wirednoodle's wanderlust

Rogue River

2009-10-16T14:24:00.001-07:00

The Rogue was a great trip. My first mutli-day trip and I had an absolute BLAST. I have the river bug BAD now! I am already looking at multi-day trip for next year, drysuits for the winter/spring, and watching river flows to see what I can get on next!

The slideshow is the trip through my eyes. Enjoy!

Rogue River 2009 from wirednoodle on Vimeo.

SYOTR

Tieton River

2009-09-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

So I joined WRRR (Washington Recreational River Runners). I went to the club trip at the White Salmon and to the one at the Skagit. Each time I was in someone else's boat because my frame wasn't ready. I finally got my boat together and the Tieton River in Washington was my maiden voyage.

The first run down I managed to find my first rock and "christen" the frame.

That didn't stop me from going again! I reefed it out as much as possible so I could get my foot in there again. Back to the water!

I had two 3 day weekends on Tieton. Just right to prep me for the Rogue trip.

I managed a total of 11 runs down the Tieton river. About 132 river miles. Not bad to start.

SYOTR!

Clackamas Whitewater Festival

2009-05-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

May 16th and 17th were the days for the festival this year. I had been waiting for months to go and headed up right after getting off work Saturday morning.

Managed to talk to Sotar about a cat, which made my day. I spent most of the day on the river side as I didn't want to miss a single shot. It was an absolute blast. Paddle races, hard shell mass start, duckie mass start, cataraft volleyball and of course the kayak ramp. Damn exciting.

Enjoy the photos! (Click to enlarge)

Hard shell mass start race
Cataraft volleyball!

Sweepboat
The guy in front stayed on his feet the whole way down.
A few people ended up swimming, but Venture Crew 86 from Next Adventure, was on hand to sort folks out.
The driftboats all had a good time.
Big air off the hard shell ramp!

Inflatable kayak mass start race.

More big air. You can actually see the ramp they shot off of.

If you see yourself in a photo and want to see if I have more contact me at wirednoodle@yahoo.com

Oak Grove North Clackamas April 17-19 2009

2009-04-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Went up Thursday morning with a friend to try fishing Harriet Lake again. Well it wasn't just me before, the lake was just too cold. It was so nice that I had to go camping for the weekend! I jetted home and packed up. I called Dad and invited him to come up.

I didn't want to deal with the people at the lake, so I chose to make camp at a spot that my friend pointed out that was on the river upstream a ways. Nice spot!

Had about an hour or so of clean up before I could think about setting up camp. Yet again people are slobs! This time was even better. They did some target shooting there at some point. Did they shoot at cans? Sure, a few. Mostly they used beer bottles for targets. IDIOTS! UGH! I picked up a bunch of it, but know there was a lot I missed.

Got the new tent set up. I think I made a good choice with it. It is a Kelty Gunnison 4. I really like the fact that the poles are aluminum, the rain fly is so heavy, and there is so much netting on it. It will be really nice in the summer.

Dad showed up Saturday morning with his dog Max. Max had us throwing the ball fairly often. We both took a lot of photographs and talked a fair bit. It was nice reminiscing about camping trips when I was young. Sunday morning we had a GREAT breakfast. I brought up some ok coffee cake and dad brought eggs and sausage. We decided to bin the idea of eggs. Better yet Dad cooked the sausage on the hot dog skewer. I think that that will now be a staple on my trips. Damn that sausage was good! Totally changed the flavor.

Dad hung around until noon-ish then headed for home. I stayed till about 2pm waiting on some friends that said they may come up for the day. Turns out I missed them by about 45 minutes. I couldn't handle the skeeters any more. They chewed the hell out of me!

I stopped and watched and took photos of the boaters and kayakers on the Clackamas River on the way home. I will definitely be on the river in the foreseeable future! It looked like a LOT of fun!!

So this was a really good trip! Can't wait for the road to open up to get higher and explore some serious back roads and "hidden" (read less traveled) lakes/rivers.

(remember that you can click on an image to enlarge it if you can't see it well)

Me checking out the river.

A gnome was watching over the camp.

Dad and Max.

Have to have a campfire shot.

Waterfall across the river.

How would you like to run into this on the river?!

My favorite photo of the weekend.

Taken on the way out Sunday. I like the textures and colors on this one.

A "yakker" going through the motions.

