Dog River Trail Mountain Biking

Today Emily and I headed out to Hood River for some Mountain biking with both vehicles so we could shuttle the trails.  As usual lately though, we slept in too long and got a late start at 11am.  By the time we reached our first trailhead on the East Fork Hood River far up Hwy 35 it was 1pm.  The trailhead wasn’t that clear and the campground that was on the map wasn’t apparent.   There was also 3-4 inches of snow on the ground.  We should have taken all these as signs because when we found our way through the woods and onto the trail we realized that the trail had been abandoned due destruction from a flood in the area.  We tried to make our way over and under the downed trees for about 15 minutes before calling it a day and returning to the car.  

Emily had forgotten to check her gas level when we left Hood River and was pretty much on Empty.  We risked heading back to my truck which we had parked at the bottom trailhead of the unrideable East Fork Hood River Trail.  We moved the Prius to the bottom of the Dog River Trail, quickly through the bikes and tires in the back of the truck and headed back up the mountain to FR 44 and the upper trailhead for the trail.  When I started unloading our bikes at the trailhead I almost lost my mind when I realized I had forgotten my front thru-axle in the back of Emily’s car…. so, back down the snowy mountain road again to the Prius 8 miles down the road.  Between leaving the East Fork Hood River Trail and making two trips between cars for gear we didn’t hit the Dog River Trail until nearly an hour and a half later… and we only had 2 hours of light left in the day.

Thankfully, the Dog River Trail turned out to be amazing.  I was worried about the steepness of it dropping 2,500 feet in about 6 miles and the snow on the ground at the top making it dangerously slippery on our bikes, but our tires gripped well and we were fine.  It was actually really cool to whip down the trail over a fresh coating of snow on everything around us.  I saw fresh deer tracks ahead on the trail and shortly caught up with a huge buck that ran down the trail ahead of me for a short ways before ducking into the woods out of site.  

The trail was super well maintained by a local mountain bike association and was pretty much downhill the entire way.  There was one short steep rocky section that required walking but otherwise the trail was smooth single track with lightly built banked turns and a few tight switch backs in the steeper sections.  There was a couple nice viewpoints that I’m sure would have had a great view of Hood on the way down had it not been snowing and raining.  I also stopped to check out the biggest mushroom I’ve seen in the Northwest.  It was about 1.5 feet in diameter!  At the bottom of the trail I also saw what was either a large fox or a small coyote on the trail sniffing around.   When we got down we cleaned ourselves up and put warm clothes on as heat painfully returned to our toes.  No cotton socks next time in weather like that!  We then had to make a quick run into Parkdale for some gas before heading back up the mountain to get the truck at the upper trailhead just as it was getting dark.  Although Dog River Trail was amazing I’m not sure it was quite worth the $60 in gas I blew for the day driving all around.  Next time we shuttle cars for biking we are getting a 7-8am start in the morning, especially with the shorter days of winter upon us now.

COD Mountain Bike Trails and Smith Rock Climbing

This weekend with Emily traveling for work and back home for Julia’s baby shower and Sophie’s Christening I headed to Bend with Leo to meet up with Chris and Paris whom I hadn’t seen since Jason’s wedding in August.  I loaded up the car with my bike, Leo and enough gear to last the weekend and headed out for two great days of amazing mountain biking and sunny rock climbing at Smith Rock.

Dinner with Ryan, Arley and Katie

With Emily traveling for work I joined Arley and Katie for dinner at Ryan Anderson’s place.  He made home made Italian slipper bread, brussel sprouts with aioli sauce and a pasta sauce that was amazing.  I brought some sweet Italian sausage that went well with the pasta and a bottle of our Big Red wine left over from the wedding.  Ryan played some great tunes from his record collection and we had a great evening of good food, good drink and great conversation. 

Ape Cave & Lower Falls Creek

It was a rainy weekend in the Northwest so Emily and I decided to spend a day underground out of the rain exploring Ape Cave on Mt. St. Helens on Saturday.  On Sunday we headed into the Gorge for some hiking with Leo but after some terrible directions in our guidebook and getting lost on forest service roads for 3 hours we almost ended up with our first “Sunday Drive” without actually hiking anything.  Thankfully, we found the trail and got to see a very cool waterfall with Leo before the weekend ended.

A Quantum Halloween

This year the office didn’t see as many costumes as last year, mostly because everyone is under a huge crunch to get data out the door.  I passed on a costume but there were some stand out ones such as Erin as a martial artist, Nate as Cosmo Kramer, Borish as “between two ferns (Zack Galfinackas show) and Vu as an Angry Bird.  Pete Burns took the best costume award as Ron Burgandy in the field posing inside a helicopter that looked exactly like a news chopper. 

But, by far, the best costume in the Portland office was Arley who came dressed as Eric McNeil, complete with sandals, a yellow bike bag, and a grumpy attitude.  She looked so much like Eric that throughout the entire day, never deviating from character, she confused co-workers over and over again as they called out “hey Eric” only to find Arley looking back at them.  Eric had no idea it was coming which made it even funnier.  Well done Arley, well done.  

