Japan May 2025

4/29-5/16/2025 Our first trip to Japan: 2 day Walk Japan tour in Tokyo; a week on our own using Japan Rail Pass and airbnbs to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka; 7 day Walk Japan tour following the path of the famous Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Basho walked in the 17th century up north.  Google Photos

4/30/25 (Wednesday) – Had two good flights: from Portland to San Francisco and then San Francisco to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo, we took the train and subway from the airport. Had a little trouble with the trains, but arrived at the Airbnb with no problem. We loved the apartment, even though it was small, but spotless. Picked up food at the 7/11 around the corner. Went to bed a little early after the 11-hour flight from San Francisco, and going through the passport control and customs.

5/1/25 (Thursday) – Still having a little trouble with the subway trains and had trouble finding our Walk Japan (Tokyo) meeting spot at the Nihonbashi Bridge which was Edo Period downtown, but still made it on time at 8:45. Very nice Japanese tour guide named Ryo and two nice couples from Australia, so just the six of us on the tour. Beautiful day in the 70s and sunny. Edo Castle, now the Imperial Palace, tour today and department store opening (the clerks bowed to everyone as they entered). Nice Koishikawa Korakuen Japanese Gardens, currency museum, main Tokyo train station, Edo Castle Park, but no real castle, just nice gardens. Azalea Park with a stop in the north part of Tokyo, good chestnut ice cream, and a tasty chocolate croissant. Walk through narrow streets in a residential section with an old wooden house like ones in the Edo period (1600 – 1880s) and an old Christian church.

Walk Japan Tokyo Itinerary

5/2/25 (Friday) – Met Ryo and our group (Karen, Hugh, Sandra, and David) at 9:00 a.m. in the Ginza area. Took the subway to see a 17th-century Shinto Shrine (Senso-ji temple complex). Laura got her fortune by shaking a metal container with sticks inside, which determined your fortune. (Laura’s fortune was not very good. Turns out that a lot of people get bad fortunes, so that is an incentive to keep buying fortunes.) There were a lot of tourists and souvenir stands. Next, we spent an hour or so at the Tokyo National Museum. Late lunch at a sushi restaurant, but Laura did not enjoy it. She doesn’t like sushi. Our last tour for our Walk Japan 2-day Tokyo tour was the Fukazawa Edo Museum. This was a typical Edo village with all wood structures. There was a downpour today, and Ryo did a great job keeping the tour inside. He was a great tour guide, and we had a very nice group.

5/3/25 (Saturday) – Today was the first day on our own, and time to take the bullet train south to Hiroshima. Tokyo Station was a mess with tons of people. It was difficult to figure out where to go, and we ended up on the wrong train. We found an attendant, and she said to get off at the first stop, and then we could switch to our correct train. It worked out fine, and we enjoyed our smooth and very fast ride on Shinkansen trains. We changed trains in Osaka with a very close connection. Once we got to Hiroshima, we took the streetcar to our next Airbnb, which was similar to the one in Tokyo. For dinner, we hit the grocery store and cooked dinner in our Airbnb, which was on the 6th floor. It was fun picking out weird food and using Google Translate to find out what it was. The Japanese eat a lot of fish.

5/4/25 (Sunday) – Toured the Peace Memorial Park in the morning, first stopping at the Tourist Information. It was a beautiful sunny day in the park, and they were having a flower festival. Lots of people. The museum was very dramatic, showing all the destruction from the A Bomb. A lot of photos and exhibits. The One-Dome Skeleton is a good reminder of how awful nuclear weapons are. For the afternoon, we took the streetcar out to Miyajima. Had a good lunch and then headed to Miyajima island on the short ferry ride with a lot of people. Walked along the water to see the Great Torii Gate and some Shinto shrines. Then back to our Airbnb on a long streetcar ride.

5/5/25 (Monday) – Dropped our bags off at the train station in the morning. Took the bus over to the Shukkeien Garden, which was very nice on a beautiful day. Caught the 1:33 p.m. bullet train to Kyoto and got a box lunch called a bento to eat on the train.

5/6/25 (Tuesday) – Rainy day, but we still managed to get out and walk the Philosopher’s Path in Kyoto. We toured Ginkaku-ji and Honen-in Temples and walked along the canal. Had a nice lunch in the shopping district of tempura shrimp and veggies. Took a respite back at the Airbnb before heading to the theater to see 7 traditional Japanese performances, including dance, music, play, comedy, and beautiful costumes.

5/7/25 (Wednesday) – Got up early to catch the train to Osaka. We stored our luggage at Shin-Osaka Station and then took the subway to the World Expo. Another beautiful day with tons of people. Very interesting structures everywhere, with a big circle of a tall wooden structure, that you could go up and walk all the way around. We had reservations at the Future of Life Pavilion, which had a lot of robots and showed how life would be in the future. A lot of the pavilions had long lines and waits, so we just enjoyed walking around. 3 million people has visited the World Expo so far in the first month. We took the subway back to pick up our luggage, but went to the wrong station. There were two stations: one called Shin-Osaka and the other just Osaka Station. We figured that out, picked up our luggage, and returned to our Airbnb. Another good day, but we were pretty tired.

Osaka World Expo

5/8/25 (Thursday) – Our last day on our own in Osaka. We toured the Osaka Castle and Museum. They had interesting holograms to explain one of the best-known Shoguns. It was a beautiful day with parks around the castle. Headed off to the shopping district and had lunch there. Tomorrow, we head to Sendai on the bullet train to do our 7-day Walk Japan in the North on the Basho Tour.

5/9/25 (Friday) – Took the bullet train to Sendai to join our 7-day tour. Almost missed our connection in Tokyo. Very quick ride with hardly any stops. Got booked into our first hotel. Met our group at 6:00 p.m. in the lobby. Nice group with 4 more Americans, Finian, Allie, Bhupi, Gurinder; 4 Aussies, George, Peter, Aloha, John, and Pookie from Thailand. Tom Orson, our guide, was British but spoke fluent Japanese. We had a long dinner with all sorts of Japanese food (a lot of raw fish) that Tom, our guide, ordered for the group. We went to bed by 9:30 p.m., the latest yet.

5/10/25 (Saturday) – Met at 8:00 a.m. in the lobby after the hotel buffet breakfast, instead of our Seven 11 breakfasts we had been having all week. Took the train out of town to start our walk to Kokufu Taga-jo. We are in the Tohoku district, and toured the Tohoku History Museum in Honshiogama. Walked through town and saw many Shinto Shrines. Laura had a tough time climbing all the steps to one of the shrines. Lunch in Shiogama where we catch the boat to where we stay that night in Matsushima. After lunch, the restaurant owner took us over to the tea store of the local tea we enjoyed at lunch. The boat ride was through the mist and all the many islands.  We had a nice private Onsen (hot baths) that night, which was fun in our hotel. The hotel was more luxurious than we were used to. The next morning the mist cleared and we had a beautiful view from our room of the many small islands this place is famous for. Another good dinner with George, reading some of Basho's haiku poems. Tom, our guide, had us all work on creating haikus (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables), and different people would read theirs each night. Finian even did one in Japanese.

Walk Japan Basho Tohoku Tour: Narrow Road to the North

Photos from our Basho Group (our photos are here on this web page and not included with everyone else's)

5/11/25 (Sunday) – We visited the Zuigan-ji temple in town, that had many caves and sculptures carved into the rock face, which was used by the Buddhist Monks. We moved on to the nearby Entsu-in, famed for its beautiful gardens that include a heart-shaped pond. Took a 45-minute bus ride to Hiraizumi to see a couple more temples, Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji. Nice buckwheat noodle dishes (Soba) for lunch, then we walked a few miles over the hill to Konjiki-do (Golden Temple), the most elaborately decorated Buddhist Temple in Japan. Nice statue of Basho, so we all got a group photo. Tom read his haiku at dinner to everyone. Tom did the public Men's Onsen. We stayed in a Japanese Inn and slept on futons on the floor for the first time.

Tom's 2 Haikus (5 syllables , 7 syllables, 5 syllables)

Taking A Boar Ride

Thru A Mysterious Mist

Thru Many Islands

Then The Next Morning

The View From Our Hotel Room

The Mist Is All Gone

5/12/25 (Monday) – Took a couple of trains this morning, including a 12-minute bullet train. This is the ninth one we have taken so far. A lot of hiking today through forests, and even a river crossing on rocks that was a little precarious. Laura was worn out as we did 19,000 steps today. We did a private Onsen in our inn and slept on the floor for the second time. There was good food, as usual, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We stopped at a guard station where Basho stayed 400 years ago. We listened to a nice talk about Basho’s journey from an old Japanese man. Our guide, Tom, interpreted. At dinner, we were entertained by two Japanese men reenacting Busho’s travels. Very cute.

A note on the Japanese Inns.
When we arrived at Japanese inns, we had to take our shoes off and put on slippers, which were waiting for us. Then, after we got to our rooms, we had to put on a yukata (an unlined cotton summer kimono), which we would wear to meals and the Onsens. There would also be an obi (a cloth belt). When we finished our dinner, we would return to our rooms, where the staff prepared our futons on the floor (on tatami mats). The futons were very comfortable.

5/13/25 (Tuesday) – We hiked over Natagiri Pass, which gave Laura a hard time, but she made it. Then we had lunch before taking a short boat ride down the Mohagami-gawa river. The guide on the boat told us about the river in Japanese with Tom, our guide, translating. He also sang us a song. Next, we climbed up 2,400 steps to Mt Haguro-san, a sacred mountain. Laura, Aloha, Bhupi, and Gurinda rode the bus up. The 8 of us who hiked up all those steps stopped for tea and snacks halfway up at a nice teahouse with a view down into the valley. This inn was basic on top of the mountain. Again, we slept on the floor on a futon mat. We saw a 1,000-year-old cedar tree and a nice pagoda temple. Laura read her haiku tonight at dinner.

Laura's Haiku:

The Walk Japan Tour

With Many Nice And Fun People

With Too Many Steps

5/14/25 (Wednesday)._. Tom got up early to watch a Buddhist service with a priest chanting. (Most of our group plus 20 more people.) It lasted about half an hour and was very interesting. We also had a Buddhist priest (dressed formally just for us) bless us the traditional way at one of the temples with Tom, our guide, interpreting. The hike today was the ancient Rokujuri–Goe Kaido trail. The bus dropped us at the top and we climbed down with a local guide. He was with us for most of the day. He was dressed like long ago with a walking stick and a conch shell, which he would blow. We had views of Mt Gassan, the mountain of the future, and Mt Haguro-san, the mountain of the present. There are three sacred mountains, and the last mountain Mt. Yudono-san is the mountain of the past. Tonight’s hotel on the base of Mt Gassan was still surrounded by snow and was very nice. Laura and I did the private Onsen again, which we enjoyed.

5/15/25 (Thursday)._. We had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. John and I walked up the road and into the snow. Our bus left at 9:15 a.m. to take us to Yamagata and the train station. Tom, George, and Peter remained in Yamagata, and the rest of us took the bullet train to Tokyo. From the Tokyo station, we took the subway to our last Airbnb near the airport. It was nice to relax there and eat more Japanese food that we picked up at the grocery store. We had to walk up four flights to our Airbnb, but the Airbnb was nice.

5/16/25 (Friday, our last day)._. We went for a walk in the morning along the water, not far from our Airbnb. We checked out at 11:00 a.m. and took an Uber to Terminal 3 at Haneda Airport. We flew into the other airport, Narita. It was a 9-hour flight to San Francisco, and then we got into Portland at 2:58 p.m., an hour before the time we left.

Late Spring 2025

3/31&4/3&5&7&12/2025 Starvation Creek, Cabin Creek, Hole-in-the-Wall and Lancaster Falls loop 3 miles 800 feet in the gorge near Hood River; Addy and Julie come for an overnight before Addy goes to Duck Day at U of O now that she was accepted at the Honors College; Hands-Off protest at State Capitol with Jennifer and David; last snowboard and skiing for the season at Mt Hood Meadows in the snow and fog; Julie's 51st birthday dinner at Nicoletta's Table with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Ellin and Tim; Cascade Head hike 5 miles 1200 feet on the coast; visit to New York to celebrate Kelsey's 43rd birthday; enjoyed Ryan's body art class for the first time with Kelsey; train ride up the Hudson to visit Eddie and Jeanne; Kelsey's art show at the Bell Slip in Green Point on the East River; ferry ride out to Governor's Island to see Kelsey's gig at the QC NYC Spa and she got us free passes even with a nice buffet dinner; checked out Domino Park in Williamsburg where they built a new building in the brick facade of the old Domino factory and made a nice park along the East River then a ride on the river on the NYC ferries; birthday dinner at a nice restaurant Lilia's down the street from Kelsey's apartment and we made a flourless chocolate cake to celebrate; visited Neue Galerie art museum with Kelsey at 86th and Fifth Ave and took a walk in Central Park.  Google Photos

Spring 2025

3/3&6-10&17&23&24&25/2025 Dry Creek Falls hike 5.4 miles 900 feet off the PCT in the gorge; Trip to Boulder, CO to visit Tim and Janet in their new place; Janet with her new beautiful baby grand piano and it was fun hearing her play on it;  20.9 mile bike ride with Tim and Bruce and Tim's biking group in Boulder; met 3 year old Arden at the park with his grandparents Susan and Galen. Arden is now a big brother with his sister Linnea joining Andy and Mia in their family; Tim's brand new 13 foot raft that we worked on getting all set up; the University of Colorado buffalo in front of Folsum Stadium; Tim and Janet's new townhouse right off their park and bike path; lunch down on Pearl Street in Boulder; Cape Perpetua hike 4.4 miles 600 feet on the coast near Yachats; cheese soufflé dinner with eggs from our neighbor's chicken next door; head banging concert at the Grand Theater in Salem with our friend Zack on drums with his band the Hypnatwists; Cape Lookout hike 5 miles 800 feet during whale week on the coast, but did not see any; flight to Albany and Lebanon with Ramesh and Ani in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Janet and Vicki with Bernie and AOC in Denver rally and their singing group sang to 34,000 people.  Google Photos

1/27&2/2-7&10&17&21&27/2025 Eagle Creek and Punchbowl Falls hike 4.6 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; Steamboat Springs, Colorado skiing with Dick for a week, hot tub after skiing all day, hit the happy hours in town, cook breakfast and dinner in Dick's timeshare condo, watch ski jumping by 12 to 14 year olds (see link below) and none of them crashed, snowshoeing, fun week; West Summit Loop snowshoe 4 miles 700 feet near Rabbit Ears Pass 10 miles from Steamboat; Emerald Mountain snowshoe 5.3 miles 1400 feet right above the town; Bob Straub State Park loop hike 6.4 miles 100 feet near Pacific City on the coast with a guy chain sawing a driftwood stump into a valentine bear; winter volleyball team with Tamra, Sonja, Morgan, Erik and Zack; Hiouchi/Mill Creek hike 10.1 miles 800 feet in the Redwoods and Grove of the Titans with Elle and Ziv; Dimple Hill/Horse Trail hike 9.1 miles 1700 feet with Ziv while Elle worked in their new Mercedes Sprinter Camper near Corvallis; flight to Albany and Lebanon in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh.  Google Photos

Ski Jumping at Steamboat

12/30&1/4&6&9&13&18-20/2024 Cape Lookout hike 5.5 miles 1200 feet on the coast; snowboarding and skiing at Hoodoo with Ramesh and Pranav in the fog and snow; Latourell Falls, Sheppard's Dell and Bridal Veil Falls hike 4 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; flight to the Newport on the coast with Ramesh and Pranav in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk plus a visit to the Yaquina Lighthouse; snowboarding and skiing at Mt Hood Meadows stopping by Brad and Allison's new cabin near by; Tom's 73rd birthday with a delicious pot roast dinner; snowboarding and skiing with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Jack, Melissa and John at Hoodoo; Hart's Cove hike 3.4 miles 700 feet on the coast near Cascade Head.  Google Photos

Winter 2024

12/2&9&16&23&24&25/2024 Mt Hood Meadows skiing and snowboarding 18,000 feet vertical, early snow in the Cascades so the slopes were open before Thanksgiving; Cape Horn hike 7.3 miles 1400 feet in the gorge on the Washington side; God's Thumb, the Knoll, Westwind YMCA camp and the spit from Roadsend hike 7.2 miles 1300 feet on the coast near Lincoln City; Mt Hamilton, Rodney and Hardy Falls hike 8 miles 2400 feet in the gorge on the Washington side again; Annual Tuba Christmas Eve concert at the Elsinore Theater in Salem; Christmas ham dinner with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and Ellin playing some card games too.  Google Photos

11/11&15&22-23&28/2024 Green Peter Peak and Lookout hike 9 miles 2100 feet 2 and half hours hiking and biking up and only a half hour biking down back to the car in the fog and rain all on gravel forest service roads; Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls Loop 6 miles 1900 feet with AJ who was in Portland for a Contra dancing weekend; Left Coast Winery for some wine tasting and lunch with Kelsey and Ryan; Pre-Thanksgiving dinner Saturday at our house with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Dylan, Holly, Michael, Kelsey, Ryan, Julie, Tim, Christine and Mark playing ping pong and Schneider; Sunday hike 3 miles 500 feet at Cape Meares on the coast and then lunch at Tillamook Cheese Factory with the whole gang; Second Thanksgiving at Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Tom Brown, Veronica, Ellin, Tim and Jackie playing more Schneider; Kira turns a year old, Jessica's daughter; Connor James from a cute picture Joel sent me.  Google Photos

9/16&23&30&10/7&9&14&18/2024 Neighbor's chicken loose in our back yard; Middle Pyramid hike 4.4 miles 1800 feet; Iron Mt and Cone Peak hike 6.8 miles 1900 feet with Brian; Another boat ride from Independence on the Willamette River with Ramesh and Pat who just passed away in his sleep at the age of 80 RIP; Crescent Mountain hike 9.2 miles 2400 feet;  Water Tower Mountain hike 3,2 miles 2900 feet a very steep trail with Brian near Detroit Lake; Very good Swan Lake ballet performance at the Elsinore Theater here in Salem; took Ramesh's boat out again with a new engine on Devil's Lake in Lincoln City and our last time to see Pat; Sardine Mountain 5.6 miles 3700 feet another steep hike with Brian; a day in Astoria with Ramesh; Coffin Mountain hike 2.9 miles 1000 feet in the fog and drizzle; crabbing trip in Yaquina Bay near Newport with Ramesh in Jason's beautiful boat getting 17 crabs in the traps; Lasagna dinner with the Julie and family on their way to University of Oregon for family weekend; another boat ride on the Willamette River with Ramesh to test his new crab pot; trip to Montana to celebrate Bridgette's 65 birthday; new bathroom in Bridgette's cabin plus she is working on a new kitchen too; Rocky Point hike 6.4 miles 700 feet along the Flathead River near Hungry Horse with Alison who just finished 4 months of bad chemo but now her PETscan shows No Cancer Detected; visited Laura's high school friend Chris (along with Bear, Larkin and Jen) in Moscow, Idaho on the way home from Montana with a tour of University of Idaho where Chris and Bear worked and Washington State campuses; fall volleyball team with Ashley, Tamra, Caroline, Sonja and Erik along with two fans Ashley's year old son Kolson and her husband Kyle.  Google Photos

Late Summer 2024

8/28&8/30-9/9/2024 Ramesh gets a new boat and we do a boat ride from Independence on the Willamette River with Josh; Celebrating Colin's 10th birthday with a visit to Chicago with Kelsey in for the weekend from New York; Colin's 4th grade teacher Mrs. Byers; party for Colin with Francesca , Lucas, Jen, BJ, Lola and Lolo; a day and night at the Navy Pier in downtown Chicago; architectural boat tour of all the cool buildings in downtown; Colin liked our cheese soufflé dinner on our last night there.  Google Photos

8/19-24/2024 Larry's backpack in the Sierras with Leslie, Sharon, Afra and Mark.  Google Photos

Tom's log of Larry's Sierra Backpack

Monday August 19 Leave after having lunch with Aaron, Addy and Laura (Julie and Tim were taking Liz down to the IntroDUCKtion at U of O where she will be starting her first year in the Honors College) for the 10 1/2 hour drive to Green Creek Trailhead 7,965 feet arriving at 11pm
Tuesday August 20 Meet Larry, Sharon, Leslie, Afra and Mark around 8:30am and then we backpack in to East Lake 9,462 feet 5.3 miles 1500 feet gain and set up camp for two nights. We all took a quick swim in the pond next the lake. It was still cold water but refreshing. Nice campsite spot on the peninsula but very windy.
Wednesday August 21 Day hike up to Par Value Lakes 10,483 feet 8 miles 2400 feet with everyone.
Thursday August 22 Backpack up to Hoover Lakes 9,855 feet 1.2 miles (These lakes are even more windy then East Lake) set up camp for the next two nights, have lunch then dayhike up to the pass 11,022 feet toward Virginia Lakes with Larry and I hiking up the ridge to a high point at 11,439 feet while Afra waited at the pass. Mark stayed in camp and Sharon and Leslie went part way up to the pass. Total for the day 9.5 miles 2200 feet.
Friday August 23 Down to freezing in the morning so Mark, Sharon and Leslie decide to hike out while Larry, Afra and I day hike up to Summit Lake and Pass then into Yosemite National Park dropping down to pick up the trail that goes to Virginia Pass. From there we pick up a side trail and bushwhack up to Return Lake. Larry and Afra hang out at the lake while I climb Grey Butte 11,385 feet (definitely challengin‌g with the last 500 feet of large boulders on a steep slope). Spam night and the three of us get double the serving since the other 3 hiked out. Total for the day 12 miles 3500 feet.
Saturday August 24 Wake up in the morning to an inch or two of snow on everything. Have a quick breakfast while it is still snowing then pack up everything wet and cold. Hard to keep the hands warm even though we have gloves (but not winter gloves!). There is snow down to Green Lake and still snowing but then as we backpack out the last 3 miles the weather clears and it is sunny again. Another great backpack in the Sierras along with some good challenges with the cold, wind and snow. Special thanks to Larry for planning all the hikes and backpack. We did this backpack with Ed, Neal, Ziv, John and Larry 14 years ago in the same area. It was fun going back again.

Larry's log and photos

August 18th through 24th was another adventure in the Sierra Nevada. Car camped our first night at the Trumbull Campground near Virginia Lakes and hiked to the pass above the lakes the following day to get acclimated. Also visited Moat Lake along the way.

Day 2 and 3 of our Sierra Nevada adventure we dropped off our bear canister, tents, and some there sleeping bags at the Virginia Lakes Pack station in the morning. We then drove to the Green Creek Trailhead and hiked in to East Lake where we would retrieve our gear dropped off by the mules and set up camp. The following morning we day hiked up to West Lake and then climbed off trail from there to Par Value Lakes. I had been to Par Value Lakes back in 2010, but had forgotten how beautiful this lake valley is. Then back to our camp with a stop at Green Lake where a few of us took a swim. Our camp on East Lake was windy making a swim in East Lake not so enticing, but east of our camp was a smaller body of water that was more wind protected so almost all of us took a dip there.

Now for day 4, 5, and 6 of our Sierra Nevada Adventure. On the morning of day 4 we broke camp at East Lake and loaded our gear into our backpacks for our trek to Hoover Lakes where we would set up camp. Originally, I had planned the trip to go to Summit Lake but since it had been cold and very windy, I expected Summit to be very very windy since it was on a pass. We found a great spot for camp between the two Hoover Lakes with a nice view of the lake. Only negative was getting water. The wind howled over the lakes so getting water was a cold experience. After arriving at camp some of us hiked up to the same pass we had hiked to on day 1 except we were coming up from the opposite side of the pass. I had wanted to try to climb a peak along the ridge north of the pass, peak 11568. Tom Strauch joined me for the attempt. I made it to a high point just south of the peak, about 11200 feet where the legs were tired and the climb ahead looked very rugged, so I stopped and watched Tom continue to the summit. Still worthwhile for me just to walk that ridge, the views were awesome. I guess I will have to start accepting that I'm getting old. Dohh!! Day 5 Leslie, Sharon, and Mark decided to hike out since the weather was cold, windy and the forecast for the following day was not to their liking. Tom, Afra and I day hiked up past Summit Lake going over Summit Pass into Yosemite NP. My favorite way to enter the park, no entry station, no fee, no people in site. From here we dropped into Virginia Canyon, my favorite area of the entire backpack. The vegetation in the canyon is lusher than that on the east side of the Sierra Crest. After dropping into the canyon, we continued up canyon to the outlet stream coming from Return Lake. From there it was an off trail climb to another of the many Sierra Lakes. From here my plan was to climb Grey Butte but again legs were tired after reaching Return Lake and to get back to camp we still had a 900 foot climb back up to Summit Pass. Once again, I'm no longer a young man. So, while Tom climbed the peak, I hiked around Return Lake and Afra took a nap along the lake. Back at camp we had our traditional fried spam dinner. Tom always serves the group spam on the final night of the trip and this time since three of the group elected to hike out early we had a double serving. We always look forward to it. During the night it snowed and was still coming down when we awoke in the morning. A cold wet, not so fun, packing up camp experience. But the hike out in the snow was special. It was like you were hiking out on a new trail as everything looks so different covered with snow with the visibility limited. Much more snow and it would have been very difficult to follow the trail out. The end of another wonderful Sierra Nevada Trip. Ohhh, and on the way home Afra and I stopped at Mohagany Meats in Bishop for lunch. If you have never been there make a point of it on your next visit of Bishop. The sandwiches and soooo good.

Larry's Day 1 Photos

Larry's Day 2 and 3 Photos

Larry's Day 4, 5 and 6 Photos

Mark's Photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NpYmPDpa7detjnHw9

Late Summer 2024

7/12&14&17-22&26-29/2024 Battle Axe Mountain loop hike 6 miles 1800 feet checking out Elk Lake campground and first 2 miles for annual backpack, no smoke compared to two weeks later; Laura's milestone 75th birthday; Trip to Minneapolis, visit Tim and Sharon at their beautiful house on Lake Lucy in Chanhassen: Tim and Tom do a 20 mile bike ride on all the nice bike paths they have around there; fun trip on the lake on their pontoon boat; driving thru old neighborhoods from back in the 70s, George Floyd's monument near his last spot, Tim and Sharon's first house, 3039 Bryant Ave apartments where we all met including Grant and Ann too, our first house where Matthew lived for his first 3 months, Tim and Sharon's daughter Michelle, Sean, Ruby, their grandkids Parker, Cole and Blake, downtown Minneapolis with the IDS tower and Hennepin County building where Laura worked back in the 70s; Liam goes to the US National Cubing 4 day Tournament with all of us cheering him on at the Minneapolis Convention Center; we all stayed at the Radison out at the Mall of America; Colin skipped a day of the tournament to go the Crayola Experience with Nana, Olivia and Tess while Matt and Tom stayed with Liam at the tournament; the last day we did some rides at Mall of America which the kids enjoyed; 41st annual backpack in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness near Detroit, Oregon see log below.  Google Photos

Liam's Cubing WCA (World Cubing Association) stats

Tom's log of 41st Annual and Dave Avera Memorial Backpack

Friday July 26 - We all met at the trailhead parking near Elk Lake campground at 9am. Originally we had 10 backpackers and 7 day hikers but Holly and Michael got sick and had to back out at the last minute. Then Janet decided to stay with them in Seattle so Tim drove Michael's car down alone. Caty (Dave Avera's daughter) and Sully (Caty's son) started out with us but after a mile or 2 Caty started getting sick so they decided to bag the backpack and head back for the long drive to Colorado. That left 5 of us backpacking Wendy, Jean, Tim S, Mark and Tom. The seven Day hikers were Aaron, Addy, Liz, Teagan, Molly, Julie and Tim L all staying a couple nights at the Elk Lake campground. They hiked in the Bagby NF trail #544 with us a mile or 2 but Molly and Tim L finished the loop that went up Battle Axe Mountain while the others returned on the same trail. That left the 5 backpackers hiking in 6 miles to the upper Twin Lake. As we got close to the lake there were some burn areas but once we got to lake it was like a green oasis in the burn area. There were 3 good campsites on the lake and we took the biggest and nicest one setting up our 5 tents. We did not expect to see anybody else but as we were setting up 3 more backpackers showed up and stayed at the first campsite. The trail was not very well maintained and was very over grown. The water was very nice for swimming and we even had a nice gravel beach. After setting up camp, Tom hiked over to lower Twin Lake a half mile but that lake was in bad shape from the fires and the trail was pretty much gone with tons of dead burnt trees which were hard to get around.

Saturday July 27 - The plan was to day hike over to Silver King Lake. It was a mile and a half back to the junction with Bagby #544 and Twin Lake #573 trails then we continued on a couple miles down the Bagby trail. Once we hit the burn area on the other side of Silver King Mountain then the trail got bad. We did a lot trail clearing except the trees that were too big to move. The trail descended 700 feet on switchbacks and was difficult to do because of all the debris. We tried to drop down to a pond but it was a swamp so Mark, Jean and Wendy headed back to camp. Tim got on the trail by bushwhacking around all the debris and Tom met him. The two of us got to the supposed junction for Silver King Lake but there was no real trail. We just had to follow Alltrails map on our phone just for a tenth of mile up a steep slope to get to Silver King Lake. It is amazing the way the fire destroys the trail and makes it look like a war zone with big holes and big downed trees all over the place. On the way back to camp Tom bushwhacked up and down Silver King Mountain which is the high point in the area.

Sunday July 28 - We had to decide if we were going to try to complete the loop we originally planned or go back the way we came in which we knew was not a bad trail. We decided we were up for the challenge even though we would be going thru a big burn area. We packed up our gear and hiked 5 miles over to the Elk Lake Creek #559 Trail. The first couple miles thru the burn area were not too bad hiking up the side of a ridge. It had the usual number of burnt trees (a lot) we had to jump over with our full backpacks but at least we had a trail. When we hit the junction of the Mother Lode #558 trail and the end of the Twin Lakes trail, the trail pretty much disappeared and was difficult going around all the burnt downed trees. Again we just had to follow the Alltrails map on our phone. Mark had his GPS to make sure we had another device to keep us on the right path. We were getting pretty worn out and making slow progress plus the area was getting smokey. Wendy was concerned there might be a fire in the area and we discussed how we would handle the situation. Mark had a Garmin InReach and we could always use the device to send a SOS and it would give them our coordinates. It took us 11 hours to go 5 miles and once we crossed the Mother Lode Creek, we decided to camp there even though it was not that nice a campsite about a half mile from our original plans but it was already 7pm and every one was worn out from climbing over burnt debris. Since it was our last night out, it was Spam night and Tom cooked up a can of it and shared it with everyone. It hit the spot. We were glad to climb into our tents and sleeping bags plus the wind blew the right way and the smoke cleared up.

Monday July 29 - We were worried the 5 mile hike out might be as bad as the Mother Lode trail. We are still in the burn area and hiked a half mile to where we had planned to camp on Elk Lake Creek. It looked like a nice campsite and then we hit the Elk Lake Creek trail. Still no sign of an obvious trail but when we headed up this one slope from the junction, the trail appeared. We were all relieved and the trail was pretty good all 1100 feet and 5 miles up to Elk Lake, the usual downed trees but not too bad. The weather has been good on the trip but then today it started to rain. It did keep us cool and wet on the way out especially rubbing against all the vegetation once we got out of the burn area. Half way up Tom decided to book up the trail so he could get the car which was a half mile from the Elk Lake trailhead. Tom got out by 11:11am and everyone else followed 50 mintues later. It was a challenging backpack but very interesting seeing the damage from the fires three years ago. There were plenty of huckleberries, black raspberries and thimble berries that we enjoyed along the trail, some of the first vegetation to come back after the fire. No serious injuries but a lot of scraps and bruises trying to climb over all those trees. Everybody did very well and was always willing to help each other when we would get stuck. Definitely a memorable backpack! On the drive out we had a delicious lunch in Detroit at Mountain High Teriyaki and then Mark headed back to California and we all headed home.

