Waterfalls and Wildflowers

A little housekeeping here on the blog site. On the right side of the blog is a new subscription service. If you sign up, you will receive an email when we publish a new post. okay, onto the trip report. 

Our last day in the Columbia River Gorge found us headed up to the White Salmon River once again. This time we were on our own to boat the middle section (BZ Corner to Husum Falls). We heard this was a great intermediate run in a sweet gorge and it didn't disappoint. The White Salmon drains the southwest side of Mount Adams and the water is crystal clear and super super cold. 

Husum Falls. We took out before the falls but were tempted to give it a shot. Maybe next time. 

The put-in at BZ Corner used to be across private property, but local paddling groups advocated for a new public put-in. First time I have ever seen an elevated rail system for rafts to slide down to the water. Worked well for our kayaks too. 

Pretty typical section of the White Salmon. Ledge drops and tons of wildflowers.

Another beautiful rapid drop on the run. I could see combining the middle section with the lower section (what we did a couple of days ago) and having a nice long day on the water. 

We packed up our gear and instead of taking the straight forward route to Seattle, we decided to try some back roads through the Pinchot National Forest. So glad we did. The roads eventually turned to dirt and popped us out in a small town of Randle on the flanks of Mt. Rainier. A little schedule change gave us time for a quick day trip to the tallest volcano in the Cascades. We went into Mt. Rainier National Park for a night and a day. Since it was the middle of the week, there were plenty of campsites inside the park.

Early spring meant wildflowers were already out and abundant.  Teresa harvested a couple from the side of the road and we ended up with the prettiest picnic table in the park.  The bouquet included beargrass, fox gloves and sword ferns. 

We took another Zodi shower in the creekbed behind our camp. I think this was my favorite shower site to date. We were surrounded by huge fir logs that hid us from view and a nice soft forest floor for our bare feet. Pretty luxurious. 

The drive up to Paradise is pretty spectacular with tons of waterfalls. We didn't grab a picture of it, but the Nisqually River has a pretty amazing floodplain. There were obviously pretty big flow events going on every couple of years. 

Mt. Rainier. Impressive amount of glaciers up there. 

We hiked up the Skyline trail to Glacier Vista. Lots of guided climbing groups hiked past us on the way to Camp Muir.  Mixed emotions seeing them all geared up. It would be great to get up high, but we could only bring so many toys for the trip and the climbing gear was left at home. 

Marmots were out and about while we were above treeline. Cute little guys, but don't leave your pack unattended or it will be ransacked. 

Wildflowers on hill side looking out towards Mt. Saint Helens. 

Wildflower close up. Broad Leaf Lupin (left) and Magenta Paintbrush (right)

Another short road side hike in the Park. The waterfall split two rock formations: Andesite (left) and Granite (right)

On our hike up to Commit falls there were all these little waterfalls in a bedrock gorge. 

Avalanche Lilies

Comet Falls. 320 feet. Amazing. We climbed up to the base of the falls and took a little mist shower.   After the Comet Falls hike we packed up and started the drive to Bainbridge Island and the home of Amy and Bernard. 

STILL IN DA' HOOD

REST DAY! It's been full on for the past week, so T and I thought it would be a perfect day to catch up on some emails and New Zealand Visa requirements. We're currently at the Stoked Coffee Roasters in Hood River. Beautiful town with a ton of people taking advantage of the near constant up-river wind. Kiteboarders and windsurfers are everywhere. 

We had a great time on the flanks of Mount Hood. Somehow our road trip and travels through this area coincided with Lila's 30th birthday celebration.  A big group of Portlanders rented a cabin and brought mountain bikes, kayaks, and a party hard mentality. The cabin ended up right next to the Sandy Ridge trailhead so we went back for some more singletrack heaven. 

Sandy Ridge delivered again. This time with a bigger group of riders. 

The Sandy River just off the deck of our cabin.

Air guitar is cool and all, but air-fly fishing is where it's at.

We ended up at Trillium Lake after our ride. Cold and refreshing, much needed to wash off our grime. 

Baby duck caravan.

Lila soaking up the birthday love. 

Really fun group of new friends. 