Danielle's Birthday and Beaver Tailgate

Emily and I traveled down to Corvallis this weekend for Danielle’s birthday party at Jason and Jen’s on Friday night.  It was a sushi party and we were surprised to see nearly the entire Corvallis office there.  On our way Em and I stopped at Market of Choice and picked up some rice and tuna for the sushi party (at a ridiculous price).  BD was in sushi rolling mode and made roll after roll that we all happily enjoyed.  There was so much fish around that not all of it was eaten although I put in a good effort.  It was great to catch up with everyone that we don’t get to see that often at the party.  Later as people left and Jason and I settled into the bourbon only the 6 of us remained with Lee and Danielle falling asleep on the couch.

On Saturday we woke up late and went for a nice walk with all the dogs up the power line trail towards Chip Ross Park.  Danielle had learned all the back ways through the rich neighborhoods in the hills to get to the trails on her weekly runs.  We saw a couple huge houses, one with a disc golf course in the backyard!  We stopped at Market of Choice again to pick up some food and liquor for the Beavers tailgate that night.  Danielle and Emily had the idea to make irish coffee in a big jug to bring to the tailgate.  We should have brought double as it barely lasted the whole time.   Those who we didn’t see at the birthday party we got to see at the tailgate including Shiloh whom we hadn’t seen in ages.  None of us had tickets so we ended up heading back to Scott and Danielle’s to watch the game there.  Jason and Jen and Pete showed up after half time to watch the Beavers dominate the game for the win.  We were all stuffed from the amazing tailgate Doug had put on as usual and after all the booze and our afternoon dog walk we were pretty tired.  There was of course time to mess with Scott, who as usual had passed out sleeping in front of me on the couch.. :)

Ellie's 7th Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend with my daughter on her 7th birthday in Fort Wayne, IN.  Ellie had a "Mad Scientist" birthday party and I bought her a new mountain bike for her to learn to ride.  I also got to see her play amazing defense in a soccer game.  

Killen Creek Trail - Mount Adams

On Sunday Emily and I went on a truly amazing hike on Mount Adams with Leo.  We encountered over a foot of unexpected snow but the clouds cleared for us and we has some really amazing views.  On the way home Adams lit up with alpenglow at sunset brighter than I've ever seen a mountain before.  Leo had a great time testing out his new backpack with us as well.  Click below to read on and see more pics.

Lewis River Trail Mountain Biking

Today, after sleeping in a bit to catch up on some much needed rest Em and I grabbed our bikes and headed to the Lewis River Trail which ended up being a lot further away than I thought it would be, far past the Mt. St. Helens climbers turnoff.  We got to the trailhead at about 2pm and began our trip through a beautiful fall forest along the river.  The trail at first was super smooth and fast but after a few miles we started to encounter rock gardens and some pretty steep hills.  The combination of wet leaves and dirt made these hills difficult to climb and we ended up walking a few of them which slowed down our pace.  

Along the trail we passed many campsites for fishermen and hikers and a lean-to that had been just refurbished and stocked with dry wood inside for the winter.  We passed some amazing old growth Doug Fir trees which were so tall we had no perception of where the top of the tree ended.  There were lots of mushrooms around but we didn’t see any chanterelles and didn’t dare try any which was a good idea as the end of the trail had a sign with skull and crossbones warning hikers and bikers about that some are extremely poisonous.  We didn’t see any animals on the trail but heard birds throughout the day.  

The trail was exceptionally maintained with huge cutouts in trees to allow bikers to continue under them.  There were a bunch of log rides (bikers can hop on to the log and ride its length) but Emily had forgotten her helmet and was borrowing mine and they were pretty wet so I didn’t attempt any of them.  At one point after a long climb we found ourselves perched on a cliff overlooking the river far below.  It would have been a great place to camp for the night if we ever wanted to.  

By the time we crossed the final bridge and made it back to FR-90 it was 5pm and we had been riding for 3 hours.  This wouldn’t give us enough time to go back on the trail by dark so we exited to the road and started biking back.  Emily hadn’t drank enough water for the day and was beginning to cramp up a bit while I still had a lot of energy so we discussed it and I took off ahead at full speed down the road to grab the truck and come back for her as she took her time peddling uphill on the road.  I was able to make it back to the truck in about 25 minutes along the 8-9 miles of road and quickly returned to pick her up.  Unfortunately for her it was about a quarter mile before she would have started the long downhill to the truck anyway... but it did save her about 15-20 minutes of biking.  From there it was the two hour drive home and a relaxing night by the fire.  :)

Oregon Zoo

Today Emily and I visited the Oregon Zoo.  It was her 2nd time there as she had a business meeting at the zoo in the Spring but it was my first time and I must say I was very impressed by the zoo.  It had tons of signs all along the trail describing native Northwest species and what to look for in the trees and environment around the zoo as well.  