Mark's GPS mileage
Fri 5.8
Sat 8.7 - day hike
Sun 6.5
Mon 6.2
Total 27.2 miles

Tom's iphone mileage
Fri 8.7 1200 feet
Sat 8.1 1100 feet - day hike
Sun 5.4 800 feet
Mon 5.9 1200 feet
Total 28.1 miles 4300 feet most with a heavy pack

7/3-7/2024 Backpack in the Sierra's with Larry, Ziv and Elle.  Google Photos

Some of Ziv and Elle's cool videos:

Larry and Tom crossing a snow field

Ziv, Elle and Tom at one of Larry's highpoints drone video

Interactive 360 drone video of Banner and Ritter Peaks

Tom crossing Shadow Creek with a full pack

Interactive 360 drone video of Iceberg and Cecile Lakes

Drone video zooming out from our campsite and Tom's tent

Sierra July 4th Backpack log

 Wednesday July 3 - Left work a little before 3pm and drove 11 hours to the trailhead arriving at 1:49am.  Slept in the back of my Outback and met Ziv, Elle and Larry around 7 the next morning.

 Thursday July 4 - Backpacked 7 1/2 miles 1400 feet into Ediza Lake where we set up base camp for 3 nights.  A lot of mosquitoes so we had to use face screens and a lot of deet.  Found a good campsite in the rocks where the bugs were not so bad.  A lot of people at Ediza Lake but we got one of the best campsites. Beautiful views of all the mountains.

 Friday July 5 - Dayhiked up to Iceberg Lake which was still frozen and decided not to hike to Cecile Lake because the large snowfield was very icy.  Instead we bushwhacked over to Nydiver Lakes right under Ritter and Banner Peaks doing a big loop back to Ediza Lake 7 miles 1300 feet.  Very cool loop but a little sketchy finding our way down to Ediza Lake.

 Saturday July 6 - Waited for Jennifer, a friend of Ziv and Elle, who was trail running up to meet us at our campsite around 8:15am.  Jennifer joined us to climb up to 10,000 feet right under Ritter and Banner Peaks.  She had to be back at work by 1pm so she jogged back down the 8 miles 2,300 feet she just came up.  Ziv, Elle and I continued on bushwhacking to the pass above Nydiver Lakes at 10,500 feet. Larry did his own hike to Cabin Lake.  When we got to the pass, the only way down was a steep snowfield.  We decided to climb the highpoint, one Larry had marked, there going up the ridge. On the highpoint we had cell reception, so Ziv Facetimed his mother in Isreal and I Facetimed Laura, Kelsey, Matt and Colin. Once at the highpoint, it looked like we could bushwhack down from the next pass to Garnet Lake.  It was tough but we made it.  We hiked around Garnet Lake and found a good swimming hole where the water was not so cold.  After going around Garnet Lake we had to hike back up another pass to get back to Ediza Lake but at least we were on trails.  Tons of people on the JMT (John Muir Trail) and people hiking to Yosemite. Got back to camp at 6:15pm and had dinner, margaritas and spam. A long hike of 10.7 miles 2000 feet.

 Sunday July 7 - Got up early at 5:30am, packed up my gear, had breakfast and backpacked 7.5 miles back to Agnew Meadows where our cars were, arriving at 10:30am.  Drove 11 hours back home arriving before 10pm.  Good hiking, beautiful weather, lakes and mountains with 3 good friends.  I have been hiking with Ziv and Larry in the Sierra's for over 20 years.

Rainier_Glacier_Green_River_Raft_Trip

6/13-18&21-28//2024 Biked 15 miles around Kalispell, Montana stopping at the Charles Conrad (one of the city founders) Mansion and got a guided tour; this mansion was always in the Conrad family so all or most of the decorations and furnishings are original, very nice restoration and tour; picked up Alison after her first chemo treatment for her recurring breast cancer and then we headed to St Mary's to her ranger house for the night; quick stop at Bridgette's cabin in Coram; Biked 12 miles from St Mary's to Rising Sun boat dock on St Mary's Lake; Saturday hiked in 6 miles to Belly River Ranger Station, one of the most beautiful spots in Glacier National Park, where Alison is a backcountry ranger; Alison put me to work on the ranger station getting it into better shape; when we hiked out on Monday, it was 28 degrees and started snowing; met Jean and Laura Cooper for lunch at Johnson's Cafe in St Mary's eating Buffalo Sloppy Joes; decided to bag our annual bike ride up Going-to-Sun highway because of the snow and cold; went to a good ranger talk at the Rising Sun campground on invasive species lead by Julia, one of Alison housemates; 5 day raft trip down the Green River thru Desolation and Gray Canyons in Utah 84 miles with 5 rafts, whitewater kayak (Jodi's), inflatable kayak (Bill's IK) and my sit-upon kayak with Holly, Michael, Jodi, Janet, Tim, Mark, Pete, Bill, Terry, Vern and Ray.   Google Photos

Tom's Green River Raft Trip Log

Friday June 21 - Drove to Bill's house in Tri-cities, Washington after work getting there at 10:30pm
Saturday June 22 - Met Holly and Michael so we could help drive all the rafting gear down to Utah with Vern's truck and trailer plus Tom's Outback. Camped at Brigham City KOA which had a fun ice cream social which the 4 of us enjoyed.
Sunday June 23 - drove to Sand Wash put-in on a long poor gravel road arriving at 12:30pm. The rest of our group arrived piece meal and we unloaded and rigged all the rafts for our put-in the next morning. Vern, our permit holder, and Jodi arrived at 8pm so we could finally get checked out by the ranger and then we could leave first thing in the morning. Bad mosquitoes and had to use a lot of mosquito repellant.
Monday June 24 - Got on the water by 9am RM 95.8 (River Mile) and the day was heating up to 100 degrees but it was comfortable on the river. Decided to have lunch on the boats since the bugs were so bad on the shore. Camped at RM 76.7 campsite which had a steep bank so it was hard to unload plus the bugs were bad again. Pete and Terry made delicious grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with Great Harvest bread for dinner.
Tuesday June 25 - Got a good start before 9am, the bugs were still bad which is always a motivating factor to get back on the river where they don't bother you. Stopped at a nice place for lunch. Ran a lot of rapids and Ray flipped the IK on Steer Ridge class 3 rapids. Tom decided not to run any class 3 rapids only class 1 and 2's on his sit-upon kayak so Tom would get on the back of Mark and Bill's 17 foot raft holding the kayak as we ran the rapids. Camped at RM 55.5 (finally very few bugs) and had another good dinner of steak and bean burritos made by Mark and Bill.
Wednesday June 26 - Got an even earlier start by 8:30am. Did a 3 mile hike up Rock Creek Canyon to see some excellent Petroglyphs. John Hutch Canyon rapids was the biggest rapids so far and it was impressive. Camped at RM 40.4 Joe Hutch Canyon campsite. Tom and Ray made Chili for dinner which people enjoyed. A little rainy off and on all night.
Thursday June 27 - Got off by 8:45am. Rain stopped right at 6am so we could have breakfast dry then it cleared right up. Tom had his first flip on his kayak at Rabbit Valley rapids which had a nice hole at the bottom of the rapids. Then Tom flipped again on Rattlesnake rapids right where we ended up camping at RM 21.8 another very nice campsite. Tim and Janet made Falafels which were tasty for dinner. Janet and Holly played the guitar and we sang a lot of camp songs. It was fun. When we went into our tents and to bed, we had quite the lightning and thunder show thru the night. Some of the thunder was so loud it had to be close strikes.
Friday June 28 - Tim and Janet had breakfast going early at 6:10am so we got going early for our last day on the river before 8am. Jodi and Tom took a short kayak up the Price River which is the only river we found flowing into the Green River. The current was moving quick so we got to the take-out at Swaseys RM 11.9 aound 10:30. Then we de-rigged all the rafts and equipment packed up the cars and trailers. We were an efficient team all thru the trip, so we had everything packed in a little over an hour. We said our good-byes and people headed off for: Santa Fe, New Mexico; Boulder, Colorado; Richland, Washington; Seattle, Washington; Salem, Oregon; Lewiston, Montana; Great Falls, Montana; Salida, Colorado. It was a fun trip with good group people.

5/6&13&20&27&6/2-3&10/2024 Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls hike 3 miles 800 feet in the gorge; Stahlman Point hike 4.2 miles 1300 feet near Detroit Lake; Table Rock hike 8 miles 1500 feet; Pechuck Lookout hike 4.9 miles 1800 feet in Table Rock Wilderness; Liz's Ida B Wells High School graduation weekend with Aaron, Addy, Holly, Michael, Julie, Tim L, Ellin, Janet and Tim S; Taco dinner at Julie's Sunday with a Schneider card game; Monday Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls hike 3 miles 800 feet in the gorge with Liz, Holly, Michael, Janet and Tim S; Then pizza dinner at Julie's before actual graduation at Providence Park in Portland; Father's Day Weekend camping trip (a week early) to Mt Rainier National Park with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Holly, Michael, Julie and Tim L; Nisqually Vista hike 2 miles 200 feet with Addy, Liz, Holly, Michael, Julie and Tim L in the snow; lunch at Paradise Inn; Silver Falls hike 4 miles 500 feet southeast corner of the park; kayaking around Mineral Lake 3 miles near the park;  Bachelor Mountain hike 4.1 miles 1200 feet.  Google Photos

New York trip then off to Finland

4/19-24&25-5/5/2024 Trip to NewYork for Kelsey's birthday and art show; then on to Finland for 10 days.  Google Photos

New York log

Friday 4/19 - took the red eye from Portland and got to Kelsey's place in Brooklyn a little before 9am. Spend the day setting up Kelsey's solo art show at the Greenpoint Gallery with a rented UHaul van hauling all her paintings from the her studio to the gallery. We spent the night at her apartment.
Saturday 4/20 - set up all her paintings in the gallery and then we went to our airbnb in Bushwick area where we spent 3 nights. Very convenient because it was very close to the L subway so easy to get to Kelsey's and into town. Great solo art show with a lot of people including Ryan, Chris, Sam and Sarah with two bands performing.
Sunday 4/21 - Took the train up the Hudson in the morning to visit Eddie and Jeanne at their house in Briar Cliff Manor. Had a nice brunch at their favorite Italian restaurant. Took the train back to the city and our airbnb in the evening.
Monday 4/22 - Kelsey's birthday, had a great tour of Google New York office with one of Ryan and Kelsey's friend Anton who works there. Amazingly good and free food and lunch for all their employees. Anton got passes for the 4 of us so we got to enjoy the food there too. Even played ping pong in their game room. Quite the building and office. Stopped by Sam Hussein's luxury penthouse apartment to see Kelsey's moss wall on his patio in Hell's Kitchen. In the evening we went to Carnegie Hall for a concert by Ola Gjeilo, Composer-in-Residence. Excellent performance which we thoroughly enjoyed. After the concert we had dinner in the Russian Tea Room which is right next door with Anton and Chris.
Tuesday 4/23 - Rented another UHaul to take down Kelsey's paintings from the gallery taking them back to her studio after Daphne, her photographer, took photos of her show. Kelsey and I went for a bike ride using Citi Bikes across Williamsburg bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Wednesday 4/24 - Got ready for our flight to Finland that evening.

Finland Log

Thursday 4/25 - few into to Helsinki from JFK and as we came into the airport there was snow all around with cold rain and wind but then the rest of the time the weather was perfect and got up to 70 degrees. Nice airport and easy passport control and we picked up our rental car to head to our airbnb in the old section of town. Our airbnb host suggested dinner at the Sea Horse which was a pretty fancy restaurant and we had the traditional Salmon Soup and Finnish meatballs dinner.
Friday 4/26 - very nice airbnb and friendly host Teukka. Got a day pass for trolleys and took them all around Helsinki visiting Helsinki Cathedral, National Library, took a ferry over to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, new central library with its unique modern design, GIUSEPPE VERDI's Simon Boccanegra Oprea at the Helsinki's Opera House.
Saturday 4/27 - very interesting Temppeliaukion church (rock church), Sibelius Monument but it was under construction, Nuukslo National Park but too much snow to walk around, Haltia in the park where we had a nice buffet lunch, drove to our next airbnb in Porvoo (another very nice apartment), walked thru old town Porvoo and picked up quick dinners at the supermarket. Took our first sauna which are famous in Finland since we had a private one in our airbnb.
Sunday 4/28 - left Porvoo in the morning driving to Kotka visiting the Maritime Museum Merkeskus Vellamo. Excellent brand new museum with a lot of high tech displays and beautiful boats. Drove three hours to Saimaa Lakeland (Savononlinna) to our next Airbnb which has a nice cabin with wood burning stove and a sauna.
Monday 4/29 - visited the Olavinlinna Castle which was close by, drove an hour and half to Imatra and the Russian border near Svetogorsk, good lunch there at Rosso's, drove back to Savononlinna for ice cream at their local favorite spot downtown Lappakiosk and toured around seeing the cathedral and neat bird houses thru out the town which were replicas of their buildings.
Tuesday 4/30 - our airbnb host let me borrow their fat tire bike so both mornings I got to bike around town. All the towns have great bike paths. Now on to Mikkeli and Tempere. In Mikkeli we got a personal tour of the cathedral with someone who spoke no English. Almost everyone in Finland speaks English and we only had a few people say they could not speak it. We drove up to the town tower and I walked up to the top. Half way up there was an art photo exhibit where I got another personal tour of the exhibit. She, the artist, also wrote poems with each artistic photo. On to Lahti which is the town that trains their Olympic long ski jumpers. For lunch we had homemade soups at a soup restaurant in a market right off the town square. Tempere was our next airbnb right downtown and across from the cathedral. All the airbnbs were different but very nice. This is the second largest city in Finland and had a river with rapids running right thru downtown. It uses the river to generate hydro power and had the plant right there in downtown.
Wednesday 5/1 - today was Finland's Vappu holiday to celebrate the beginning of spring weather so when we planned to go to the Moomin and Art museums, but both were closed. All the college students dressed up in colorful jump suits and white hats for the spring celebration. Each university department had different colors and created small floats for a competition which they then paraded downtown. We did find a park tower on the hill at the highest point in town that was open with great views all around. Off to Rauma where more celebrations were happening. This town is on the west coast and Bay of Bothnia. Our airbnb was in the old historic part of town but still very nice. We drove to a good viewing point only a few miles and enjoyed the sunset looking over the bay and islands. It does not get dark here until 11pm and is light at 4:30am and it is only May 1st.
Thursday 5/2 - In Rauma we visited the ruins of the Holy Trinity Church that burned down in 1640 and some craft shops. Our next stop was Turku where we spent two days and was our last stop. We started with a good lunch at Market Hall of Finnish meatballs and cabbage rolls which seem to be the most popular Finnish dishes. Calle our last airbnb host met us at the apartment. Very nice apartment in a well-kept old apartment building with an old style elevator (we were on the 4thm floor) and Calle gave us tips on what to see in Turku.
Friday 5/3 - We got another all day bus pass and visited Turku Castle, the cathedral and Aboa Vetus which was an underground archaeology museum with medieval streets and imposing stone ruins of the old town. We did our usual breakfast in the airbnb of oatmeal then a good buffet lunch at the castle and for dinner an apple, cheese and crackers.
Saturday 5/4 - Checked out of last airbnb and hit our last museum Luostannmaki which is an old section of town that survived the 1827 fire with distinct wooden houses all over 200 years old. Then drove 2 hours back to Helsinki Airport, returned our rental car and flew back to New York arriving at 7pm.
Sunday 5/5 - Spent day with Kelsey and flew back to Oregon getting home a little after midnight. We used the Lonely Planet guide book for Finland and followed its itinerary for the Essential Suomi tour. It was a great itinerary and the book was a very good guide.

Late Winter 2024

3/31&4/1&8&12&15/2024 Delicous Easter dinner at Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Tim, and Ellin; Eagle Creek hike 4.7 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; Last time skiing and snowboarding  for the season 16 runs 17,665 feet at Mt Hood Meadows;  Josh's new baby boy Forest; Julie's 50th birthday at Tavern On Kruse with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Tim, and Ellin; Hart's Cove hike 3.6 miles 700 feet on the coast; Spring volleyball team with April, Josiah, Linsey, Marc and Shelby.  Google Photos

2/26&3/4&7&11&18&22-27/2024 Cape Meares hike 4.2 miles 900 feet near Tillamook on the coast, Lighthouse, Big Spruce and Octopus Trees; snowboarding and skiing 11 runs 11,126 feet at Mt Hood Meadows with 7 inches of fresh powder; flight down to Albany for touch and go with Ramesh in Cessna Skyhawk 172; Lasagna dinner with Julie and Liz on their way to Duck Day at the University of Oregon where Liz will be going next fall to attend the Honors College; Starvation Creek Falls hike 5.2 miles in the gorge, Cabin Creek Falls, Hole-in-wall Falls and Lancaster Falls; Bayocean Peninsula hike 8 miles 100 feet north of Cape Meares and the location of a resort town back in the early 1900s; Matt and family come to Oregon for spring break; dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland after getting off the plane; Silver Falls hike 2 miles 200 feet with Colin, Liam, Olivia and Matt; Lasagna dinner with Colin, Liam, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Matt, Olivia, Julie and Tim, ping pong and Schneider card game; Matt's 44th birthday; trip to the coast for an overnight in Newport, Oregon Aquarium with Behind the Scenes Tour, Sea lions hanging out on dock, Ripley's Believe or Not and Wax Museum, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse; Wings and Waves Waterpark in McMinnville; Cheese Soufflé dinner and Swapna's delicious Chicken Curry which Ramesh and Malvika brought (Swapna was not feeling well); Oaks Park Amusement Park in Portland to celebrate Liam's 12th birthday.  Google Photos

1/7&87&15-16&19&20&22&29&2/5&12&22/2024 Quick flight down to Lebanon for some touch and goes with Ramesh in a Cessna Skyhawk 172; first day of snowboarding and skiing with decent snow for this season (no good snow before new years) at Mt Hood Meadows; Bekah and Danny with their new baby girl Indigo Rose, very cute;  Kelsey and Ryan at one of her art showings in New York;  cheese soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim when they had to spent a couple nights in Salem because their power was out in Portland, it was fun; snowboarding at Hoodoo in the fog with Ramesh; Tom's 72nd birthday; Cape Lookout hike 4.5 miles 1200 feet on the coast; Dry Creek Falls hike 4 miles 1000 feet all in the snow in the gorge; Netarts Spit hike 11 miles 100 feet on the coast and found a bunch of sand dollars; 8 miles 2200 feet hike Hamilton Mt, Rodney and Hardy Falls Washington side of the gorge; a couple trips to Hoodoo for skiing and snowboarding, one with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Maya, Julie and Tim (sorry no pics) and the second one with Ramesh.  Google Photos

Winter 2023

12/4&11&18&24&25&27&29-31/2023 Roads End hike 7.5 miles 1400 feet on the foggy coast; Cape Horn loop hike 7.2 miles 1500 feet in the gorge; Cape Perpetua and giant old Sitka Spruce hike 4.6 miles 600 feet on the coast near Yachats; Jessica with her new baby girl Kira; Christmas Tuba concert at the Ellsinore in Salem; Christmas with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Ellin, Julie and Tim; Silver Falls loop hike 11.4 miles 1900 feet Trail of 10 Falls with Ziv and Elle; Lentil Soup dinner with Ziv and Elle after our hike and then we played Spam Yahtzee, a Christmas gift from Kelsey; fun New Years weekend in Seattle with Holly, Michael in their nice new place along with Janet and Tim, visiting the Spheres by Amazon, the Seattle skyline at night and the light show Astra Lumina.   Google Photos

11/3&6&13&17-19&22-29/2023 Wanlu's baby shower at work with Chen and Jessica who is also pregnant; Rob Straub State Park hike 5 miles 100 feet on the coast; Kelsey's bone art work; Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls loop hike 6 miles 1800 feet in the gorge; day trip to the coast with Kelsey, Ryan and Tim; our pre-thanksgiving turkey dinner at our house with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Michael, Holly, Kelsey, Ryan, Julie, Tim L, Janet, Tim S and Ellin, plenty of ping pong and Schneider card games; Wahclella Falls hike 2 miles 500 feet with our whole group, we did this hike 17 years ago when Liz was less than  a year old so we recreated the same photos; met the 80 year old Herman the Sturgeon and his friends at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery then a farewell lunch at Walking Man Brewery in Stevenson, WA; took the redeye to Chicago for our actual Thanksgiving to spend a week with Colin, Liam, Olivia and Matt;  enjoyed the light show at Chicago Botanical Gardens with Colin, Liam, Olivia and Matt; Our second Thanksgiving dinner at Matt's with Belinda, Henry, BJ, Jen. Lucas and Francesca; Liam cut down a Christmas tree for the house; another good light show at Santa's Village and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus with BJ and family.   Google Photos

9/25&10/2&6&9&13-21&26-30/2023 Coffin Mountain hike 3 miles 1000 feet in the fog and rain; Pamelia Lake and Grizzly Peak hike 10.6 miles 2700 feet foggy again; Liz's 18th birthday and she picked Deschutes Brewery for dinner to celebrate with Aaron, Addy, Maya, Julie, Ellin and Tim; Crescent Mountain hike 9.4 miles 2400 feet; trip to Kittery, Maine to visit Bridgette and celebrate her 64th birthday; on the weekend visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park with Bridgette and drive up Cadillac Mountain staying at an airbnb farm house; lunch at an Irish pub in Bangor and visit Stephen King's 2 houses with Bridgette; our traditional Chinese dinner with Molly, Ann and Bridgette at Ann's farm house near Durham, NH; visit Peter and Linda at their new place in Beverly, MA on the north shore; night out at a comedy club with Peter and Linda and good local comedian Joe Dunn; Stacey and her two kids stop by for a visit; lunch with Paul and Martha at Mario's Italian restaurant in Lexington half way between Dedham and Beverly; one last lunch with Bob and Sheila at Legal Seafood in Brookline before heading back to Oregon; 40th annual backpack in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona right on the Mexican border.   Google Photos

Late Summer 2023

8/21&28&9/1&4&7-16&21/2023 Hart's Cove hike 3.5 miles 700 feet on the coast; Silver Falls hike 8.5 miles 1400 feet the trail of 10 water falls but this is the least water flow I have seen at the park the last 20 years; Richard and Shelly stop by for visit and cheese soufflé dinner; Bald Mt 6 miles 1000 feet with Richard and Shelly in the fog near Falls City; Iron Mt hike 6.7 miles 1900 feet on another foggy day; 50th Syracuse U reunion in Asheville, North Carolina with Dean, Jane, Rocky, Susan, Charles, Tom P; spent fun day with Boone, Katie and Will's 2 year old (Rocky and Susan's grandson); dropped off Boone at Katie and Will's new beautiful house on the mountain;  Max Patch hike 2.2 miles 500 feet nice views of the Smokies on the Appalachian Trail near Tennessee state line and then lunch at Hot Springs, NC with Tom P and Rocky; delicious BBQ at Dean and Jane's house Saturday night and then another good dinner at Rocky and Susan's house Sunday night; cocktails at Asheville's historic Grove Pine Inn with Tom P, Rocky and Susan; drive up on the Blue Ridge Parkway for lunch at Mt Pisgah Inn with Rocky and Susan; Rocky's Paper Mill were he worked and retired from, and it just shut down for good; visit with Joel and Catherine in Charlottesville, VA; Joel gave us a nice tour of the campus plus the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, the quad and rotunda; Jefferson's Monticello Highlights tour with Joel with an excellent Jefferson impersonator; Joel and Catherine's beautiful new penthouse apartment with a custom built kitchen they designed and fabulous views; Joel cooked us gourmet meals in their new kitchen; Ragged Mt hike 2.7 miles 300 feet very close to their place; next and last stop for our trip Salisbury, PA to visit Laura's cousin Patty and Mike and Scottie; Patty's served us a great dinner with fresh corn on the cob and zucchini from a local farm stand;  Ramesh doing a soft field landing in the grass at Lenhart Airpark near Hubbard, OR in a Cessona 172 Skyhawk.  Google Photos

Syracuse Reunion photos from the last 50 years

7/24&26&30&8/10-13&14/2023 Tree Climbing at Silver Falls State Park 250 feet up a 300-400 year old Douglas Fir with 4 new friends and an instructor; 5th annual Kayak and Paddle Board work group going 8 miles on the Willamette from Keizer Rapids Park to Wheatland Ferry with Jennifer, Mary, Will, Diane, Brian and Matt; Battle Axe Mt hike 6 miles 1700 feet near Elk Lake in the Cascades; Holly and Michael's wedding on San Juan Island lots of fun with friends and family; ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island with Kelsey, Arden, Mia, Andy, Susan and Galen; a day in Friday Harbor visiting the Whale Museum with Kelsey, Tim and Janet; drive around the island to Cattle Point and Lime Kiln State Park with Kelsey borrowing Tim and Janet's car; a well done Twelve Night play at a beautiful outdoor setting on the island; Welcome dinner hosted by Tim and Janet for everyone at beautiful Lakedale Resort where we stayed and the venue for the wedding; 3 hour fun sea kayak trip from Snug Harbor on the island with our guide Gunner, Ellie and Kelsey, lots of seals, jumping fish, herons and jelly fish; the big event right outside Lakedale Lodge with Holly and Michael tying the knot, very nice; reception under the big tent with lots of dancing; on the way home stopped to see Tom T and Kristina at their beautiful home on Camano Island with a nice sunset from their porch and delicious fresh crab cake dinner; Iverson Trail Reserve walk 2 miles at low tide and mud flats with Tom T, Kristina and Kelsey; Tom T pulled in some more fresh crabs in his crab pots; visited La Conner, WA, checked out Museum of Northwest Art (MONA) and nice dinner at a restaurant off the boardwalk with Tom T, Kristina and Kelsey, then off to drop Kelsey at SeaTac airport on the way home; Kelsey in a Barbie gig. Google Photos

Some videos and photos from Tree Climbing at Silver Falls State Park

More photos from Holly and Michael's Wedding

Summer 2023

6/23-25&7/3&9&13-17/2023 Annual Father's Day (actually a week later) camping trip Adams Fork (north of Mt Adams) with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Holly and Michael; hike up Green Mt near Horseshoe Lake 8 miles 1500 feet with everyone; Bachelor Mt hike 4 miles 1200 feet near Detroit Lake; Laura's 74th birthday with a special cheese soufflé dinner; Sierra Backpack at Florence Lake in the John Muir Wilderness with Elle, Ziv and Mark; Boat ride across Florence Lake to trailhead, backpack thru Muir Trail Ranch (Larry who has a bad back joined us to here) then up to first camp at Senger Creek 8.5 miles 2600 feet on the John Muir Trail (JMT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) few people the 5 days we were out, some JMTers and PCTers mostly from overseas; backpack up to Sallie Keyes Lakes 4 miles 300 feet a lot of river crossings because of all the snow the Sierra's got this winter which the mosquitoes loved; day hike up to Heart Lake and Selden Pass 7 miles 1000 feet in a lot snow; backpack back down 11 miles to valley with a side hike to Piute River where we entered Kings Canyon National Park; backpack out 6.3 miles 300 feet to catch the ferry back to our cars, fun trip!; Summer volleyball team with Ashley (played at 8 months pregnant) , Kyle, Trish, Janel and Kenny.  Google Photos

Face plant on one of my river crossings

5/8&16-23&29&6/2-7&15-18/2023 Cascade Head hike 4.2 miles 1100 feet on the coast; nice visit with Tim and Janet in Boulder, Colorado with plenty of activities; Sanitas Valley hike 2 miles 200 feet with Laura, Tim and Janet; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art; Boulder Ballet - A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Mahler Symphony No. 2 with MahlerFest, Macky Auditorium Concert Hall with Susan and Galen starring Janet in the Boulder Chorale; good tour of the National Center for Atmospheric Research - NCAR; a lot of biking around on great bike paths all thru and around Boulder; CU campus with Matt's old freshman dorm and Carelli's restaurant where he worked; dinner at Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse; Stahlman Point hike 4 miles 1300 feet with a nice view on Mt Jefferson; trip to San Diego for John's 80th birthday with lots of activities; Big Laguna Lake loop hike 7 miles 800 feet with John and 12 of his hiking friends; San Marcos walk 6 miles 200 feet with John and 3 friends; Chula Vista walk 4 miles 300 feet with John and 5 friends; fixed up Bette's bike (Schwinn one gear with pedal brake) and then 5 mile ride to Ocean Beach;  dinner at Italian restaurant near Mark's house with Christine, John, Bette, Tim and Janet; sailing in San Diego Harbor with Mark Sutton (great sailing instructor), Sharon, Tim and Janet with a stop downtown at a Mexican restaurant for lunch; the big birthday bash (lots of food, cake and drinks after hike) for John's 80th birthday and a hike up Cowles Mt with John, Bette, Tim, Janet, Mark, Christine, Dylan, Tom Brown, Cathy and 30 other friends; annual trip to Glacier and a visit to Alison at her Belly River Ranger Station; hike in Ranger Station and then hike to Elizabeth Lake and check permits of the backpackers; watch a helicopter drop off 7 loads to build a new front porch on the Ranger Station and put up some wire fencing for the stock (two horses and a mule) coming in the Ranger Station; looked thru Ranger Station's log book and found PT's notes from 2007 when he was a ranger there; hike out with Alison on Lee's Ridge trail 10.4 miles 2900 feet and do some trail maintenance with a hand saw; meet Jean and Laura Cooper for biking Going-to-the-Sun-Road but when we drove over Logan Pass it was snowing so we decided to bike around Many Glacier instead.  Google Photos

Late Spring 2023

4/20-26/2023&4/6,9,10,12,14/2023 Trip to New York for Kelsey's 41st birthday; party at Kelsey's apartment on her birthday along with art show GalleryBQE (under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway near her apartment), displaying Kelsey's art work (Kalcium Fortified bones and AI pugs) and other local artists, surprise visit from Tim, Janet, Sam, Holly and Michael; train trip out to Ossining for nice visit with Eddie and Jeanne and short hike Croton Point Park on the Hudson then dinner out; got tickets to the Daily Show with guest host Desi Lydic who was very good and we had a fun time; Kelsey showing us how she silk screens tee-shirts with her bone art; visit to MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art) with Kelsey and a special exhibit from Georgia O'Keeffe; Hart's Cove hike 3.5 miles 700 feet on the coast; Easter dinner at Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Elin and Tim; Starvation Creek hike 3 miles 200 feet in the gorge; Mike's retirement lunch at Marco Polo with Jolene, Pete, Suzanne, Jeff, Jennifer, Dwayne, AndyM, AndyU, Ken, Ramesh and Dan; fly to Pacific City on the coast with Ramesh in Cessna Skyhawk 172 and bike on the beach (they have a shed with bikes for pilots to use).   Google Photos

Scotland Trip Log

Wednesday, April 26, we flew out from New York's JFK on a red eye British Airways flight to London but missed our connecting flight to Inverness, Scotland. Heathrow was a crowded mess, and we had to wait an hour in the rebooking line to get a new flight. They sent us to Belfast with a connecting flight to Inverness. Unfortunately our bags did not make it to Inverness, but they did show up the next day on Friday. We got to Inverness around 5pm and picked up our rental car from Europcar. The rental car was a small Fiat 500 but was fine for the two of us. It had Apple Car Play so it was easy for us to find our Airbnb in Inverness and find our way around for the the rest of the trip. Of course we could not change our clothes since we did not have our bags. Our hosts at the Airbnb, Paul and Angela, were very nice and helped us get oriented on how to do things in Scotland, like using your iPhone. To make calls in Scotland, we had to add +44 in front of a phone number and remove the leading zero. It was cool we could call and Facetime with anyone in the US with no problem. But we could not get texting to work to Scotland numbers, but we could call them. To communicate with our Airbnb hosts, we used the Airbnb app.