The next day we loaded up the truck and made our way to the White Salmon for some kayaking. A few years ago the Condit Dam was removed from the White (Condit Dam removal video). I was fortunate enough to watch it being dynamited live online and was really excited to be able to paddle this newly opened stretch. A big bonus was the chance to boat with a big group of our 2012 Grand Canyon crew.                                                                                                  

 Ira getting ready to raft. Love this guy. Always smiling and having a fun. And yes, that is a Honey Badger with a cape on his hat. Pretty much sums it up.

Sarah showing off. Ira and Sarah R2'ed the run and styled it.

Take out on the Columbia River. This place is pretty amazing. 

We grabbed some beers and grub at Everybody's Brewery in White Salmon. Great pork nachos and their Lager is top notch. Would love to go back, but there are so many breweries and so little time.

The river crew post beers (Judy, John, Brandon, Mike, Ira, Sarah were all from the Grand Canyon crew and then there is Dave Porter too!)

Teresa took a quick video of some of the Kite Boarders out on the Columbia. I can't believe what these people pull off out there. 

We plan on hitting up the middle section of the Little White tomorrow and then driving up to Seattle to see our good friends Jason and Holly. Oregon has been so good to us but we miss our Lana Dog!

IN DA' HOOD

Good times in Bend, Oregon with our dear friends Erika, Justin and their new baby Iyla. This town continues to impress with their trail network and the strong outdoor community. They are also in the middle of construction on a new whitewater park right in town. Pretty cool spot.

Picked up a new growler for remembering all the stops (breweries) along the way. Teresa has been grabbing stickers from every brewery we visit and covering our growler, it makes us feel like little kids again.  Hopefully the growler will be completely covered by the end.

Travels took us up towards Mt. Hood area where we camped for the night on Clear Lake.  Picture of Teresa cooking up some good curry for dinner. After a day of riding, we were both ready for a shower. Luckily we had a Zodi hot water shower and plenty of water. Great for washing of the trail grime.

Beargrass flowers, also know as Indian Basketgrass was known to be used in traditional basket weaving. These flowers are all over the place and remind us of something out of a Dr. Suess story.

We took a drive up to the historic Timberline Lodge up on Mt. Hood. An amazing building with rock walls and wooden beams the size of giant pines.  The picture is looking up at the ceiling with the massive rock fireplace in the center.

We mountain biked up at the Sandy Ridge Trail network, where Teresa really got to let loose and feel the  flow of her tires (and brakes) on dirt. This place is amazing. Great trail network that is well signed and purpose built for fun. Big berms and lots of singletrack. Luckily we both kept the rubber side down and ended up having a great day. 

Rare picture of both of us up at Mirror Lake.

We finished the day with a great bike up to Mirror Lake for a view of Mt Hood.  We are currently in the small town of Rhododendron celebrating Lila's 30th birthday. Great group of friends from Portland with more mountain biking and paddling in store for the weekend!

Road Trip Begins

We are finally on the road and off to adventure land!!!

Grandpa's funeral celebration occurred last Sunday (June 31), which was wonderful, heart warming, and a much needed closure to a long and amazing life.

From there we took off to Mt. Shasta for the night and watched a lighting storm from the tailgate crashing over the Castle Crags.  In the morning we toured Lake Siskiyou on our Mt. Bikes. This was a great trail that circumnavigates the lake. (Big THANKS to Beth and Travis for letting me use their mt. bike for the trip!!)

We then headed up to Oregon and the North Umpqua River valley. Rolling into camp around 7:30 with a full on downpour that would continue for the night.  Once again the Integral Designs tarp came through for us in a big way.  I can't tell you how many times that tarp has kept us dry while everything else was leaking. But the river gods smiled on us as it was sunny long enough for Greg to set the shuttle and bike back to the put in.  A wonderful river day with cold beers waiting at the end.

Warm and somewhat dry after a great day on the water. 

Who doesn't love a cold Tecate! 

We then traveled up to the Umpqua Hot Springs.  After working our way through the encampments of rainbow travels and fairy people we made it to the natural hot springs.  The pools were beautiful as they cascaded down the hill side to the rushing creek below.  Clothing was optional, so sorry no pictures of the main tubs, but the temperature was about 104 degrees and just perfect!!

The perfect ending to a long, fun, full, and beautiful day! On to Bend and some quality time with the Litzer family.