Sunday, January 11, 2009
South Sister
July 14-16
What started out to be a 40 something mile trip soon became apparent that it wasn't to be. We started at Elk lake, east of Bend Oregon. After a mile and a half we arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail. It was our goal to walk north to Santiam Pass, it would take us along the east side of the Three Sisters, though the Mt Washington wilderness before making it to Santiam Pass.
Our first obstacle was a large blowdown
Once through it we had to find the trail again, noticing off in the distance a sawed log clued us in to where the trail continued. It was soon after that we hit snow. It was a timbered area so following the trail was somewhat out, it became a time to use the GPS to carry us onward. We finally made our way to Sisters Mirror lake where we stopped to enjoy dinner.
We decided to carry on a bit further, hoping we would break free of the snow, but around 8pm we stopped for the night and realized we were not going to continue up the PCT, walking and navigating such a distance in snow would have been very fatiguing. We decided to stick around the South Sister area for another day and make our way over to Moraine Lake.
The next morning we made our way to Wickiup planes where a good portion was snow free, then we turned into the timber relying on the GPS once again. We crossed through some open areas that provided us with some new snow features, here we could see the drain tracks in the snow
We finally made our way over to Moraine lake where we spent some time pondering and having lunch.
Kate posing in front of South Sister, Moraine lake is to the right still pretty much snow covered. Moraine lake is a popular area for climbers to camp before ascending the peak. I stayed here back in 1983 before climbing South Sister. Our exit was to Devil's lake, a campground and staging area for climbers.
This trip was in the middle of July, a testiment to the heavy snowfall of the winter of 07/08.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Summer was way to short, the rains lingered into the first part of June making a very late start on some of the garden plants such as tomatoes and corn. Fall rains came early and my yard which usually goes brown during the summer managed to keep a fair bit of green in it.
Last winter we had heavy snow in the mountains so one of our planned trips along the Pacific Crest Trail was shortened due to a lot of snow and that was in July. A trip into Jefferson Park in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness at the end of August left us with residual snow packs to cross and a late crop of mosquitos to tend to. I'll cover these trips here shortly.
I was able to cut an excess of firewood, although one trip turned costly when a piece of wood ripped into the sidewall of a tire. It was my fault, I knew it was there and should have taken the time to clear it, still it was a good cutting season. I was able to go out and help my Dad with his cutting, he keeps talking about a pellet stove, problem is, he is still in fine shape for cutting wood. If he is serious, he should start putting away fuel now, it is storable and will only go up in price between now and the time if/when he switches (Thanks to our government for all the inflation).
This morning's project is tomato sauce, the timer should go off shortly and I will remove the jars from the canner. When that is done, I need to get back to removing the concrete that makes up our front porch. I have been really slow on this project.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
If my organizational skills were better, I would be able to easily look up my passwords, such as the one for this blog. I thought to log in earlier, but didn't have the password handy. Spring is in full swing here, we even had a couple of record breaking daysof heat, it got into the 90's. The good thing about the heat is that it dries things out and I was able to pull the tracker out and swap the log splitter for the tiller.
My oldest is nearing the end of her first year away at college and finding ways to pay it is always a concern. She is a licensed amateur radio operator and had been a net controller for the district and county amateur radio emergency service for years. It really has paid her back to have done that, this past year she earned $3500 in radio related scholarships and she now already has $2500 for the next school year. We really didn't think she would get one of the scholarships again. She recently sent us a photo of an outing with some boys shooting, it was her decked out with eye and hearing protection (the boys must be responsible and use safe practices) and in one arm was a rifle and the other a handgun. She looked cool. She grew up with guns, our many outings to rendezvouses where she shot muzzleloaders attests to that. She started young, so young that she had a hard time seeing over the ferns to see the target once.
My baby girl, who is a sophomore in HS had a really good spring, this past week she was a camp counselor for one of the grade school's outdoor school camps and Friday and Saturday she had track meets that kept her busy to the hilt. She is suffering from a bad sunburn on her neck and shoulders (those evil tank tops) from to much sun at track, she did take the sunscreen Saturday and said she used it, but it wasn't enough. I am sorry that track is ending, she thrives on after school sports. She spent a good portion of Sunday getting caught up on her homework and it was so nice to see her plugging away with out having to nag her.
my wife decided to lay a new floor in the bathroom Sunday (Never replaced a floor before), I suggested if she did she should get started early or at least have the next day off before starting. Well of course we didn't which meant we were up till 1:30am in the morning before we came to a place we could stop. I don't know how she can stay up so late and then go to work and put in a 12 hour day. I got drafted into the project too, by default I get the plumbing work. First I don't like plumbing much, this time wasn't much different. The sink part was not to bad, but the toilet was another story. I had a wax seal laying around the house, but once the pot was lifted out, it was obvious that some repairs were in order and required us to make a rushed trip into town before the hardware store closed. I think she was pretty proud of her handiwork once it was all done and I think she did a pretty good job too.