His buddy was right behind him.

Harriet Lake April 8-10 2009

2009-04-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

So back to Harriet Lake again. Maybe better luck with the fish? Yeah, not so much!

So still a bit of snow here and there (mainly on the edge of the road), and it was a bit nippy, but all in all it was nice. Not as many photos taken this time out. I spent the bulk of the time hiking or reading. I saw 3 people the whole time I was there. Two thumbs up for that!

I did however spend a lot of time cleaning up. I came home with 3 hefty bags FULL of trash that people had left scattered around. Some peoples attitudes about tossing crap wherever really pisses me off.

It was great weather... up until Saturday late afternoon. Then the rain hit. Started with that sunshine misting action that is cool to see, and deteriorated to a monsoon (well it felt like it anyway. I went to bed early, read for a bit and then crashed. I woke up about 2am or so in a pool of water that was 1" deep. Back to sleeping in the cab of the truck, oh yippee. The tent completely failed. It was about 10 years old so it wasn't unexpected really. Just gave me a reason to go get a new one!

The rain begins!

Macro shot of a Swamp Lantern.

I hiked up the hill and found this. The only touch of color on the hill.

Camp.
Lots of melt water coming down the hillside.

Way up the hill was this little waterfall grotto. I ended up soaked coming back down... mostly sliding on my butt when I tripped.

Harriet Lake March 13-15 2009

2009-04-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

One of the colder trips so far. I brought two bags and slept in the cab of the truck thinking I could use the heat. Well I didn't pay attention and the truck was leaning a bit. My head was the wrong way and it was miserable trying to sleep. The solitude was worth it though. What a peaceful trip. No one there but me! Spent a good share of my time reading by the fire, walking around the lake, and trying to tempt a fish into eating a worm. I briefly thought about a polar swim, but that nonsense was out of my head after a millisecond or so! The photos will do most of the talking.
I saw this guy on the way home. Notice the dog on the platform? Looks like fun!

Seattle Feb 27th-Mar 2nd

2009-03-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Time for another trip! This time it is off to Seattle with Jeff and his wife Linda. We had done this trip once before a bit over a year ago and had a good time, but ended up feeling like we shorted ourselves a bit on time. So this time we added an extra day. We stayed at the Springhill Suites Downtown. They were still finishing a remodel and it was looking really great. I couldn't recommend a better place to stay. Great staff and clean quiet rooms. Fantastic breakfast buffet. A lot better than some of the MUCH higher priced places downtown. Anyway...

We left Friday morning around 9:30am or so. First stop was Cabela's. I had been wanting to check the place out since I had heard about it opening, but for one reason or another it never seemed to work out. First order of business when we got there was to get something to eat. Jeff and I went with the venison brats and chowder, Linda went with the fish and chips. Oh my god those brats were good. I was so thrilled about them that I checked them out that night online. I lost a bit of my enthusiasm when I found out that the only came as part of a wild game pack that was $49, which only gave you 4 of each type of brat. They were no where near THAT good!

After eating we spent a while roaming the store. Lot's of area to roam! Easily a costco sort of store. Walk in for $5 worth of something and come out with $500 worth of stuff. Bad bad bad guy store! I was good and walked out with a $3 worth of fudge and a mountain dew.

Straight to Seattle after that. Made it to the hotel at 3pm and quickly decided to go catch a movie. I thought that the Street Fighter flick would be a lot better than it was. Oh I was SO wrong. It was falling asleep bad. Oh well... live and learn.

Back to the hotel for a drink or three. Those that are in the know, know that I rarely if ever, drink anymore, so I was as shocked as some of you may be. 3 Malibu/pines and I was content. Time for the hot tub! Linda grabbed a book and Jeff and I our trunks and off to the poolroom. After an hour or so I was ready to crash (I had worked graveyard the previous night and hadn't slept yet). We headed to our rooms and it was time to crash.

The next morning I woke up a bit early and went to get a coffee across the street at Starbuck's. yeah... who has ever heard of Starbuck's being closed on Saturday and Sunday?! So back to the room and the drip coffee maker. After fighting with it I managed to get somewhat caffienated and then headed to breakfast with Linda as Jeff was a bit stiff. After chow it was off to see the city. What better way than by foot!

