BEAVER TO BUCKEYE

Michelle is a loyal Oregon State Beaver fan, a graduate of that fine university. This morning she asked if she could have my shirt for the weekend. Yeah, the shirt I was wearing. She and her hubby have bet on the Buckeyes. Let's hope the shirt brings good luck. I agreed and peeled off my Buckeye shirt at the end of my work day and handed it over, but not before getting a photo for my blog. Go Buckeyes!!

SURPRISE STORM

At about 3pm snow flurries flew outside the windows of the cancer center. Some coworkers called it 'snow'. No, I thought, that's not snow, just flurries. Soon it was a light snow and quite pretty. A scant layer covered the grass but roads looked good. I left work at my usual time and four hours later I arrived home on a mere fume of gas in my car, an empty stomach, a headache, and pretty darn stressed out. Yeah, four hours! My normal commute is about 35 mins. The surprise storm didn't stay long but it was enough to cripple our unprepared city. Here's a photo I took while sitting still, I did lots of sitting still and waiting.

LONE BUCKEYE AND A GAGGLE OF DUCKS

Kathryn, the nurse just next to me in this picture recruited a few nurses to show their support for the Ducks. Kathryn is a huge Duck fan, so loyal that you can hear her cheers on tv. She comes to work after attending a game without a voice. Laurie, the nurse on the right had asked for a Buckeye shirt recently. I'm not sure Laurie knows where her loyalty lies as she is really a Husky! What gives, Laurie?? Today Laurie was sporting that Buckeye shirt! Yay, Laurie! Molly, the nurse between Kathryn and Laurie was just happy to have a lively and colorful shirt to borrow for the day even though she's not a die hard Duck fan. Molly's easy!

I tried to get a photo from today but the infusion room was whirring and chock full of patients. I'll try again tomorrow.

GO BUCKEYES!!

THE BIG BET

Well, we shook on it. The bet goes like this, the loser has to wear the jersey of the winning team to work or school. Seb, my young friend and loyal Oregon Ducks fan, is so confident his Ducks will win that he didn't even flinch when we made the bet official with the handshake.

GO BUCKEYES!!

Winter Walks

I haven't posted an entry in months. There's been no shortage of material just a shortage of motivation. When November arrives it brings the steady rains and the sun goes away for what seems like forever and it stays gray for days on end. Suddenly the energy and motivation I had withers away.

I like to stay active all year. I don't think it's good to give up fitness and sensible eating just because it's dark outside. I say that knowing I mean it wholeheartedly but I don't always live it. It's just plain hard for me to motivate this time of year.

Fortunately, I live in a town that offers more than I could ever explore. I've been doing hill walks with a good friend. I love these walks. They combine hilly, winding streets, public staircases, and urban forest.

This is a shot I took on Saturday of the fog in the forest. I have thrived on these walks for the last several weeks. On one occasion I took Elmo along. Like a trooper he walked five miles with us that day. He left his pee mail on everything possible and tried to chase every squirrel he heard or saw. Below are two shots with Elmo, one taken at Council Crest and the other with his pooncha while napping after his big walk.

The next two shots are taken along the streets of Portland's west hills. I love the moss.

I hope to get inspired to cross country ski and snowshoe very soon. Meanwhile, I'm quite content doing these invigorating walks.

GALS AT GREEN LAKES

I had a weekend of backpacking with four gals that had so much good I don't where to begin. It was one of those weekends where everything went as planned, everyone got along, mother nature sent her blessings, and nature revealed her beauty at every turn. Where does one begin, really?

Three of us left Portland early Friday morning and met up with the others at the trailhead. The first big surprise was pulling over in Bend to get directions and running into Jane who was joining us on our trip. We were able to follow her, thankfully.

We got on the trail just before noon. The sun was full, the sky was central Oregon blue, the mood was light. Though we were eager to reach our destination we were all fine with taking our time to enjoy the trail. Four of us had to get used to carrying our heavy packs for the first time this year.

