July 22, 2008.
Easing back into hiking is challenging and rewarding. It is challenging to get excited to walk just a couple of miles, and to justify a long drive to do so. For this hike I decided to explore Rooster Rock State Park, only 22 miles east of Portland. Known for its nude [...]
July 2, 2008.
I woke up, sweating already, anticipating a very mellow day of watching other people climb. Of course, getting out to the climbing areas requires a little bit of hiking and that would be my excitement for the day. We stayed at the Skull Hollow campground, a basic, free camp area not 15 [...]
July 1, 2008.
Anticipating a LONG 8-9 hour drive home, we hit the road early, without much fanfare, so we could git ‘er done. Maddy joined us today, as the rest of the crew was going to play for one more day. We all got in a “day in the car” mindset and glumly [...]
June 30, 2008.
The sky was pink when I peeked out of the rainfly. It must have been no later than 5:30 am but I raced out of bed. The stark beauty and stillness of the morning moved me–both physically and mentally. I packed for a short hike and took off up the gravel [...]
June 29, 2008.
This morning I woke up with the intention of getting the hell out of Dodge. I knew I was alone in this endeavor so I found ways to occupy myself at this awful campground for the duration of the morning. It was hard to escape the feeling of people all around [...]
June 28, 2008.
Everyone awoke bright and early, ate breakfast and packed up the cars. I did as much of my rehab as I could while people got their stuff together. I was unable to get a full set in, due to the logistics of being outside. But I figure something is better [...]
June 27, 2008.
Today began an epic adventure, the first I’ve had in a long time. First, I’ll rewind the story a bit to provide some background, then dive into the events of the day. In March of this year I ruptured my left ACL while skiing with my friend Kristi at Mt. Hood. [...]