Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Type II Fun

We drove, then boated. We passed happy fisher people, congregating in the cathedral of Ross Lake.



We hiked trail as far as it would take us. We forded a river.


We fought brush and struggled up steep slopes. The walls of the drainage closed and the sidehill grew treacherous. We had gone up the wrong drainage. We hiked back down to the river in the dark.


We forded the river. We looked for a confluence. We grew frustrated. We forded the river again. We fought brush. We fought brush.



We found a confluence. We struggled up steep slopes. We fought brush.


We found the river's headwaters. We camped. The sun set.


We climbed a gulley of trackless hardpan. Loose rocks teetered. We crested a divide.


We lifted our eyes.


We traversed a basin. We crossed a snowfield. We scrambled solid granite, then piles of shattered gneiss, then cinder and sand. We found the summit.


We lifted our eyes.


We downclimbed. We traversed back across the basin. We skated down scree.


We followed the stream from its headwaters to the river. We followed the river to a lake.


We hiked back to the car. The memory of our trials faded with each step.

Monday, October 4, 2010

All Things Bright and Bruised

After taking a day to dry our socks and pack our bags, Andrew and I headed down to Bend to do some mountain biking.

Driving around Mt Bachelor, we stopped to mull our options. Into the clouds, or back towards blue skies?
From central oregon biking


Our first Oregon morning was freezing. But who cares, it was finally sunny! We spent the morning biking up the steep dirt road to Paulina Peak, and the rest of the day riding a 24 mile circuit around Paulina lake and East Lake.

Morning sun rising through the clouds at our campsite.
From central oregon biking



Atop Paulina Peak
From central oregon biking



Andrew's makeshift braking mechanism (bungee cord assisted drag brake) for the longer downhill portions of the ride.
From central oregon biking



Stopping for a rest half way through the ride, above Paulina Lake
From central oregon biking



Feeling a bit battered (after my first endo) and tired the next day, we opted for a day hike up to South Sister.

The South Sister and I
From central oregon biking



Moraine Lake
From central oregon biking



Glorious sunset from camp at Elk Lake
From central oregon biking


From central oregon biking


Our last sun-filled day was spent biking around Swedish Ridge from Swampy Lakes trailhead.

riding zee bikes
From central oregon biking