We headed towards Pike Place Market. We stopped briefly to get a different pair of shoes for Jeff. Then off to Pike Place. It feels different than the Saturday market in Portland. More alive maybe? Perhaps it's the view of Puget Sound and the sea port smell. Whatever it is, I enjoy the hell out of it.

The produce has to be the best available anywhere.

I hate brussel sprouts, but the lizard totally rocks em out.

We made the stop for a bag of donut holes, walked through one side, the stopped for hum bow and BBQ pork (which was very disappointing this time), back down the other side with a stop for a monster cookie for me (way too good to pass up). Back up to the shopping center with some roaming and then more food, then back to the hotel for a rest.

We had plans to meet Jeff's friend Chris and his family, and my friends Arlo and Kim, at 6pm at the Crab Pot for dinner.

Kim is totally ready for the feast!

It seemed like they were a bit stingier with the seafood compared to the last time, but it was still a good time. Lot's of talking, joking, drinking, and banter all the way around. I think we pissed off the staff with sitting there for so long talking. Since they hit us with 18% gratuity with lousy service I am not too upset about it.

After eating I asked Kim and Arlo to join us at the hotel lounge for another drink or two. We took a cab down there, but Arlo drove us back. 5 adults in a jeep with Arlo driving... somethings just don't change! Good times! We enjoyed a few drinks and some more banter and such.

Arlo had to work the next day so they had to take off. It was time to head to the hot tub again. I could really get used to having one of those on a steady basis!

Sunday morning we grabbed a bite and then headed back down to Pike Place. Yes again. We hit some off the out of the way shops then back to the main drag.

Found a cool band playing (Slimpickins) and managed to shoot some video before buying their CD (which was really good)...

One of the side alleys led to this shot.... I thought it was pretty cool, but I am odd like that.

You know I will end up with a macro shot of something...

Ok... maybe two.

We worked our way up to the theater again and watched Inkheart. I was skeptical, but shocked that it was actually pretty good.

Now for another highlight of the trip. Off to the arcade. Not just any arcade, but one with a built in pub. Could it get any better? I don't think so!

I think Jeff and Linda were slaying zombies here.

After some gaming we decided to find something to eat and then head back to the hotel. First drizzle of rain all weekend. We had perfect weather!

Something about the textures of the city... I could spend all day shooting buildings, but this one was across the street from where we had pizza. Something cool about all the stuff going on there. high class meets trailer plywood, contemporary glass meets industrial concrete/steel... I guess I am easy to please eh?

back to the hotel after dinner and then a hot tub soak (of course). We left about 5am the next morning to beat the traffic. Rolled into Portland about 8am or so. Really good trip! Can't wait to see where the next one will be!!!

Rock Creek Camping Jan 17-18 2009

2009-01-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

I didn’t expect another adventure quite so soon, but sometimes you just get lucky! Tye texted me around 9:30pm and asked if I wanted to go camping. I asked where and after hearing Rock Creek and a chance to meet the infamous Matt and Jeff (friends of his I have heard some wild stories about), I said I was game.

A quick packing of stuff and I was ready when Tye picked me up at 10:30pm. After a brief stop at a friends house to grab Tye’s card for his camera we were off. Well sort of, we made a stop at the Wal-Mart in Troutdale. Grabbing some snacks and a few essentials we headed up to the counter. It was then that Tye realized he had forgotten his wallet in the car. Oops! Paid for the stuff and off we went.

It was fairly windy in the gorge, but all in all it was an uneventful trip from I-84 to I-197 then south to Rock Creek. Tye had heard that Jeff had gotten his truck stuck, so we were to look for his truck on the side of the road (buried apparently) and then a sign to find camp. We arrived later then we had originally shot for, but rolled into camp at 2:30am.

We arrived in camp to see 4 trucks and a fire burning low.

We no sooner got out of the truck then out pops Spencer from his truck to say hello. Then from off in the trees we hear Matt saying “YOU’RE LATE!”

They had just settled down for the night 5 minutes before we pulled in. Tye was not real happy being the last one up to camp and said some rather unsavory things about working swing shift as opposed to graveyard (Last year he worked grave and was the first one to be at camp).

After 10 minutes of chatting, Matt proceeded to get up and came to say hello. It took me a few minutes to realize the guy was friggin barefoot. Let me catch you up at this point by saying it was around 23 degrees. Yes it was cold!