Setting up camp took no time at all. Relaxing was the next order of business and that's what we did. There's nothing better than being in a beautiful place without a single responsibility. South Sister watched vigilantly from the east and Broken Top spread her eagle wings to the west. Don't quote me on those directions, but you get the point. We were sandwiched between two elegant and regal peaks. Looking north were Green Lakes and yes, they look green.

During the night the moon rose over Broken Top and cast a deep blue light over our campsite. The sky was packed full of stars.

On day two we dayhiked to Moraine Lake, an eight mile trek. It was a hot day and the sun was strong. We lunched at Moraine Lake and just enjoyed being out on a beautiful day. A dip in Fall Creek put the final touches on a delightful dayhike.

More relaxation was in order after our dayhike to Moraine Lake. Jodi was the first to put her thermarest on the ground outside. Pretty soon all of us were lounging together under the warm sun with a cool breeze going over the events of the day.

Dinner was the next order of business. Mary had the best of savory smells coming from her cookpot. Linda had an eclectic assortment of items she threw together to get her through the weekend. Jane hauled a gallon of soup. Well, not really a gallon, but I bet it felt like that in her pack. Jodi had pre-cooked food from home that she heated in her new cookware using her new camp stove. She shared a cupful with Jane in an effort to put more meat on Jane. I stuck with my usual, Mary Jane's Organics, and had good dinners by merely adding water and waiting a few minutes.

We were up early on Sunday to hike the seven miles out. The weather was cool and partly cloudy. Our views were awesome. A few deer watched us from the woods as we passed through. We stopped for an 'official' break and had a snack and took a rest, plopping our heavy packs beside us. The sun was warming and the clouds were leaving. Our trip was ending soon. It's hard to leave such a beautiful place and go back to the responsibilities of day to day. We have all agreed to make it an annual trip. Linda has come up with five different routes we can do in that area alone. Maybe we need to plan two trips a year. Now that's more like it!

SHEEP CANYON

I've been curious about Sheep Canyon at Mt St Helens for a long time. In recent years the storms that have raged through that area have changed the terrain and sometimes eliminated access to roads and trails. I made it a point to hike part of the Sheep Canyon trail this summer just in case this season's storms prevent my doing so next season.

In keeping with the theme of road closures we found a locked gate across the last two miles of gravel road leading to the trailhead. This meant we had a two mile walk to even begin our hike. No worries, we didn't think much of it. The closed road was in excellent condition and we couldn't understand it's closure. Were they planning to pave it? Hey, that would be great! The large machinery at roadside were clues that they were still working.

After arriving at the trailhead we got our answer to why the road is closed. The storm damage of the last few years has buried the area under many, many feet of sand and rock. Where was the trail?? I read and reread the notes from Sullivan's book. It took awhile but we found the trail behind the nearly buried trailhead sign. I've seen snow this deep lots of times but not sand and rocks. Wow! The terrain there will never be the same.

We weren't on the trail for more than a few minutes and we came across a tree frog chilling out at the edge of the trail. He was lime green and looked like he was wearing Ray Ban's. He stood out well against the light gray sand. Nancy and I took a few photos. I got close enough to see his little hands, so cute!

Jodi noticed some fresh and glistening bear scat. The path made it hard to find any tracks but we didn't take any chances and instead began calling out to any bears that might be around. We saw several more scats, though not fresh. We never saw the bear but I suspect it was nearby keeping a very low profile while we passed through. Elk and coyote scat were spotted as well.

The trail was forested most of the way. I noticed that some of the flowers were early ones and some were done and going away. It felt like we were walking through different ecosystems in a matter of minutes.

We lunched at a creek with a small bridge crossing. That was my favorite spot on the trail. Not because of lunch, well, lunch was welcome that day, but because it felt cool and the gentle sound of the creek was relaxing.

This trail didn't offer as many views of Mt St Helens as I thought it would, though the views we saw were grand and impressive.

Having to walk the road to the trailhead added four miles to our day. Our 8 mile hike turned into 12 miles. My new boots, not quite broken in, were vandalizing my baby toes...ouch! Thoughts of Burgerville kept us distracted until we finally made it to the car and could sink our weary feet into our sandals.