Friday, April 28, we began our day visiting Tourist Information (iCentre) in Inverness. This worked well for planning our day, and we would do this in all the towns we visited. For a guide book, we used Rick Steeves' Scotland book in conjunction with iCentres. Our first site to visit was Culloden Battlefield and Museum. This was a big battle for Scotland in 1700s and was a major part of the Outlander books and TV series that we both read and then watched. Nearby the battlefield we visited the ancient stones called Clava Cairns (also an important part of the Outlander books). We enjoyed a good lunch at the museum cafe. We got notified that our bags had arrived at the airport so we went and picked them up right away. What a relief to have all of our stuff! For the rest of the day we headed off to Loch Ness, and we drove 60 miles all the way around the lake.

Saturday, April 29, we did an Airbnb walking tour of Inverness with Cath who was a very good and informative local guide, just four of us in the group. Next off to St.Andrews, and we stopped for a late lunch at Taste Perthsire restaurant on the way. We had a problem with the rental car with a slow leak in one of the tires. After calling Europcar, they had us take it into a Kwik Fix tire dealer to fix it. Sunday morning we dropped it off when they opened and walked into town to the iCentre. Then we visited some sites in town like the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, the old part of St Andrews University (the oldest university in Scotland), just walked by the old castle skipping the tour and then hit the Wardlaw Museum. This town is famous for its golf courses, and we did a driving tour around the one for the British Open right along the water. When we returned to the tire dealer, they said they could not fix it because the rim of one of the wheels was bent. So we had to keep adding air to the tire until we could get to a Europcar place to switch cars.

Sunday, April 30, after picking up the car from the tire dealer, we took the coast road and stopped at an old hotel in Crail called the Golf Hotel for a good lunch. Jennifer, a friend from work, said her mother got sent to Elie, Scotland as a child during World War 2. We stopped and took some pictures of the town and sent them to Jennifer who passed them along to her mother who said the town square looked the same as she remembered. Next stop for us was Edinburgh where we stayed at an Airbnb with very nice hosts Esther and Glen for two nights. Each breakfast they served had fresh mixed fruit, freshed-baked scones and bread. All very delicious.

Monday, May 1, each morning while Laura is sleeping in, I took a nice walk. Close to the Airbnb was a beautiful park, Holyrood, with nice views of all Edinburgh. Next a full day in Edinburgh, we took the bus down to the iCentre from our Airbnb. The best way to orient to the town was taking the open double decker bus with an audio tour. You could hop on and hop off at any of the tourist sites for the day. We did the full loop and then got off and toured the St Giles Cathedral and Edinburgh Castle. Both were very popular and was our first castle tour. We got a free tasting of whiskey at the whiskey store inside the castle. After the castle, we hit a local pub called Captain's Bar, had a pint and listened to live Scottish folk music from a number of older, talented musicians.

Tuesday, May 2, we stopped by the Edinburgh Airport's Europcar office and swapped our Fiat rental for a Corsa Vauxhall. No more leaky tire, and that car did fine the rest of the trip. Next stop was Stirling and the Stirling Castle. All the castle tours were different and this one had people in costume playing their role. After the castle, we toured the Church of Holy Rude with a personal guide who knew the history of the church. Off to Glasgow to our next Airbnb with our helpful host Anu. Anu suggested a good Indian restaurant close by which we enjoyed.

Wednesday, May 3, this morning's walk was thru the Botanic Gardens not far from the Airbnb. We took the subway (just a couple blocks from the Airbnb) down to the iCentre from our Airbnb. The subway went in a loop with an inner loop going one way and an outer loop going the other way. Very cool. You could get anywhere in Glasgow fast. Again we did the double decker bus tour and this time with a live guide which we liked better. The weather started out good but by the end it was raining and we were the only ones left in the open part of the bus. Still the best way to get oriented to a new city and helps you decide what sites to explore more closely. We hopped back on the subway to Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. We caught a 1pm organ recital while we ate lunch at the museum cafe. They had quite few famous paintings in their collection including Salvador Dali's St. John of the Cross. This is the nicest museum we saw on our trip. The last thing for the day was St. Andrew's Cathedral and a Candian fastfood restaurant, Tim Hortons.

Thursday, May 4, we caught two more sites in Glasgow: St Mungo Cathedral (parts of it were built in the 1200s) and People's Palace which gave a good history of the city of Glasgow (it was once the second largest city in the UK after London). Back to the Highlands driving north we stopped for lunch at Duck Bay Restaurant with a nice view right on Loch Lomond. Nice water fall on the way Falls of Falloch to next stop Oban where we took a few pictures, then on to Glencoe and our next Airbnb. Our host Ashley (a man) made us tea when we arrived and called in reservations for us at the Loch Leven Seafood Restaurant. As usual a very friendly and helpful host. We drove up to the pass with beautiful views and then around Loch Leven to our restaurant for dinner. The menu had this one seafood plate of shellfish for 110 pounds ($140) just piled high with all sorts of shellfish, but of course, we did not order that, but we saw many other tables that did.

Friday, May 5, this morning my walk 3 miles 700 feet was on a hiking trail right off our Airbnb and I could have done a 7 mile loop up a mountain Sgorr Dhearg 3360 feet on this trail but not enough time. Our last full day in Scotland, we drove first to Fort Williams and the iCentre to decide what do. Off to the Isle of Skye with a stop Eilean Donan Castle in Dornie. This castle had been totally restored and used as a residence until 1949. It sits right in the water and is totally surrounded by water at high tide. Our last tourist stop was the main city of Portree on the Isle of Skye. There we had a good lunch at Cafe Vamos Arriba. I had to order a burger and fries (we were tired of fish and chips) to see how the Scottish would cook it, and Laura had a delicious bowl of sweet potato soup. They did a good job on both. Then a long drive back to Inverness and our last Airbnb which was near the airport for our early flight the next morning.

Spring 2023

3/13&24&25-3/31&4/6/2023 Wind Mountain hike 3 miles 1200 feet in the gorge with rain and snow; Salem's Willamette Queen on my bike ride; blue heron in front of my office building (SAIF); Trip to Chicago for Matt's 43rd birthday with Kelsey and Ryan (and Mr. Bones) flying in to celebrate; Spring Break road trip vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Smokies with Colin, Liam, Olivia, Matt and Tess; Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington for horse crazy Colin; Liam's 11th birthday at our Grizzly Bears Resort cabin with a small indoor pool, movie theater, 5 bedrooms and pool table; Ober Mountain Park with tram ride down to Gatlinburg, climbing tower and mountain coaster; Jayell Ranch Adventure Park with hour long horse ride, zip lines and jumping pillow; A day at Dollywood with the Flowers family and lots of rides; Anakeesta Theme Park with chair ride, viewing tower, treetop skywalk and mountain coaster; drive back 600 miles to Naperville in our rented 12 passenger Mercedes Sprinter van; Hart's Cove hike 3.5 miles 700 feet on the coast.  Google Photos

Late Winter 2023

2/12-15&16-19&24&27&3/6/2023 Visit from Dick and Susan (they have been traveling around the world for a year.  Check out their blog) wine tasting and tour at Willamette Valley Vineyards, cheese soufflé dinner, God's Thumb hike on the coast 4 miles 900 feet (Bald Eagle was talking to us), drive to Salt Lake City; 4 days skiing in Utah with Dick at Deer Valley (the senior weekday ticket cost $187), Snowbird and Snowbasin (2 days); flying to the coast with Ramesh in Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Triple Falls hike 4 miles 800 feet in Oneonta Gorge in the snow; Cape Perpetua hike 4 miles 500 feet.   Google Photos

1/2&4&9&16&19&21-23&30&2/3&6/2023 8 miles 2200 feet hike Hamilton Mt, Rodney and Hardy Falls Washington side of the gorge; night skiing at Hoodoo with Ramesh and Pranav; Cape Lookout hike 5 miles 800 feet with gale force winds on the coast; Dry Creek Falls 5 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; Jeff's (and Tom's) birthday lunch at the Yard with Ramesh, Mike, Pat, Rob and Pete; Tom's 71st birthday pot roast dinner; Addy's piano recital and Tim's birthday dinner out with Aaron, Liz, Ellin, Julie and Tim; Rob Straub State Park hike 6 miles 100 feet with a red headed woodpecker on the coast; flying to Corvallis and Lebanon with Ramesh in a Cessna Skyhawk 172; Aaron (stage name Tenoko) in his first play The Ransom of Miss Elverna Dower at Jackson Middle School with Addy, Liz, Ellin, Julie and Tim; Eagle Creek Punchbowl Falls 5 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; winter volleyball team with Ashley, April, Trish, Kyle and Jeremy;  Google Photos

Fall 2022

11/28&12/5&12&15&19&21&25&26&28/2022 4 miles 700 feet hike Hart's Cove on the coast; Skiing and snowboarding at Mt Hood Meadows first of the season in perfect conditions with good early snow; Cape Horn hike 7.5 miles 1500 feet in the Columbia Gorge; Aaron's (playing his trumpet) Christmas Band concert at Jackson Middle School after a good dinner at Julie's with Tim, Addy and Liz; Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls loop hike 6.5 miles 1700 feet in the gorge; Flying and landing at Albany and Lebanon in Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh; Christmas Day and dinner with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Ellin, Tim and Julie, plenty of ping pong and Schneider; Roadsend hike 7.5 miles 1300 feet on the coast; Skiing at Skibowl for the first time near Mt Hood with Iman and Arianaz in the fog.  Google Photos

9/12&10/10&17&24&11/9-16&18-21&24/2022 13 mile bike ride with Jeff Summerlake and Greenway Parks in Tigard; Columbia Mountain hike 6 miles 2000 feet with PT when visiting Bridgette in Coram; Bachelor Mountain hike 4 miles 1200 feet; Salem's brand new YMCA; Crescent Mountain hike 5 miles 1100 feet in the rain and snow, turned around when too wet and cold;  a week in Chicago with Liam and Colin while Matt and Olivia took a short vacation to London; flight to the coast in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Kelsey, Tim and Ramesh; Janet made delicious vegan lasagna for Friday dinner; Saturday was our big Thanksgiving at our house with 16 people playing ping pong and Schneider, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Dylan, Holly, Michael, Kelsey, Julie, Tim L, Christine, Mark, Janet, Tim S and Kirby; Sunday Latourell Falls Loop 2.5 miles 600 feet with all 16 of our group and then after hike lunch at Margarita Factory then back to Julie's for more Schneider; Monday trip to the coast for a beach walk and lunch with Kelsey and Kirby; Thursday second Thanksgiving at Julie's in Portland with Ellin, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and Kirby and more Schneider.  Google Photos

Grand Canyon Raft Trip September 2022

Late Summer 2022

9/12-10/04/2022 Trip to Chicago for Colin's 8th birthday, fun trip to downtown Museum of Ice Cream and Navy Pier (ride on the Seadog which got us all wet in the waves of Lake Michigan), taking Liam and Colin to school and meeting their teachers; hike up South Sister 12.2 miles 5000 feet (10,358 feet third highest peak in Oregon) with Ziv and Elle, smoke from fires in the video (see link below) to the south; Marion Mt 11.2 miles 2200 feet in the smoke with Ziv and Elle including Marion Lake and Ann Lake with nice falls Marion and Gatch Falls.  Google Photos

8/2&15&16&20&21&22/2022 Kelsey the Mermaid from her gig in Hawaii; Tom canceled his Idaho raft trip because of a bad back but has recovered quickly with some muscle relaxers and PT back exercises; Battle Axe Mountain hike 7 miles 1900 feet near Elk Lake, just opened up since the bad fire two years ago, but very little fire damage there; Fly over Crater Lake with Ramesh and Pranav, refueled in Roseburg; Kings Mountain hike 10 miles 3000 feet with Ziv and Elle and then lasagna dinner at our house on their way back from the Canadian Rockies; fun dinner and Schneider game with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Holly, Michael, Julie and Tim at Julie's, Holly and Michael were on their way back from Crater Lake camping weekend; Stahlman Point hike 4.5 miles 1300 feet near Detroit Lake. Google Photos

Crater Lake Video with Ramesh and Pranav

7/10&13&14&21-31/2022 4rd Annual Kayak and Paddleboard Event with Jessica and Jennifer paddling from Independence to Salem 11 miles meeting David and Laura at the end in Wallace Marine Park; stayed at Airbnb near Mt Hood with Tim and Sharon and hiked along Trillium Lake with a good lunch at Timberline Lodge; Laura on her 73rd birthday; picked up Tim and his bike in Boulder, CO and then drove and visited Earl, Linda and Judy in Sioux Falls, SD with a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner on our way to Ragbrai in Sioux City, IA; shuttled cars over to the other side of Iowa on Saturday; Sunday began our fun Ragbrai bike ride across Iowa with 22-23 thousand people for 7 days 454 miles 11,954 feet climb with fantastic weather (never got above 85 degrees) with Jean, Laura C and Tim; every town was a party even the small farm towns, lots of corn and soy bean fields with corn fields used for our bathroom stops much nicer than all the porta potties, each overnight town had nice parks for thousands of tents, the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend, Stockman House (Frank Lloyd Wright) in Mason City, Alvin Miller House (Frank Lloyd Wright) in Charles City; the next Saturday we finished our ride in Lansing and then on to Matt's house for an overnight before driving back across country; meanwhile Laura spent time with her good friend Chris in Idaho and then flew to Maui to vacation with Kelsey and Ryan; they all had a great time together touring around the island in a white Mustang convertible; Mark and Christine visit Kelsey and Sam in New York. Google Photos

Summer 2022

6/13&20&23-26&7/1-4/2022 Seals keeping an eye on me at Netarts Spit; Coffin Mountain 5 miles 1000 feet still in the snow and snowing mid June;  Middle Pyramid 5 miles 1500 feet could not get to top because of steep snow field; Matt got me a bike outfit plus our team kit for our Ragbrai bike ride across Iowa the end of July;  Father's Day camping trip at Goose Lake with Aaron, Addy, Holly, Michael, Julie and Tim near Mt Adams kayaking, paddle boarding and exploring ice caves;

39th Annual Backpack in Maroon Bells Wilderness near Aspen, CO with Caty, Archer (what a good dog!), Bo, Tim and Tom; planned to do a loop hike but when we got off the shuttle bus, we were at the wrong trail head;  it worked out well for us with Bo's sore leg, we just backpacked in 4 miles and 1800 feet into the best campsite at 11,400 feet that we saw in the whole area; Saturday 7/2 Caty, Archer, Tim and Tom day hiked 8 miles 2000 feet to Willow Lake going over Willow Pass 12,500 feet while Bo rested his sore leg in camp, Tom climbed up to another pass at 12,500 feet on the East Snowmass Trail; Sunday day hiked 12 miles 2500 feet to Snowmass Lake with Tim and Tom while Bo, Archer and Caty climbed to Buckskin Pass 12,500 feet; Monday July 4th we hiked out from our base camp;  this was Bo's first backpack with us while Caty has been on 3 other backpacks with us but it had been 24 years since the last one; we ended up doing a lot of the loop we had originally planned but just day hiking it; we saw deer, foxes, marmots and picas. Google Photos

5/2&9&16&20&23&30&6/4-6/2022 Netarts Spit hike 11 miles 100 feet found 18 whole sand dollars north of Cape Lookout on the coast; Punch Bowl Falls hike 9 miles 1000 feet on Eagle Creek in the gorge, saw several pretty Western Tanagers; Cook's Ridge and Gwynn Creek Loop hike 7 miles 1000 feet at Cape Perpetua; flew to 150 miles north to Copalis Beach, WA.for a beach landing at low tide in the Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh and Pranav; Dry Creek Falls hike 4 miles 500 feet on the PCT in the gorge; Hart's Cove hike 4 miles 500 feet with our new Subaru Outback;  first big trip in the new Outback to Montana visiting Bridgette and biking the Going-to-the-Sun road thru Glacier National Park with Jean and Laura C, First day biked half way up west side to The Loop (Logan Pass was still closed too much snow) 29 miles 1000m feet, Second day biked up east side from St. Mary to Jackson Glacier Overlook 14 miles 1000 feet, Third day biked from Coram to Apgar on west side 19.6 miles 100 feet, the rangers think Logan Pass won't be open until July. Google Photos

Triple Arches video

Bear sighting on east side of Glacier Park video

Spring 2022

4/9&10&17&19-26/2022 Tim and Julie going to St Mary's Auction Night while we went out to dinner with Liz, Addy and Aaron; lunch in Portland with Mehdi, Nazi and Roxanna (good friends we had not seen for 35 years); Easter dinner at Tim and Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Cormac, Lane, Amy and Steve; trip to New York for Kelsey's 40th birthday; train up the Hudson to visit Jeanne and Eddie and their two cats; setting up for Kelsey's 40th birthday party and Calcium Fortified art show in an amazing space in Soho with Ryan, Phil (sketch artist), Chris (photos) and Duane (sketch artist); we got to meet a lot of Kelsey and Ryan's friends at the well-attended party the next evening, it was a fun time; a visit to the new Little Island park and Pier 57 right on the Hudson and then dinner at Chelsea Market. Google Photos

3/22-4/2/2022 Fly to Independence and Albany then lunch at the Flight Deck in Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh and Pete ; visit Matt and family over Matt's birthday (turned 42) and Liam's birthday (turned 10) in Naperville with Colin, Olivia and Tess; took Colin to Kendall Elementary School with teacher Ms Ash; spring break vacation to Wisconsin Dells and Wilderness On the Lake Resort with 4 different indoor water parks; Liam loved all the water slides and Colin liked the bumper boats with squirt guns; thanks to Olivia for most of the pictures.   Google Photos

1/30&31&2/7&14&21&25&28&3/7&14&16/2022 Another fun day at Wings and Waves water park and Serendipity Ice Cream Shop with Aaron, Addy and Liz in McMinnville and then dinner with Tim and Julie; Roads End hike 6 miles1000 feet on the coast; Winter VB team with Ashley, April, Shelby, Kyle and Jeremy; Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil hike 4 miles 1000 feet in the Gorge; backsplash installed and our kitchen is finally done; Stormy Valentine's Day at the coast; Cape Perpetua hike 4 miles 200 feet; fly to McMinnville for lunch with Ramesh in Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Triple, Horsetail and Pony Falls hike 4 miles 1000 feet in gorge, first time since 2017 fire and it is still in bad shape; Bob Straub State Park hike 5 miles 100 feet on the coast near Pacific City; Spring VB team with April, Ashley, Shelby, Derek and Kelly; MG's farewell lunch with Tom's work crew at the Yard in Salem; Wahclella Falls hike 2 miles 200 feet in the gorge, last time did this hike Liz was a baby. snowboarding and skiing with Ramesh and Pranav at Hoodoo, 3 1/2 inches of powder and very nice conditions; ordered a Silver Subaru Outback 2022 which should be delivered by June.  Google Photos

Winter 2021

1/3&4&9&17&19&19&22-25/2022 Hart's Cove hike 4 miles 500 feet from the north trail on the coast; getting our new quartz countertops, now we only need our backsplash which scheduled for Feb 11 install; skiing and snowboarding with Ramesh and Pranav at Hoodoo; Hamilton Mt, Hardy and Rodney Falls hike 8 miles 2200 feet in the gorge; Tom's 70th birthday beef roast dinner; 4 days of great skiing in Utah with an old friend Dick who I had not seen in 35 years at Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird; took Dick to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the Assembly Hall, the Mormon Tabernacle and the new Conference Center that holds 21,000 people.  Google Photos

12/6&13&17&18&19&20-31/2021 The old oak tree at SAIF's back courtyard that got damaged in last year's ice storm and now will be made into conference tables. They used a 7 foot long chain saw; Cape Lookout hike 4 miles 500 feet very stormy on the coast; Wakeena and Multnomah Falls loop hike 5 miles 1500 feet in the gorge; Beyond Van Gogh event in Portland and then celebrate early Christmas with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim; Willamette Valley Winery tour with Jean, Wendy and Chris and Jean became a owner (bought some shares) so she could get a good deal on wine; fun Christmas in Chicago with Colin, Liam , Olivia and Matt: a lot of activities, bowling, climbing gym, neighborhood playground, Chicago Botanic Garden Lightscape, Morton Arboretum Illumination, a visit from Grinch and Santa Claus at Christmas party with neighbor family, Christmas Eve dinner with Belinda and Henry, day after Christmas family party with Frankie, Lucas, Jen and BJ, brought in the New Years with Liam, Olivia and Matt (Colin was already in bed) and a champagne toast.  Google Photos

11/20-21&25&29/2021 First Thanksgiving with family since covid the Saturday before including Aaron, Addy, Liz, Dylan, Julie, Tim L, Holly, Michael, Sam, Janet, Tim S, Christine and Mark; two Schneider's games going at the same time; Sunday before Thanksgiving a family trip to the Japanese Garden in Portland; second Thanksgiving dinner on the actual day at Julie's with Tom and Veronica; 7 mile 1200 feet Cape Horn hike in the gorge and fog, saw a gray whale in the Columbia River but by the time I got my camera out it dived down and did not return; fall volleyball team first season since covid.  Google Photos

9/27&10/4&11&18&25&11/1&8/2021 Kitchen remodel picking alder cabinets and quartz counter top, demo-ing kitchen, installing new cabinets, having floors sanded and refinished, still waiting for counter top that is back ordered and then we will pick out a new back splash, moved a set of old cabinets to garage to use for better storage; finished C2C bike-hike trail from Corvallis to the Sea in 8 different segments total of 63.7 miles (127.4 back and forth): 4th segment Woods Creek Road, Shot Pouch Trail Road, Shot Pouch Road and Sugar Bowl Creek – 7 miles 500 feet (14 miles back and forth); 5th segment Harlan Road and Grant Creek Trail – 6 miles 400 feet (12 miles back and forth); 6th segment Grant Creek, Hogback, Branch Creek, Bull Run Trails, Gopher Ridge Road and Gopher Creek Trail – 8 miles 1000 feet (16 miles back and forth); 7th segment Palmer Mountain Trail and FS Road 5083 – 9 miles 500 feet (18 miles back and forth); 8th segment FS Road 5081 to Peterson Creek Trail and Hitselberger Road, Wolkau Road, Hitselberger Trail, Hancock Road, North Beaver Creek Road and the end of the C2C trail at Ona Beach – 10.2 miles 700 feet (20 miles back and forth); fly into Corvallis with Ramesh in Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Brian Booth State Park hike 6 miles 400 feet in the rain; kayak up Beaver Creek 8 miles from Ona Beach and saw a beaver close up.  Google Photos

Fall 2021

8/23&24&26-29&9/6&7&10-12&17-19&21/2021 C2C bike-hike trail from Corvallis to the Sea first 11.5 miles (25 miles bike ride 1000 feet); Laura's back surgery fusing L3, L4, L5 and S1 with titanium screws; Matt and Kelsey fly in for a long weekend to help Laura recover from back surgery plus Julie and family come for a lasagna dinner and we all watch Akhenaten; fig fruit basket from Lee, Tula and Blanca and their garden for Laura; Next section of C2C bike-hike trail 6 miles (12 miles bike ride 1000 feet); Bridgette and Dennis stop by on their two week motorcycle trip; Third section of C2C bike-hike trail 6 miles (12 miles bike ride 1300 feet); fun weekend with Aaron, Addy and Liz while Julie and Tim take a weekend at the coast, Wings and Waves water park, Aaron little league game and 2 Avenger movies; 21st Annual Sierra trip, last year's got cancelled because of smoke, while this year had smoke too it cleared up on day 2 and 3, first day we checked out Bodie State Park which is an old gold/silver mining ghost town which put out 100 million dollars worth of gold/silver and had a town population of 10,000 people back in the late 1800s, cool town and great mining tour with the rangers doing a great job giving the history, John found three geocaches, 5 miles 200 feet walk with Carol, Mark, Art, Mike, John and Jim exploring the town; Day 2 an 8 mile 500 feet hike Twenty Lakes Basin with Joel, Mike's son joining the 7 of us; Day 3 Rock Creek trail 6 miles 1000 feet having a delicious lunch at Rock Creek Lodge including peach and mixed berry pies ala mode, a great way to finish off our Sierra trip; fly to Pacific City on the coast in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh.  Google Photos

Carol's Photos from our Sierra Trip   

Mike's Photos from our Sierra Trip

8/2&5&8&9/2021 Marion Mt hike 10 miles 2000 feet Marion Lake and Ann Lake with nice falls Marion and Gatch on unmarked and unmaintained trail but worth the side hike; Mt Hood hike 8 miles 3200 feet with Ziv and Elle up Cooper Spur looking down on Elliot Glacier.  Trailhead starts near Cloud Cap Inn and we did a loop over to Tilly Jane A-Frame climbing up to 9000 feet; 3rd Annual Kayak and Paddleboard: Six of us did the 10 mile float from Buena Vista to Independence in 4 hours. The weather was nice with partly sunny skies. Jessica, Brian and Matt on paddle boards and Jennifer, David and me on kayaks. We met Ramesh, Swapna, Laura and Shri at Riverview Park for more water fun in Independence; Marion and Gatch falls hike 5 miles 1000 feet and short loop along Marion Lake. Google Photos

7/17-26/2021 Visit Matt and family in Chicago and help them move in their new house (4279 Lacebark Lane) in Naperville with Colin, Liam, Olivia, Matt, Belinda and Henry; we all had a fun time together first in the hotel and then their new house, swimming, playing basketball, kayaking, bicycling, unpacking, putting things together, blessing the house and watching the Olympics; thanks to Olivia for most of the photos.  Google Photos

Summer 2021

6/28&29&7/5&8-11&12/2021 Detroit Lake kayaking 12 miles; grass landing in Cessna Skyhawk 172 with Ramesh; Independence to Salem kayaking 12 miles; 38th Annual Backpack in Mt Jefferson Wilderness Area, Oregon with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Christine, Mark, Janet, Leslie, Tim S and John; Wakeena-Multnomah Falls loop 5 miles 1600 feet with Elle and Ziv; Laura's 72nd birthday.  Google Photos

John's Log on backpack

7/8-11/2021 38th Annual Backpack, Mt Jefferson NF Wilderness, Tom's blueberry pancake breakfast, Tom&Tim S set shuttle, Pamelia Lake, 2.9mi, 892', 2h40
9: Grizzly Peak, phone calls, 6.8mi, 2580', 6h30
10: pack to Hanks Lake, Emma finds ranger Aaron, much downfall on Hunts Cove Tr - break hiking pole, Tom helps with pack, mosquitos bad, 4.6mi, 1830', 6h30
11: pack out, Tom's help to jct, cut left leg - Janet bandages, again later - ranger Aaron wraps, 6.4mi, 456/2508, 4h56, Tom,Julie,Janet,Addy&Leslie hike out Bingham Ridge Tr, miss lunch at the Yard in Salem, $1k car rental, home at 10
Tom, Tim S, Janet , Mark, Christine , Julie, Tim , Elizabeth, Addison, Aaron and Leslie

6/18-20/2021 9th Annual Father's Day Camping trip; drove up Thursday night and met Tim S, Janet, John and Gretchen at Trout Creek Campground in South Santiam Canyon near Sweet Home; Julie and family arrive Friday night along with Holly and Michael; Saturday hike up Iron Mountain 7 miles 1300 feet with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Holly, Michael, Janet and Tim S; fun swimming, kayaking and jumping in the South Santiam River by the campsite; Sunday we all headed home; it was a beautiful spot, weather and weekend.  Google Photos

6/3-7/2021 Bike up Going-to-the-Sun highway to Logan Pass 32 miles 3300 feet with Jean and Laura C; Drive to Tim and Janet's (Tri-Cities) for a good dinner and conversation Thursday spending the night, drive to Coram, MT and Bridgette's for another good meal Friday, got up early to meet Jean and Laura C at Lake McDonald Motel at 8am Saturday, drive to Avalanche Lake where the road is closed except to bikes and hikers, got there at 8:30 parking lot full and Avalanche Campground (not open yet for camping) used for parking and still had to squeeze into some spots for our two cars, probably a thousand bikes going up but still plenty of room for everyone plus big horn sheep and a marmot, definitely the best way to do Going-to-the-Sun highway, PT and Camille come back from backpacking in Glacier on Sunday and we all go out for dinner in Whitefish and check out PT's job site, drive back to Salem Monday. Google Photos

Jean's videos:

https://youtu.be/90u5pB9aWvw

https://youtu.be/wsVtA3KXya8

5/28-31/2021 4 day backpack in the Sierra's west of Lake Tahoe in Desolation Wilderness with Ziv, Elle, Matt, Sarah and Yvette; drive Thursday night to Loon Lake trailhead, Friday meet Matt, Sarah, Elle and Ziv in the morning and backpack in 8 miles 500 feet into our beautiful camping spot on Rockbound Lake, Saturday day hike 11 miles 1300 feet and mostly bushwhack up to Highland Lake and Zitella Lake with Ziv and Elle, Sunday day hike 13 miles 1300 feet up to Horseshoe Lake and McConnell Lake again a lot of bushwhacking with Yvette, Elle and Ziv, Monday get up early, hike out and drive back to Salem. Google Photos

5/9&10&17&24/2021 Mother's Day at Cubanisimo Vineyards for wine tasting; Whalen Island County Park 2 miles 100 feet on the coast north of Pacific City; Munson Creek Falls 1 mile 200 feet near Pleasant Valley; scouting out Pamelia Lake and Benson Ridge trailheads and trails for our July backpack, still a lot snow. Google Photos

5/15/2021 Jessica and Ozzy's Wedding with Ramesh, Swapna, Dwayne, Mike, Dan, Janet, Brian, Wanlu, Chen, Shri, Nate, Andy and Kate. Google Photos

Spring 2021

4/27-5/2/2021 John Day 6 day 70 mile raft trip from Clarno to Cottonwood Canyon with Lucy the dog, Melinda, Tim, Bill, Herb, Ron, Dan, Dennis, Pete, Ryan and Vern. Google Photos

Rescue on the John Day

Tom's log

Tuesday - Met everyone at take-out in Cottonwood Canyon at 11am, left two cars there and then drove 3 vehicles and trailers with all our equipment to put-in at Clarno. Two hours to rig the rafts and kayaks. Started out at 4pm 4 miles and stopped at M105.5 gravel campsite.  Melinda made chili for dinner with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Wednesday - Got off before 9am. IK (inflatable kayak) with Bill and Dennis flipped in the Clarno rapids,  Ron pulled Dennis into our boat (17 foot raft) and Bill got back in the IK only to flip again further in the same rapid.  We hit a big hole going on the right side and it knocked off my hard shell kayak we had on the back of the raft. We rescued the IK first then got to Bill so Ron could pull him in too.  When we got to a calm area, we did not know if Vern in his cataraft could get my kayak and he was the only boat behind us.  After some waiting and much effort, Vern showed up with my kayak.  Later that day we ran Basalt rapid with no problems and we stopped at a very nice campsite at M91.  Ron and Herb made spaghetti and meatballs, coleslaw and brownies for dinner.  After dinner, I hiked up 1500 feet to a high point from river. Dan brought out his fire box that we all enjoyed and amazed us.

Thursday - Left camp before 9am and I kayaked all day.  Ron took over the oars on the raft.  Stopped at 30 mile canyon and filled up a 6 gallon water jug with creek water we would use for cooking.  It was the only stream we saw flowing into the John Day on the whole trip.  Stopped at another nice campsite M75.4. Pete and Ryan made BBQ pork sandwiches with coleslaw.  Ryan and Pete kept us well fed with all sort of goodies from Great Harvest Bakery which Ryan owns and runs in Great Falls, MT. Went for an hour hike with Dennis from the campsite. Played King of Tokyo game with Melinda, Ryan and Tim.

Friday - Pete and Ryan made french toast for breakfast and we got off before 9am again. Today we did not stop for lunch but got to another nice campsite near Owl Rock by 1pm at M59.4. Beef Stew for dinner by Dennis and Bill.  More King of Tokyo games.  Everyone hiked up to Owl Rock with a nice trail from the campsite.