My oldest is nearing the end of her first year away at college and finding ways to pay it is always a concern. She is a licensed amateur radio operator and had been a net controller for the district and county amateur radio emergency service for years. It really has paid her back to have done that, this past year she earned $3500 in radio related scholarships and she now already has $2500 for the next school year. We really didn't think she would get one of the scholarships again. She recently sent us a photo of an outing with some boys shooting, it was her decked out with eye and hearing protection (the boys must be responsible and use safe practices) and in one arm was a rifle and the other a handgun. She looked cool. She grew up with guns, our many outings to rendezvouses where she shot muzzleloaders attests to that. She started young, so young that she had a hard time seeing over the ferns to see the target once.
My baby girl, who is a sophomore in HS had a really good spring, this past week she was a camp counselor for one of the grade school's outdoor school camps and Friday and Saturday she had track meets that kept her busy to the hilt. She is suffering from a bad sunburn on her neck and shoulders (those evil tank tops) from to much sun at track, she did take the sunscreen Saturday and said she used it, but it wasn't enough. I am sorry that track is ending, she thrives on after school sports. She spent a good portion of Sunday getting caught up on her homework and it was so nice to see her plugging away with out having to nag her.
my wife decided to lay a new floor in the bathroom Sunday (Never replaced a floor before), I suggested if she did she should get started early or at least have the next day off before starting. Well of course we didn't which meant we were up till 1:30am in the morning before we came to a place we could stop. I don't know how she can stay up so late and then go to work and put in a 12 hour day. I got drafted into the project too, by default I get the plumbing work. First I don't like plumbing much, this time wasn't much different. The sink part was not to bad, but the toilet was another story. I had a wax seal laying around the house, but once the pot was lifted out, it was obvious that some repairs were in order and required us to make a rushed trip into town before the hardware store closed. I think she was pretty proud of her handiwork once it was all done and I think she did a pretty good job too.
Big surprise to us, my brother in law had convince my father in law to fly out this summer to visit. My BIL will drive up to Ohio and they will go together. We really thought this would never happen, but after my FIL's heart surgery, he must be feeling much more adventurous. If I blog about a kitchen floor project, you know my wife is actively trying to spruce up things around here for there visit. I am trying to go around and get to those things that we have become blind to, but when you stop and look carefully you see those things that would easily catch someone else's attention, like the apple limbs still sitting under the apple trees from it's last winters pruning.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
One of my favorite wilderness areas is the Three Sisters Wilderness. Here is a view of the Three Sisters I captured last month from Sisters, Oregon.
My Oldest daughter is home from college this week, it has been fun having her home. Before she got home I asked her if she wanted to help clean some rabbits and she said she did. I was a bit surprised but we did that chore yesterday. She changed her major to nursing, so she should do okay if yesterday was any indication.
I am a bit rusty on the bunny butchering so I did the first bunny myself and then let her know I was doing it, glad I did so I could be a bit proficient when she was there. So what did she do first? She brought her camera and started taking photos, she wanted to document this. As I pull out the kidney, she wanted to handle it, then the liver and the heart, now she has all three in her hand and takes a photo! Silly girl. She isn't squeamish. The next bunny she handles, she does a great deal of the butchering herself.
If your a friend of hers on myspace, watch out, she posted a couple of photos there. Today we went for a hike and we put a few rounds through a 38 special. I learned she needs to shoot more, she has a wicked flinch. After giving her a few tips, she did improve. I told her if I had a camera, we could of gotten a photo that she could place on myspace and let them boys know she is not to be messed with :-)
I like to use photos on this blog, with the changes at flickr, I need to reprogram my mind to accessing them. I do have a few photos to post, so I hope I get it all figured out again.
I am a bit rusty on the bunny butchering so I did the first bunny myself and then let her know I was doing it, glad I did so I could be a bit proficient when she was there. So what did she do first? She brought her camera and started taking photos, she wanted to document this. As I pull out the kidney, she wanted to handle it, then the liver and the heart, now she has all three in her hand and takes a photo! Silly girl. She isn't squeamish. The next bunny she handles, she does a great deal of the butchering herself.
If your a friend of hers on myspace, watch out, she posted a couple of photos there. Today we went for a hike and we put a few rounds through a 38 special. I learned she needs to shoot more, she has a wicked flinch. After giving her a few tips, she did improve. I told her if I had a camera, we could of gotten a photo that she could place on myspace and let them boys know she is not to be messed with :-)
I like to use photos on this blog, with the changes at flickr, I need to reprogram my mind to accessing them. I do have a few photos to post, so I hope I get it all figured out again.