We gravitated to the fire pit and threw a couple logs on the fire. After chatting for a few hours, everyone headed to grab some sleep at about 5:30am. I wasn’t tired so I sat up by the fire and listened to my Zune (I work graveyard and had woken up at 7pm so I was wide awake).

After 20 minutes of listening to Carlos Mencia, I heard some movement and then a tent opening. Out pops Mike, a co-worker of Matt’s. Mike is originally from Minnesota and has the accent to prove it! He grabbed a chair and we sat and enjoyed the fire with some low key conversation thrown in every now and then. About the time the sun came up I tried for a few pics of the heavy frost covering everything and the view looking out of camp.

Jeff's truck after getting out of the hole he was in.

Later in the morning folks started getting up. Matt popped out first followed by Spencer and Jeff. Jayden, Matt’s son, made his appearance shortly thereafter and said he wanted breakfast. Matt told him to stay out of the mud puddles. This was shot 5 minutes after he was told! HAHAHA!

So shortly after some morning chat, we all piled into the rigs and headed down the road to the only restaurant in the area. Jeff and Mike were a bit late. They showed up in Mike’s truck and then Jeff mentioned he had set his emergency brake and it was now frozen. Oops!

We headed into the restaurant and ordered breakfast. While ordering, one of the waitresses asked if we were camping. After telling her we were, she said oh I love that wood smoke smell! Try getting that comment anywhere in Portland after standing around a campfire for several hours!

After a GREAT breakfast and a Jager Bomb (thanks Tye!) and a Malibu-Pine for me, other mixes for the rest, we headed to the general store. What an amazing place! They literally have everything you might want. Good thing, as Jeff needed to grab a couple things to thaw out his rear end to release the e-brake. I could have spent an hour and a couple hundred dollars in there easy, but I managed to force myself out the door after 10 minutes with a new pair of gloves (which I think are still in Tye’s truck).

Back to camp for some fun with the quads and to set up my tent. On the way Tye and I cruised through the Sportsmen’s area and the Rock Creek campground. Managed to find a good size log that we manhandled into his truck. I managed some time on the 80 (little quad that Tye brought) which was a blast. Before I went on a quad, Tye wanted to take advantage of the large mud hole near camp and get some action shots.

Then Jeff wanted in on the fun!

Spencer showed off with the little bike he brought.

The rest of the time was fairly low key. I was getting tired, but was having a good time and didn’t feel like hitting the hay yet. Spencer and Amanda decided to leave to watch the UFC fights, so I had everyone line up for the obligatory group shot.

Around 5pm or so we talked about eating again. After some discussion between hot dogs or real food, it was agreed that we should head back to the restaurant. It was then that Jeff and I had the best milkshakes ever! We ordered vanilla shakes with a shot of butterscotch schnapps. Oh hell yes! After a few minutes Jeff gets up and gets a couple extra shots of butterscotch schnapps (thanks again for that extra shot Jeff!). Two shots of butterscotch schnapps and a large vanilla milkshake will definitely set you right. Damn that was good!

Matt made arrangements for us to go over to Gary’s place after eating. This was an eye opening experience! Gary has a grand slam on big horn sheep and turkey. He has them all mounted in a huge room. That isn’t all though. There are several bear, numerous deer and elk (including a stag from Mongolia), cats, a wolf, and the list goes on. My jaw literally dropped. Here is a cell phone pic taken on Tye’s phone to give you an idea.

After we left we headed back to camp. Upon pulling in Jeff told us about something strange we had to see, so we loaded up again and headed off into the woods. We pulled into a clearing to find some sweat lodges.

Then the strangest sight, a huge arch structure built in a circle that had to be over 100ft across. The pics aren’t great, but if you look close you can see the arch bending to the left.

On the way out we found an outhouse that Jeff decided to get a close look at.

Then it was back to camp. I was totally exhausted at this point,but had to try for a good fire photo.

I was about 27 hours without sleep so off I went to the tent and some sleep. Not a bad night, but I woke up a few times cold. Could have used an extra blanket, but all in all it was ok.

The next morning I woke up about 8:30am. Everyone started stirring within a half hour. After some chat everyone started breaking down camp. Mike was the first to leave, but called saying the road was slippery. With that news Tye wanted to get going. Off we went.

We had to stop and take a few pics of Tygh Valley (this pic is a lousy stitch job, but you get the general idea).