Saturday - It rained most of the night but cleared up by morning.  Pete and Vern both got wet since they were sleeping out.  We had to pack up wet tents and got off a little after 9am.  Windy most of the day and we stopped at M45.5 at the only decent campsite this close to the take-out.  Spaghetti for dinner by Ryan and Pete.  Dan decided to continue to the take-out so we were down to 10 of us.  Tim and I did a short loop hike after dinner.

Sunday -  Tim and I made the last breakfast and we were planning blueberry pancakes.  But when I went to find the pancake mix, I had forgotten to pack it.  So we pulled out our leftovers and since we had plenty of tortillas and cheese, we made quesadillas instead.  We got off by 8:30am and made it to the take-out by 9:30am.  Derigged the rafts and all went home by 11am.  Great fun trip with a good group of people!!

4/12&19&23&24/2021 Sitka Sedge Natural Area 5 miles 100 feet hike on the coast north of Pacific City;  Starvation Ridge/ Warren Lake/Mt Defiance Ridge loop 12 miles 4000 feet in 6 feet of snow; Roadsend and Drift Creek Falls hikes 12 miles 1000 feet with Chris and Rosalinda; Blue Hole hike 5 miles 200 feet with Chris and Rosalinda; Silver Falls loop 9 miles 500 feet seeing 10 falls with Chris and Rosalinda. Google Photos

3/12&15&19-4/3&5&9/2021 Snowboarding and skiing at Hoodoo on a nice sunny day; Proposal Rock, Ghost Tree Stumps and Cape Kiwanda hikes 4 miles 500 feet on the coast; Our first airplane flight since covid to visit Matt and family in Chicago for two weeks; Checked out Liam new school Sts. Peter and Paul and Colin's new school once they move to Naperville and their new house; Celebrate Matt's 41st birthday and then Liam's 9th birthday; Spent a night in downtown Chicago; Checked out the finished stone and brick work on Matt's new house; new half shell in Salem Riverfront Park; Starvation Creek Ridge hike 6 miles 2000 feet; nice spring skiing and snowboarding for the last time this season at Hoodoo.  Google Photos

Late Winter 2021

2/19&3/1&4&7&8/2021 Snowboarding and skiing at Hoodoo with 5 inches heavy powder and hard to see because it was snowing all day; Matt's house construction as of 2/20 and 2/28; Starvation Creek hike 7 miles 2300 feet into a foot of snow in the gorge; Kelsey comes for a visit first time since covid; couple days on the coast with Kelsey from Lincoln CIty to Newport Oregon Coast Aquarium; 15 mile bike ride with Kelsey all around Salem; 4 nice water falls, Starvation Creek Falls, Cabin Creek Falls, Hole-in-the-Wall Falls and Lancaster Falls hike 2 miles 300 feet with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Kelsey and Tim S then lunch at Hood River Riverfront Park; flying to Lebanon, OR with Kelsey, Pranav and Ramesh in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk; we won another permit for the Grand Canyon next year with a put-in of September 14 (see our web site).   Google Photos

Video of our hiking on Southern Oregon Coast with Ziv and Elle:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6mopwdgZZ2YBmGuB8

Old Family videos from 1988 to 2001:

50th anniversary (Tuscarora Inn, 1991)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ky59EcqrUALeKYSj6OOazU-KA4PlaS-a/view?usp=sharing

50th wedding anniversary (includes 1941 wedding)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NEcQUwE01DC2ekWUDILthDmlfr4E_8vO/view?usp=sharing

60th wedding anniversary (2001)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/151_PGdqIzcQhv7XL13KjyJuiwSE1GBmH/view?usp=sharing

Markelsville (1988)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17wtcpsp6bxUYgqsqP4o5Tmpcv6Du6KiC/view?usp=sharing

1/25&2/1&8&12-13/2021 Snowboarding and skiing at Mt Hood Meadows with 3 inches fresh powder, sunny and no wind; Proposal Rock and Hart's Cove hike 5 miles 500 feet from the north end; Another day snowboarding and skiing at Mt Hood Meadows; meet Ziv and Elle at the south Oregon coast Lone Ranch and Whalehead hikes 12 miles 500 feet in the drizzle all day; Natural Bridges, Arch Rock and Cape Sebastian 10 miles 500 feet with Ziv and Elle; Matt's new house construction as of 2/13. Google Photos

12/28/2020&1/2&4&15-17&19/2021 Snowboarding and skiing at Hoodoo with Pranav, Melvika, Ramesh; Mill Creek Horse trail 11.5 miles 1800 feet in the Redwoods near Crescent City, CA with Elle, Ziv and Mike; Wakeena Multnomah Falls loop 5 miles 1500 feet in the gorge; Cape Perpetua on the coast 5 miles 200 feet with 550 year old sitka spruce tree; Munra Point 6 miles 1800 feet in the gorge with Tim; Tom's 69th birthday with Tim being only our second house guest since covid; Snowshoeing at Santiam Pass and Ray Benson Snowpark 4 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Jack, Addy, Emily, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Melissa, John and Tim S; Wakeena Multnomah Falls loop 5 miles 1500 feet in the gorge with Ron plus 2 miles to check out Eagle Creek Trail that was closed because of landslides; Flight to Lebanon, OR with Luke, Arhip and Ramesh in Cessna Skyhawk 172; Matt's new house construction as of 1/23. Google Photos

Winter 2020

11/30&12/7&14&17&21&23&25-26/2020 Hart's Cove hike 8 miles 1400 feet on the coast; Hamilton Mt and Hardy Falls hike in the gorge 9 miles 2200 feet; pork roast and sauerkraut lunch with Earl and Linda just our second house guests since covid; runway 16 approach Albany Airport with Ramesh in Cessna 172 Skyhawk at dusk; Bob Straub State Park beach hike 6 miles 100 feet; first snowboarding/skiing for the season at Hoodoo; Christmas dinner just the two of us (we cancelled our Chicago trip not because of covid but Laura had emergency eye surgery for a detached retina); day after Christmas food and gift swap just like we did at Thanksgiving with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim at their house in Portland; broke ground 12/14 on Matt and Olivia's new house (blueprint) in Naperville, 12/16 foundation forms, 12/22 foundation poured and cured; Matt gets covid-19 vaccine. Google Photos Slideshow

10/26&11/1-2&9&11&16&26-27/2020 Browder Ridge hike 8 miles 1800 feet; Approach to runway 34 in Salem and then soft field grass landing in Lenhardt with Ramesh in Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Mt Bachelor hike (west of the Cascades) 6 miles 1700 feet; Roadsend hike 6 miles 1000 feet on the coast; Cape Horn hike 7 miles 1000 feet in the gorge; Thanksgivng dinner just the two of us and then that Friday did a Thanksgiving food swap with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim outside their house in Portland, first time we visited them in-person since our raft trip in June. Google Photos Slideshow

9/28&10/5&18&19/2020 Rooster Rock 4 miles 2100 feet east of Sweet Home; Green Peter Lake and Dam; Iron Mt loop 5 miles 1400 feet; Salem runway 16 approach with Ramesh in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk; Crescent Mt 9 miles 2200 feet; Santiam Canyon Wildfire on the way to Crescent Mt drove up Route 22 for the first time since they opened it up last week after the wildfires. They say they had to cut down over 20,000 trees before they could reopen the road. I believe it. There were piles of trees all along Santiam Canyon. Idanha had little damage and so did Mill City and Gates a few house burnt down but Detroit took the brunt of it. It is pretty sad to see all the damage.   Google Photos Slideshow

Summer 2020

9/16-21/2020 Trip to Montana to visit Bridgette and PT; stopped in to see Tim in Pasco and Tim made his famous goulash for dinner; Bridgette' s place in Coram, MT with new lawn and shed.  The place is looking great!; road trip up to Logan Pass in Glacier NP with Pt and Bridgette;  Sunday drove around Hungry Horse Reservoir and stopped at Spotted Bear Ranger Station with PT's dog named Spotted Bear and PT and Bridgette; smoke all the over to Montana on the drive but it cleared up by the time we drove back; we had some rain and now Salem has nice clean air like usual!   Google Photos Slideshow

8/28-29&31&9/6&7/2020 Camping at Detroit Lake Cove Creek NF Campground with Ramesh, Pranav, Dwayne (he made his famous chili), Sheryl, Zack and Gabe; Coffin Mt hike 4 miles 1200 feet with Pranav and Ramesh with no smoke; McDowell Creek and Falls 3 miles 200 feet near Sweet Home; lunch with Mike and Pete at Mike's house like old times before covid; Coffin Mt hike 4 miles 1200 feet with Parinaz and Iman this time with smoke and the day before the fires ripped thru the Santiam Canyon which we just drove thru; So very sad!.  Google Photos Slideshow

/10&17/2020 Another attempt bushwhacking up South Pyramid after bashing my knee, got further on the ridge between Middle Pyramid and South Pyramid but it was just too difficult 6 miles 1500 feet; Jefferson Park 10 miles 1700 feet Whitewater Trail to the PCT was all burned up from the fire a couple years ago,  this was our alternative backpack for this year, saw 17 backpackers going out, even more coming in along with 6 llamas, had lunch at Scout Lake and hiked around the lake, a lot of people everywhere for a wilderness area.  Google Photos Slideshow

7/30-8/3/2020 37th Annual Backpack in Strawberry Mountain Wilderness near John Day, OR with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Jean, Tim S and John; met at Wickiup NF Campground Thursday night; hiked in 5 miles to Slide Lake Friday morning; Saturday backpacked 5 miles around Strawberry Lake, Strawberry Falls and up to Little Strawberry Lake where we stayed for two nights; Sunday Aaron, Addy, Tim L, Tim S, John and Tom hiked up Strawberry Mountain 9038 feet high while Liz, Julie and Jean hiked around Strawberry Lake; Monday hiked out 6 miles then Loveless family got a flat driving out on the gravel road so we all headed to John Day to get the tire fixed; had lunch at 1188 Brewery while Les Schwab put on a new tire because the damage was too bad to plug;  another fun backpack (and pretty buggy but we had plenty of deet) with ages ranging from 9 years old to 77 years old.  Google Photos Slideshow

John's log and map:

7/30-8/4 37th Annual Backpack, Strawberry Mtn, Eastern Oregon, Malheur NF,
2020 drive to Hawthorne Motel 6, then to Wickiup CG
31: rough drive to High Lake Rim TH, Skyline Tr, High Lake, Slide
Lake camp, 4.8mi, 922'gain/1696'loss, 5h45, swimming, some to Little
Slide Lake
1: pack to Little Strawberry Lake, Slide Creek Falls view, Slide
Basin Tr, SbLake, SbBasin Tr, SbFalls, 5.6mi, 1162/1459, 6hrs
2: climb Strawberry Mtn 9038, 4k prom, JEJ down to SbLake, 2 goats on
way down from peak, 8.5mi, 2700', 6h45
3: pack out on Onion Creek Tr & Roads End Tr, 5.8mi, 1781/830, 5h5m,
Loveless flat tire on drive out, 1188 Brewery in John Day, Ju&A find
ticks, drive to Winnemucca Motel 6, home 5pm, 2000mi drive
Tom, Julie, Tim Loveless, Elizabeth, Addison, Aaron, Tim, Jean Truyter

7/19/2020 Thanks to everyone who showed up for our Kayak and Paddle Board Event, our first team event since covid. We had 19 people and beautiful weather. I had a good time and I think everyone else did too. We hope to do it again next year. Here are photos I took from the event. Sorry if I got any names wrong: Wanlu, Chen, Andy, Katie, Amy, Sam, Jack, Ramesh, Swapna, Melvika, Pranav, Dan, Janet, Jessica, Nate, Kalin, Dwayne, Tom and Laura.  Google Photos Slideshow

Spring 2020

7/6&13&14/2020  Middle Pyramid hike 1500 feet 6 miles with a side hike up North Pyramid bushwhacking;  The next week tried to bushwhack up South Pyramid but hit my knee against a rock and had to hobble down the mountain with a 1 inch gash, drove right to the urgent care and got it stitched up with 5 stitches; broke 200,000 miles on my odometer; Laura's 71 birthday celebrating with her sister Bridgette who came over from Montana.   Google Photos Slideshow

Laura opening her birthday gift from Liam and Colin

5/18&19&25&6/1&8&15&19-21/2020  Henline Falls hike (and sealed mine shaft) and bushwack to find hidden falls (Family Falls, the first being Jerry Falls at 79 feet with a total of 10 falls in all on Henline Creek) 3 miles 300 feet; Matt and Olivia's gift of fresh vegie box to celebrate Laura's end of chemo; continue hidden falls hike and bushwack on Henline Creek to Jackie Falls 23 feet, Deanna's Slide 12 feet, Dave Falls 40 feet, Ron Falls 37 feet, Dan Falls 58 feet and Mark Falls 29 feet 4 miles 500 feet plus Triple Falls at the confluence of Henline Creek and Little North Santiam;  hike and bushwack 4 miles 1000 feet to last of Family Falls Steve Falls 55 feet and a 100 foot cave with knee deep water; Devils Peak hike 8 mles 2300 feet from Breitenbush Hot Springs in the rain and fog.

Father's Day Weekend camping and rafting trip with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Holly, Michael, Janet and Tim S on the Deschutes near Maupin, OR;  no flipped rafts but we did lose Aaron, Addy and Tim L out of the raft on the class 4 Oak Springs rapids and Addy got bruised on some of the named rocks before we could get her back in the raft going over Diaper Wiper, Meat Grinder and Cheese Grater;  walked up White River from the river and then Sunday we visited the Sherars Falls (a Native American guy was platform fishing and already caught a salmon) and White River State Park with more falls; a fun weekend with everybody and our first time out since the stay-at-home order.   Google Photos Slideshow

Congrats Joshua Tubito (Janet's nephew) on 2020 Graduation from North Carolina State University

3/16&5/11&15/2020  Cascade Head hike 5 miles 1200 feet with Alison and my last hike before the stay-at-home order; two months later first hike after stay-at-home order Henline Mountain 5 miles 2200; Laura took a month off from work but is back now while Tom is still working from home; Laura celebrates with a gluten-free carrot cake (Kelsey sent us the recipe) and rings the bell after her last chemo for a year now (and everything looks good!!!); power washing our back patio.  Google Photos Slideshow

Laura rings the bell

2/22&3/5&9/2020  Movie night in Portland with Aaron, Addy and Liz; flght to Hillsboro in Cessna 172 Skyhawk and good Indian food for lunch with Ramesh and Shrinivas; Snowshoe on Mt Hood 4 miles 1000 feet with Alison; Trillium Lake hike 5 miles 100 feet with Alison; Matt suited up for his first Corona Virus patient but luckily the test came back negative.   Google Photos Slideshow

Katie's Memorial Web Page

Winter 2019

1/1&2&13&18&19&24/2019  Abiqua and Butte Creek Falls hike 900 feet 5 miles with Ziv and Vanessa; Mary's Peak hike in the rain and wind 10 miles 2300 feet with Ziv; First snowboarding of the season with 3 feet of powder at Hoodoo with Ramesh and Prenav; Tom's 68th birthday with beef roast dinner; Skiing and snowboarding at Hoodoo beautiful sunny weather and very crowded with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Emily, Jack, John and Melissa; Aaron and Addy's piano recital and dinner with Liz, Julie and Tim.  Google Photos Slideshow

12/9&16&23&24&25&27/2019  New loop hike 3 miles 500 feet at Roads End to the Knoll; lunch flight in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk with Ramesh to Aurora and Filberts Farmhouse; 3 mile 500 feet snowshoe with Ziv at Crater Lake National Park; Tumalo Falls and Bridge Creek Falls hike 8 miles 500 feet near Bend with Ziv; Christmas with Kelsey, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim; Roads End loop hike 4 miles 500 feet with Kelsey. Google Photos Slideshow

11/18&23&25-12/4/2019  Little North Santiam hike 4 miles 1000 feet with Jeff; early Thanksgiving the Saturday before with singing and some Snyder playing Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Earl, Linda, Mark, Christine, Dylan, Janet and Tim S; .Bull Mt city hike 5 miles 1000 feet with Jeff; our trip to Chicago to visit the grand kids, cooked a second turkey dinner on Thanksgiving with Kelsey, Colin, Liam, Olivia, Matt, Belinda and Henry, Friday Filipino Thanksgiving with a whole pig attended by  Frankie, Lucas, Jen and BJ, a lot of fun with the grand kids going to school, drawing with Liam, ice skating, ping pong and visit to Matt's hospital. Google Photos Slideshow

New Yorker article on Kelsey's Met Opera performance

Inside Edition on Kelsey's Juggling group in the Met Opera

Fall 2019

10/20-21&24-27&11/4&8-14/2019  Dinner down in Portland with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim; Roadsend hike 4 miles 500 feet on the coast; fly in Cessna 172 to Mulino for lunch at Markum Inn with Ramesh and Arhip; Mt Hamilton hike 8 miles 2200 feet in the gorge with John and Jeff; Cheese Soufflé dinner at our house with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Bette and John; Tualatin River Greenway hike 4 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and John; Tryon Creek State Park hike 6 miles 400 feet with Jeff; Cape Falcon hike 5 miles 200 feet on the coast with Jeff; visiting Kelsey and riding on the subway in NYC; Sketch and the City with Kelsey, Ben (our sketch instructor) and others in our group at Grand Central Station; flamenco singer Julia Patinella at the Lightning Society in Brooklyn (no photos) with Kelsey; GatherNYC concert Neave Trio piano, violin and cello from Boston and story teller with Kelsey; train out to Ossining to visit with Eddie and Jeanne for the day and visit New Croton Dam and St Augustine School; Metropolitan Opera Akhnaten Kelsey performing as a juggler with Jane and Sam.  Google Photos Slideshow

10/7&12-14/2019  Coffin Mt and Lookout hike 4 miles 1200 feet with Jeff and Lee; visit Bridgette in Coram, MT for her 60th birthday with her new beautiful new shop and fixed up cabin;  Avalanche Lake hike 6 miles 700 feet in Glacier National Park and we had to scare a big black bear coming up the trail so he would not run into all people on the trail (there were at least 100 people out);  Snyder Lake 9 miles 2200 feet with Neal also in Glacier National Park and the lake was frozen solid which is pretty early for October 14.  Google Photos Slideshow

9/16&20&23&24-29&30/2019  Triangulation Peak and Boca Cave 1000 feet and 5 miles in the fog; flight in Cessna 172 to Aurora and lunch at the Filberts Farmhouse with Ramesh and Arhip; Triangulation Peak and Boca Cave 1000 feet and 5 miles this time with Jeff and Lee; 73 mile Lower Salmon Raft Trip with Tim, Grisell, Rick and Byron; Tualatin Greenway walk 4 miles 100 feet with Jeff and Lee. Google Photos Slideshow

Grisell's photos from our raft trip (much better than mine).

Tom's log for raft trip:

Tuesday 9/24 Leave for Tri-Cities after work and arrive at Tim's around 8:45pm, load up Subaru with all the rafting equipment and wooden frame strapped to roof rack; had a banana beer and some crackers at Tim's; break out with hives after going to bed and can't sleep itching all over; facetime with Matt at 4am and he says to take Benadryl and Zantacs.

Wednesday 9/25 Leave Tim's at 7am with Tim doing a lot of driving; arrive at Hammer Creek Mile 52.5 put-in noon after picking up permits in White Bird; Byron, Rick and Grisell arrive at 1:30pm; rig rafts and get on river at 3:30pm camping at Shorty Canyon at Mile 49, nobody else on the river, still had hives and could not sleep.

Thursday 9/26 Got on river by 9am bacon and Egg Burritos for breakfast, all get stuck on rocks, cloudy with a little rain but nice when we camp at 2pm Killer Goat Beach Mile 33.5, Byron made dutch oven (DO) dinner of chicken enchiladas and cheese cake for dessert, slept well for the first night in three days.

Friday 9/27 Left again at 9am sausages and blueberry pancakes for breakfast, hit most of the big rapids, scouted Half&Half, Snow Hole and China, camped at Mile 17.5 3:30pm, Rick made lasagna in DO and Byron made chocolate cherry cobbler.

Saturday 9/28 Got our earliest start 8:10 ham and Egg Burritos for breakfast, made good time all day with rain on and off, hit the confluence of the Snake River, camped at Geneva Bar doing 21.5 miles our longest day, Byron made chicken pot pie in DO and Rick made peach cobbler, had fires every night but it started to rain so we all all went to bed early at 7pm and it rained all night.

Sunday 9/29 Got another early start 8am head wind, cold and rain, could see snow up on the hills, sausage and french toast for breakfast, Byron put a motor on his raft and towed the other two rafts but only got 3.5 miles before we ran out of gas,  tried to get a jet boat to tow us but it never showed up at the visitor center, so we rowed hard and got to the take out at 2:05, derigged and on the road getting to Tri-Cities 7pm, unloaded raft and frame at Tim's storage locker then unloaded Tim's rafting stuff at his place, got on the road at 7:30 and got home right before midnight.  Great trip and people.  Good job, Byron as our trip leader!

Late Summer 2019

9/2-7/2019  19th Annual Sierra Backpack/Mule Trip in Big Pine Lakes area with Alysha, Sharon, Leslie, Carol, Beth, Gary, Ralph, Ed, John, Mike, Joel, Jim, Mark, Art, Ziv; Stop by in Reno on the way to see Kelsey coming out of a week at the  Burning Man and visiting Sarah (Kelsey's high school friend), Ben and Ryder (2 year old); hit a dead dear in my Subaru at 65mph an hour from the trailhead at 11pm on US395 and now it needs a new left axle but it did get me all the way there and back home; Tuesday backpacked in with John to base camp and Beth and Ralph ride horses in with pack mules; Wednesday Terry's bump, Payne Lake, Seventh Lake. Sixth Lake and Summit Lake with Ziv, Sharon, Mark and Art; Thursday Palisade Glacier up to 12,200 with Sharon, Mark, Leslie, Art and Ziv then off trail over to Sam Mack Lake and Turquoise Lake just with Ziv in the cold rain; Friday Summit Lake, Black Lake, Movie Set, Third, Second and First Lakes with Ziv; Saturday climb Mt Robinson 12,967 alone but sheer granite blocks on top so only got to 200 feet below peak; Sunday get up early hike out at 7am, get to car at 10:20am and then get home at 10:30pm.  Google Photos Slideshow

Ziv's photos (much better than mine!)

Carol's photos

John's log:

9/3-8 19th Annual Sierra Trip, North Fork Big Pine Creek, Glacier Pack Station,
collect Tom, Beth & Ralph ride horses, Tom & Mark backpack, hike in
via Black Lake, most via 3rd Big Pine Lake, camp North side Fourth Lake, 7mi, 3100' gain,
rain on arrival, spectacular, mosquitoes, Ziv's propane campfire ring
9/4: Movie Set wall, Black Lake, Summit Lake loop hike, A group to Terry's
bump 10960+, 5th Lake, Payne Lakes, 7th & 6th Lakes, more rain
9/5: A group to Palisade Glacier - Tom, Ziv and Mark see mountain lion, short rainy loop
hike to 5th Lake, tent time with New Yorkers & Codeword puzzles
9/6: hike to 6th & 7th Lakes - some continue to Payne, afternoon hike to
Terry's bump with Ed & Carol, Gary's birthday - Gary & Alysha hike out, 3 cans Spam,
Art's candles
9/7: Tom to 12700 on Mt Robinson, A group to Sam Mack Lake & steep ridge
down - Mark scary fall, hike to Sam Mack Meadow, Beth & Ralph hike out, windy,
2 cans of Spam for remaining 12, serious runny nose
9/8: hike out via 3rd Lake, dam & mine ruins at 2nd, smoke & ash from
Aberdeen fire, dinner Mt Whitney Cafe in Lone Pine, home at 10:30
Ed, Jim, Art Friesz, Carol, Mike St Marie, Joel St Marie, Ziv,
Sharon, Gary Legerton, Alysha Legerton, Leslie, Mark Sutton, Tom,
Beth, Ralph

8/19&20&26/2019  Flying to Nehalem Bay State Park in a Cessna 172 and then a 4 mile hike down the beach with Ramesh and Lee;  we lost the keys to the plane on the hike so Ramesh had to call Swapna to drive 2 1/2 hours to bring a spare key; setting up a pickle ball court at work with Ramesh, Pranav and Bill;  Bachelor Mt hike 4 miles 1200 feet with Lee and Jeff.  Google Photos Slideshow

8/8-12/2019  36th Annual Backpack at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Dylan, Mark, Sharon and John.  Celebrate Addy's 12th birthday with cupcakes at the trailhead.  13 mile loop with afternoon side hikes to various lakes and a cinder cone.  The crew ranged in age from 8 years old to 76 years old.  Everybody did great.  Google Photos Slideshow

John's log

8/8-12/19
36th Annual Backpack, Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park, ride with Mark&Dylan from Sacramento, get hiking sticks at Big5, Burger Saloon in Woodland, lost in woods near Butte Lake following GPS, last to Campground
9: Bathtub L walk, 10:30 start, pack to Widow L Jct, 2.8mi, 500'gain, most to Widow L, spot 6246 with Tom,Sharon&Aaron, camp deer every day, no fires
10: long pack to Snag Lake west peninsula, spot 6379, rain & hail, some heavy, Sharon leaky tent, 6.7mi, 1100'gain, 6h26m, Tom,Tim&Mark to Rainbow L, 0.8mi peninsula hike, Spam 1 night early
11: pack to NW Snag L by Lava Beds, 1.4mi, 280', 1h14, Mark&Dylan pack out, Sharon 9-mi loop to Rainbow L - Cinder Cone on way out, Cinder Cone S-N, Tom&Aaron into crater, 5.8mi, 1600'gain, 4h41
12: pack to Butte L, slow & tired, 4.2mi, 760', 3h34m, lunch at JJ's Cafe Hwy 89, beautiful drive thru Park to 395, camp at Crowley Lake BLM CG, breakfast in Bishop, home at 1:15
Tom, Mark, Dylan, Julie, Tim Loveless, Elizabeth, Addison, Aaron, Sharon

Summer 2019

7/14-15&22-23&25&29-8/3/2019  Laura's 70th birthday; Mt Bachelor (west of the Cascades) 6 miles 1700 feet; Cape Horn hike in the gorge 6 miles 1000 feet with Jeff; fly to Independence over lunch with Ramesh in a Cessna 172; free Fab 4 concert (Beatles retro band) in Albany with Mike and Jolene; fun gourmet private cooking class by Chef Cleora Brock at Kelly's Home Center with Kelsey, Lynnette and Melissa; coast beach hike 5 miles at Bob Straub State Park with Kelsey, Max, Tula and Lee;  family get-together in Portland with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, TimL, Janet and TimS with Crates and King of Tokyo games; a tour of our new building at SAIF with Kelsey, Janet and Tim; Movie night Maleficent and sleepover then a day at the Evergreen Wings and Waves water park in McMinnville with Aaron, Addy and Liz while Tim and Julie cleaned out their garage. Google Photos Slideshow

6/10&14-16&22&24/2019  Beacon Rock, Hardy Falls and Rodney Falls hike 5 miles 1000 feet with Jeff, Father's Day weekend camping trip to Smith Rock, Skull Hollow Campground, High Dessert Museum with a Raptor show and the Rhubarb Festival in La Pine with Tim and Janet;  Kayaking at Detroit Lake with Iman, Arianaz and friend, Padish, Ramesh, Malvika and Pranav; Saddle Mountain hike 5 miles 1600 feet with Jeff. Google Photos Slideshow

5/25&27&31&6/3/2019  Kidsitting with Aaron, Addy and Liz with usual cheese and macaroni dinner;  Drift Creek Falls hike  4 miles 500 feet with Iman and Jeff; Aaron and Addy's piano recital with Liz, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S; Mt Henline hike 5 miles 2200 feet with Jeff..  Google Photos Slideshow

Winter and Spring 2019

1/14&19&28&2/4&18&3/4&4/19&21&5/11/2019  Hoyt Arboretum 2 miles 100 feet with Jeff; Tom's 67th birthday with pork and sauerkraut dinner; Niagara Falls hike 3 miles 500 feet with Jeff; last day of snowboarding and skiing for the year at Hoodoo; Roads End hike 4 miles 1000 feet with Jeff; babysitting at Aaron, Addy and .Liz's house; winter volleyball team; Laura after her lumpectomy the same week Tom had arthroscopic surgery on the right knee; delicious Easter dinner at Julie and Tim's house in Portland with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Cormac, Lane and Amy; Mother's Day weekend Schreiner's Iris Gardens and cheese soufflé dinner with Matt and Ellin visiting plus Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim.  Google Photos Slideshow

3/8-4/2/2019  Here are the photos, logs and information on our March Grand Canyon raft trip.

Great trip and great people!  We did not flip any rafts and only had Rick doing a swim.

Photos and Logs:

Kristi's photos

Bill's photos

Mark's photo links:

2019_03_08 to 40-01 – Grand Canyon River Rafting, Highlights

2019_03_08 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Lee's Ferry, Mile 0

2019_03_09 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 1, Mile 12.1

2019_03_10 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 2, Mile 20.7

2019_03_11 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 3, Mile 35

2019_03_12 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 4, Mile 53.1

2019_03_13 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 5, Mile 65.1

2019_03_14 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 6, Mile 76.1

2019_03_15 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 7, Mile 87.7

2019_03_16 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 8, Mile 89.5

2019_03_17 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 9, Mile 98.7

2019_03_18 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 10, Mile 112.8

2019_03_19 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 11, Mile 125.4

2019_03_20 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 12, Layover

2019_03_21 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 13, Mile 134.2

2019_03_22 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 14, Mile 137.1

2019_03_23 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 15, Mile 152.1

2019_03_24 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 16, Mile 167

2019_03_25 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 17, Mile 177

2019_03_26 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 18, Mile 189.9

2019_03_27 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 19, Layover

2019_03_28 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 20, Mile 220

2019_03_29 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 21, Mile 240

2019_03_30 - Grand Canyon River Rafting, Camp 22, Mile 264.8

Ross's photos

Polk's photos

Rick's photos

Canyon  REO's  recipes

Tom's videos of Lava Falls runs.

Tom’s log

Friday March 8

Arrived at Lee’s Ferry about 12:30pm and nobody was there yet but as we were driving back to the Navajo Bridge, we passed the Canyon REO truck so we turned back around.  We started to rig the rafts and everybody seem to arrive about the same time to help with the rigging.  Ben Dove from Canyon REO, our outfitter, helped us load up our 5 18-foot rafts.  Around 5:30pm we threw everything left in our rafts and floated a half mile down to the boater’s campsite to pitch our tents.  There was one other private group leaving the same time but they were only going to Diamond Creek in 21 days where as we were going to Pierce’s Ferry in 24 days.  We all met for dinner at Marble Canyon lodge and then back to the campsite to get a night’s sleep before our put-in the next morning.

Saturday March 9

Ben Dove set up breakfast at 7am and talked to us about all the rafting equipment.  The ranger met both our groups at 9:15 and talked about an hour and a half.  We finished rigging our rafts and got on the river at noon.  My oar popped out of the oar lock at our first major rapid Beaver Creek and Bill and I got pretty wet.  We camped at Brown’s Inscription Mile 12.1.  We never did find the inscription.  On dinner duty with Bo and Polk so did not get to bed until 9pm.

Sunday March 10

Got up 5am because my watch switched to standard time. Cooked big egg breakfast and left camp at 10am.  Did House Rock rapid our big rapids for the day.  One boat stayed and did a hike at Ryder Canyon.  Camped at North Canyon Mile 20.7.

Monday March 11

Left camp at 9:30 and did the Roaring Twenties rapids.  Ted flipped three times in the Inflatable Kayak (IK) and we needed to rescue two paddles and the IK.  Stopped for lunch at Redwall Cavern and camped at Nautiloid Canyon Mile 35.

Tuesday March 12

Earliest start yet at 9:15.  Ted is flipping his IK a lot and is always cold.  No sun today but not that cold.  Camped at Upper Nankoweap Mile 53.1.  Rain and wind that evening but food crew still got us a good lasagna dinner.

