to Ecola Falls
For my second hike, I returned to another classic: Multnomah Falls.
This was another late-start hike. I’d originally planned to go later in the week, but after checking the forecast and seeing a winter storm warning set to arrive the next day (and stick around), Lily and I hustled out the door to get a hike in while conditions were still sort of good.
Multnomah Falls was comfortably busy at the bridge and thinned out nicely beyond it. We were even treated to a bit of blue sky—an unexpected and very welcome surprise.
Surprisingly, it was past the top of the falls where we started running into more people. Lily and I continued up to the split for Wahkeena Falls, enjoying a much more pleasant hike than our first outing. The trail past the top of the falls is very rough and had a lot of downed trees, which significantly slowed our progress. Once we came to a section that looked like the trail was partially washed out I decided we had made it far enough and turned back around.
Soon, I will have to start pushing the distance and elevation gains, but for now we are calling this an ease in period for the year.
