A little bit of hiking early September. It was still a little warm in the Appalachian Plateau. Along the south fork or the Cumberland. It made me miss PNW streams a little because of how low-flow this fork of the river was: Nice tile work though: Much more local mountain biking here. Near a bmx … More hiking, motorcycling, cafes
A little biking and hiking lately. A view from the greenway at the turbid Cumberland: And lower, at river level, high water was pushing into the tributary: I’m pretty sure this is a harmless gray snake I crossed paths with: Then took a peek at downtown before a u-turn: No backpacking yet, but fun car … More biking, car camping, greenways, ice cream, urban wildlife
Took a blur of a late April cross-country drive, alternating between hotels and sleeping in the truck next to RVs and longhaul trucks for four nights. Hotels are nice, but extra work compared to overnighting with the RVers and truckers. Started out retracing a route into NE Oregon, past a friend’s town, then through the … More driving, family, midwest, trucker
A southern California visit was short and packed with family time. I don’t remember appreciating the mountains there during childhood visits. The visit also reminded me that their town, or at least neighborhood life is quite car-based when my uncle pointed out that one of his neighbors walks quite a few blocks for grocery shopping … More mountains, family, infrastructure, walking, hiking
Went east again to landscape and clime approaching high desert to avoid rain. Across the Columbia from The Dalles — that general area. November hiking with an unlikely hiking bud: an old coworker. I normally don’t hang out with coworkers (nothing against it). But since I no longer work there, he’s made effort to keep … More Toward Winter
Recently just a short backpacking trip I really didn’t take many pictures of. We went to a busy trail. I have really gotten used to and spoiled by wilderness areas where I run into zero to one person. Was fun though, still; that particular company was good. Sitting on a rock viewing a mountain made … More Mountains and hometowns
East of Eugene is what I’d been thinking of. I’ve backpacked that Cascades area several times. Was looking at an area up north that I haven’t been to before, but a route to it does not go by Giant Burger. Or by Busy Bee Cafe, which I think closed but has since reopened. It’d been … More Woods, guitar, work, coffee, and food
East, into the Cascades to Sisters, to ride south from there on forest service roads. During a stop for coffee and baked goods, we decided to take a ride northwest to Detroit Lake instead, on forest service roads and remnants of a wagon road, which I think is just a forest service road now. Patches … More Trips to High Desert
An urban trail recently. The town does do a good job of making trails available for walking and biking. And you really do notice the graffiti in the park trails: Some graffiti displays more skill than some art does, and visa versa. People ponder whether it’s art or vandalism. It’s probably often both, unless it’s … More Art on infrastructure
A ride into the coast range, then back down to river level. I’ll certainly return for some of the trailheads I passed. But I’m enjoying the exploration of an unfamiliar town, Longview. Such a nostalgic-looking downtown. Historic business district buildings are occupied with shops and apartments instead of vacant and in disrepair. “Gourmet” coffee does … More Small town rides and coffee
Thoughts on Trails 