A Snowy Hike In The Woods

There’s nothing as beautiful as a snowy hike in the woods! As you may know I live in South East Washington, just North of Portland, OR. I claim that I am based in Portland on my Instagram, and tell most people I live in the greater Portland area, even though I’m in a different state. A lot of people who work in Portland and Oregon live in Southern Washington. It’s nearly the same area – you just need to cross a few bridges and a state line to get into Oregon. The PNW is known for it’s high amount of rainy days, but it doesn’t often snow in this area. If you drive up the gorge into higher altitude there is plenty of snow. Needless to say I was excited to see the beautiful river behind my house covered in a blanket of snow last week!

Jacket: REI, Sweater: NA-KD, Boots: Merrell, Leggings: Spanx, Pack: Ozark Trail

I wanted to share some of my favorite hiking gear that I wear all year long. My REI Co-Op rain jacket is something I wear almost every day. A rain jacket is an essential in the PNW. This one is a shell, and protects from rain and wind. I actually have a men’s rain coat (which I kind of like so I can wear thick sweaters underneath) but there really is no difference! It fits me perfectly. I wore my warm turtleneck sweater from NA-KD. Normally I wouldn’t wear a ~fashun~ brand for an intense hike, but for this fun little trip I knew it would keep me ultra warm and cozy. I also wore a long sleeve shirt underneath my sweater, tucked into two pairs of Spanx leggings. Yes, two! Layers are everything and I knew one pair wouldn’t be thick enough for the cold.

These Merrel boots are great for hiking in wet or dry conditions. I have stood in ankle deep water ad my feet never got wet! I grabbed the easiest hiking pack I could find, which was with Ozark Trail orange pack. They retail at Walmart, which actually has a pretty decent selection of camping/outdoorsy gear. The snow is all melted, but we still have some cold weather days ahead and potential snow this weekend ? As a lover of snow, this means more photo shoot opportunity and more fun hikes!

Jacket: REI, Sweater: NA-KD, Boots: Merrell, Leggings: Spanx, Pack: Ozark Trail

Photography by CQ Photos