But our day wasn't over. We came across a lost and limping dog on a lonely forest road and stopped to help. No collar, no way to know where the pup was from. Jodi made a water dish by cutting her empty Gatorade bottle and the pooch soaked it up with zest. No luck finding owners at a nearby campground so we took him/her to Burgerville with us. Jodi was kind enough to let the pooch spend the night at her house. In the morning she got a call that was prompted by her craig's list note. Chaz, the springer spaniel with the limp, was reunited with his owner. I think that's a pretty nice ending to the story...

Bird Creek Meadows at Mt Adams

This is what it feels like when you see the view at Hellroaring Viewpoint at Mt Adams!

The hike to Bird Creek Meadows was the last of my three hikes planned with my friends. By far, this was the best group I've hiked with in the many years I've been hiking. I was joined by 'Boyer', Kristina, Danielle, and Lin. Everybody enjoyed every footstep of the trail.

Though most of the flowers were done blooming we still had just enough splashes of color to fill our senses. Itty bitty A-frame toilet huts came in handy. Crooked Creek Falls spilled over into the Crooked Creek and we took lots of pictures there. I think Facebook will see many of these photos. After reaching Hellroaring Viewpoint we continued on attempting to find Iceberg Lake. We didn't find the lake and opted to turn back to make it to Hood River in plenty of time to enjoy a cone at Mike's Ice Cream.

Plains of Abraham

I had delayed the plan to hike to Plains of Abraham when I learned that the black flies were voracious during the week I was planning to go. The later date meant most of the flowers were gone though the view and the terrain were intriguing enough without the color of wildflowers.

The Muddy River is truly muddy. Watching it spill over the ledge you could see there was nothing clear about that water. It looked like milk chocolate pudding, really. We hung out at Plains of Abraham to enjoy the view, the top of Mt St Helens in front of us and the lush forest to our left and the distinct line where the forest ends and the rock begins. It must be a geologists dream up there.

We ran into Jodi's neighbor on the trail. This came as a complete surprise. There are miles and miles of trails and we ended up on the same one, small world!

HORSESHOE MEADOW

Horseshoe Meadow at Mt Adams is another place that's been on my list for a long time. I made a plan to hike to the meadow and invited a few friends to join me. I was joined by Will and Mary Taylor and their dogs Molly and Rosie and another friend Joan.

We ascended gradually through lush forest. Most of the wildflowers had gone to seed but we did score a few fine specimens of tiger lily. The bugs were tolerable and I'm confident the bugs will be history very soon. The lupine was more abundant as got closer to the meadow. No views of Mt Adams till we reached the meadow. It was worth the walk to get there.

Curious, energetic and exploratory Rosie made a party of the trail. Mollie sauntered with her usual dignity and casualness. Funny how having dogs along can make the hike more fun!

BIRTHDAY 'PARADISE'

I spent my birthday doing my favorite thing...hiking!! Here is my favorite photo from the day. I love the carpet of heather in the foreground.

Jodi joined me for my birthday hike. I took the day off work and looked forward to my hike all week long. I chose a trail I have been wanting to do for many years. It's a big hike and I knew it would take all day to walk the long path. We got on the trail at 10:30 am and finished at 7:30 pm. Total miles was 12.5 with 2300 ft of elevation.

We had heat in the mountains as the Pacific Northwest was enduring a stifling heat wave. Instead of the usual 65-75 degrees in the mountains we had high 80's for daytime temps. Fortunately, we had a significant amount of forested sections. Though in those forested sections we had pesty flies.

The wildflowers were outstanding. Every turn offered a new and varying view of Mt Hood as a backdrop for colorful flowers.

We made a stop at a stream, peeled off our sweaty socks and dipped our tired feet into the chilly water. Ahhh, so refreshing. But socks weren't enough...I took off my shirt and sunk it deep into the stream and soaked it, wrung it out, and put it back on. I stayed cool for at least 30 mins before my quick dry material worked its magic and was dry again.

