Little North Santiam (I think)

Sometimes, in the woods, you aren’t exactly sure where you end up.  Not that it really matters, surrounded by loved ones and beautiful scenery, but several miles into a river trail that didn’t quite match up with what I had expected, I wasn’t positive that I had gotten onto the actual trail I was looking for. No matter….I did know we were in the Opal Creek Wilderness, an area neither of us had explored before. The trees were huge and exquisite, moss-laden old growth sentinels and we were the only people around….

 

LITTLE NORTH SANTIAM RIVER TRAIL (maybe?)
Opal Creek Wilderness, Oregon

Twin Lakes

It's a long half-mile in thigh deep, unbroken snow

The Twin Lakes trail on Mount Hood is one of those trails that I have no interest in visiting the majority of the year. Combine midweek solitude with one serious snowstorm (4+ feet in one week) still dumping the snowflakes, and the trail transforms. Even just off Highway 35, the silence of the snowbound woods was glorious. 

Higher up, the temperature plummeted, but since no one had broken trail to the lake we remained toasty warm in our shuffling exertion. J.B. and I took turns breaking through thigh deep powder, occasionally catching a hole and going down, turtle-style.  At the lake, gray jays dive-bombed us looking for handouts, their sharp, tiny feet gripping my wind-shocked fingers like needles. They would land, then cock their heads disgruntled at me, and fly away, grumpy with the deception and lack of treats. 

That's right, we made this trail

TWIN LAKES SNOWSHOE

Mount Hood Wilderness, Oregon

~ 5 miles roundtrip, 700 feet elevation gain

Death Valley

looking out on to the Mesquite Flat from Mosaic Canyon

Even in one of the driest, hottest, most barren places on Earth, there is beauty to be found.

282 feet below sea level

The landscape is all bleached bones and simple geometries, no distractions, no falsehoods, no whimsy.

Badlands

Artists Palette

Great travel companions provide entertainment to roadside travelers.

2009 called and wants its trend back

A valley of extremes, softened by the colors of sunset.

Dante's View over Badwater Basin, 5475 feet

Deschutes

Beyond Portland, where Oregon doesn't look so much like "Oregon"

 

First hike of 2014. As the winter deluge in Portland continues, J.B. and I take the dogs east to try to escape the rain. We mostly succeed.

Shenzi nose action shot

In summer months, the Deschutes is home to river rafters and fishermen. In winter and early spring, it's a place I love to go to escape the rain, to remind myself that even in dark and dreary conditions, winter can be very, very beautiful. Backpacking opportunities exist here, and I'm hoping to take advantage of them soon.

With such a late start, we ended up taking the short-and-sweet hikers only trail along the river before climbing to a viewpoint high above the river's edge. We marveled at world, wintery and spread out before us, before racing the incoming rainstorm back to the trailhead.

hurry up and stuff

Overlook on the Deschutes River

DESCHUTES RIVER TRAIL

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

~5.5 miles, ~700 feet elevation gain

Georgia On My Mind

I've been traveling a lot lately. Just after Christmas, I went "home" for the first time in thee years to visit with family and friends in Georgia, where I grew up. Like the majority of holiday/family vacations, this one consisted mostly of toddler/food/family/visiting craziness.

Toddler. Sand. Nuff said.

Cuteness alert

In the midst of all of it, I managed to carve a few hours out for some solitude, taking half a day for myself to revisit old haunts on Kennesaw Mountain.

At 1,808 feet in elevation, the boulder-strewn, woodsy slopes of Kennesaw Mountain are in my childhood backyard. I wasn't much of a hiker growing up (really at all, if I'm being completely honest), and I fondly remember the trails of Kennesaw being tortuously steep as a fifth grade kid forced to climb them on various Girl Scout outings.

Weird to think that the area, newly surrounded by half-million dollar homes with backyards directly adjacent to many trails, is now a national park.

Starting at the visitor center, I carved out a roughly ten mile jaunt down to Cheatham Hill, finishing the hike with a climb up Pigeon Hill, Little Kennesaw, and finally the summit itself before completing the loop. Surrounded by red Georgia clay and barren woods, I felt like I was in Walking Dead territory most of the day.

the final leg of my day, up Pigeon Hill to the summit

I took away an appreciation for the area I didn't have before...the history of the Civil War battles, complete with preserved earthworks and cannons still evident on the hillsides. The park itself also affords wonderful trail-running and hiking opportunities in an area otherwise horribly overrun by suburban sprawl. It was a nice change of pace and a new outlook on the area I grew up in.

deep woods, deep trail past Burnt Hickory. Walking Dead territory.

Pigeon Hill. This place holds both fond & torturous memories for me

winter woods, nearing the summit of Kennesaw

Completely different from my somewhat-solitary-day-in-the-woods, Mom and I took an afternoon to visit the massive Georgia Aquarium before I returned to Portland. Between elbowing the crowds, watching a dolphin show and oggling exhibits, it took us about five hours to walk through the place.

It was like a Hollywood viewing of Finding Nemo. Plus whale sharks.

school o' fish

I speak whale

swimmin' with the jellies

Crush

Year in Review

2013: the year of getting back out there. My circadian rhythm going-to-hell-in-a-hand basket. Still short on miles but long on life changes. Trail friends, old and new. A glorious fall, my favorite time of the year. Welcoming home new pups. Loving life.

JANUARY
Passing my RN board examinations. Snowshoeing. Getting-back-out-there.

bluebird doesn't get much better than this 

FEBRUARY
An incredible ski-vacation with dear friends. Losing one of my best trail friends.

Rocky, sun-snoozing on the trail

MARCH
Few trail miles. Busy with work. It's still winter, hunting leprechauns in the Gorge.

I <3 the Gorge when it looks like this

APRIL & MAY
(I may have been a little grumpy these months...no trail time...a new job, transition, and night shift begins....)


JUNE
Coastal adventures. My circadian rhythm is sooooo screwed...

Netarts Bay, one of my favorite places on the Oregon Coast

JULY
A wonderful visit from family. My circadian rhythm HATES me. Kayaking and overall being grumpy- discovering I am NOT a night person.

a family member's dream to pinch Goonies Rock

AUGUST
Coming to peace with the fact that night shift means you will never-feel-normal. "Discovering" jump shots. My only two backpacking trips of the year, both hilarious, both with good friends.

Yahooo! on McNeil Point

SEPTEMBER
Checking Hurricane Ridge off the bucket list...sixteen years with my best friend and soulmate. <3 <3 <3

the clouds played for us on our anniversary (ONP, Washington)

OCTOBER
Playing in the Mount Margaret backcountry. No goats, no elk. Stalking larch trees. One of the most glorious falls I can remember. Getting dayshift. SCORE.

me, loving the Mount Margaret backcountry, serenaded by Hood & Helens

NOVEMBER
Returning to the Gorge, my winter playground. Welcoming a new, flat-faced addition to the house.

new snuggle-pug

DECEMBER
Going east to escape the rains. No snow. Georgia on my mind. Big fish.

Eastside. No rain. Mount Hood from Hood River Mountain.