Sunrise, Sunset / Swiftly Flow the Days

As my internship swiftly flows towards conclusion, I figured it was time to take in another sunset and subsequent sunrise.

The Sunset on Myles' first day (happy literal birthday)

The sunrise on my Dad's 62nd b-day (happy birthday)

See the rest of the sunset photos here, or the sunrise photos here

Taste Them Again for the First Time

There's just something fun about old photos - they're always enjoyable. I especially love old Park Service photos, because back in the day they did some silly things. There are great photos of John Muir and the other early environmentalist participating in activities that are now known to be taboo, such as feeding bears and wildlife by hand. We came across these photos from Crater Lake earlier this summer and I just thought I had to share. I finally found someone who enjoys Corn Flakes!

Everything's nuts here in Oregon!

You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds.

Wow, although it's been only 9 days since my last post, I've been up to a lot of crazy stuff. Here's just a highlight of last Friday - it was best illustrated by an email conversation I had with C:

M: It is so foggy today

C: How foggy is it?

M: It is so foggy today that I couldn't see the Lake from the Rim!

The is always visible from this point - there's nothing normally blocking the view

M: It is so cold today
C: How cold is it?
M: It is so cold today that a couple of cars had ice forming on them!my office is so cold today (it hit a high of like 50)

C: Is your office cold?
M: My office is cold today that I am contemplating running home and getting gloves so my fingers won't freeze while I type!

Here's the view from my office. Normally, there's a mountain out there

I didn't go home, I just kept on working. After tallying another 10 hour day to finish our rough draft, I went to watch the sunrise from atop Watchman Peak among the clouds.

Check out the rest of these photos here.

Llao Rock or Bust

Antsy from spending the week inside, this week I was determined to head outside for a hike after work. Wednesday I decided that I would hike up Llao Rock, a large rock with no trail that provides the estimate slope for the old Mount Mazama (the volcano that collapsed into CRLA). However, severe thunderstorm (because they don't mix with tall, tree-less areas) postponed my hike a day...no matter. Rain or shine, I was going up all 8000+ feet (luckily I only had to start at like 7,000 feet above sea level).

Leaving the car behind, I proceeded up the mountain side. I traversed dirt-like loose pumice, steep inclines and gardens of wildflowers. The hillside was a lovely golden and green, spotted with flowery patches of bright yellow, purple and white - it was like an artist canvas (see for yourself).

After a tiring, but shorter than expected climb, I reached the top and was greeted by circling birds, a quiet and gentle breeze, steep cliffs and a private view of the Lake. With no trail up this peak, very few visitors make the trek - I had one of the largest peaks in the Park all to myself (and a new colorful array of wildflowers).

As you can tell, I was also greeted by a lovely haze in the lake. Wednesday's thunderstorms that postponed my hike, also set-off a lightning strike fire just about a mile away in one of the valleys. This new smoke, along with smoke from the previous smoldering fire dimished the air quality and the visibility. Not much I could do...so I just enjoyed the view.

After an hour on top, and some lovely photos, I decided to run down the hillside and make it back to the car in only 5 minutes (30 minutes up, 5 down).

Anyway, you can check out the photos here. Have a great weekend.

Dang Tree Huggers

As noted in previous entries, I dislike tree hugging hippies. But I do like trees, especially really big trees. But this is just one part of the weekend, rope in a sausage factory, a darkly lit cave, the ocean and the West Coast’s largest Shakespeare Festival and you’ve got 3 crazy days (but an uninspiring blog posting).

This past weekend’s adventure started on Friday (along with AA the co-consultant, along with G the roommate) with an adventure to Ashland, OR. The original impetus behind our weekend trip was a meeting with the CRLA Trust as part of the job. After a brief 2 hour conversation with them, it was on to dinner and a show – Much Ado about Nothing at the outdoor Elizabethan stage, made to resemble the Globe theatre.


It could not have been a more beautiful night to sit out under the stars (in primo free seats) and enjoy a good show.

The next day (Saturday) it was off to Oregon Caves National Monument, a tiny 30 acre national park site hidden in the Siskiyou National Forest. But before we made it there, we made two important stops:
1) For food at a grocery store sized Harry & David store – their Flagship store neighboring their factory

2) A sausage factory and store! Mmm….their freshly made sausage was fantastic and their summer sausage. I think we spent about an hour wander back and forth between their frozen sausages, beef jerky and raw meats just trying to decide what to eat – it was tougher than I ever thought possible. Ultimately we decided, on what to eat and what to buy for the rest of our weekend camping outing. But more importantly AA & I decided that no matter what, we were coming back on Sunday on our way back from the coast to buy some to take home. And no, we did not see sausage being made, just being eaten

Finally, full of meat, meat bi-products, salt and spices we made it to Oregon Caves and took the tour. While the cave was great, it was no Meramec Caverns. But you can see for yourself here

The true highlight of Saturday (other than the sausage) was our camping site. All of the sites from Oregon Caves to the CA coast were completely filled that night (or so it seemed). So we just set out to find a nice spot somewhere in the Smith River National Forest. Who knew you could just plop your tent down anywhere in Forest Service grounds and not have to pay to legally camp? So that’s what we did. We drove up the almost sheer cliff to the highest point and set up our tents. There, AA, Sasquatch and I enjoyed a six-pack and watched the sun set.

Here was the view when we woke up the next morning. The white cloudy parts in the distance (not in the valley), were covering the Pacific Ocean – the coast was entirely fogged in.
After a long drive and a trip past an old red school bus full of furniture we made it to Redwood National Park. Those were some big trees.

I knew you when you were only this big

Damn huggers...no wait, I'm measuring for my new table

Next it was on to the beach – which we knew was fogged in.

Finally, the only thing that could make this weekend (and the car ride home) better, was another trip to Taylor’s Sausage by Oregon Caves. Two polish sausages later, I was in a food comma – who’d a thought only 2 sausages at 4 pm would make me full until lunch on Monday. Glorious sausages.

See photos from Saturday (OR Caves and camping) or Sunday (Big Red Bus, Redwoods & the Coast)