Hiking in December

Hello everybody! It is hard to believe that December is coming to a close already. Sunshine has been making an appearance nearly every single day this month in Portland. Bright blue skies and some much needed warmth make hiking in December the perfect activity for escaping the holiday chaos.

Recently, Tim and I took advantage of a particularly gorgeous day and ventured off into the Opal Creek Wilderness in Oregon. We were the only people on the trail. It was chilly and icy patches dotted our path, but we still had a wonderful day admiring the beauty surrounding us.

I love when the sun’s rays cut through a dark forest!

By the end of our 7 mile hike I was losing energy. We usually pack a lunch to eat midway through the day, but it was too cold to stop for more than a few minutes at a time. Tim did make the mistake of asking me to carry a ziplock filled with tortilla chips. I greedily devoured them while he climbed down some wet rocks to take a photograph. Lesson learned? Never leave me alone with a bag of tortilla chips.

Can’t wait for snowshoeing!

Coastal Exploration

On Sunday, Tim and I went to the central Oregon coast for a bit of exploration and photographic opportunities. It was a chilly day, but beautiful nonetheless. We packed sandwiches and cupcakes to keep us nourished and then cruised along the beach taking pictures and admiring all the sea creatures visible at low tide. We even saw a massive heap of lazy seals sleeping on some high rocks, inevitably waiting for the tide to come back in so they could immerse themselves in the cold ocean.

Love the coast.

I’ll be back later this week with a delicious, hearty bread recipe – perfect for dunking in soup!

 

Huff-n-Puff

(dreary day outside my apartment window, taken with a make-shift pinhole camera)

Portland is being awfully stubborn by withholding warm weather and doling out plenty of cold, gray days instead. My immense love for cloudy skies and raindrops on the roof is fading into a deep abyss – I need some sunshine!

Tim and I thought we could capture some warmth by heading out of the city and onto our bikes. Well, we definitely worked up a sweat, but the cold weather followed us as we pedaled uphill and downhill. Where did we go? We went to the Banks-Vernonia State Trail: a beautiful, old, abandoned railroad path in Northwest Oregon’s coastal range. The trail maintains a relatively gentle grade with the exception of two mighty steep parts. It is 21 miles one way and we chose to ride the trail out and back, making for a long 42 mile ride. Needless to say, I was pooped when we finally crashed at home after the ride. Smartly, we started the ride in Banks, OR and rode to Vernonia Lake (our halfway point) for a lengthy lunch break. We were in company of red-winged blackbirds, osprey, and other sweet chirping creatures.I wanted to stop along the ride and photograph more beauty, but I wasn’t up for losing my momentum – which was keeping me warm!

(Banks-Vernonia State Trail)

(Vernonia Lake)

We snacked on some gluten-free vegan sambusas (a test recipe for Kittee’s almost-done cookzine!) before dinner to warm ourselves. These are amazing – pure, spicy, snacky, goodness that is portable, for folks on the move.

Speaking of Kittee, have you seen the new website she and two other amazing women launched yesterday? Well heck, you better go check it out! It is a 100% vegan and gluten-free website filled with everything you could ever wish for. Seriously. So proud of them.

Up, Up, and Almost Away!

Last week Tim and I went on a backpacking adventure. Our original plan was flattened when the trail we chose turned out to be a mess of overgrown, tangled, scratchy brush that towered over my head in most places. It was disappointing to say the least considering the area we were in was gorgeous and crowd-free. Oh well.

Lost in the brush – can you see me?!

We turned around and immediately scanned our hiking book for another option. Luckily we weren’t too far away from Bend, OR, one of our favorite outdoor recreation destinations! Yay! So, we settled on camping that night on the banks of Devil’s Lake and then climbing to the summit of South Sister (Oregon’s 2nd highest mountain) the following morning. Good choice!

Full moon keeping us company by our campsite

Despite the never-ending steepness of the trail, reaching the top was a mighty wicked reward. We hiked the same trail six years ago and it was fun to revisit the area. The best part about the South Sister climb is that you don’t need any special mountaineering equipment (depending on the season, of course). You just need determination, lots of water, sustaining snacks, and a good set of lungs! The trail is 12 miles round trip and takes a whole day, but it doesn’t matter because the beautiful scenery makes you forget the struggle. Take a peek!

Early part of the trail – flat for maybe a mile…

Climbing higher…

A gorgeous glacial lake about a mile or so from the summit – Tim and I actually dipped into this lake on our way back down – it was FREEZING (literally). The day was hot and sunny and all the climbing made the quick dip a worthwhile decision!

Getting closer (see the trail cutting into the red rock near the top of the photo?)…

Tim climbing…

Tim walking across the crater of South Sister – we’re almost to the summit!!!!

We made it! Top of South Sister: 10,360 feet. You can see Middle Sister and North Sister behind us. If you look closely, Mt. Jefferson is a tiny speck above the point of North Sister. The smoke on the left of the photo is from a forest fire nearby. It was WINDY!

An unobstructed view of Middle and North Sisters

That’s the trip! The way back down was much faster, but harder on the knees. Thank goodness for trekking poles!

What are some of your favorite hiking places?

Mini Vacation Photo Essay

Earlier this month Tim and I took an extended backpacking trip in southeastern Oregon. We chose a three day loop in the Strawberry Mountains. The timing was perfect because I had just quit my job and all of the anger, anxiety, and frustration that had been brewing inside of me escaped (hopefully for good!). It was a wonderful vacation, especially since we were visiting an area that was new to us. Here are some photos from the trip:

We passed through the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm and the Klondike Wind Farm on the way to our destination. Driving past all the turbines was incredibly mesmerizing. They just kept appearing as we approached the top of a hill. When we looked behind us, all we could see were turbines dotting the landscape. And, it was super windy (which makes all those turbines happy!).

As we continued on, we entered into the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which is essentially a 14,000-acre park in eastern Oregon renowned for its well preserved, remarkably complete record of fossil plants and animals. The scenery was stunning:

Next, we finally (after a good six hours+ of driving) started our hike! Above is a shot of all the gorgeous wildflowers we saw in the first few miles of the trail.

And then we climbed, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed until we reached almost 7,000 feet. It was a pooper of a climb, but the temperature was hovering in the mid 60′s, so it was perfect!

Then I snuck around in the bushes taking pictures of Tim cooking our dinner. We had gorgeous views across the valley:

And a lovely sunset too:

Lots more climbing on day two led to more views:

We actually encountered quite a bit of snow and Tim had to kick steps into it so we could safely traverse the trail. We were happy to make it to the top of a saddle and rest:

Tim is crafty with the camera so we are out of focus here, which is probably best for everybody.

We reached our campsite,

and made dinner.

On day three we crossed lots of creeks,

Goofed around,

and enjoyed nearly 48 hours of total solitude. We didn’t see a single soul the entire hike until the last two miles of the loop. It was wonderful!

On the drive back to Portland, we stopped and admired the Painted Hills:

The weekend was the best way to celebrate escape from a dismal job and kick off new beginnings for the future. You can check out more photos from our trip here (for example, you might want to see the chocolate cake we made while camping!).

I hope everybody enjoys the upcoming weekend!