Once we got to the turn to head back to town Tye mentioned a place that a co-worker had mentioned that he enjoyed, Mack’s Canyon. It wasn’t far, but I did have to work that night. What do we do? After looking at each other for a second, we turned right instead of left and headed for the Deschutes River.

A short stop in Maupin and we were headed north following the river. We hit the end of the road to find a bald eagle. The eagle landed for a minute in a tree right in the Mack’s Canyon campground. Tye managed to get a couple good shots, but as soon as I made to get out of the truck he took off. Here is one of Tye's photos.

The campground.

On the way out we stopped to look for the petrified wood that our co-worker had told Tye about. It was there alright! I had never seen that much in one place before so it was cool to see.

We also discovered the long lost origins of trailer trash.

A shot looking downriver.

Further up the road we stopped to get photos of the ice coming down the cliff faces.

I thought these looked a bit like fish. Well that's what the voices told me anyway!

The macro whore strikes again!

Lots of wild life here. Good shot of one of the many nests along the river.

Found a waterfall further down the road as well.

Then it was time to head home. The light was gone and it was getting late.

We hit my place about 7:30pm or so. It made for a long night at work, but another great trip made it well worth it!

First journey of the year! (Jan 10th weekend)

2009-01-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

The first epic journey of the year has been completed. My buddy Tye and I left Portland right after he got off work.We hit I-205 at 10:50pm and headed up to I-84 and then took a right and went east. Around 11:30pm or so we hit the exit for I-197 and then turned south. We decided on a brief stop at Rock Creek campground.

The lake was frozen and it was fairly cold when we arrived. No surprise that no one was there. I tried to get some pics while there, but the exposure times were long and the moon kept popping in and out of the clouds, making for under and over-exposed images. After a drive around to look at the various campsites available we were off to Smith Rock. On the way there we managed to spook a herd of elk that were in the middle of road. Not sure who was more surprised, them or us! Luckily no one was hurt so we all went our own way down I-97!

We arrived at 3am or so and I decided that as the clouds had cleared a bit I would try for a few long exposure images. They didn't turn out as expected, but you get the general idea. The moon was definitely bright!

After freezing my fingers (it was pretty damn cold), I hopped back in the truck. Tye had his portable dvd player out so we started watching The Departed. He ended up sleeping for an hour or so, but managed to wake up to see a couple of deer walking by 5 feet in front of the truck.

As the sun was rising I hoped out to catch a bit of the color on the clouds. Not a bad way to start a day!

After looking around a bit there we decided to take a run a bit down the road to see if we could get a better look at the rock formations. Good call... we both managed some pretty good shots. Still not a lot of light, but that makes for some great silhouettes.

A little more light, but still not great by any means. The formations were pretty incredible though.

I managed one parting shot with some fantastic light before we left the area to head to take a look at Hatrock Reservoir. Smith Rock is an amazing formation!

We debated on where to head next. The Painted Hills REALLY sounded good but we were slightly concerned with the roads and weather. A lot of the roads we traveled were dirt, sometimes very soft dirt, and the rain doesn't make for a great combination! Final consensus? We went anyway!

So off to Prineville to hook into highway 26. Along the way I had to make a pit stop (one of many) so we pulled off here. Of course this turned into a photo op, so we had to take 15-20 minutes to do some shooting.

Decent view of Mt. Hood as well.

Almost into Prineville and a hole opened up in the clouds. This was shot through the windshield, so it is a bit hard to see, but the rays of light looked pretty cool.

We had to stop in Prineville. We both needed caffeine at this point. I hadn't slept since getting up at 3pm the previous day and he was only operating on an hour sleep since noon the previous day. Food sounded good... so... McDonalds! I know not great, but the options were limited! After an egg mcmuffin and a healthy dose of coke and coffee, we were headed east again on 26 to the Painted Hills.

The first painted hill I saw wasn't even at the official area. It was only a couple miles from where we turned off the pavement.

Here is Tye saying hello from a Painted Hill.

Off to the main Painted Hills area. What a surprise to see. I had seen some images, but the view was still amazing!

There be gnomes in them thar hills!

After a visit to the fossil area, which didn't turn up anything worth seeing, we headed to Painted Cove. Talk about a bright variation of colors. Just wish it wasn't overcast. It really muddied up the pictures. