Every year, hundreds of tourists flock to Mt. Hood to jog through the summertime heat as participants in the annual Hood to Coast Relay. The organization has its eyes on celebrating the rich diversity on display for runners making the trek from the tip of the mountain all the way to the relay’s finish line in Seaside. Since the race is a fixture in the community, we asked locals for their personal opinions on the annual event, and the reviews were ... mixed. Across Instagram

It isn’t every day the mountain gets to celebrate a centenarian! On Monday, September 15, longtime resident Fred Thornberg turned 100 – bringing with him a lifetime of service, humor, and community spirit that has enriched the Mt. Hood area for more than five decades. Thornberg moved to Oregon from Utah in 1968 with his wife Dana, and worked as a home builder. “I was a Lion in Utah,” he recalled. “A friend asked me to join here, and I did.” That simple decision turned into 55

The creation of art is typically demonstrated with brush strokes, camera flashes, and pencil markings, but to local herbalist Cari Gesch, turning art into a verb involves a plethora of plants, herbs, and passion incorporated into one glorious adventure of health and healing. A resident of The Mt. Hood Villages for the last 13 years, Gesch has immersed herself into the culture that is living in a mountain town, mere miles from a national forest with an abundance of the materia

For four years, Mt. Hood Hospice has recognized those — Vietnam veterans, their family members and the people of Vietnam — impacted by Agent Orange with a small but meaningful ceremony around Agent Orange Awareness Day.  The nationally recognized day, August 10, commemorates the anniversary of the first time the herbicide Agent Orange was used as a weapon of war in Vietnam in 1961. Mt. Hood Hospice outreach and volunteer coordinator Jolie Phanton led the ceremony on Monday, A

Even those who never officially met Susan “Phoenix” Lane likely saw her somewhere on the mountain, whether she was riding her Harley in one of her flowy skirts, tending the counter at the Hoodland Bazaar, driving through town with her dogs in her old truck, or painting faces at the Hoodland Farmers Market.  Christen Prudence met Lane at the market eight years ago. It was the start of a spiritual friendship, during which Lane recently invited Prudence to participate in the sou

At an age when most people are content to take it easy, Rosemary Nichols is rewriting the playbook on aging. At 86, she’s not only lifting weights – she’s breaking barriers on the world stage. This past July, Nichols competed in the 2025 USPA Power Nationals in Pittsburgh. Taking the platform in the 85+ age division, she claimed world records in all three lifts – squat, bench press, and deadlift – in the International Powerlifting League. Her final deadlift of 92.5 kilograms

Although living on Mt. Hood offers endless opportunities for outdoor recreation and play, there are other ways community members can find a creative outlet and one of those is local paint nights hosted by Mt. Hood Villages resident Meg Eaton.  Hosting these paint nights in the community since 2022, Eaton has become an artistic staple and instructor with her ever-growing, ever-popular paint nights held at various locations within the Villages. Hosting at places such as The Whi