About

Welcome! I’m so glad you found my page. I think of Pines & Vines as a series of love letters to the Pacific Northwest, albeit with a healthy dose of parking information and trail directions thrown in. I hope that it’s helpful to you as you plan your next excursion.

After bouncing around to a few different places in the country, I moved to Portland, OR, in 2015. I still haven’t gotten used to the gift of living so close to the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, not to mention some world-class vineyards. Even with so many places to explore, it can be hard to know where to start when you’re looking at a blank spot on the calendar and want to try something new. My goal here is to suggest enjoyable but doable day trips and weekends with the relevant information you need and without unnecessary filler. I believe that everyone deserves access to nature and I want to help you get out there. This isn’t just lip service. After being mangled in a bike accident years ago, I can’t walk very far. A 3-mile hike is harder for me today than a 15-mile one used to be. There is no inspirational story here. It’s difficult and painful and humbling. But I still love spending time with rocks and streams and trees more than anything else. If you do, too, have a scroll through my posts and see if anything catches your eye. I bet there is something here for you.

With love, Emma