Wednesday March 13

Most people hiked the granaries before we left at 11am. Stopped at Little Colorado and it was very muddy which means the river will be brown the rest of the way.  Bad wind last 3 miles and camped at Carbon Canyon Mile 65.1.

Thursday  March 14

5 people hiked the Carbon-Lava Canyon loop in the morning so we did not leave camp until 11:30. Visited Unkar Ruins and camped at Nevills Mile 76.1.  My oar popped out again Nevills rapids.  Rick went for a swim when his boat went over a pour over at Basalt Rapids.  He is the only one on the whole trip to be thrown off a boat.

Friday March 15

Josh’s last day on the river and it was his birthday. He was IKing a lot the last couple days.  Ran a bunch of big rapids Hance, Sockdolager, and Grapevine and all our boats made it thru fine. Rick made a birthday cake in the dutch oven for Josh and it was delicious.  Camped at Upper Cremation Mile 87.7.

Saturday March 16

Hung out at Phantom Ranch and Boat Beach waiting for Dan and Kristi while Josh hiked out.  Filled up all our water containers.  Dan had a hard time with ice at the top and had a few falls so it took him a while to get down at 4pm.  The phones did not work at Phantom Ranch and this is the first time I could not give Laura a call from there.  Camped at Across Pipe Creek Mile 89.5.

Sunday March 17

Did three major rapids Horn Creek, Granite and Hermit with no problem. Stopped and swam at Shinumo Creek and Falls.  Camped at Upper Crystal Mile 98.7 and 5 people did a hike up Crystal Creek.

Monday March 18

Everyone made it thru Crystal rapid.  I hit the wall on my left run.  Did all the Gem rapids and stopped at Walthenberg Mile 112.8.

Tuesday March 19

Got off by 9:50 and hit Elves Chasm.  People had fun jumping off the rocks into the pools.  Camped at Fossil Canyon Mile 125.4 and we plan to have a layover day to repair Tim’s raft that has a hole in one of the tubes.

Wednesday March 20

Our first layover day and we patched Tim’s raft.  We had to unload and flip it over.  We let the patch dry overnight. Ted did most of the work applying the glue and patch.  It held for the rest of the trip.  There was about a 4 inch gouge in right rear tube and bubbles came out. 10 people hiked up Fossil Canyon.

Thursday March 21

Re-rigged Tim’s raft after the patch job.  Got on the river at 10:15.  Just the boatman did Bedrock rapid and everyone else walked around since we flipped two boats here the last time. Bad hail, rain, lightning, thunder and wind so we pulled over and let the storm pass.  Everyone was pretty cold.  Camped at Racetrack Mile 134.2.

Friday March 22

7 hikers left camp at 7am for the Thunder River-Deer Creek loop hike.  Stopped at Christmas Tree cave and then on to Deer Creek.  Filled all our water containers with the electric pump and filter.  Camped across the river at OC Mile 137.1.  We left a raft at Deer Creek for the hikers and they got back at 4pm.

Saturday March 23

9:15 start and made good time. Stopped at Matkatamiba for a hike. Lunch late at Matkat Hotel and then Upset Rapid.  Camped at Ledges Mile 152,1.

Sunday March 24

Got an early start 8:45 and spent 3 hours at Havasu Creek, a lot of young backpacked from Supai Campground.  Camped at National Canyon Mile 167.

Monday March 25

Left camp late 11:00 after some hiked up the canyon.  Camped at Above Anvil Mile 177.

Tuesday March 26

Left at 8:45 and everyone made it thru Lava Falls Rapid fine, the biggest rapid in the canyon.  Made good mileage and camped at Parachant Mile 189.9

Wednesday March 27

Second layover day.  Hike up canyon and see Book of Worms.  Played King of Tokyo.

Thursday March 28

Earliest start at 8:35 and stopped to pump water at Spring Canyon Mile 204.6. Pumpkin Springs for lunch and on to Upper 220 Camp.

Friday March 29

8:35 start and Alison did a hike at Mile 222. Passed Diamond Creek and saw the other group taking out.  Stopped at Travertine Falls but 3 of our boats missed the pull-in for Travertine Canyon. Camped at a rocky Separation Canyon Mile 240.

Saturday March 30

8:45 start and did 24.8 miles.  Tons of helicopters and tourist on the Hualapai Indian Reservation at Quartermaster Canyon and saw the skywalk.  Floating lunch.  4 people on two IKs went on a short hike. Camped at Mile 264.8.

Sunday March 31

8:30 start with a stop at Columbine Falls.  Another floating lunch.  Camped at Mile 279 a mile from Pierce’s Ferry.

Monday April 1

Quick breakfast and on the river by 8.  Derigged all the rafts and just got done when Canyon REO truck showed up.  Good lunch of Fried Chicken and then we all hit the road to go back home.  Great trip with great group of people!

Welcome to our 'organizing the trip' web site.  Please let me know if you have things to add or want changed.  Latest Status of the trip listed in reverse chronological order...

03/06/2019 Unfortunately D.A. came down with bronchitis and has to back out of our trip.  Tom has redone Food/Potty/CleanUp assignments (PDF) with one less person.

02/25/2019 Tim's Mileage Planner (PDF) for this trip by popular demand. 

02/17/2019 Tim's latest update to our plan.(PDF). 

01/18/2019 Food/Potty/CleanUp assignments (PDF) along with our menu (PDF) for the trip.

01/17/2019 Tim's update to our plan.(PDF).  Trip is full 18 people, 14 full trip and 4 half trip.

12/19/2018 Two links from Canyon REO our outfitter with their descriptions. Tim added 'Hold off on the personal gear one. I will take another inventory in January of our PFDs and Dry Bags and determine how many are needed. If you can borrow either from a friend, that would be great. There is no point in renting chairs. It is much cheaper to just buy one. For those that want Paco Pad this is where you would reserve them, but hold off until January.'

Please follow the link below and fill out our Personal Rentals Form and reserve your individual PFD, Dry Bag, Paco Pad, and New Chair rentals. You can pay for your personal rentals once you arrive at REO. If we are not meeting you at Canyon REO prior to your trip, you can call our office to make payment. Call or email Canyon REO if you have any questions.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uaP_kx53gXt6qgovzwFeN6YCvUt6MDhBNjyYEJ2_R3U/edit


This next link will take you to our Vehicle Shuttle and Storage Form. As with the previous form, anyone who needs a vehicle moved and/or stored should follow the link and fill out the form. This form will help us collect details about your vehicle and what services you require. From there, we will contact vehicle owners directly to iron out the details. Once again, final payment can be made when we see you at our office or over the phone prior to launch.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rx1c99ioBod_kL1jnp11tnlUPaUTLvB_qsUbts4mEgo/edit?usp=drive_web
 

12/16/2018 Tom sent out an email with a food questionnaire (PDF). Please respond in a week so he can work up our menu.  See Canyon REO Menu Planner (PDF) for all our food options.

12/10/2018 Added two links to the top of our link list below.

12/5/2018 Tim's update to our plan.(PDF).  Trip is now full 18 people, 14 full trip and 4 half trip.

10/23/2018 Tim's update to our plan.(PDF)  Full payments are due 10/31 for the trip.

10/7/2018 Tim's update to our plan.(PDF)  Full payments are due 10/31 for the trip. National Park River Regulations.

09/30/2018 Updated latest people who have committed to the trip, added links and PDFs from our outfitter Canyon REO.

03/11/2018 Our initial plan (PDF) for our trip done up by Tim.

02/23/2018 Alison Van Dusen wins our lottery trip and she is the only one of us to win the lottery. 

 

Saturday March 9  Trip  Tim Strauch, Trip Leader and Boatman 18 foot raft Tom Strauch, Boatman 18 foot raft and Food Organizer Alison Van Dusen, Lottery Winner this trip Polk Burleson, Boatman 18 foot raft Ross Mckenzie, Boatman 18 foot raft Mark Sutton, Boatman 18 foot raft Bob Jackson Melinda d'Ouville Brian Daily Ted Caragozian, inflatable kayak Benjamin Mayer AJ Fedoruk Bill Barnes Rick Raymond Josh Raymond, first half of trip Kristi Moen, second half of trip Dan Raymond, second half of trip Wait List Riley Kennedy

1/5-10/2019  Winter ski trip to Montana with Janet, Lois, Tim, Dennis and Herb; Lake McDonald, McDonald Falls and John's Lake snowshoe 6 miles 200 feet in Glacier National Park; Whitefish Mountain Resort (Big Mountain) 2 days downhill snowboarding and skiing with Dennis; Dog Creek and Lake 20 miles west of Whitefish crosscountry skiing 8 miles 200 feet; Meadow Lake Resort condo where we stayed in Columbia Falls 4 miles 100 feet snowshoeing with Tim and Herb. Google Photos Slideshow

Fall and Winter 2018

12/13&23&25&28/2018  Ramesh takes Lee up in a Cessna 172; Cape Perpetua hike 4 miles 200 feet with Kelsey; Christmas at our house with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, PT, Kelsey, Max, Bridgette; Mt Bachelor skiing and snowboarding with Pranav, Melvika, Swapna and Ramesh. Google Photos Slideshow

Christmas Video After the War on Christmas by Kelsey, PT and Max

Old Christmas Video Hanging Kirby Out to Dry

11/29-12/8/2018  Trip to visit Kelsey in New York; night at the Metropolitan Opera Mefistofele with Kelsey performing on stilts at Lincoln Center; Violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine and story teller Matthew at GatherNYC in Greenwich Village; bicycling on Kelsey's bike all around Brooklyn and Manhattan; Christmas shopping at Macy's, Union Square Holiday Market, Saks Fifth Ave and FAO Schwartz; tour Rockefeller Center and St Patrick's Cathedral; NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn; Museum of Food and Drink near Kelsey's apartment in Brooklyn; lunch with Joel (just happened to be in town for three days) and Sam at Tavola Italian Restaurant near Sam's apartment in West Midtown; Metropolitan Museum of Art with French Artist Delacroix Exhibit. Google Photos Slideshow

11/16-18/2018  Early Thanksgiving with Dylan, Christine, Mark, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Holly, Janet and Tim S; Warrior Rock hike 8 miles 100 feet on Sauvie Island with Dylan, Christine, Mark, Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Holly, Janet and Tim S; Wildwood trail hike 5 miles 800 feet in Forest Hill and the Pittock mansion with Jeff. Google Photos Slideshow

9/30&10/8&12&26-27&31-11/10//2018  Silver Falls hike 500 feet 4 miles with Jeff; Piety Knob hike (drained Detroit Lake) 4 miles 500 feet with Jeff; Phantom Bridge hike 5 miles 500 feet with Lee and Tula; Little North Santiam hike 8 miles 1000 feet with John, Alison and Paul; cheese soufflé dinner after hike with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Alison, Bette, Paul, John and Tim; Tualatin Hills Nature Park 4 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and John; Halloween visit to the grand kids in Chicago; visit Colin's school Independence School for Halloween activities; visit Liam's school St Anne's for Halloween parade and meet his teacher Mrs. Peters; trick and treating with Liam and Matt Halloween night; party at BJ and Jen's with Lucas and Frankie; celebrate Lolo's 64th birthday; Matt's new hospital Edward's in Naperville (after 6 years at Northwest Community Hospital. Starts new job in February); decorate the Christmas tree with Liam, Matt and Olivia; build a couple snowmen on our last day with Liam; Diwali Festival of Lights with Ramesh, Pranav and Swapna. Google Photos Slideshow

Sierra Backpack  and Fall 2018

9/21&2429&10/1//2018  Table Rock hike 8 miles 1500 feet with Jeff; volleyball games with first Liz then Addy; swimming with Aaron, Addy and Liz then out to lunch and frozen yogurt; Cooper Mt Park 4 miles 400 feet hike with Tula, Blanca, Lee and Jeff; visit with Willa, Neal, Allison, Brad, Earl and Linda in Portland. Google Photos Slideshow

9/4-9/2018  18th Annual Sierra Trek 5 days 38 miles backpack in Sequoia National Park with Leslie, Afra, Mark and Ted.  Google Photos Slideshow

Tom's Log

Tuesday 9/4 Tom left Salem 1030am driving 13 1/2 hours to trailhead in Sequoia National Park arriving at midnight smoky most of the way.
Wednesday 9/5 Met Larry, Leslie, Afra, Mark and Ted at Eagle trailhead. Larry day hiked to Farewell Gap (10,600) but decided not to do Vandever Mt because of weather. The rest of us backpacked to Franklin Lake 6 miles 2800 feet. After setting up camp, it rained for an hour so we crawled in our tents and came out after the rain stopped for dinner.
Thursday 9/6 Backpacked up to Franklin pass (11,700), dropped our packs and climbed Florence Peak (12,450) except for Leslie who stayed at the pass and read Tom's Game of Thrones book. Camped at a very nice spot on Forester Lake total of 9 miles 2100 feet.
Friday 9/7 Backpacked to junction up to Big Five Lakes 7.1 miles in Lost Creek Canyon. Ted and Afra hiked up Rad Peak (11,900) from shoulder above Little Claire Lake while the rest went on. We had our one night with a campfire since we were below 10,000 feet.
Saturday 9/8 Day hiked up to Big Five Lakes, went swimming and Ted and Leslie hiked up to the two upper lakes while the rest of us backpacked to our campsite in Lost Creek Canyon right before the climb up to Columbine Lake.
Sunday 9/9 Ted got up early to hike up Sawtooth Peak (12,200), Afra and Tom left at 7am for Columbine Lake and Sawtooth Pass (11,700) arriving at Moraine Lake at 10:50am where everyone was meeting Ted except for Tom. Tom continued hiking out getting to the Timber Gap trailhead 1:30pm. Drove back north on I-5 but I-5 was closed north of Redding because of fires so took a 110 mile detour on 299 and 89. Accident on the detour so stopped dead for an hour. Got home at 5am instead of 2am.

Mark's photos (they put mine to shame!)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YRmpqmWgw6KrfCi68

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qgTARJRsE6pvFaDQ9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/J8FvzkRgzLPptzCt5

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gtc6iGtM2NJAC4yj7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eNJeAHgrJV4RZzYq6

8/13&18&20&27/2018  Ramesh got his pilot's license, took me up in a Cessna 172, flew to Newport for lunch and back to Salem; Pechuck Lookout hike 5 miles 1200 feet with Jeff; Abiqua Falls hike 2 miles 500 feet with Jeff; Butte Creek Falls hike 5 miles 800 feet with Blanca, Tula, Lee and Jeff.  Google Photos Slideshow

Middle Fork of the Salmon Raft Trip August 2018

8/1-9/2018  7 day Middle Fork of the Salmon Raft Trip with Jean, Bo, Polk, Tim, Vern, Bill and Pete.  Google Photos Slideshow Part 1 Slideshow Part 2

Middle Fork Salmon Raft Trip (Tom's log)

8/1 Wednesday Drive after work to Tim's apartment in Tri-Cities

8/2 Thursday morning Tim and I drive my Subaru Outback 8 hours to Challis, ID. We checked out our flights for the next day at Middle Fork Aviation. We are all set for 7am Friday. Tim and I checked into the Northgate Inn and everyone showed up in the next hour. We brought in all the coolers and cooler food and organized the food into the three coolers we would take on the trip. Dinner at the Village Inn with our group of 8, Jean, Bo, Polk, Vern, Pete, Bill, Tim and Tom. As it cooled off outside we loaded our rafting gear on the tarmac at the airport so it would be ready for the bush pilots to load it early the next morning.

8/3 Friday Up early for 6:15 breakfast of muffins and fruit by Vern then off to the airport to load our gear. We used three flights 2 in a Beaver and one in a Cessna 206. Most of the gear went on the first flight in the Beaver along with Vern. 5 of us went in the Cessna 206 and the last two Tim and Pete went with the second Beaver flight. The flight was about a half hour up to 9,000 feet then down to the Indian Creek at Mile 25 on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. We had to fly in and skip the first 25 miles since the water level was low (below 2 feet) on the gauge. The cost for flying in was $285 per person. Tons of people at Indian Creek going on commercial river trips. The 4,000 foot dirt airstrip was busy all morning with planes coming in to drop off people and gear. We rigged the rafts, got a talk from the river ranger Audra along with our permits and campsite reservations for our 7 day trip. Dianna, a Native American, gave us an interesting talk about what this river meant to her people. Finally got on the river at 1:20pm and then went a mile downstream to the mouth of Indian Creek for lunch. Camped at Mile 33 Sunflower Hot Springs. A perfect place for our first night on the river and a tiring day out in the wilderness, but definitely worth the day's work, Jean made Chinese shrimp dish with egg rolls.

8/4 Saturday Got on the river by 9:30, stopped at Hood Ranch with more hot springs and an old cabin, lunch at Cameron Creek Mile 39.8 with Native American pictographs, camped at Whitie Cox Mile 46 which had hot springs but it made you itch (Swimmer's Itch), Bill make Tomato meatloaf and mashed potatos for dinner.

8/5 Sunday Started at 8:35, stopped at Big Loon and hiked up a mile to Loon Creek hot springs which was very popular, Bill flipped his IK on Tappen Falls and got bruised up on a rock, camped at Mile 62 Broken Oar, Tim made Hungarian Goulash with Great Harvest bread from Pete.

8/6 Monday Same start time 8:35, stopped at Mile 73.7 Rattlesnake Cave with pictographs, got ice cream at Flying B Ranch and camped at Last Chance Mile 77.6 which was very hot and in the sun until 6pm, Polk made sausages, onions and green peppers with couscous.

8/7 Tuesday Layover day with hikes, four of us hiked up Big Creek to a gorge for 4 miles while the other 4 hiked up Waterfall Creek trail, did not see anyone else all day. Good campsite for hikes, Tom made chicken and sweet potato burritos.

8/8 Wednesday Started at 8:40, stopped at Veil Falls hiking up a 1/4 mile very nice spot, Bill flipped his IK again on Porcupine Rapids Mile 80.2, stopped at Tombstone pictographs Mile 83, short hike up from Parrot Cabin Mile 87 to a nice waterfall and grotto, camped at Ouzel Mile 89 for our last night on the river, Bo made chicken BBQ wraps for dinner.

8/9 Thursday Got an early start 7:45 to get to the Take Out, a lot of good rapids the last 9 miles, joined the main Salmon at Mile 95.5 and then hit our biggest rapids of the trip Crammer Creek, Bill flipped for the third time in the IK and he gets our award for best river person of our trip, get to Take Out at 10:45 and it is crowded even though we did not see anybody on the river that morning, derigged rafts and packed things up by 12:30, lunch at North Fork where our other two cars were shuttled at Village Cafe good food and good ice cream, everyone headed out in different directions heading home at 2:30, Tim and I got to Tri-Cities at 8:30, had a quick salad dinner that Janet made and got home at 1am. Great trip and great people.

Summer 2018

7/26-28/2018  Oregon Caves Camping Trip with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim; smoke and fires in Southern Oregon; Ranger led cave tour; No Name hike 2 miles 300 feet; Dinner and games at the lodge; Catch, record stats and release bats with rangers at our Cave Creek campground.  Google Photos Slideshow

6/25&7/1-5/2018  41st Wedding Anniversary in Portland Hotel Deluxe visiting the Japanese Garden; Lake Quinault, WA Falls Creek NF campground picking up backpacking permits at ranger station dinner at Salmon House and S'Mores for dessert around the camp fire with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim L, Janet, Tim S and John; 35th Annual Backpack 28 miles 1400 feet into Enchanted Valley Olympic National Park; Tim L cuts his finger and hikes out with Janet to get 6 stitches at ER in Aberdeen.  Google Photos Slideshow

 John's Log

7/1-5 35th Annual Backpack, Olympic Nat'l Park WA, ride with Tom from PDX,
lunch at Mazatlan in Aberdeen, wilderness permits ($144) incl
canisters at Quinault RS, Falls Creek walk-in CG, solo Quinault Loop
Trail - 4.2mi, 530', dinner at Salmon House, campfires every night
2: Graves Creek TH, pack to O'Neil Creek camp, almost full privy,
sooty grouse with chicks, 7.1mi, 1390', 5h45
3: pack to Enchanted Valley, TimL deep finger cut at lunch - hikes
out with Janet to ER in Aberdeen for 6 stitches, 7.1mi, 1330', 7h30
4: back to river camp beyond O'Neil, meet T&J, 8mi, 690', 6h50
5: early hike out, 5.9mi, 880', 3h45, totals - 28.1mi, 4290'gain,
traffic jam in Aberdeen, flight delayed 2h40m, home at 11,
SD heat wave - cancel Friday hike
Tom, Tim, Janet, Julie, Tim Loveless, Elizabeth, Addison, Aaron

6/15-18/2018  Kelsey on CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley; lunch with Ziv at Google (22 cafes at Google all free for employees and guests);  cool Google campus tour by Ziv in Mountain View; Organ concert at Memorial Church at Stanford University with Ziv;  Castle Rock State Park hike 4 miles 500 feet and drive along the coast near Pacifica with Ziv; Kirby tour of Berkeley campus and a visit to Noor's house; a visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park on the drive back to Salem.  Google Photos Slideshow

Kelsey is just in the first few minutes of this clip… 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8u6rbuqy3avg86/CBS%20News%20Sunday%20Morning-Venardos%20Circus-Sun%206-17-2018-%5B6min%2031sec%5D.mp4?dl=0

Here is a commercial Kelsey was in…

https://www.facebook.com/YO1Catskills/videos/2107169536195718/

Spring 2018

5/21&24&6/1-9/2018  Stonefield Beach to Nancy Creek hike 6 miles 100 feet on the coast; Pamelia Lake and Grizzly Peak hike 8 miles 2600 feet with a lot of snow on the top in the rain; visit the grand kids Colin and Liam in Chicago with Olivia and Matt, go bowling, play miniature golf, go to Lincoln Park zoo, go to playgrounds, projects around the house, party with Olivia's family Francesca, Lucas, BJ, Jen, Inye, Belinda and Henry, Kelsey joins us for three days, BBQ with Matt's new Weber gas grill.   Google Photos Slideshow

5/11&15/2018  Buck Mt hike 5 miles 1000 feet mostly in the snow; Laura gets a new car 2018 Honda Accord LX Hybrid 47 mpg highway and city; sold our old 2005 Honda Accord LX using our SAIFList at work (like Craigslist) in less than a day; finally got our steps redone which was supposed to be done last year; testing out a bicycle built for two. Google Photos Slideshow

4/14-24&27-28/2018  10 day visit in New York; dinner at first Airbnb near Kelsey's place; a lot of subway rides all around New York; train trip up the Hudson to visit Eddie and Jeanne at their house in Briar Cliff Manor with a visit from Kirby, Johanna, Maeve, Blaire and Sloane; Tenement Museum in lower Manhatten; visit and dinner with Sam; coffee with Chris and Kelsey; 911 Memorial Museum with a George Strauch on the memorial photos and a trip thru the Oculus; dinner and night at the Met Opera Cosi fan tutti (Kelsey got us 6th row seats) with Kirby, Bruce (Kirby's twin) and Gail; walk across Williamsburg's bridge near our second Airbnb; one woman show Nanette with Hannah Gadsby (comedian) at SoHo Playhouse; Brooklyn Botanic Gardens with Kelsey and then party near by at Susan's place; excellent performance of a Leonard Bernstein Celebration at SubCulture GarherNYC event with Amy Owens (soprano), Michael Barrett (piano) and Drew Prochaska (story teller); Colin playing the piano in Washington Square Park; Acroyoga in Central Park's Sheep Meadows; Polobalus umbrella  and light show at the Natural History Museum; outside one of Kelsey's gigs near Williamsburg's bridge; bike ride from Brooklyn all over Manhatten including Battery Park, 131 Riverside Dr (where Joel used to live) and Central Park; Kelsey's room and patio in Brooklyn; back in Oregon with Aaron's Little League game; Green Peak hike 1700 feet 5 miles near Corvallis with John and Paul; Forest Park hike 500 feet 4 miles with Addy, Julie and John; Cheese Soufflé dinner at our house with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and John.  Google Photos Slideshow Part 1 Slideshow Part 2

Winter 2017 Spring 2018

4/1-3/2018  Easter Dinner at Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Amy, Tim and Alison; Mt Pisgah hike 4 miles 1000 feet with Alison after picking up Alison's Bike Friday in Eugene; Saddle Mountain 6 miles 1600 feet with Alison.  Google Photos Slideshow

 1/29&2/10&13&3/2-3/2018  Mt Hood Meadows snowboarding and skiing so far 6 times thanks to a free season from Jeff; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth with Addy baking a delicious chocolate cake; Ann visiting us for a couple days and doing the Salem wine tour at Bethel Heights Winery and Willamette Valley Vineyards; 5 miles 1000 feet Snoqualmie Pass ranger-lead (Cindy and Bob) snowshoe with FFOF club Janet, Tim, Bruce, Eileen, Bill, Judy, Sally, Dave and Tom; dinner with Sally, John, Janet and Tim in Seattle; babysitting in Portland Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth with Julie and Tim going out for the night.  Google Photos Slideshow

 2/1-3/2018  9 miles 500 feet Silver Falls loop hike with Tim, Jaynee, Herb, Lois, Bruce, Eileen and Sally; 5 mile 1200 feet Cascade Head hike in the fog and drizzle on the coast with Tim, Jaynee, Herb, Lois, Bruce and Eileen; Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil hike in the gorge 3 miles 500 feet with Tim; quick stop at Multnomah Falls but you can't get very close to the falls because of last year's fire damage.  Google Photos Slideshow

 1/8&15&19-20/2018  7 miles 2200 feet Beacon Rock Hardy Falls Hamilton Mt hike in the gorge; 5 mile 100 feet Below Cape Perpetua hike on the coast;  Tom's 66th birthday ice skating at Salem's Riverfront Park and then Aaron's and Elizabeth's Piano recital with Addy, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S; 2 mile 200 feet Hoyt Arboretum hike in Portland with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S.  Google Photos Slideshow

12/18&25-29/2017  6 miles 1000 feet Cooks Ridge loop in Cape Perpetua; Christmas Day with Kelsey, Jeff, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim; 4 miles 400 feet Salt Creek Falls hike in the snow with Ziv; 6 miles 300 feet Silver Falls hike with Ziv, Kelsey and Jeff;  Hart's Cove hike 8 miles 1400 feet in the rain and gale force winds on the coast with Ziv. By popular demand (especially Kelsey) Google Photos Slideshow Part 1  Slideshow Part 2

Fall 2017

11/13&18&27&12/1/2017  6 mile 100 feet Yachats hike on the coast; Early Thanksgiving with 14 of us, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Dylan, Seth, Trey, Julie, Christine, Tim L, Mark, Janet and Tim S, playing ping pong and cards (Schneider and Crates); 7 mile 700 feet Oxbow Park hike on the Sandy River near Troutdale; Special Friend Day at Markham School, Aaron with his first grade teacher Ms. Franklin and Addy with her fifth grade teacher Mr. Stafford and Julie helping at the book fair.  Slideshow 

10/31-11/09/2017  Trip to Chicago to visit our Grand kids, Liam and Colin; Dinner party with Filipino food, Henry, Belinda, BJ, Jen, Lucas(3), Frankie(1);  put up Christmas tree with Liam, Colin, Matt and Olivia; Halloween Party at Kindergarten class with Liam; Colin goes to pre-school at Independence School.  Slideshow 

10/9&16&27-29/2017  Gordan Peak hike 4 miles 500 feet bushwhack last half mile up the peak in the Santiam Wilderness Area; Tumble Ridge hike 9 miles 2600 feet with snow above 4000 feet near Detroit Lake; Mt Tom and Round Mt hike 6 miles 500 feet with John and Paul; Cheese Soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Bette, John and Paul; kid hike Oaks Bottom loop 3 miles 100 feet in SE Portland near Sellwood bridge with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Bette and John.  Slideshow 

9/18-26/2017  Desolation Canyon and Gray Canyon Green River Raft Trip 84 miles in eastern Utah with Sharon, Bo, Ted, Dennis, Tim, Bill, Byron and Rick; did not see another person on the river for 7 days except for a river ranger on the first night.  Slideshow Part 1  Slideshow Part 2

Rick's photos

Tom's Log and Photos

9/18 Leave Portland at 9pm after babysitting at Julie's
9/19 Arrive at Salt Lake City Airport around 10am, sleep a couple hours, pick up Sharon, head to the put-in at Sand Wash arriving at 4:30pm and rig my raft
9/20 Quick Bagel and Cream Cheese breakfast, meet with River Ranger Mitch with our group at 8:30am to get checked out at River Mile 96, get off at about 10am with 2 14-foot 30 year old bucket rafts (Tim and Ted in one and Bo, Sharon and Tom in other one), two catarafts (Rick and Byron) and a two seat IK (inflatable kayak) with Bill and Dennis, camp at mile 80.1 Rock House Canyon with nice petroglyphs, River Ranger Dave stops by in his raft giving us advice for our trip and Tim cooks goulash for dinner
9/21 Egg Burritos for breakfast, get off a little after 9am, a weather front is coming in and the wind is picking up, by early afternoon wind makes it difficult to make progress on river so we stop early to camp at a make shift campsite Mile 72, put up a tarp to help block the wind on the kitchen, Bo makes chicken stir fry for dinner in the strong wind and it starts raining about 8pm until about 4am in the morning
9/22 Blueberry pancakes for breakfast, get off at 9:30am, checked out Flat Canyon Petroglyphs at Mile 63.3R over lunch, wind picked up again in the afternoon so we stopped early again at Mile 59.3 campsite, set up tarp again to help block wind from kitchen, Byron pulled out his back, is in bad pain and can hardly move, Bill cooked Sausage stew for dinner
9/23 Scrambled Eggs for breakfast, Byron back is still bad and he can't move much, have a group discussion at 8am and decide to push Rick's emergency GPS for a helicopter to take him out of the canyon, two hours later in comes the Intermountain Lifeflight helicopter, very efficient medical crew and Byron has a 40 minute flight to a hospital in Provo, after some painkillers Byron got released from the hospital, the rest of us got on the river at noon, Bill takes over Byron's cataraft and Sharon goes into the IK, made good time and got to Lion Hollow campsite at Mile 48, Sharon and Ted make burritos for dinner, starts raining at 10pm and does not stop until 6am and loud thunder most of the night
9/24 French Toast for breakfast, get off by 9:30am, rain and hail start shortly after leaving, everyone is cold, the canyon is socked in both directions and it does not look good, the river water seems warm in comparison, plan to stop for lunch at MacPherson and Ouray Lodge (abandoned) to warm up, sun comes out briefly but then rain starts again and keeps us rowing hard all afternoon, luckily when we get to camp at Range Creek #1 Mile 31.2 things clear up, Dennis makes spaghetti for dinner and we have a nice fire that night
9/25 Egg Burritos for breakfast, get off by 9am, beautiful warm sunny day today, make good miles all the way Mile 15.7 at Butler camp, Rick makes Big Wind chili and peach cobbler in a double dutch oven for dinner
9/26 Quick Bagel and Cream Cheese breakfast, get off by 8am weather is good again today, get to Swaseys Take-out at Mile 12 around 10am, strong current there and Rick missing the ramp so we all have to pull him upstream for 100 feet, another great river trip with challenges and excitement just about every day with a fun group of people, derigged rafts and headed to Salt Lake City airport to drop off Sharon, got back to Salem 2:15am, slept three hours and bicycled to work 7 miles at 6:45am

9/6-10/2017  17th Annual Sierra Backpack/Mule Trip in the Ansel Adams Wilderness near Mammoth Mountain with John, Larry, Ziv, Sharon, Lisa, Brittney, Cindy, Leslie, Art, Terry and Mark at Garnet Lake camp and Ed, Gary, Alysha, Carol, Sandi, Beth, Ralph, Ginna, Mike and Jim at Garnet Falls camp,.  Slideshow

Larry's Log and Photos

For the benefit of those who did not camp at the lake I have include a description of each day along with my photo link.  Another really fun trip. Thank you to everyone for making it a special trip and to Ed for organizing another good one.

The drive up to Mammoth on Monday was a nice drive for me, John and Art.  Relatively cool as we crossed the desert. Got to drive John’s new Jeep.  Drives very nice and had just enough room for John, Art, and my gear. We met the others of the group and camped at Coldwater Campground near Lake Mary.  The group at camp were Me, John, Art, Ed, Gary, Alysha, Sandi, Cindy, Jim, Leslie, Sharon, Carol, Mike, Mark, Ginna, Jerry, Ziv and his dog Chloe.

On Tuesday morning we took a short hike up Panorama Dome which offered very nice views of the Mammoth area.  We then drove up to Devils Postpile NM and did a nice loop hike to Minaret falls, the post pile, and Rainbow Falls.  From there we headed to our camp site at Agnew Meadows.  Joining us at the camp were Beth, Ralph, Terry, Tom and Lisa.

 Monday-Tuesday photos

 Wednesday we packed up and headed to the pack station a short ways from camp to drop off our gear by 7:30 AM.  We then hiked to our prospective camp spots where the mules would drop off our gear.  Some were camping at the base of the waterfalls on the outflow from Garnet lake while Me, John, Art, Leslie, Sharon, Lisa, Terry, Tom, Ziv, Cindy and Mark were camping on the north shore of Garnet Lake. I took the river trail up to the falls group camp and from there climbed the steep trail up to Garnet Lake passed all the falls. The water crossing at the falls camp was a bit different from Ziv and my crossing of it back in 2006 when we just stepped from rock to rock.  Quite a bit of water flowing this year which required wading across mid-thigh deep water. At arrival to camp it was lightly sprinkling so I set up my tent rather than sleep under the stars.  Good thing I did as later in the evening it rained hard for about two hours with plenty of thunder.  Thunder storms are so neat in the mountains as the thunder echoes.  I love it. Ziv’s dog Chloe did not like it much though.

 Wednesday Photos

 On Thursday we all hiked to two high points on the ridge separating Garnet Lake and Thousand Island Lake.  A very nice loop hike.  On the way up the second high point I stepped on a large rock which turned out to be loose.  It slid out from under me tumbling down the slope.  Fortunately I did not tumble after it but did fall twisting my right ankle and scraping up my right arm.  Not complaining though as it could have been much worse.  The ankle strain was not real bad.  Although painful I was able to complete the loop hike on my own.

 Thursday Photos

 On Friday my plan had been to climb Mount Davis but now was not sure my ankle would be up to it.  So instead planned to hike up Garnet Peak to test the ankle and maybe do Mount Davis on Saturday.  Tom and Ziv, the two who usually accompany me to the harder peaks planned to hike up to North Glacier Pass and possibly continue up to Mount Davis if they felt up to it. Cindy accompanied me to Garnet Peak.  A really nice peak with great views of the Minarets, Banner and Ritter, etc. This peak was the most fun of all the peaks I did on this trip. That evening I got a report from Tom and Ziv on the conditions up to Glacier Pass.  Lots of snow in the drainage leading up to the pass and very large talus blocks to climb just short of the pass.  I have been to the pass before so knew about the talus blocks.  When I initially planned this hike I knew it was a bit ambitious.  Best plan would have been to spend a night at the upper end of Thousand Island Lake and then climb from there, but I love the camp site on Garnet.  Had previously camped there on a trip in Sept of 2006.  So based on the report from Ziv and Tom and the fact that my ankle was not 100% I decided not to go for Davis on Saturday.

 Friday Photos

 On Saturday I decided to go for two peaks on Lists of John which are north of Thousand Island Lake.  The others were all going for Garnet Peak after hearing my glowing reports of it and John and Terry were going to head for Clarice Peak.  I had done Clarice on the previous day along with Garnet. So my trek to the LOJ peaks was a solo trek.  No complaints, I enjoy solo excursions, just have to be extra careful. I made it to the first peak, LOJ 10597.  A very nice peak with views that rival those of Garnet Peak, possibly even better than Garnet.  My way to the second peak was blocked by a large steep snow field.  But I could see Weber Lake below and to the north of my peak.  I could tell from the map that it would likely get to steep for me to get all the way down to the lake but decided to see how close I could get to it.  On my way down I passed a point where I could get by the snowfield so I headed off down the ridge towards the second LOJ Peak.  LOJ 10475.  I initially got onto the wrong ridge and had to climb back up a few hundred vertical feet.  Then the route I took down the main ridge put me down a gulley which ended in a chimney dropping about one hundred feet.  It was vertical and not something I would consider down climbing alone and even with someone else I would want to be roped.  At this point it had started to sprinkle lightly and I needed to get off the rocks before they got wet.  So I headed on back to camp. A really fun day in beautiful country.

 Saturday Photos

 Sunday, our last day.  Really not ready to leave this beautiful camp but time to leave.  We packed up our gear, which was wet with much frost in the morning, and stacked it up for the packer to pack up and carry out for us.  For the hike out back to Agnew Meadows I took the route past Shadow Lake as did Ziv, Chloe, Art, Sharon Brittany, and Leslie.  From previous trips I knew of the beauty of this area.  Visiting it again was a must.  We had to wait a bit for the mules to arrive when we got down which is normal.  The mules arrived just before 4:00 PM, the latest of all our trips.  Arrived home at 11:30 PM.  Another great September Sierra trek.  Can’t wait for next year.

Sunday Photos

Ziv's Photos

Art's Photos

Carol's Photos

Ed's Photos

Late Summer 2017

8/30-9/1/2017  Rocky and Susan visit and we do a mid-valley Wine Trail tour near Salem.  Slideshow

7/14&22&28&8/20-22&25/2017  Laura's 68th birthday; Dog Mountain hike 9 miles 2800 feet in the Gorge with Sharon, wet and foggy on top; Stalhman Point hike 4 miles 2000 feet above Detroit Lake; Total Eclipse weekend in Salem with perfect weather for viewing the eclipse plus a bonus family volleyball game in Sunnyslope Park near our house with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Kelsey, Jeff, Janet and Tim S; Cape Lookout hike 5 miles 900 feet with Holly, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Kelsey, Jeff, Janet and Tim S; Dinner out with everyone at Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City on the coast after the hike; Iron Mountain hike 5 miles 1400 feet, smoky from all the fires. Slideshow

6/30-7/3/2017  34th Annual Backpack Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, DA, Jean, Tim S and John; What was supposed to be an easier kid backpack turned out to be a tough backpack with obstacles every day but everyone did great and made it thru the whole loop; All met at Fish Lake campground Thursday night 10 miles from trailhead; Brief stop at Kiger Gorge which is a spectacular deep glacial gorge; Congrats to Julie for getting her 100 hike tee-shirt from John; Starting at the summit at 9,500 feet we had to get around some large snow fields, the second day bad sage brush bushwhacking and the third day 2,200 feet elevation gain on steep slopes with no trail and full backpacks; first night camp at Wildhorse Lake at 8,400 feet, second night at the confluence of Wildhorse Creek and Little Wildhorse Creek at 6,800 feet and last night at Little Wildhorse Lake at 8,900 feet.  Slideshow

John's Log

6/29-7/3 34th Annual Backpack, Steens Mtn OR, ride with Tom & DA from PDX,
lunch at Warm Springs casino, Fish Lake CG, cell phone coverage &
spectacular views all trip
30: Kiger Gorge Overlook, East Rim O/L & Wilderness HP, Steens Mtn
summit 9733 & BM 9715, Julie's 100 hikes presentation, pack to
Wildhorse Lake thru steep snowy cliffs, 1.3mi, 1080' descent, 2h40m
1: down to Little Wildhorse Creek confluence thru sagebrush with some
nettle, camp in grove & meadow at 6800', campfire, 3.5mi, 1700'down,
8h20m
2: tough day to Little W L, early start with long waits, last 900'
steep up, camp above lake, frogs, DA's birthday after struggling,
4.3mi, 2260'gain, 8h15m
3: deer on ridge, early hike out, trail on narrow ridge, Lovelesses
later, 1.6mi, 700'gain, 1h45m, clean up at rest stop, lunch at Ochoco
Brewing in Prineville, SD at 8pm & Chili's with Bette
Tom, Tim, Julie, Tim Loveless, Elizabeth, Addison, Aaron,
D.A. Warren, Jean Truyter

Summer 2017

6/23/2017  Battle Axe Mt hike 7 miles 1900 feet with great visibility from Rainier in the north to Diamond Peak in the south. Slideshow

6/17-19/2017  Father's Day weekend camping trip in Mt Rainier National Park with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim; 2 mile hike in the Grove of the patriarchs; brunch at Paradise Inn; 1 mile hike on trail of the Shadows; Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth take oath for becoming Mt Rainier Junior Rangers. Slideshow

6/3&5&11&12/2017  Babysit with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Devils Peak hike 8 mles 2300 feet from Breitenbush Hot Springs; dinner and piano recital with Addy, Elizabeth, Aaron, Tegen, Molly, Julie and Tim; Crescent Mt hike 9 miles 2200 feet in the rain and drizzle. Slideshow

5/19-28&29-31/2017  Visit grand kids in Chicago with Colin, Liam, Olivia, Tess and Matt;  Liam's new school St Anne's where he starts kindergarten next fall; Francesca's one year birthday party with everyone; a couple days at Timber Ridge Lodge and Waterpark in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin;  bowling and miniature golf with Liam; Cubs game at Wrigley Field with Tim, Sam (visit with Sophia at their condo) and Matt; Two day raft trip 44 miles down the Deschutes River from Warm Springs to Maupin, OR a hard-shell kayak, 2 catarafts, 35 year old 14 foot bucket raft and 34 year old 15 foot bucket raft with Allen, Byron, Rick and Tim. Slideshow

5/6&8&12&15/2017  SAIF construction open house; Henline Mt hike 5 miles 2300 feet; South from Tillicum Beach to Yachats coast hike 7 miles 100 feet; Maryhill Museum along the Columbia with Tim and Janet; Spring volleyball team.  Slideshow

Spring 2017

4/29-30&5/2-4/2017  Mt Hood Meadows last day skiing for this season.  Tom's ninth time on the slopes this season; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth in Portland; new walking bridge in Riverfront Park in Salem; North Fork John Day River Trip from Dale to Monument, Oregon with Jaynee, Janet, Tim S, Tim R, Rick, Alan.  This was Laura's first raft trip in 40 years.  Our armada consisted of 2 catarafts, a hard shell kayak, an IK and an open canoe.  Tim and Tom spent a lot of time in the river with the canoe after going thru the rapids and filling up with water.  Slideshow

4/17&4/21-23/2017  Abiqua Falls and Butte Creek Falls hike 3 miles 500 feet near Scotts Mill; Prairie Mt hike with John and Tim 5 miles 1000 feet near Alsea; Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Salem hike 3 miles 500 feet; Cheese Soufflé dinner and Crates card game with the gang; Macleay Park and Pittock Mansion hike 2 miles 500 feet in NW Portland with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim L, John and Tim S.  Slideshow

3/30&4/8/2017  RoadsEnd hike 5 miles 1000 feet with Alison; Destination Imagination State Tournament with Elizabeth's team winning state title for 5th grade from Markham School; sleepover at our house with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim.  Slideshow

3/2-17/2017  Winter volleyball team; quick visit to Liam and Colin in Chicago on Tom's way to Austria; skiing 6 days in the Austrian and Swiss Alps in four different ski areas: Ischgl, San Anton, Serfhaus and Lech with Tom, Chris, Mike, Wally, Andrew, Gardiner and Ilena; stayed in 4 star Hotel Weiss Lamm in See, Austria with 5 course dinners every night; 3 feet of snow that week but sun all but one day; took trains to Ohringen to visit Peter and Irene; Kloster Schontal where Peter gave a talk on his Indian Hospital Program; Peter and Irene's house;  took a ride on Peter's electric bike to Ohrnberg looping back to downtown Ohringen; visited Schwabisch Hall and the Water Clouds Wind Art Collection. Slideshow Part 1 Slideshow Part 2

Fall Winter 2017

1/19&2/25/2016  Tom's 65th Birthday; Babysitting in Portland with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow

12/23&25/2016  Hart's Cove hike 6 miles 500 feet with Kelsey; Christmas day and dinner with Kelsey, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and Bridgette.  Slideshow

12/02/2016  Special Person Day at Markham School with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth;  Elizabeth cooks us all dinner Pasta and Pesto that night and it is very good.  Slideshow

11/24-27/2016  Thanksgiving dinner in LA with Kelsey and a lot of her cast from Akhnaten LA Opera show at Anthony's place; Kelsey's place and electric Fiat car for two months in LA with Taylor; Getty Center with Kelsey, Janet and Tim; Venice pier and beach near Santa Monica with Tim and Janet; Getty Villa with Tim and Janet; dinner with Mark, Christine, Kelsey, Tim and Janet at Salsa and Beer; Brunch at the Otium in downtown LA before the Opera and Kelsey's big show of Akhnaten; it was a great show and the jugglers had an integral part in the opera.   Slideshow

11/18-19/2016  Fall volleyball team with Mandy, Joce, Deb, Kevin and Zack; Grass Mountain Edward Earl Memorial hike 1000 feet 5.5 miles with John, Tim and Alison;  Henline Falls kid hike 2.5 miles 200 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, John, Bette, Alison, Tim S and Janet; early Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, John, Bette, Alison, Bridgette Tim S and Janet.   Slideshow

10/28-29&11/4-12/2016  Dinner with Tom, Kristina, Paul and his wife after SQL PASS conference in Seattle;  Mt Bandera hike 2500 feet 6 miles with Tom; a week with the grand kids Liam and Colin in Chicago.  Slideshow

Fall 2016

9/30-10/8/2016  Katie and Will's wedding in Asheville, North Carolina with Susan, Sheila, Jane, Rocky, Bob and Dean; visit Patty, Scottie, Mike, Jean, Steve, Kay and Jerry in Salisbury, Pa with a trip to Flight 93 Memorial and Hawk Mt for bird watching; visit Joel and Cathy in Charlottesville, Va with a trip to Monroe's estate.  Slideshow

9/16-24/2016  We had a great time visiting Kelsey in New York.  Kelsey kept us busy going to two of her shows in Philly, visiting the Circus Warehouse, Time Square, a sailing trip out of Battery Park, dinner in Little Italy during a festival, going to the top of the new Freedom tower,  a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a lot of rides on the subway.  We also took a train up the Hudson to visit our college friends Eddie and Jeanne the last two days.  Slideshow Part 1 Slideshow Part 2

Late Summer 2016

9/8-11/2016  Another good trip in the Sierra’s, 15 of us this year Ed, Terry, Jock, John, Gary, Carol, Leslie, Sharon, Mark, Mike, Ziv, Art, Larry and Hawk. Larry and I took a side trip up Black Hawk Mountain spending a night at Mosquito Pass.  I had a long hike out because I pulled a muscle right after dropping down from Gem Lake.  I had to side step down all the steps and limp on the straight trails.   I was fine going uphill but of course there was a lot of downhill. If I did not have my poles, I would have been in trouble especially with the full pack.  Luckily I love a challenge. But I made it back to the trailhead fine by 2pm and back to Salem by 1:30am.  No rollover this time!    Slideshow 

9/3-5/2016  North Sister climb with the Santiam Alpine Club on the luau weekend.  This is the most technical climb of the Sisters. We did a fixed rope across the ‘traverse’ near the top then got up 100 feet vertical from the top and hit a chute called ‘bowling alley’ which was covered in thick ice. Our trip leader said it would be too difficult even with ropes so we called it a day. Still a fun climb!  Slideshow 

8/20/2016 Babysitting with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow 

8/16/2016 Goat Rocks Wilderness south of Mt Rainier hike 13 miles 2000 feet Snowgrass Flats, Goat Lake and Goat Ridge loop without Tim and his FFOF group and saw 43 backpackers and 10 day hikers and that does not include Tim's group of 15 who I met after the hike at the other trailhead.  Slideshow 

8/6&13/2016 Kayaking with Ramesh where the Salmon River flows into the Pacific at Three Rocks;  Mt Thielsen climb with the Santiam Alpine Club Mika, Dana, Adrian (Christine was there too) and Rich, 3600 feet 10 miles 9 hours using a fixed rope and prusiks to get to the very top.   Slideshow 

7/21-24&28/2016 Long weekend visiting Bridgette at her cabin in Coram, MT and Glacier National Park; Highline Trail hike near Logan Pass 1000 feet 8 miles with Tim and Janet; Lower Quartz Lake hike from Bowman Lake 2000 feet 8 miles with Tim and Janet; babysitting Aaron alone while the girls are at Girl Scout Camp for Julie and Tim's anniversary.  Slideshow 

Summer 2016

7/2-5&6/2016 33rd Annual Backpack Trinity Alps in Northern California with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S; Pork and Sauerkraut dinner with Lyn, Ken, Janet and Tim.  Slideshow 

Tom's Hike Log

Friday July 1 Drove after work to Hidden Horse campground in Northern California meeting Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim
L, Janet and Tim S around 9:30pm. John could not make it this year for the first time in 32 years because he was sick.
Saturday July 2 Decided to do loop in opposite direction after talking to other people in campground, drove a couple miles to
Long Gulch Trailhead, hiked in 4 miles with 1000 feet elevation gain to Long Gulch Lake (6440 feet). This was Aaron (5),
Addy (8) and Elizabeth's (10) first backpack. All the kids did great, Aaron fuzzed and cried a little but he made it! A lot
of people camping at the lake but we found a nice spot with room for our four tents between the creek and lake, bad bugs and
mosquitoes, kids went swimming right away in the lake.
Sunday July 3 Spilled hot chocolate on my ankle and got burned, day-hiked up to the pass (6800 feet) toward Fish Lake, Julie,
Aaron and Elizabeth hiked back to camp, bushwacked up Deadman Peak (7600 feet) with Addy, Janet, Tim L and Tim S, nice ridge
hike until we had to cut across steep talus slope, this was Addy's first and highest peak, did a loop to other pass (7400
feet), made it back to camp around 3 for a swim to cool off.
Monday July 4 Backpacked over to Trail Gulch Lake (6414 feet) over Deadman Pass (7400 feet) about 4 miles, much prettier lake
and a campsite right on the lake, few bugs, no one else camping at the lake but a large CCC (California Conservation Corps)
group camp was close by.
Tuesday July 5 Hiked out 2 and 1/2 miles by 11, Tim L, Tim S and I walked down road to get cars 3/4 mile at other trailhead,
lunch all together in Weed, Julie and gang head south and Tim S, Janet and I head north getting home after 6

6/22-29/2016 Salmon River Rafting Trip with Holly, Janet, Tim, Bill, Jim, Evie, Terry, Berta, Bruce, Eileen, Byron and Rick

6/17-19/2016 Father's Day Weekend Camping Trip to Eastern Oregon's Fossil Beds with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S.  Slideshow 

6/1/2016 Falls Creek Falls hike 7 miles 1000 feet in the gorge on the Washington side with Janet, Tim, Herb, Janye, Roberta, Berta, Terry, Beccy, Lois, Jack, Cheri and Dennis.  Slideshow 

5/28/2016 Spring volleyball team and babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow 

5/5-14/2016 Visit Colin, Liam, Olivia and Matt in Chicago with Kelsey flying in from New York for three days.  Slideshow 

Winter Spring 2015-16

4/26&29-5/1/2016 Dinner with Willa, Linda and Earl; Addy and Elizabeth's Piano Recital with Aaron, Julie, Tim and John; Mary's Peak hike 8 miles 2300 feet with John;  Usual Cheese Soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and John; Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuse hike 2 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim.  Slideshow 

4/16&22/2016 Winter volleyball team, babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Bridgette's retirement party in Olympia. Slideshow 

3/17-4/09/2016 Grand Canyon Raft Trip photos and web site.

2/19-20/2016 Night at the coast at Salishan Resort and a Night Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow 

1/31-2/5/2016 Lake Tahoe trip with Rocky and visit with Kirby; Crater Lake snow shoe with a ranger in 12 feet of snow and a foot of powder; drive to Reno and Grand Sierra Casino Resort; ski and snowboard at three different Lake Tahoe ski slopes: Northstar, Heavenly and Squaw Valley; drive over to Berkeley to visit Kirby and Noor at the rug shop; took the BART over to San Fran during Super Bowl celebration and biked 15 miles around town including Golden Gate Park, Jefferson Airplane house, Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge Park and Fisherman's Wharf.  Slideshow 

1/22&23/2016 Dinner at Julie's with Ellin, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S then a piano recital by Addy and Elizabeth with photo bombing and Aaron the photographer; Wind Mt hike 3 miles 1000 feet in the gorge with Tim and Janet.  Slideshow 

12/31&1/2/2016 New Year's Eve dinner with Earl, Linda and Nathan at the Rhinelander Restaurant in Portland; Babysitting and swimming with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth while Tim and Julie see Star Wars.   Slideshow 

12/11&19&23&25/2015 Tillicum Beach hike 6 miles 100 feet south of Waldport; Katie at her new Brookdale residence with Bridgette; Silver Falls hike 5 miles 500 feet; Christmas dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tom.  Slideshow 

12/4-9/2015 Late Thanksgiving week with Colin, Liam, Olivia, Matt, Tess, Kelsey, Dylan, Mark, PT, Bridgette, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet, Tim S and Kirby; Hart's Cove hike 6 miles 1000 feet on the coast with Kirby, PT and Tim.  Slideshow 

Fall 2015 and Sierra Backpack

11/14&15/2015 Crescent Mt 9 miles 2200 feet with Paul and John; Cheese soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim, Paul, Bette and John; Marquam Nature Loop 2 miles 300 feet with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie, Tim and John.  Slideshow 

10/24/2015  Babysitting with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth and they got a hold of the camera.   Slideshow 

09/26&10/10&16/2015  Three Fingered Jack climb 3000 feet 12 miles in the clouds with the Santiam Alpine Club Nathan F, Greg, Adrian, Mitchell, Michael, Lorraine, Nathan J, Steven, Andy, Harvest, Ryan and Jonathan using two fixed ropes and one belay rope, repelled down a couple cliff faces for the first time in years; Mt Hood Timberline trail from the lodge to Umbrella and Sahale Falls 7 miles 1000 feet; Bull of the Woods Lookout 10 miles 2000 feet.   Slideshow 

08/21&22&09/7-11/2015  Latourell Falls hike in the Gorge 3 miles 500 feet; PT and Bridgette visit; 15th Annual Sierra Hike in the Emigrant Wilderness north of Yosemite with Sharon, Leslie, Beth, Carol, Ed, Gary, Jeff, Larry, Terry, Jock, John, Ralph, Jim and Ziv; Totaled my Subaru on the way home from the backpack on US97 12 miles north of Chiloquin, OR; Fiddling with the radio hit the soft shoulder (unfortunately no rumble strip) at 65 mph in the pitch black, tried to bring it back on the highway, began to fishtail then rolled twice down the embankment, busted most of the windows and filled the car with gravel, threw a lot of my things out, car ended up right side up, unclicked my seatbelt and not a scratch on me.  Very thankful and lucky to be alive.    Slideshow

John's log

9/7-11 15th Annual Sierra Trip, Emigrant Wilderness, Kennedy Meadows Pack  
      Sta, meet Tom, breakfast in restaurant, Te&S early start,
      Relief Reservoir, trouble finding group at Upper Relief Lake,
      10.2mi/3000'/8h15m, good campfires am&pm
      8: Ed loop hike to Toejam Lake with LeJiCaBe, 8mi/1000'/5.5h
      9: most hike to Granite Dome Pk 10320, cowpies at 9800',
      6mi/1750'/5.5h
      10: Terry's bump "Little Granite Dome" 9160 with Ed&Carol, look for
      2-27 marker, 9389 nice granite, 2.5mi/800'/2h37m, spamx2, Gary's
      green laser
      11: hike out, see only deer, 9.8mi/570'/5h18m. burgers & beer & free
      showers at KM, mules & R back at 3pm, stops in Bishop & 395/15 Pilot,
      home at 11:45, most stay in Alabama Hills, good trip, but Tom totals
      Subaru on drive home
      Ed, Larry, Jock, Leslie, Jim Leckie, Carol, Ziv, Terry, Sharon Gott,
      Beth, Ralph Davis, Gary Legerton, Jeff Legerton, Tom

Summer 2015

08/15/2015  Timberline Lodge to Ramona Falls on Mt Hood 12 miles 1000 feet; met a PCTer named Easy who started in May and plans to finish the end of September; this is the least snow I have ever seen on Mt Hood; It looks like a different mountain.   Slideshow

08/01/2015  Julie and Tim 12th Anniversary going out for dinner and we babysit Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow

07/24-25/2015  Middle Sister, fifth highest peak in Oregon, climb Santiam Alpine Club 16 miles 4700 feet with Gabe, Cynthia, Greg, Bianca, Craig, Adrian, Marci, Shaunessy and Peter.  Slideshow

07/17-19/2015  Mt St Helens camping weekend with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and Janet.  Slideshow

07/03-06/2015  32nd Annual Backpack Seven Devils Mts in Idaho very strenuous 36 miles with many fallen trees on the trails with Alison, Jaynee, Janet, Tim and John.  Slideshow

John's log

7/3-6 32nd Annual Backpack, Hells Canyon NRA, Idaho, 7 Devils Loop Trail
2015 clockwise, hundreds of downed trees, unmaintained, dayhike to Lower
Cannon Lake, camp at Dog Creek, 10/1000'/8h40m
4: 9 miles no water - carry 4L, skip Horse Heaven LO side trip, tough
hike on Baldy Lake Tr, spectacular sunset reflection, 10/1870'/9h30m
5: pack to Hibb Cow Camp jct, hike to 7 Devils View TC HP, ToAJa
continue to Dry Diggins LO, nice camp at Basin Lake, late campfire
with young Boise couple, 9.5/2140/8h27m
6: hike out, 2 long uphills, 6.7/1700'/6h15m, lunch at 7 Devils
Saloon, drive to Pasco
7: fly home via Portland, learn Bette in hospital 7/4 with
incarcerated ventral hernia, visit with Lovelesses & swimming
lessons, visit Bette at Zion
Tom, Tim, Janet, Alison Van Dusen, Jaynee Levy
 

06/19&26/2015  Enjoyed Salishan Resort on the coast near Lincoln City; Climbed Mt Adams, the second highest peak in Washington at 12,276 feet, with Tim 6800 feet 14 miles. Slideshow

06/3&12/2015  Coyote Wall and Labyrinth in the Gorge hike 6 miles 1000 feet with Tim, Janet and Tri-Cities gang;  Holly's graduation from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA with Sam, Janet, Tim, Rosemary, Otto, Joe, Paul, Susan, Barbara and Tom; Addy and Elizabeth's Piano recital with Aaron, Julie and Tim. Slideshow

Spring 2015

05/15&23-25&27/2015  Spring volleyball team with Carole, Jen, Jessica, Brian and Michael; Moose Mountain hike 3 miles 1000 feet mostly bushwhacking near Sweethome in light rain; Toni's Birthday weekend motorcycling with Bridgette and Gaye; Dog Mountain hike 8 miles 2800 feet with Tim, Janet and gang from Tri-Cities.  Slideshow

05/1&9/2015  Coast hike 6 miles 100 feet south of Waldport; spending the day with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth while Tim and Julie do a wine tour with friends.  Slideshow

04/17-19/2015  John and Bette's Visit: Mt Hebo hike 8 miles 1500 feet with John; Saturday Cheese Soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Liz, Julie and Tim; Sunday kid hike to Lacamas Park, Camas, WA 3 mile hike 400 feet with everyone.  Slideshow

03/26-04/04/2015  Visit Liam, Colin, Olivia and Matt in Chicago; Liam's 3rd birthday party;  Kelsey flies in from New York.  Slideshow

Winter Spring 2014-15

02/26-03/04/2015  Winter volleyball team with Jenn, Jessica, Carole, Brian and John; Utah ski trip with Trevor, Pat, Andrew, Tom, Ryan, Rob, Jack, Fred, Elmer and Rocky a lot of snow, one day knee-deep in powder visiting Canyons, Deer Valley, Solitude, Temple Square, Alta and Powder Mountain.  Slideshow

1/17&19&31&2/3/2015  Katie and Tom celebrate their 150 birthdays (you do the math) with Bridgette; Driftwood beach hike 6 miles 100 feet at the coast north of Waldport; Earl and Linda come to visit their grand kids Neal and Willa in Portland with Allison and Brad; Ann stops for a visit on her way to Hawaii.  Slideshow

1/3/2015  Skiing, snowboarding and bike-skiing at Hoodoo with Melvika and Ramesh. Slideshow

12/25&27/2014  Christmas morning at our house with Katie;  Christmas dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim;  Dry Creek Falls hike 6 miles 800 feet in the gorge and rain with Holly, Sam, Catherine, Janet and Tim;  pizza party after the hike at Julie and Tim's house with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth. Slideshow

12/17/2014  Rogue River Gorge hike and Crater Lake snow shoe 4 miles 300 feet with Alison in two feet of powder. Slideshow

Fall Winter 2014

11/27-30/2014  Thanksgiving weekend: Thanksgiving dinner with Katie at Bonaventure; Kelsey and Chris who flew in for Thanksgiving from New York City doing Acro Yoga at our house; Friday dinner Laura and Bridgette made minestrone soup with Katie, PT, Kelsey and Chris;  our Saturday Thanksgiving family dinner with Kelsey, Chris, PT, Bridgette, Katie, Holly, Janet, Tim S, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim L; RoadsEnd coast hike 5 miles 500 feet with Arianaz, Iman, Kelsey, Chris, Janet, Tim and Laura. Slideshow

11/11&15&20/2014  Fall volleyball team with Carole, Gala, Ashley, John and Brian; Mary's Peak hike 9 miles 2200 feet with Alison and Joanie; Baby sit Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth on date night; Oregon Caves with a personal tour by Alison, Chateau where Alison stays and then Grayback Mountain hike in a little snow 14 miles 2500 feet with Alison, bonus 4 miles because of locked gate.  Slideshow

10/3&17&22&24-26/2014  Friday flex day to the coast now that Laura is retired; Double Peak hike 1000 feet 7 miles near Olallie Lake; Eagle Mountain and Babyfoot Lake hike 1000 feet 9 miles with a lot of rain and wind in Southern Oregon Siskiyou NF with Alison; Angel's Rest and Devil's Rest hike 2400 feet in the gorge with Janet, Tim and John; Aaron celebrates his 4th birthday at Discovery Village and with a cheese soufflé dinner at our house with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, John, Bette, Janet and Tim S;  Pigeon Butte 300 feet 3 miles in Finley National Wildlife Refuse near Corvallis with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, John, Bette, Janet and Tim S. Slideshow

Fall 2014

9/10-28/2014  Trip to Chicago to welcome new grandson Colin Elliott Strauch to the family.  Colin stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital for nine days since he arrived a month earlier.  We finally got to take him home Sunday the 14th.  Colin is doing fine and gained a pound in a week up to 7 lbs 1 oz.  Liam is enjoying his little brother and does not seem to be jealous. Mom and Dad are doing fine but are tired from all the midnight feedings.  Slideshow

9/5/2014  Colin Elliott Strauch arrived a month early at 10:26am after 4 and a half hours of labor 6 lbs and 1 oz 19 3/4 inches.  Olivia and baby are both fine.

9/1-5/2014  Laura's first day of retirement party with Katie at Bonaventure; 14th Annual Sierra Backpack just north of Yosemite National Park on the east side with Leslie, Carole, John, Ed, Larry, Ziv, Terry, Jim and Jock.  Slideshow

Late Summer 2014

8/22&26/2014  Tumble Lake hike 4 miles 1000 feet near Detroit Lake;  Diamond Peak hike 10 miles 3600 feet with Alison and we met a youth trail crew.   Slideshow

7/31/2014  Belknap and Little Belknap Craters hike 8 miles 1600 feet near McKenzie Pass plus a bonus hike to Proxy Falls 2 miles 100 feet with Alison; Met 5 PCTers (started in Mexico 4 months ago) and a Trail Angel giving them ice cream and treats.  Slideshow

7/18&19/2014  PT and Bridgette come to town and dinner at our house with Katie; 12 mile fun raft trip down the Deschutes River near Maulpin with Avani, Anav, Seema, Misha, Pranav, Melvika, Swapna and Ramesh.   Slideshow

7/11-13/2014  Woodpecker Ridge hike 5 miles 700 feet right next to Mt Jefferson; Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth spend a day in Salem while Mom and Dad paint their bedroom;  Laura's 29th birthday (base 28) with Katie.  Slideshow

6/27&7/3-6/2014  Scott Mtn 6 miles 1300 feet near McKensie Pass with a lot of rain and deep snow on top; 31st Annual Backpack hiking the high point of Utah 13,528 feet Kings Peak with Tim and John.   Slideshow

John's log:

7/3-7 31st Annual Backpack, Kings Peak, highest in Utah, Uintas Wilderness
      Area, Henry's Fork TH, Ogden grandpa with family & horses at Elkhorn
      Crossing, also 2 young rangers, Bear Lake camp on north side ridge
      4: West Side Trail, Henry Fork Lake, Gunsight Pass, Painter Basin camp
      5: early start, Anderson Pass, 1st group to peak 13,528', see 25+ on
      descent, ranger chat, past Dollar L to good camp W of trail
      6: hike out, busy Crazy Ate for Kings Peak burgers, make $27 res at
      VirginRiv, rainy drive, 45m delay thru gorge, big storm in Mesquite,
      stats - 31mi, 5100' total gain
      Tom, Tim

6/15/2014  Father's Day Weekend at Crater Lake National Park with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L and Tim S.   Slideshow

5/30&6/7/2014  Battle Ax Mt hike 6 miles 1800 feet with Alison; Mt McLoughlin climb 11 miles 3800 feet with Santiam Alpine Club Ron, Fritz, Rich, Dana, Rick, Steve and Sue.   Slideshow

Late Spring 2014

5/11&16-18/2014  Mother's Day lunch at a Spanish Restaurant in Salem with three mothers Katie, Bridgette and Laura; Tim and Janet visit from the Tri Cities Triple Falls hike 6 miles 500 feet in the gorge;  Dinner with Loveless family in Portland; Eagle Creek hike 13 miles 1000 feet with Janet, Tim and their Intermountain Alpine Club (a total of 11 of us).  Slideshow

5/2&3/2014  Pamelia Lake hike 6 miles 1000 feet right under Mt Jefferson; Mt Cleman hike 9 miles 3100 feet near Yakima, Wa Big Horn Sheep, 2 rattlesnakes and gopher snake with InterMountain Alpine Club Tim, George, Terry, Eva, Peter, Jane and George.  Slideshow

4/20&23&25-26/2014  Very nice Easter buffet at Bonaventure with Katie and Bridgette; Juniper Dunes Terra Cache hike 4 miles 200 feet with John and Tim; McNary Dam and Plymouth Terra Cache hike 1 mile 10 feet on the Columbia; Janet's birthday party wine tasting and Columbia River Dinner Cruise with John, Bette and Tim in Pasco, Wa; Monument Peak hike 4 miles 2000 feet in the snow; Springbrook/Iron Mountain hike 3.5 mile 300 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and John in Lake Oswego;   Slideshow

3/27-4/5/2014  Trip to Chicago; Liam turns 2 and Matt turns 34; Liam gets a hair cut; Liam gets a bath; Bocce and bowling birthday party with everyone; Chicago's Brookfield Zoo; Meet Liam's cousin Lucas who is 16 days old with BJ and Jen; Korean dinner with Lolo.  Slideshow

Winter 2013 - Spring 2014

3/7-8/2014  Starvation Ridge hike in the gorge 2700 feet 7 miles; Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth. Slideshow

2/7-9&20-25/2014  Snow hits Salem with about a foot of snow which is the largest we have seen in the thirteen years we have lived here; Skiing and snowboarding in Utah with Syracuse friends Tom, Elmer, Tommy, Fred, Jack and Dick.  We skied Park City, Canyons, Snow Basin, Deer Valley and Alta. We did over 18,000 feet vertical one day where the ski ticket tracked your movements and reported them on the internet.  Our ski house rental was 4800 sq ft and was priced on Zillow at 1.3 million. Slideshow

1/18&19&20&24&25/2014  Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth with Earl and new bunk beds; Katie and Tom's birthdays, a total of 148 years; Starvation Creek Falls hike 3 miles 300 feet; Tom picks up his lifetime National Park Senior Pass at Detroit NF Ranger Station; Piety Island hike across land bridge 3 miles 500 feet on Detroit Lake; Cleaning out Katie's house before it sold with Bridgette, Bob and Katie. Slideshow

12/13&14&24&25&27/2013  Holiday Beach hike south of Newport in the fog 4 miles 100 feet; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Starvation Creek Falls hike 4 miles 200 feet;  Fun Christmas dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim; Seal Rock hike south of Newport 5 miles 100 feet. Slideshow

11/11&21-26/2013  Table Rock hike 8 miles 1500 feet in Table Rock Wilderness; babysitting for parent conferences with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Thanksgiving celebrating the Saturday before with Liam, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Holly, Kelsey, Matt, Olivia, Julie, Tim L, Bridgette, Janet and Tim S. Slideshow

Fall 2013

10/27&11/1/2013  Aaron's 3rd Birthday carving pumpkins with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim; Rooster Rock hike 4 miles 1500 feet in Table Rock Wilderness. Slideshow

10/2&6&11-13&18/2013  Short visit from Kelsey and Kadri when they attend the Portland Acro Yoga Festival;  Mt St Helens climb 4500 feet 10 miles with Karolina, Sebastian, Tim and Janet; 7 miles 1000 feet  Mosier Trail and Multnomah Falls hike in the Gorge with John, Tim and Janet; Cheese Soufflé dinner in Portland with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet, Tim S, Bette and John; kid hike Fanno Creek Trail in Tigard 2 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bette and John; 7 miles 2000 feet Bull of the Woods Peak and Wilderness hike. Slideshow

09/6-25/2013  Grand Canyon Raft Trip go to link for photos.  

08/15-24/2013  Trip back east; See Bob for breakfast after coming into Boston on the red-eye; visit with Ann, Rob, Lauren and Willie at the Whitehill Animal Farm near Durham, New Hampshire; David and Cat's wedding at the Bishop Farm in northern New Hampshire with Peter, Linda, Cindi, Curtis and other friends; visit Kelsey in Brooklyn seeing the 9/11 memorial, juggling at Bryant Park, Public Library, Grand Central, Staten Island Ferry and a lot of subway rides and walking in New York;  road trip with Kelsey to meet Kadri in his place in Rockport on the north shore of Boston.   Slideshow

Late Summer 2013

08/11/2013 PT and his friends John, Adam, Church, Zander and Danny stop in Hood River as they paddle up the Columbia in their dugout canoes.   Slideshow

Check out their facebook site https://www.facebook.com/VoyagesofRediscovery

08/9/2013 Addy's 6th Birthday Party at Enchanted Forest near Salem with Aaron, Hadley, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim.   Slideshow

08/2-4/2013 40th Syracuse Reunion in Asheville, North Carolina with Dean and Jane hosting Friday night BBQ at their place and Saturday Rocky and Susan had a Italian night at their house with Jeanne, Susan W, Eddie, Elmer and Charlie;  Blue Ridge hike and Skinny Dip Falls 6 miles 1000 feet with Rocky, Katie and Sperry on Friday; Triple Falls hike and swim 2 miles 500 feet with Rocky and Susan on Sunday.  Slideshow

Link to photos from last reunion at Elmer's cabin three years ago.

07/12,14,20,25,26,27/2013 Heart Lake hike mostly bushwhacking 4 miles 2000 feet; Laura's 28th birthday (base 28) with Katie and pancit (a Filipino dish); Katie moving to her nice new pad in Bonaventure of Salem, 3114 Boone Rd SE Apt 308, Salem, OR 97317 and new phone 503 967-1315; Julie and Tim go out for their 10th anniversary and we babysit Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Opal Lake hike 3 miles 400 feet; rafting on the Deschutes with Iman, Arianaz, Ramesh and Pranav.  Slideshow

07/4-7/2013 30th Annual Backpack Cabinet Mountains Wilderness near Libby, Montana with George, Caroly, John, Tim, Janet, Alison and Gene.  Slideshow

John's hike log

Summer 2013

05/31&6/14-16/2013 South Peak (Echo Mt) 1500 ft 7 miles; Spring volleyball team with Kera, Malisa and Jeni; Santiam Wagon Road hike 200 feet 3 miles with SunSeed Edventures and Iman with his two daughters and Jennifer's three kids and 8 other kids from ages 7 to 15; Father's Day Camping weekend at Lost Lake and Mt Hood with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, Janet and Tim S;  Slideshow

5/3&12&17-18/2013 South Beach hike near Newport 9 miles 100 feet dead octopus and live bald eagle; Mother's Day lasagna dinner with three mothers Kaite, Bridgette and Laura (I was a lucky guy!); Elk Lake to Battle Creek trail junction Bull of the Woods Wilderness hike 10 miles 1000 feet; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth with the usual mac and cheese dinner.   Slideshow

04/26-28/2013 Family Weekend with John and Bette flying up from San Diego and Tim and Janet driving down from Seattle;  Saddle Mountain hike 1600 feet 5 miles with John; cheese soufflé dinner with John, Bette, Tim, Janet, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim; Terra Cache hike Lacamas Heritage Park flat 2 miles with John and Tim; kid hike Beacon Rock State Park 2.5 miles 600 feet with everyone.   Slideshow

Liam One Year Old 

04/1-6/2013 Week in Chicago with Liam, Matt, Olivia, Kelsey and family;  White Sox - Mariner night game 32 degrees and windy; Liam's cousin Khloe first birthday party (4 days apart).  Slideshow

03/29-31/2013 Visit to Chicago for Liam's first birthday party with extended family (about 80 people) at Arlington Lake Golf Club.  Slideshow

Spring 2013

02/8&17-18&22-23/2013 Beacon Rock State Park in the gorge hike 3 miles 200 feet; Stangeland Winery near Salem with Bridgette and Katie; Newport beach jetty hike 4 miles 200 feet; Hardy Ridge gorge hike 7 miles 2000 feet in the rain and snow; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth while Tim and Julie do an 80's fundraiser for the kid's school.  Slideshow

01/19&25/2013 Celebrate Tom's birthday with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Agate Beach hike 3 miles 100 feet, first hike since injuring my knee, stopped at Jeff's new beach house in Lincoln City.   Slideshow

01/12/2013 Celebrate Katie's 85th and Tom's 61st birthdays for a total of 146 years with Bridgette and Craig and a roast beef dinner.   Slideshow

Fall Winter 2012

12/15&24-25/2012 Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth while Tim and Julie went Christmas Shopping; Christmas Eve dinner with Katie and Bridgette; Christmas Day with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bridgette and Katie. Slideshow

11/2&16&21-27/2012 Bald Butte hike 1500 feet 4 miles; Mansfield Mt hike 1300 feet 4 miles pretty much all bushwhacking; Thanksgiving week with Liam and his extended family Matt, Olivia, Kelsey, PT, Bridgette, Katie, Holly, Sam, Tim, Janet, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and good times, good food, ping pong, Schneider card games; Joel pops in for a visit and a cheese soufflé cook off. Slideshow

10/19&20&28/2012 Sisi Butte hike 1400 feet 7 miles in the rain; Oregon State - Utah football game with Pete, Paul, Mary Lou and Walt; Aaron's Second Birthday with friends and family. Slideshow

10/14/2012 Liam gets baptized with Matt and Olivia and family; Congrats to Matt for passing his Internal Medicine boards. Slideshow

Fall 2012

10/12-14/2012 John and Bette visit; Lost Lake Butte hike 4 miles 1400 feet and Crown point with John and each with a Terre cache;  Cheese Soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bette and John; kid hike in Milo McIver State Park 2 miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Tim, John and Bette. Slideshow

10/5&7/2012 Welcome Lakes hike 2000 feet 9 miles in Bull of the Woods Wilderness, a lot of fire damage from last year's fire; Elizabeth's 7th birthday with friends and family.  Slideshow

09/19&21&29/2012 Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth for school conferences; Bear Point hike 1400 feet 6 miles from Crown Lake and a lot of bushwhacking; Mt Bachelor 3000 feet 5 miles with Edward.  Slideshow

08/24&9/1&8/2012 Potato Butte hike 1700 feet 7 miles very smoking from Warm Springs fire; Ken's bachelor party at Round Lake Campground with Clint and Chris and lots of guns; Hawk Mt 1600 feet 5 miles mostly bushwhacking; Wooden Boat festival in Port Townsend with Bridgette, Craig, Tim and Janet.  Slideshow

12th Annual Sierra Backpack

09/11-16/2012 12th Annual Sierra backpack with John, Larry, Ed and Ziv; climb Mt Langley a 14,000 footer; visit Audrey and her parents Henrietta and Paul at their Mt Williamson hotel in Independence, CA.  Slideshow

John's log

9/10-15 12th Annual Sierra Backpack, Cottonwood Lakes TH to Muir Lake
basecamp, ride with Ed, breakfast with Larry in Escondido, permit & 
cannister at Mt Whitney RS, Horseshoe Meadow Walk-In Camp, with L to
Cottonwood Pass & TC, return in dark, 7mi, 1200' gain, campfire, 34º
11: meet Tom at TH, pack to Muir Lake 11100', 7mi, 1500', no fires, 
deer, rain, early into wet bivy sack, clear night, 38º
12: T&L climb Cirque Pk 12900' via Army Pass & return by AP PT & New
Army Pass, with Ed to Hidden Lake, Cottonwood Lakes, map discrepancy,
Lakes 1, 3, 4 & 5, check out Army Pass route, cool breezy day, 38º
13: T hikes to Lake 6 & Woolyback 12840' & Hidden Lake, with L&E to 
CW Lake 2, S Fork Lakes, Cirque Lake, meet t.r.violin at camp, Ziv 
arrives, 29º coldest night
14: Langley Pk 14032 & TC, 4h45 up, 12mi, 3200'gain, 20 bighorn above
Old Army Pass, Ed does Old Army - New Army loop, many arrivals at Muir
Lake, last night spam, 37º
15: pack out in 2h45, stop at Alabama Hills arch, lunch at Mt Whitney
Restaurant, drop off cannister, home in time for Oakleys' 70th birthday
party, great trip
Ed, Larry, Tom, Ziv

Matt and Olivia's Wedding August 18, 2012

08/18/2012 Matt and Olivia's Wedding.  Slideshow

Tim and Janet's photos

08/18&19/2012 Wedding Reception at the Rosemont Hilton; opening gifts the next morning.  Slideshow

08/11-17/2012 Quick stop for Addy's 5th birthday before we head to Chicago; visit Liam before the big wedding; rehearsal at church with Deacon Paul and then dinner at Fornello Trattoria; family dinner with Chicago deep dish pizza at Gino's East on Friday.  Slideshow

Late Summer 2012

08/18/2012 Matt and Olivia's Wedding Info - Email us if you have any questions.

• Gift Registry Sites: Target, Crate&Barrel and Pottery Barn

• Wedding 2pm to 3pm at St Mary's of the Lake church in Chicago

• Reception 6pm to 11pm at Hilton Hotel, Rosemont, IL

07/27&8/6/2012  Black Crater 8 miles 2400 feet still a bit of snow on top; Scar Mountain 5 miles 700 feet in the Middle Santiam Wilderness.  Slideshow

07/14&18-22/2012  Laura's 63rd birthday with Katie; 29th Annual Backpack in North Cascades National Park 40 miles and three passes in the snow with Tim and John with a special thanks to Tom T for doing the car shuttle for us.  Slideshow

John's Trip Log

07/6-10/2012  Visit Kelsey in Colorado Renaissance Festival with Matt and Olivia; Hike up Castle Rock 3 miles 500 feet; drive up Mt Evans 14,265 feet; put new tent top on VW Camper; hike around Garden of the Gods with Matt, Olivia and Kelsey;  drive to Manitou Springs and Forissant Fossil Beds National Monument; visit Kelsey in Boulder and see her in Acro class.  Slideshow

Summer 2012

06/29/2012  Mt Bachelor (west of the Cascades) 6 miles 1700 feet and Mt Bruno 1 mile 500 feet (had to bushwack up this peak for Laura).   Slideshow

06/23/2012  Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.   Slideshow

05/18&19&06/1&15-17/2012  Moolack Beach 5 miles 100 feet hike on the coast near Newport lost pedometer;  Bridgette and new friend Craig visit; Cabot Creek 5 miles 500 feet hike lost pedometer for second time; Mt Echo 6 miles 1800 feet with a lot of bushwacking; Mt Rainer National Park on Father's Day weekend with Tim and Janet.   Slideshow

Spring 2012

05/4&12/2012  Mt Hamilton hike 9 miles 2000 feet in the gorge; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.   Slideshow

4/27/2012  Liam's first month birthday.  These are photos from Olivia and Matt, most of them off of Facebook.   Slideshow

Video of Liam focusing on his baby mobile above his crib.

04/20-04/22/2012  Drift Creek Falls hike 3 miles 500 feet and Roadsend hike 3 miles 200 feet with Janet, Tim S and John; stopped to see Mike Brown again and his girl friend Rhonda; family cheese soufflé dinner with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim L, John, Bette, Tim S and Janet; kid hike 2 miles 100 feet Fanno Creek in Tualatin with everyone.  Slideshow

Baby Liam

03/28-04/3/2012  Liam's first week at Grandma Belinda and Grandpa Henry's home with lots of family visiting to meet Liam; St Mary's of the Lake church in Chicago where Matt and Olivia's wedding will take place August 18th; Hilton hotel in Rosemont where reception will be;  Matt's new hospital Northwest Community Hospital where Matt starts working as a hospitalist August 21st;  Olivia goes back into the hospital for a couple days because of an infection around the tear from Liam's delivery;  Olivia is feeling much better now.  Slideshow

03/28&29/2012  Meeting Liam for the first time with Matt, Olivia, family and friends in the hospital.  Slideshow

Winter 2012

03/04/2012  Ramesh takes me up in a Cessna 172 in Salem with his instructor Al Grey.  Slideshow

02/17&24-25/2012  Cape Foulweather hike 5 miles 300 feet mostly bush wacking  on the coast in the rain; Coyote Wall hike 7 miles 1500 feet in the gorge on the Washington side; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow

01/20&27&2/4-10/2012  Eagle Creek hike 5 miles 300 feet in the Gorge with a lot of snow; snowboarding and skiing at Hoodoo; Rattlesnake Mtn east of Seattle 8.6 mile hike 2000 feet with Tim and Edward half in the snow; Super Bowl party with Tim, Sally and John at Tim's fancy modern high rise apartment in Seattle; Tom and Marga's house with Tim for a couple beers.  Slideshow

01/19/2012  Flood at Tom's company SAIF Corporation.  Slideshow

01/6&8&14/2012  Cape Meares hike 7 miles 100 feet to the south jetty; Do a rats exchange at Julie's with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Holly and Tim S; Katie's and Tom's birthday dinner.  Slideshow

Fall Winter 2011

12/16&22-25/2011 Wygant Peak hike in the gorge 2000 feet 8 miles; coast hike south of Depoe Bay 5 miles 200 feet; Cape Horn hike in the gorge 6 miles 1000 feet and Beacon Rock with PT;  Christmas dinner at our house with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, PT, Julie, Tim and Bridgette. Slideshow

12/2&10/2011 Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; 4 mile 100 feet coast hike south of Depoe Bay. Slideshow

11/24-25&28-29/2011 Thanksgiving with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Kelsey, Etienne, Matt, Olivia, Julie, Tim, Earl, Linda, Bridgette, Katie and Sophia; Silver Falls hike 2 miles 200 feet with Kelsey, Etienne, Matt, Olivia and Bridgette;  Munra Point hike 5 miles 1800 feet in the gorge with Kelsey and Etienne; Forest Park hike 5 miles 400 feet. Slideshow

11/4&11-12&17-18&20-22/2011 Hart's Cove hike 500 feet 4 miles; Wakeena and Multnomah Falls loop hike with Earl, Linda, Bob and Sharon 1500 feet 5 miles; Saddle Mtn hike 1600 feet 6 miles with Brad and Bob;  babysitting for teacher conference with Elizabeth, Addy and Aaron; Cascade Head hike 500 feet 4 miles; Matt, Olivia, Kelsey and Etienne home for Thanksgiving week with a day trip to the stormy and rainy coast.   Slideshow

Fall 2011

10/29&31/2011 Aaron's first Birthday Party with his family and friends; Earl and Linda with their new grand daughter Willa, Mom Allison and Dad Brad then out to dinner in Portland; Fall volleyball team on Halloween with Katie, Amy, Dusty and Ray.   Slideshow

10/7-8&15/2011 Black Butte hike 4 miles 1500 feet; Elizabeth's 6th birthday party at her house with her friends and family; Bald Peak State Park 2 miles 100 feet kid hike in the fog, lunch at park in Newberg and cheese soufflé dinner at our house with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bette and John.   Slideshow

09/8/2011 Helmet diving in Boracay, Philippines with Matt and Olivia  Slideshow

09/18&22&23/2011 Holly goes to Evergreen State College with help from Janet, Tim and Bridgette; babysitting for Elizabeth's first school conference with Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth; Cone Peak hike 5 miles 1500 feet bush wack last half mile to the top; redoing our guest room.  Slideshow

Philippines Trip September 2011

09/2-11/2011 Trip to Philippines with Matt and Olivia..  Slideshow

Philippines Trip Log 

Friday 9/2 -  Matt and Olivia fly from Chicago thru Hong Kong and Laura and Tom fly from Portland thru Seoul, Korea.  Manila is 15 hours ahead of Portland and 13 hours ahead of Chicago.

Saturday 9/3 - It is about a 24 hour trip and the four of us finally meet at the Manila airport a little before midnight.  Olivia’s cousin and wife pick us up and take us to our hotel.  We go to the wrong hotel first.  It had a similar name.  We get to sleep around 2am

Sunday 9/4 – We meet Olivia’s brother Henry and family plus her friend Shirley.  They take us around Manila: Philippine General Hospital, Rizal Park and Intramuros (the old Spanish city)

Monday 9/5 - Fly an hour to Cebu and stay on Maclan Island.  Take a day trip to a small beach and have lunch on the west part of Maclan.  Go into Cebu City for BBQ dinner and see Magellan’s Cross.  Try to visit the Spanish Fort San Pedro but it is closed.

Tuesday 9/6 – Take a two hour jet ferry to Bohol and do a lunch boat on the green Loboc River, visit a Tarsier Conservation Park (a very cute small animal only found in this part of the world), climb up to viewpoint of the Chocolate Hills, tour the Church of the Immaculate Conception and then jet ferry back to Cebu quite a full day.

Wednesday 9/7 – Fly an hour to Boracay and stay at a fancy beach resort for two nights.  Beautiful white sand beach and turquoise water right outside our hotel. 

Thursday 9/8 – Water sport day Matt and Tom do helmet diving, snorkeling, parasailing and island hopping with Olivia and Laura enjoying the boat rides.

Friday 9/9 – Fly an hour back to Manila and stay at a modern hotel on Manila Bay.  Dinner with Olivia’s cousin and wife at a place on the water.

Saturday 9/10 – Day trip 2 hour drive south to Tagaytay and the Taal Volcano.  Boat trip out on the big lake to the small island in the middle with the volcano.  Laura and Olivia take horses up the trail to the view above the active volcano and Matt and Tom hike along behind.  Late lunch with Olivia’s brother Henry and family in Tagaytay with a nice view.  Back to hotel in Manila.

Sunday 9/11 – Fly back home 24 hour trip but we do gain 15/13 hours so we get back the same day in the afternoon.  Great trip with Olivia being a great hostess and tour guide.

Grand Canyon Raft Trip August 2011

08/12-31/2011  Hike in Zion National Park with Tom T the day before going to Lee's Ferry; my fifth time down the Colorado River on a raft thru the Grand Canyon with Holly, Sam S, Sam B, Tom T, Chris, Tim and George.  Slideshow

Tom S's Grand Canyon log August 2011

Thursday 8/11 - 8pm Tom T and me drive thru the night to Cedar City, UT. Tom T gets pulled over by cop in Nevada. Treats us like criminals but does not give us a ticket.
Friday 8/12 - 6 mile hike with Tom T on the Taylor Creek trail in Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park. Stay at a hotel near Cedar City.
Saturday 8/13 - Got to Lee's Ferry at noon; Gang arrived at 3pm with gear and we started to rig the boats. Pretty much done by 7:30pm and we moved the boats down to the campsite. 5 of us ate dinner at Marble Canyon Lodge.

Sunday 8/14 - Breakfast at George's truck in the parking lot. Jeff, the River Ranger, gave us a talk from 9 to 10am. River running at 25,000 cfs which is much higher than last two trips (10k cfs). Leave soon after that. Did hike #5 Sheer Wall and then camped at Hot Na Na mile 16.7. Holly and I do first dinner.
Monday 8/15 - Sam S, Sam B, Tom T and Tim and me do hike #6 Rider Canyon. Camp at Silver Grotto mile 29.3. Sam S and Holly make it into the grotto. 
Tuesday 8/16 - Fill two 8 gallon water containers at Vasey's Paradise. Lunch at Redwall Cavern. Holly and George do first kayaking then Sam B does too. Nantiloid Canyon hike #15. Explore Marble Canyon Dam tunnels. Camp at Lower Buck Farm mile 41.2.
Wednesday 8/17 - 5:30am hike up Buck Farm Canyon #17. Short hike #18 to Bert Louper's boat. Nankoweap Grainery hike #21. Camp mile 56.2 Malgosa. Sam B flipped twcie on the kayak and Holly once.
Thursday 8/18 - Early hike up Malgosa Canyon #24 after breakfast. Sam B and George flip kayak. Swim on Little Colorado and short hike to cabin on other side of creek. Creek brown but it does not make Colorado brown. Camp at Upper Unkar 72.4.
Friday 8/19 - All day hike up Unkar Creek #32 with Sam B, Tim, Tom T and me. Steaks for dinner.
Saturday 8/20 - Run first major rapids and go to Phantom Ranch. Call Laura from pay phone. Good lemonade as usual. Run Horn Creek with no scouting and no problem. Camp at Granite mile 93.8.

Sunday 8/21 - Monument Creek hike #40 went up wrong canyon but cut over to right drainage on way back. Run Crystal no problem, easy sneak on the right. Shinumo Creek Falls good swim spot late afternoon. Camp at mile 112.8 Waltenburg.
Monday 8/22 - Elves Chasm for most of the morning. Short stop at Doll House. Blacktail hike #48. Camp at Below Bedrock 131.7.
Tuesday 8/23 - Christmas Tree Cave. Pump water at Tapeats but no Thunder River hike (too hot). Swim at Deer Creek hike #55. Camp at Above Olo 145.9 and sit in chairs in the river for dinner.
Wednesday 8/24 - Matkatamiba most of the day hike #59. Camp at Upper Ledges 151.9.
Thursday 8/25 - All day hike to Beaver Falls #61 on Havasu Creek. Could not find Green Room but swimming was great. Camp at Tuckup 165.1.
Friday 8/26 - Ran Lava with easy sneak to the left. Camp at mile 186.4.
Saturday 8/27 - Tim and Sam S left in raft at 6:30am so Sam S could helicopter out from Whitmore Helipad. One mile hike to the Whitmore Rim #71. Nice views of the river and canyon. Camp at Indian Camp mile 207.

Sunday 8/28 - George begged for ice from commercial trip. They made him swim for the ice. Camp at mile 220.
Monday 8/29 - Missed Travertine Canyon but did stop at Travertine Falls. Camp at Surprise Canyon mile 248.8.
Tuesday 8/30 - No rapids. Did floating lunch with three boats tied together. Camp at mile 279.
Wednesday 8/31 - Take out at Pearce's Ferry. Big newly formed 10 rapid half mile down. REO shuttles car to us a little before 10:30am. We are out of there a little after 11am. Fried chicken lunch in windy picnic spot. Drop Holly and Tim at Vegas airport. Dinner with Cathy, Bette, John and Joel in Newport Beach. Sam B leaves with John and Bette for San Diego. Tom T and me leave for Salem and Seattle. Get home about 12:30pm.

Two videos Tim, Sam and Holly on left run of Lava Falls (31MB avi file) and Dave Wimmer and Patti Meyer on right runs of Lava (68MB avi file)

Tom Trowbridge's photos and videos

Summer 2011

08/06/2011  Addy's 4th Fairy-Themed Birthday Party at her house with family and friends; Tim was the hiding gnome that the girls had to find.  Slideshow

07/14&15&29/2011  Laura's 62nd birthday with Kaite; Joel visits Salem; Swamp Peak and Gordon Peak hike in Middle Santiam Wilderness Area 1000 feet 6 miles; neighbor's garage with foot thick concrete walls; Laura bike riding in Minto Brown Park; Olallie Butte hike 2600 feet 6.5 miles Slideshow

28th Annual Backpack in Utah 2011

07/01-04/2011  28th Annual backpack in Brown Duck Basin, High Uintas Wilderness Area in Utah with Holly, Janet, Tim and John; Stalhman Point hike 2000 feet 4 miles and Laura riding a bike Slideshow

John's Log

7/1-4 28th Annual Backpack, High Uintas Wilderness UT, vic Brown Duck
Mtn, too much snow for full loop, Lake Fork TH 8200', jeep road to Brown
Duck Tr, sign removed for our trail to Atwine Lake 10200', creek
crossing, 7mi, nice camp & fire
      2: pack 1½mi to Clements Lake 10444', snow, dayhike to East Basin
Pass 10640, damp fire
      3: pack 3½mi to Brown Duck Lake 10186, tired - nap 3hrs, T&T hike
to Tworoose Pass 10680 then 100' up Dry Ridge Tr, we see elk high on Dry
Ridge snowfields, late walk to Island Lake 10250, no fire, Cr8s game,
find setting sliver moon with GPS
      4: some rain before dawn, cross creek at lake dam, 6½mi pack out,
T&H drive cars to CG, Pinn Willy's lunch
      18.5mi with pack, 2.6mi dayhikes
      Tom, Tim, Janet, Holly

Kelsey's Circus Arts Graduation Week 2011

05/20-28/2011  Visit Kelsey in Brattleboro, Vermont for her graduation from New England Center for the Circus Arts, met Kelsey's new boy friend Etienne, graduation party at Serenity and Bill's farm, visit Grafton Cheese Factory where Kelsey worked, tour of Bennington, Vermont, visit Ann and Will in New Hampshire, tour Portland Maine and visit Martha and Paul and family in Dedham, MA.  Slideshow

Spring 2011

05/14/2011  Spring volleyball team Sarah, Amy, Katie, Dusty, Ray;  Babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth.  Slideshow

04/26&27/2011  Special Person nights at Burlingame Pre_School Elizabeth took Uncle Tom and then the next night Addy took Aunt Laura. Slideshow

03/18&23&04/01-02/2011  One picture from our cancelled trip to Bolivia at the Seattle airport with Brigdette; Wyeth Trail in the Gorge 2000 feet 5 miles; Cascade Head hike with John in the fog 1200 feet 5 miles; Mike Brown and his girl friend Rhonda at his place in Lincoln City; Plunkett Creek Trail in Beazell Memorial Forest 2miles 100 feet with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Paul, John, Bette and Laura; cheese souffle at our house after the hike. Slideshow

Winter 2010

03/11/2011  Winter volleyball team with Katie, Amy, Emily, Deanna and Ray; Herman Creek hike with two nice water falls in the gorge 6 miles 1000 feet  Slideshow

03/05/2011  Babysitting Elizabeth, Addy and Aaron  Slideshow

02/25/2011  Babysitting Addy and Aaron while Elizabeth and Julie spend the morning at school Slideshow

01/28&02/11-12/2011  Dry Creek Falls in the Gorge 1000 feet 5 miles; North of Depot Bay on the coast 100 feet 4 miles; Mark, Lisa and Dylan come for a visit with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim. Slideshow

01/14-15&22/2011  Boiler Bay hike on the coast 3 miles 100 feet in the rain; Katie and Tom's birthday dinner with Bridgette; babysitting Aaron, Addy and Elizabeth. Slideshow

12/18-25/2010  Christmas week  with Kelsey, Matt, PT, Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bridgette and Katie;  Roads End hike 6 miles 1000 feet on the coast; Brunch at Kaite's house; Christmas dinner with all 12 of us. Slideshow

Fall 2010

11/25/2010  Thanksgiving at our house with Aaron, Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bridgette, Katie. Slideshow

11/5&14&19/2010  Knob Rock in the Middle Santiam Wilderness hike 1500 feet 5 miles with tough bushwack; Sharon visits from Minneapolis with friend Corine and a short hike at Multnomah Falls; Silver King Mtn and Battle Axe Mtn hike 2000 feet 11 miles;  Fogarty Creek SP hike on the coast 100 feet 4 miles in the wind and rain.  Slideshow

10/30&31/2010  Aaron Mark Loveless born 9:36am Saturday 10/30 8 lbs 11 oz 21 inches after Julie got to the hospital at 8:30am that morning.  We got to keep the girls for the weekend at their house.  Julie and Tim got home with Aaron in time to take the girls out for Halloween.  Slideshow

10/16&22/2010  Bridgette's 51st birthday, a day with Elizabeth and Addy and a visit from Joel.  Slideshow

10/08&09/2010  Hart's Cove 6 miles 1000 feet found a terra cache with John; Elizabeth's 5th Birthday party at AC Gilbert's Discovery Village and cheese soufflé dinner at our house with Elizabeth, Addy, Tim, Julie, Bette and John. Slideshow

Sierra Backpack 2010 and Mt Adams

10/03/2010  Mt Adams, second highest peak in Washington at 12,276 feet, climb with Peter 6700 feet 12 miles.  This is the most vertical I have done in a day.  It took us 12 and half hours to do the climb from the South Climb trailhead.  The conditions were good with hard pack snow.  The weather was mostly cloudy.  The top was very windy and cold.  There were only 3 other people on the peak that day which is much less than we expected.  Slideshow

09/24/2010  Knob Rock hike in the Middle Santiam Wilderness area 1000 feet 5 miles. Tough bushwacking up to the knob.

