a recent weekend

September 9th, 2009Tags: , , , , , ,
| camping, deeann, fun, hiking, mountains, pictures, road trip | chris | 0 comments


deeann and i were planning a trip with our beloved friends, nicki and kevin, to go to their old stomping grounds of bellingham, washington. unfortunately, it ended up not working out so deeann and i were stuck with an open weekend and not much to do. as tempting as it was to lay low and enjoy a weekend home, we decided against it and threw our camping gear in the car and started towards central oregon. surprisingly enough, in our two years of living in portland we have never visited central oregon … well, kinda. i did have a failed cross country skiing/backpacking attempt on the south sister (that’s a mountain for those wondering), but we won’t go into that.

anyways, we ended up at smith rock state park which happens to be a climber’s mecca, however we did not bring our climbing gear. i’m excited to go back there and get my hands on that rock. while there we went for some hikes, visited a few breweries, enjoyed the breathtaking scenery, and simply rested outside. we visited bend and later, on our way back to portland, we took the scenic route(every route is extremely scenic) and headed to eugene, stayed one night outside of eugene, then back home.

overall the trip was beautiful. it was hard to believe we were in the same part of the country let alone in the same state. the high desert is breathtaking with multiple peaks and butte’s that opened our eyes to how volcanically active this area once was and still may be. the spontaneous nature of this trip was quite refreshing.

parents in portland

May 13th, 2009Tags: , , , ,
| beauty, family, garden, green, green living, mountains, portland, visitors | chris | 0 comments


today my parents left portland after a nice long visit. my mom came two weeks ago for a conference that was here and my dad joined her a few days later. during their visit we went for various hikes in and around portland, ate at a few of my favorite eateries, did a good handful of gardening, and attended my graduation from le cordon bleu, portland.

they have visited from iowa three times now and this visit easily had the best weather. spots of slight showers but lots of sun. a few clear days for beautiful views of mt. st. helens, rainer, and hood. we stopped in the rebuilding center a few times for some stuff for the back garden … a few things for hanging the hammock, boards for some small raised beds, and some odds and ends for make-shift fountains and bird baths.

it was a great visit.

the weekend – not all was lost

February 19th, 2008Tags: , , , ,
| backpacking, beauty, friends, fun, good stuff, mountains, snow, weather | chris | 1 comment


as most of you know, my neighbor rob and i went snow camping this weekend…or tried. we got up saturday morning and finished organizing our gear to get on the road by 7ish. rob woke up feeling a little funky. that should have been our first clue, but we were determined. the drive to sisters was gorgeous. as soon as we headed west out of salem, we just went up. around 1000 feet the snow patches started and by the time we were at the highest points(around 4500 feet), the snow was a good 6-9 feet above the car.

anyway, we got to sisters and were blown away with the views. the three sisters are just east of this small town and it sits almost within their shadow. not to mention mt. jefferson, mt. washington, and three fingered jack; three other pointed jagged peaks within 30 miles. after having lunch we drove back into the forest towards the park, edging closer to the peaks. by this time, rob is in a funk and not so sure about the rest of the trip, however he was willing to fight. so we parked the car, slapped our packs and skis on and headed up through the forest. this took some serious effort from both of us, not forgetting that rob was feeling low anyways. we found a spot to set-up camp and he decided to crash for a bit while i took off my pack and went for a spin around the area. breath-taking. by the time i got back, the sun was soon setting along with our energy levels. i dug a kitchen out in the snow and cooked up some dinner all the while going back and forth with rob on whether or not we should go home. temperatures dropped very quickly as soon as the sun was west of the mountains. (it should be mentioned that if i were in robs position, i would have wimped out before we left that morning. this is how bad he wanted to be out there!) his lungs were hacking and the aches were setting in. now that the moon was in full form over us, the sky was unbelievable. it had been a very long time since i had seen a sky quite like that.

finally, we decided that it would have been quite possibly the worst night of both of our lives if we were to stay out there. despite the sun being down, we struck camp, packed up, and started our way back down. not a cloud in the sky, the stars staring us down, and the moon giving light, making everything around us a beautiful blue. despite the fact that the sun had been down for 2 hours, everything was plain as day. we safetly made it back to the car and drove the 3 1/2 hours back home.

i would do it 10 times over, just for the drive, the views and the experience hauling a pack with cross-country skis. i had a great time and we’re both still glad we came back that night.

as for the rest of the weekend, deeann and i were able to get out for our own little adventure. since i still had the skis rented from rei and rob & lauren had a set of skis dee could borrow, we decided to go up towards mt. hood for a little go around. again, the drive was beautiful with that giant that just kept getting bigger and bigger.

about an hour later we found ourselves surrounded by snow and ski parks. we took about 3 1/2 hours around government camp and enjoyed the beautiful weather. temps were in the 50s up in the mountains and in the 60s down in portland. just an absolutely perfect weekend! this was deeanns first time on cross-country skis and she did a great job. only a couple spills(no more than me!) and a bunch of laughs. we’ll be out there again very soon.

snow camping

February 14th, 2008Tags: ,
| backpacking, beauty, friends, mountains, road trip, weather | chris | 1 comment

this weekend my neighbor and i are going snow camping in the cascade mountains. tomorrow afternoon i will be running down to rei to pick up my rented backcountry/touring skis and early saturday morning the two of us will pile our gear in the car to make the 3 1/2 hour drive. our destination: the three sisters. up until this week the cascades have been pounded with snow and have had many avalanches. thankfully, this week has been slowly warming up, the mountain roads have reopened, and we are hoping for some packed-down snow. the forecast for the weekend is perfect with temps reaching into the 50s.

we’ll be there through monday morning, cross country skiing and camping around the three volcanos. i’ll be sure to fill you all in on how the trip goes. happy trails! :)