We found a small bit of shade for a lunch spot only to have to stand and move around to keep the flies from hovering. Jodi had a special lunch dessert--two cupcakes with a candle and her special rendition of "Happy Birthday". That was a VERY fun surprise. That's the first time I've had birthday cupcakes on a trail.

With only 1.5 miles to go Jodi began to have trouble with the heat. We managed to keep her on her feet, though slowly, and made it off the trail before dark. Our trail began and ended at a very touristy parking lot. I was asked to take a photo for a young couple visiting from W. Virginia. They inquired about our long hike and I gave them my map and a suggestion for a nice hike, though not as long as ours. I'm always eager to help people enjoy this beautiful state.

I love it here and couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday! I'm 45 and feeling healthy and ever more motivated to explore trails I've yet to saunter. I've worn out another pair of hiking boots and will use birthday money to get new ones at the end of this season.

I planned three hikes this summer and invited friends. This weekend's hike was supposed to be to Plains of Abraham at Mt St Helens. I've been wanting to do that trail for several years and have had schedule conflicts each time the opportunity presented itself. In recent years the road to the trailhead was washed out, thus requiring a much longer drive and using a different trail to reach the Plains. This year the road is open and I was psyched. Then I inquired with a friend who knows the trail well and got an unpleasant trip report from her. The black flies were menacing and intolerable. Shucks!

I changed the location for this weekend's hike to Pinnacle Ridge at Mt Hood. Again, I inquired with a few hiking contacts to get a bug and wildflower report. I wasn't able to secure any guarantees but opted to try the trail anyway. Jodi and Lin were joining me.

Most of the path is forested and that was good because it was very warm. The bugs were tolerable and I was relieved. There were a few very steep sections but the vast carpets of avalanche lilies distracted me as I ascended slowly. We encountered some confusion in a boggy area. In some places my boots sunk deeply, nearly to my ankle, and I was reminded of my unexpected sinking into the quaking bog in Ireland a few years ago. Jodi's tenacity found the trail on the other side of the bog. We made it through unscathed.

Large patches of snow still linger on the trail though not obscuring the path enough to lose it, thankfully. In a few weeks the heather will bloom and fill the area with more color. I'd love to see that! The indian paintbrush and shooting star were trying hard to lend a hand. An occasional breeze cooled us and kept the bugs at bay.

We had lunch at Wy'East Basin and enjoyed a relatively bug free zone. The basin has yet to bloom.

Our trek back to the car was full of conversation. At the car we enjoyed bubbly water, watermelon and cherries.

I was already having a decent week but it got better when I got this in the mail! It's from Ava.

I headed out early Saturday morning for Redmond. I'm one of those lucky gals to have friends with vacation homes. My friend Linda has a place in Redmond, smack dab in the heart of gorgeous central Oregon with access to all things trails and boots.

We got on the Tam McArthur Rim trail at 2pm. Linda's car thermometer read 88 degrees. The lupine carpeted the forest floor with purple. We ascended slowly in the heat, taking in the view below and ahead. Only a few bugs, though not menacing. I felt fatigued and sluggish. I drank water and plodded on assuming it was the heat and the elevation. My lungs were uncooperative. My asthma can frustrate me on the uphill. I raised my water bottle to drink and my hand quivered. I lumbered on and felt like I wanted to lie at the side of the trail and take a nap. We stopped at the first lookout and I ate a sizable handful of the chocolate cookies Linda's husband sent along. I also had a Luna bar, more water, and some Recharge. We relaxed and took in the view with few bugs to prompt our departure. I reapplied my sunscreen and drank more water.

We continued our path and I felt like a completely different person. I realized I had needed to eat! I NEVER forget to eat, believe me. The heat tricked me into thinking I wasn't hungry. Linda and I have the best conversations on the trail and we did just that as we descended back to the trailhead.

We had dinner in Sisters. A gorgeous sunset splashed the sky behind Linda's house.

I tucked in and had a mostly restful night's sleep. The sky was orange when I woke up to the bird's having their morning song. We headed out at 8:30am, stopped in Sisters for coffee and the bakery and were at our trailhead, Crescent Mountain, at 10am.

It was cooler, just a little, and the path was flat for the first 1.5 miles or so. Then the ascent began and my lungs once again dictated my pace. Periodically we were battered by pesty mosquitoes. The wildflowers were a diversion from the uphill and the occasional bugs. Scarlet gilia speckled the hillside meadows with reddish orange. Linda is the only friend I have that gets more excited than I do about the wildflowers. Most of my friends will say, "Oh, that's pretty". Linda knows details about the flowers and enjoys their finest aspects, just as I do.

We scored some huge Cascade lily. I was glad to have my good camera with me. I could have stayed in that spot for hours trying to capture the essence of that plant. Yet, the summit beckoned and we were hungry. The hummingbirds whooshed around us and at one point as I was squatted down to shoot a photo a hummer whizzed past me and I said to Linda, "Did you hear that?" She said, "Yep, I thought it was your stomach growling". I had just fussed about being hungry and we still had more uphill ahead.

The summit was worth all the walking to get there. We had clear skies with views from Mt Adams to the north and Diamond Peak to the south. Mt Jefferson peered across the valley at us as we enjoyed our lunch in a small patch of shade.

We retraced our steps to return to the trailhead. I peeled off my sweaty and dusty clothes and slipped into some cotton for my long drive back to Portland.

Kayaking the Tualatin River with Jodi. The next week we did the Audubon's Great Blue Heron Week regatta on the Willamette River.

I finally made it to Koosah and Sahalie Falls. The sun was bright so taking pictures was a challenge. Elmo went along on the three mile hike and was adventurous and energetic the entire time despite the heat.

Spent time in central Oregon over the long weekend. So grateful for the solid and enduring friendship with Jodi. We floated the Deschutes on the 4th. Later, we took a drive to enjoy the late evening light and take some photos.

Jane and husky Mowgli joined us on a hike to Sisters Mirror Lake. The mosquitoes dived bombed for lunch. Lots of snow on the path, still. 

Linda, Jodi and I hiked Silver Star Mountain on Saturday. The trail begins in a gradual uphill with tenacious vegetation crowding the narrow path. Oregon iris was tucked neatly into the foliage along with many other colorful wildflowers--indian paintbrush, lupine, inside out flower, and more.

I missed the junction to go left and instead we stayed on the old logging road. The fog obscured the views and my sense of direction was amiss. I checked the map a few times and Linda helped me confirm my mishap. No worries though, this merely meant we were doing an out and back instead of a loop. The summit of Silver Star Mountain was completely exposed to the thick cloud we were stuck in. The chilly breeze would have made lunch unpleasant. We tucked along a lower hillside and enjoyed our lunch there. 

We began hiking out and noted that the thick cloud had broken up just a bit. The fog added something special to the many intriguing things on the trail.

Six hikers joined me for my Sierra Club outing to Tunnel Falls. The path to the falls is long, six miles in, six miles out. Wildflowers were everywhere along the path. Several tiger lilies were at the edge of the trail beckoning our cameras to take home an intriguing photo. My participants were all new to the trail except one. Each one had an enthusiasm that comes with a new discovery. Here's my tiger lily photo.

We were captivated by Tunnel Falls. It roars with spring runoff. We hung out for awhile and lots of pictures were taken. 

So, then we have six miles to get out. On the way out we made a stop at Punchbowl Falls and dipped our weary feet in the chilly creek. Tepid air made for perfect hiking weather. Here's a shot of one of the guys in our group getting a shot of Punchbowl Falls from down the creek. This is one of the most photographed waterfalls in Oregon.

I always enjoy Lehman's bike outings. In years past his bike outings seemed to be the only times I got on my bike. This year is different since I'm commuting to work by bike a few days a week. I feel fit and I'm ready for Lehman's rides. Today's ride was 25 miles and had some hills, long hills with a classic gorge wind. I was really feeling it and was thankful I've been riding for the last three months. It was hot today and like a true Oregonian I complained about the heat. The flowers were a treat and the ice cream cone in Mosier were highlights.