09/5-8/2010  Sierra backpack with Ziv, Neal, Larry, John and Ed.     Slideshow

Larry's log:

Later Summer and 27th Annual Backpack 2010

08/27&28/2010  Crescent Mtn hike 8 miles 2100 feet in the smoke and haze of Oregon forest fires;  Tim and Julie paint the baby's room and we get the girls again.  What fun!     Slideshow

08/18-21/2010  27th Annual Backpack in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness in Colorado with Holly, Sam, Andy, Matt, Janet, Tim and John.     Slideshow

John's log:

8/16-22 27th Annual Backpack, White River NF, Maroon Bells Snowmass
　　　　　 Wilderness, Colorado, I-15 TerraCaches on drive out: Eye of the
　　　　　 Shaman, Kokoweef Peak, Fabulous Las Vegas, stay at Virgin River
　　　　　 Hotel&Casino in Mesquite NV
　　　　　 17: Utah TCs: The Shoe Tree, Historic Cove Fort with Elder Hall tour,
　　　　　 geocache only for Harry & Eve, Memphis Mines - long muddy 4WD in,
　　　　　 Let's Bury the Hachet in Fuita CO, cheap Grand Junction hotel
　　　　　 18: arrive at Avalanche Creek CG while TT&A set up shuttle, Avalanche
　　　　　 Trail 6800' to Gift Creek 8800', signs for missing Willy, Duley Park,
　　　　　 planned W Fork Trail to Avalanche Pass sketchy & unmaintained, decide
　　　　　 on Silver Creek Trail instead, rain during the night
　　　　　 19: rainy hike to Avalanche Lake 10700', wet camp, T&M hike to
　　　　　 Capitol Lake pass - return wet & cold, late dinner & early to bed
　　　　　 20: wet pack up, Silver Creek Tr south & west up to 11880', nice
　　　　　 sunny day, good camp at upper East Fork Creek 11340, AM&S hike to
　　　　　 saddle, great campfire
　　　　　 21: over Silver Creek Pass 12260', Lost Trail Road, Andy & Matt get
　　　　　 cars, lunch at Woody's B-B-Q in Marble, drive to Richfield UT, home at 3pm
　　　　　 Tom, Matt, Tim, Janet, Holly, Sam, Andy Gisler　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Late Summer 2010

08/14/2010  Painting Day for their bedroom at Elizabeth and Addy's house; we visited the new Kroc Center in Salem to do some swimming while Mom and Dad did the painting.     Slideshow

08/05-08/2010  Dinner with Bob, Sheila and Elizabeth in Boston; Flea Bag Fest XX X at Elmer's camp on Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondacks with Elmer, Sue, Kirby, Eddie, Jeanne, Tom, Ann, Tommy, Stephen, Rhonda and Jonathon; Panther Mtn hike 3 miles 600 feet with Kirby, Eddie, Tom and Elmer; New England Center for the Circus Arts in Brattleboro, VT where Kelsey will be attending classes starting in September.    Slideshow

07/31-08/04/2010  Visit Ann, Will, Rob and Lauren at the Animal Farm in New Hampshire helping Rob to clean out the barn; visit Portland and Boothbay Harbor in Maine.  Slideshow

Summer 2010

07/25/2010  Tim and Julie's 7th Anniversary, dinner at the Portland City Grill on the top of Portland's tallest building, and we get to baby-sit.   Slideshow

07/14&16-19/2010  Laura's 61st birthday with Katie; Camping with Tim, Julie, Elizabeth and Addy at Tumalo State Park near Bend; McKenzie Pass; Birds of Prey Ranger Talk; Boyd and Skeleton Lava caves.  Slideshow

07/09&10/2010  Broken Top climb 14 miles 3700 feet with Santiam Alpine Club Fritz, Peter, Pedro, Aurora, Lisa, Joel, Simon, Jenny and Jeremy; Buck Peak hike 11 miles 1500 feet from Lost Lake, highest point in Multnomah County with Richard and Gail.  Slideshow

Trip Report
Broken Top Climb
Green Lakes Route
July 10, 2010
Excursion Time: 13 hours car-to-car
Carpool Ratio (people/cars): 2.0

A Santiam Alpine Club team reached the summit of Broken Top on July
10, 2010! The team consisted of club veterans Peter Tuazon and Tom
Strauch; 2009 Climb School student Simon Boyd; 2010 Climb School
Students Lisa Westerfield, Aurora Mehlman, Peter Urban, Jeremy Gish,
and Jenny Wang; guest Joel Byler, and your faithful leadership
impersonator, Fritz Capell. Tom served as Assistant.

Most of us arrived late, and we all camped at the Green Lakes
trailhead, a very hospitable place for camping, with a soft surface, a
babbling brook and last-minute water source, and even a pit toilet -
first class accommodations! We placed our tents randomly, but the
ranger came by in the morning and scolded us; apparently there are
some posts marking appropriate places to camp, which we never saw in
the dark. We'll look for those next time.

We awoke to a few deer grazing nearby, and rousted ourselves to a
rather embarrassing 6:50am departure. I won't name any names, but are
we climbers or hibernating bears? I'm going to have to wake some of
you earlier next time I schedule a 6am climb. Fortunately, we had a
wide open climbing window, so we could afford a yawning start.

Heavy June snowfall made this an unusual year for snow. The trail was
bare at the trailhead, but soon drifts appeared, making the trail
rather difficult to follow. Since it follows Fall Creek, it's hard to
get too lost. We abandoned the trail when it departed from the creek
up the side of the hill, as my climbing instinct wouldn't let me give
up the elevation we'd gained. Turns out it would be better to lose a
little elevation and stick with the creek - we returned via that
route, and it was a much easier passage.

We reached the Green Lakes area at about 9:30 and scoped ourselves out
a route up onto the ridge to the north, targeting the western edge of
the ridge's saddle. The area around Green Lakes was very snowy, though
melted through in some areas, and the lakes themselves were full of
ice. The ascent onto the ridge was mixed snow and rock, but not
difficult. We were on the ridge by about 11, stashed some of our gear
there, and continued eastward up the ridge, reaching The Nose around
1pm.

The Nose is basically the crux of the climb, a slightly tricky little
rock pitch that we usually protect because it is rather exposed. The
accumulated snow on the north side of the ridge alleviated much of the
exposure, and most of the team felt they could tackle the pitch
without protection. But we set an anchor and roped up anyway, just to
make good use of the rope we'd hauled all the way up here, and anyway
we figured the descent would be better rappelled.

We set up an anchor and Jeremy belayed everyone up, and from there
they continued with the last traverse, around the horn to the south
and then back across on the east side to the summit. Our first
climbers reached the summit shortly before 2pm.

We encountered only one other group on the mountain, four hikers from
Corvallis who arrived as we were belaying. I offered to belay them up
without considering all the ramifications - they were without
harnesses or helmets, and without even the skills to tie themselves
in. Simon and I gave up our harnesses, Rory and others helped them tie
in, and their heads were their own problem, as it would have been
foolish to give up our helmets. Probably shouldn't have done that, but
it must have been worth some serious karma points.

Everybody got a few minutes at the summit, which was in perfect form.
Beautiful day, mild temperatures, and we could see every mountain from
here to everywhere. The view of the Sisters from that vantage point is
especially spectacular from there, and the more so with a heavy
dusting of snow on them. I could have spent several hours up there,
but the team was anxious, and some had already headed back toward our
stash down the ridge. We used FMRS walkie-talkies to keep in touch,
but interference from other groups was a problem, as always, high in
the mountains, because the range can be extreme. Tom and Peter had a
second GPS, so they went on ahead back to the cars.

Our team rappelled, Rory belayed the wayward hikers, we tore down our
anchor, and we all picked our way back down the ridge to the stash
spot, for a last rest before pushing our way down through the mosquito
lands. We plunge-stepped easy snowfields back down to Fall Creek, and
made the rest of the hike out along the usual route. A few sketchy
snowbridges across swollen creeks, and we reached the cars shortly
before 8pm.

Another great Santiam Alpine Club excursion! Special thanks to Tom for
keeping an eye on the GPS, to Jeremy and Rory for their tireless
belaying, to Joel for helping Lisa, and to Simon for encouraging Jenny
and for loaning out his harness! Hope everybody had a good time, and
hope to climb with you all again soon!

More pictures:

Fritz Capell
Climb Leader

06/18&07/02/2010  Hart's Cove hike 5 miles 500 feet on the coast with Lee; Silver King Mtn hike 9 miles 2000 feet in the rain from Elk Lake.  Slidesho

Spring-Summer 2010

05/28-06/04/2010  Visit Kelsey and Jules in Austin; Flourish and Fool plus Red Balloon Show at the Long Center; Kelsey's house; walk in the Lady Bird Wildflower Park;  Petanque in the park; Piano concert by Patches; Scarborough Renaissance Festival to see Arsene, Kelsey's mentor, outside Dallas; Enchanted Rock State Park near Fredericksburg; more Petanque with Arsene at the French Legion; Salt Lick BBQ with Nelson; juggle club; van ready to go to Colorado.  Slideshow

05/10&22/2010  Visit Matt in Chicago for Mother's Day with Tim and Janet; Spring volleyball team; babysitting Elizabeth and Addy while Tim and Julie go to a Tim McGraw concert; moving a big rock (600 lbs) out of our garden with help from Mike, PT and Bridgette.  Slideshow

04/23-24/2010  Munra Point hike 1800 feet 4 miles and Horsetail, Ponytail and Triple Falls 750 feet 4 milkes all in the gorge with John; Tom's 100th hike with John after 26 years along with Bette, Julie, Tim, Paul, Addy and Elizabeth at Mary S Young State Park 3 miles 50 feet; Pork and Sauerkraut dinner with everyone.  Slideshow

Spring 2010

03/27-04/02/2010  Holly, Tim and Janet come to the Northwest looking at 4 colleges; carousel and lasagna dinner with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim;  Henline Mt hike 4 miles 1800 feet in the snow; U of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Evergreen State in Olympia, Lewis and Clark in Portland, Humboldt State in Arcata, CA; a short hike in the redwoods  Slideshow

02/26&28/2010  Wind Mt in the Gorge Hike 3 miles 1200 feet; Piety Island on Detroit Lake 4 miles 500 feet with Lee; Winter Volleyball team; Kelsey and Jules performing in Austin Slideshow

02/14&15&20/2010  Valentine's dinner Chicken Cacciatore Laura cooked up; South Harts Cove 6 miles 200 feet; fun babysitting Addy and Elizabeth  Slideshow

01/17,18,29&02/07/2010  Katie and Tom celebrate birthdays 82 and 58 respectively; Cape Kiwanda 4 miles 200 feet on the coast north of Pacific City; Oneonta Gorge and Elowah Falls 4 miles 500 feet; Super Bowl party with Dylan, Elizabeth, Addy, Mark, Lisa, Tim, Julie and cheese soufflé dinner.  Slideshow

Fall Winter 2009

01/15/2010  Joel visits for a breakfast at the Portland Waterfront with Julie, Elizabeth and Addy.   Munro Point hike in the gorge and in the rain 6 miles 2000 feet.  Slideshow

12/6-13/&25-26/2009  Matt visits for a week and has an early Christmas;  Matt visits Addy, Elizabeth, Julie and Tim in Portland; Laura has major surgery two days before Christmas but had a quick recovery; Christmas at our house with Kelsey, PT, Elizabeth, Addy, Julie, Tim, Bridgette and Katie; Hart's Cove hike 4 miles 500 feet with Kelsey.   Slideshow

11/27&12/08/2009  Thanksgiving with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, Bridgette and Katie; Fall Volleyball Team with Sara, Ray, Katrin, Dana and Jamie; Roadsend hike 5 miles and 600 feet with Matt.   Slideshow

11/13&20&21/2009  Silver Falls hike 5 miles 200 feet with Richard and Gail; Cape Lookout spit hike 11 miles 100 feet with an eagle and pelicans; Children's Museum with Elizabeth and Addy.   Slideshow

11/01&03/2009  Mt Rainier hike 13 miles 2500 feet with Tom T; dinner at an Indian restaurant in Seattle with Brad and Allison while I was at the Microsoft BI conference.   Slideshow

10/16&21&23-24/2009  Montana Dave and Toni visit from Helena for pork and sauerkraut dinner with Mike and Jolene; Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, speaks at Concordia University; Santiam Wagon Trail 7 miles 1700 feet hike in the rain near Sweet Home with Paul and John; Molalla River SP hike 4 miles 100 feet with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim, John, Bette, Laura;  Cheese Soufflé dinner with the gang at our house.   Slideshow

9/25&28,10/3&9/2009  Ziv visits and we do two hikes Wakeena-Multnomah Falls loop 6 miles 1400 feet in the gorge and Road's End 6.5 miles 1000 feet on the coast with nude couple on isolated beach; Elizabeth's 4th birthday party at her home in Portland; Henline Mtn hike 7 miles 3000 feet found this memorial to Maggie Ramsey    Slideshow

Sierra Backpack 2009

09/6-12/2009  Annual Sierra backpack in Sequoia National Park with Larry and Ziv (saw John for 20 minutes)  Slideshow

Larry's trip log:

I’m back from another great adventure in the High Sierra, and this one ranks right up there with the best trips I have taken in the Sierra Nevada Mountains . If you have never taken the High Sierra Trail over Kaweah Gap, you need to do it. The Kaweah River Canyon that you hike up thru, or down thru depending upon your direction of travel, is absolutely gorgeous and the trail is something else in itself.  

I arrived early and did a solo day hike to Paradise Ridge. The following day we started the backpack from the Sawtooth Trailhead in Mineral King.  The first day we hiked over Timber Gap and spent the night along Cliff Creek at the junction of Cliff and Timber Gap Creeks. On day two we packed up to Pinto Lake , and then did a day hike over to Spring Lake . Day three we packed over Black Rock Pass to Little Five Lakes. Day four we packed up the upper end of Big Arroyo to Nine Lake Basin . On day five the three of us, Me, Tom Strauch, and Ziv Horesh , split up. The original plan had been to spend two nights in Nine Lakes Basin to give ourselves a day to explore the basin. That made for a long day with lots of elevation gain to pack down near Redwood Meadow and meet up with Ed Legerton, John Strauch and a friend. Since my back had been speaking to me I decided to divide the trip down into two days, Ziv was going to stay in Nine Lakes Basin for the two days and meet us at the Redwood Meadow camp area, and Tom was going to climb Eagle Scout Peak and meet me for the night at Hamilton Lake . So for me day five was a pack over Kaweah Gap and down to Hamilton Lake .  Tom later met me with news that he successfully climbed the peak south of Eagle Scout, thinking he was going up Eagle Scout. Still worth it though with great views. Day six we planned on packing down to the crossing of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah and camp with Ed, John and friend. We made radio contact with John from the Bear Paw High Sierra Camp. John was at the crossing of Granite Creek and agreed to hike to the Kaweah crossing and meet us. Ed and friend had already returned to their camp at the junction of Cliff Creek and Timber Gap Creek. Tom and I visited with John until around 2:00 PM when John needed to get hiking back to their camp. Ziv arrived later that evening.  Since Tom had a long drive home to Salem Oregon he decided that in the morning he would hike all the way out, instead of doing it in two days as planned. He hiked out to Redwood Meadow, and then took the Paradise Ridge trail over to Atwell Camp and hitch hiked back up to his vehicle at the Sawtooth Trailhead. This route was about the same distance as the intended route over Timber Gap, but with about 1000 ft less elevation gain, and some new scenery.  Ziv and I planned to hike out to the confluence of Cliff and Timber Gap Creeks and camp the night. We passed thru Redwood Meadow, which I also would encourage anyone that has not been there to go. You’re in a grove with several very large Sequoia trees, and you’re alone. Not another sole around. Ziv and I reached our intended camp location by about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon and decided to continue on back to the trailhead instead of staying the night along Cliff Creek . This made for a long tough day going over Timber Gap, but we made it with no problems other than being tired.  We stopped at Silver City for dinner. Each of us had a Mountain Burger, and after seven days of freeze dried, boy oh boy was that hamburger good. 

Late Summer 2009

08/9/2009  Mt Washington climb 10 miles 3000 feet Santiam Alpine Club with Fritz, Andy, Ty, Simon, Vic, Duane and Sean Slideshow

08/8/2009  Addy's 2nd birthday with family and friends Slideshow

Backpack and Summer 2009

07/14&17&25/2009  Laura's 60th birthday with Katie; Henline Falls hike 3 miles 1000 feet with Ramesh; Tim and Julie's 6th wedding anniversary babysitting Elizabeth and Addy Slideshow

07/2-5/2009  Annual backpack 35 miles in the Big Horn Mts Wyoming with John, Tim, Janet, Sam, Holly and Tiffany  Slideshow

John's Log:

7/1-5 26th Annual Backpack, Cloud Peak Wilderness, Big Horn Mtns WY, fly to Billings, security checks out hunk of Jarlsburg cheese in daypack, Tom pick up, 4hr drive to wet TH at 3:30am, sleep in Subaru

2: Medicine Lodge TH, Edelman Pass Tr 025, 10,400', camp near Devil's Lake, 10:10-4:00, evening 2hr loop to DL (Tr 122) and Thayer L

3: Edelman Creek, ford N Fork Big Goose Creek, Geneva Pass Tr 038, G Lake, some people & rain, thunder & rain thru Geneva Pass 10,200+, 7:50-3:30, wet camp at Tr 060 jct, evening clearing

06/20-21/2009  Elizabeth and Addy go the Portland Zoo, Salem Carousel and Pork & Sauerkraut dinner at our house. Slideshow

Matt's Graduation

06/4-7&14/2009  Matt's graduation from AZCOM med school in Phoenix with Kelsey, Katie, Kirby, Bridgette, John, Bette, Joel, Cathy, Tim, Sam, Mark, Lisa and Dylan.  Piestewa Peak hike 1200 feet 2.4 miles with Kirby, John, Joel, Tim, Sam, Mark, Kelsey.  John's 66th birthday party on Saturday with the whole gang.  Doctor Strauch moves to Chicago.  His new address is 1526 W Monroe, Chicago, IL 60607.  Tim, Janet, Sam and Holly come for a visit at Matt's new place.  Matt with his two new roommates Tim and Tony.  Slideshow

05/22&29/2009  Proposal Rock to Porter Point hike north of Cascade Head 6 miles 200 feet; Santiam Alpine Club Mt St Helens climb in the snow with Julie, Mike, Vic, Fritz, Simon and John 11 miles 5500 feet.  Slideshow

05/08&10/2009  Indian Point Hike in the gorge 8.5 miles 3000 feet; Mother's Day dinner with Laura and Katie  Slideshow

Costa Rica with Matt

04/25-05/03/2009  Week trip to Costa Rica visiting Matt. Sunday tour San Jose the capital and do Britt coffee plantation tour; dinner with Matt's host family Marvin, Margarita and Kevin in Curridabat; that night in San Carlos on the way to Volcan Arenal; Monday lunch in La Fortuna and then a full day at Rancho Margot, an organic, self-supporting ranch right on the side of Volcan Arenal, our favorite spot; Tuesday do zip lines across the jungle canopy and drive around Laguna de Arenal on the way to St Elena and Monteverde;  Wednesday hike some trails in Reserva Biologica Monteverde; head down to the heat and coast in Guanacaste on Playa Grande and Tamarindo in the Pacific; stay with an Aunt of one of Matt's Costa Rican friends; Thursday back to cooler weather and stay at a lodge at 7200 feet near Volcan Poas; Friday hike in Volcan Poas National Park and then head for the Caribbean coast and Puerto Limon; stay in Manzanillo; Saturday swim in the Atlantic then head back to Alajuela in the central valley; fly back Sunday.  Slideshow

Spring 2009

04/12,17,18/2009  Ham Easter dinner with Katie; 9 mile 1600 feet hike up Dimple Hill with Paul and John; 3 mile 100 feet hike Champoeg State Park with Addy, Elizabeth, Bette, John, Tim, Julie and then cheese souffle dinner at our house.   Slideshow

03/27&28/2009  Elizabeth and Addy get a new car and Uncle Tom gets to baby-sit all day by himself;  building snow caves on Mt Hood with Kipp and Fritz with the Santiam Alpine Club.   Slideshow

03/07&13/2009  Baby-sitting Elizabeth and Addy in Portland; 3 mile 500 feet hike to Hart's Cove from the north side

Winter 2009

02/07&08/2009  Elizabeth and Addy spent the day and weekend with us in Salem while Tim and Julie paint in their house.   Slideshow

01/30&31/2009  Proposal Rock hike 6 miles 500 feet on the coast north of Cascade Head and Mike & Jolene's wedding Slideshow

01/02-19/2009  Silver Falls hike with Kelsey and Jules 6 miles 200 feet, Katie's 81st birthday, Tim's 36th birthday with Chris, Ellin, Julie, Elizabeth and Addy, Tom's 57th birthday, 10 miles 2200 feet Hamilton Mt and Hardy Falls hike in the gorge Slideshow

12/25/2008  Christmas at our house with Matt, Kelsey, Jules, Bridgette, PT, Katie, Julie, Tim, Elizabeth, Addy    Slideshow

12/5/2008  Mt Bachelor and Mt Coffin 2100 feet 7 miles 

11/21&27/2008  Gleneden Beach and Salishan Spit hike 6 miles 100 feet on the Oregon coast with harbor seals and Thanksgiving with Bridgette, Katie, Tim, Julie, Elizabeth, Addy    Slideshow

John and Bette's Wedding Weekend

11/07-11/09/2008  John and Bette's Wedding Weekend    Slideshow

Bernardo Mountain hike 1000 feet 6 miles with John, Mark, Julie, Dylan, Elizabeth, Addy, Tim, Gail, Terry, Alan

Saturday at Mark's house and neighborhood with Joel and Cathy coming with a pre-wedding dinner for everyone

Wedding Day at San Dieguito Park with friends and family and a short hike

Fall 2008

10/01-11/01/2008  Visit with Kelsey and Jules in Bellingham    Slideshow

Phantom Natural Bridge hike 4 miles 500 feet with Tula, Blanca and Lee

Babysitting Elizabeth and Addy

Sally and John stop in for a visit in Salem

Chimney Peak in Middle Santiam Wilderness 2300 feet 8 miles

Matt doing a month rotation in Portland

Another babysitting fun night with Addy and Elizabeth

Devil's Peak hike 8 miles 2300 feet with John 

Willamette Mission State Park hike 4 miles 100 feet with Elizabeth, Addy, Paul, John, Bette, Tim and Julie

Polk and Lincoln County high points with Edward 6 miles 1500 feet

Sierra Annual Backpack Big Pine

08/31&09/04/2008  Annual Sierra backpack near Big Pine with John, Ed, Larry, Neal and Ziv    Slideshow

John's log

8/28-30 Sierra Backpack prep, ride up with Ed in Honda, Sage Flat CG, short 
hike to Big Pine Creek Falls, warm & pleasant
29: Bishop for breakfast, pick up permit, drive to Laws RR Museum & 
South Lake, walk across dam, visit Ken Olson, afternoon in camp 
reading War & Peace plus sudokus, Larry arrives
30: Ziv arrives, hike up South Fork Big Pine Creek to Brainerd Lake, 
rain, some thunder, L&Z go to Finger & Willow Lakes, 9mi, 2700', Neal 
Ed, Larry, Neal, Ziv arrives & waits in camp

8/31-9/5 Eighth Annual Sierra Backpack, North Fork Big Pine Creek, 30 cars 
with broken windshields at trailhead lot, find sleeping Tom, sheriff 
arrives, wind picks up all day, many on trail, base camp at Third 
Lake, 5.5mi, 2600', cold & very windy, wear down jacket, bed at 7pm, 
wind decreases after 9
9/1: beautiful day, lake loop, 4th & 5th Lakes, cross-country to 6th 
& 7th Lakes, T&Z climb to Payne L near 11818, back on trail to Summit 
L & lunch, XC to Black L, back to camp via 4th L, 8mi, 1800'
2: Palisades Glacier, Sam Mack Meadow, group splits at 11600', Ed 
heads down, up to right to lake & glacier view at 12200', others go
left, walkie-talkie check-ins, boulder fields, hiker with beagle on
leash, T&Z down drainage to SMM where we regroup, 5mi, 1900'
3: Jigsaw Pass 12650 (L,T&Z) to Aperture Pk 13265 (T), turn back with 
E&N above 5th L, Summit L, back to Black L for lunch, loop down to 
1st & 2nd Lakes, spot just setting crescent moon
4: Contact Pass (L&Z), T&N pack out, Ed joins them to 1st L, start 
across 2nd L boulder field but turn back after 15m, meet Ed at camp, 
up west side trail at 4th L to old sign, lunch at 4th L overlook, 
walkie-talkies good, bring binoculars, noisy Clark's nutcrakers at 
dawn & dusk, sunny & cloudless whole time
5: pack out, check out dam & shaft at 2nd L, out by 11, hear of White 
Mtn VC arson & Barcroft vandalism, home at 7:20
Ed, Larry, Neal, Ziv, Tom

Later Summer 2008 with Mt Rainier

08/22&23/2008  Triangulation Peak, Boca Cave and Outerson Peak 6 miles 1300 feet with Rocky, Lee and Tula; Dahlia Festival with Addy, Elizabeth, Julie, Tim and Rocky    Slideshow

08/09/2008  Addy's 1st Birthday Party at her house    Slideshow

08/01-04/2008  Mt Rainier Climb with the Trowbridge clan David (trip leader), Julian, Beth, Alison and Jake 20 miles 9000 feet 

Log of Climb

Friday - start climb at Paradise 5400 feet 12:30pm after hard rain stopped but still drizzling
           - camped on Muir snow field at 8500 feet at 4pm just got above the clouds still very windy
Saturday - above the solid cloud layer climb up to Camp Muir 10,080 feet, take lunch break
               - helmet, ropes and crampons from here on, cross Cowlitz Glacier pass Cathedral Rocks and camped on Ingraham  Flat 11,100 feet
Sunday - 1:10am start climb in the dark, clear and cold, up and cross Ingraham Glacier traversing onto Disappointment Cleaver and up the glaciers to the rim
            - 5:30am sunrise perfect weather no clouds
            - 7:30am get to rim of crater
            - 8:00am get to the very top 14,411 feet; cold and windy on peak
            - 8:30am head back to Ingraham Flat camp
            - 12:15pm back at camp, take nap, melt snow for more water and relax on the glacier
Monday - 9:10am start climb down, break at Camp Muir again
              - 2:00pm get down to Paradise glissading part of the way

   Slideshow

Summer 2008

07/25&26/2008  Tim and Julie's 5th Wedding Anniversary and babysitting Addy and Elizabeth; the Chris Dixon clan on the beach at Oceanside   Slideshow

07/14&18/2008  Laura's 59th birthday celebrated with Katie; Battle Axe Mt 9 mile hike 1800 feet with Lee near Elk Lake  Slideshow

07/7-8/2008  Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks on the way back from the backpack with Kelsey and Jules.  Surprise Lake hike 12 miles 3100 feet in the Grand Tetons   Slideshow

07/3-6/2008  25th Annual Backpack in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness near Steamboat Springs, Colorado with Holly, Tiffany, Sam, Katie, Andy, Kelsey, Jules, Janet, Rocky, Tim and John. Total of 33 miles hiking and climbed Dome Peak.  Slideshow

John's Log

fly to Denver, long wait for Advantage rental car, drive to Walden via

Mt Hood Climb June 2008

06/14&15/2008  Eddie and Jeannie visit from New York and tour Salem and wineries; Mt Hood climb 10 miles 5000 feet with Santiam Alpine Club.  Slideshow

Late Spring 2008

05/31&6/7/2008  Tim, Julie, Elizabeth, Addie and Ellin on moving day; Larkin's wedding in Moscow, ID.  Slideshow

05/11&25/2008  Mother Day's on the Oregon coast with Laura and Katie; Addie and Elizabeth; Spring Volleyball Team; 8 mile hike 200 feet on the coast near Sand Lake.  Slideshow

04/25&27/2008  Road's End hike 6 miles 1500 feet with John; Mariner's game in Seattle and visit Kelsey in Bellingham  Slideshow

Grand Canyon Raft Trip March 2008

Spring 2008

Fall  2007

Mt Jefferson and Yosemite Backpack 2007

Late Summer 2007

24th Annual Backpack Glacier NP

Summer 2007

Spring 2007

04/27/2007  Cape Horn hike 1200 feet 7 miles with Tim, Elizabeth, Bette, John

Kilimanjaro and Safari

Fall and Winter 2006

Turkey 2006

Fall 2006

Sierra Backpack 2006

Late Summer 2006

23rd Annual Backpack Wallowas Mts 2006 photos

Summer 2006 photos

North Carolina 2006 photos

Spring 2006 photos

Pico de Orizaba 2006 photos

Winter Spring 2006 photos

Winter 2005 photos

Fall 2005 photos

Ireland September 2005 photos

Summer 2005 photos

22nd Annual Backpack in the North Cascades of Washington

Father-Daughter Alaska Trip

Our Trip to China

John's Retirement Party 2005 photos

Late Spring 2005 photos

Spring 2005 photos

Fall and Winter 2004 photos

Fall 2004 photos

Late Summer 2004 photos

Summer 2004 photos

Winter and Spring 2004 photos

Fall and Christmas 2003 photos

Summer 2003 photos

Winter and Spring 2003 photos

Fall and Winter 2002 photos

Sally flipping on Lava Falls