The animal pens all seemed cleaned and pretty sizeable and they are currently constructing one of the largest Elephant enclosures in the world having been one of the most successful elephant breeding zoos in the world.  We even got to see the new calf Lily with her mom.  I got caught up watching one of the elephants stuffing its face with grass for a while and I feel like it was watching me while it ate!

Some of the animals that impressed me the most were the massive Sea Lions and the black bears which both had very large enclosures and seemed to be very happy and active.  We got to the zoo at noon and in the 4 hours we were there had time to see all the animal exhibits that were open at a relaxing pace although I think if I went back with Ellie I would want to take the full day.  There is also a Childrens Science Museum next to the zoo that we would want to explore as well.  

I love going to the zoo and perhaps Emily and I will get a membership to the zoo when we move into Portland this spring.  It is very relaxing watching the animals and I love it when the seem to look back at me in curiosity as well.  Most of the animals also seemed up and active in their enclosures, almost to the point of putting on a show for the people watching them.

I also hope that the majority of people take the time to really read and absorb the information about the endangered species and upon leaving the zoo make a conscious effort to be better about recycling, purchase green sustainable products and curb their energy use or the animals we see in the zoo may soon be the last ones left on this planet we are quickly destroying by our ignorance and apethy.  :)

Forest Park with Leo

Today Emily and I took Leo to check out Forest Park in Portland.  Apparently, it is the largest city park in the country with over 80 miles of trails.  Upon the suggestion of Tom and Eric we headed to the trailhead at the end of Thurman Street after Emily was done with her dentist consultation about getting her wisdom teeth removed.  We ended up doing a 4.4 mile loop along the Wild Cherry Trail to the Wildwood Trail and returning via the Alder Trail and the bikeable Leif Erikson Trail.  

This was our first time in the park and although it said to keep dogs on leash we took leo off as he never strays from the trial and stays very close to us.  A lot of runners passed us as we hiked along, testing out my still healing ankle from the Deschutes rafting trip a month ago.  We passed a ton of Cross Spiders in massive webs along the trail and even saw a coy dog on our way out of the woods that was scratching itself on the side of the trail.  As usual Leo didn’t care about it at all.  

After the short hike we headed back to the house for dinner and then caught a 3D showing of Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney which was the best movie I’d seen since Avatar in 3D.  The visuals blew my mind and the science behind the film was pretty sound in my opinion. 

Timbers Vs. Galaxy

Today Emily and I finally had friends over to our place way out in Washington.  Conrad, Tom and Andrea and Katie and Arley all stopped by to watch the Timbers Game with us.    It was great to see the Timbers beat the Galaxy and it was nice to see friends in our place.  We are talking to a financial advisor in 2 weeks to see what it will take for us to get a house in Portland.  It will be good to be social again and closer to our friends in the city.  We watched a few episodes of Tosh before everyone left around 4pm and Emily and I were left to enjoy the final episode of Breaking Bad by ourselves.

Disc Golf BBQ

Emily and I drove down to Corvallis this weekend for Layne’s Disc Golf BBQ at Adair Park.  It was mostly Watershed people and after a rough couple weeks at work I was very happy that nobody talked about work.  The food was great with Colin bringing tuna, Tully bringing ribs and a lot of sides.  We played horseshoes, the block game that Amy Jo and Loomis love and even got a round of disc in with Mischa, Tim, and Loomis in before heading back to Danielle’s for a chill night of movies and wine.  

In the morning Danielle, Emily and I met up at Jason and Jen’s for brunch where she had prepared waffles, eggs, bacon, etc for us.  Yum!  It’s always a pleasure hanging out with them and Emily and I are really looking forward to our annual Thanksgiving trip with them to Sunriver.  It was also great seeing Colin, Amanda and little Ruby who I’m always happy to get a smile from.  Thanks to Layne for another great BBQ as well!

Blaine County Fair

This weekend Emily and I joined Arley, Katie, Ryan, Erin, Ian, Eric, Caitlin, Eric Porter and others from Watershed Quantum Spatial on a trip out to Blaine County where Annie's family now holds the annual fair on their farm.  I had a pretty shitty week at work but Caitlyn's birthday party on Friday at Eric's had cheered me up a bit and I decided to go to the fair as well and I'm glad I did as it turned out to be a good time.

Tom's Birthday!

Tonight Emily and headed over to Tom and Andreas for his 35th birthday.  It was a relaxing evening of beer, sausages and good friends.  We brought Leo and Banjo got a hold of one of his toys... 5 minutes later this is what it looked like!  Happy birthday Tom!

Deschutes River 2013

This weekend Emily and I joined a group of around 20 people from around Oregon to raft the Deschutes River as we do every summer now.  Ben and Bryan organized the trip as usual and despite a few injuries, a few blackouts, a ticket and a lost wedding band we all had a great time in the sunny, warm skies of Central Oregon.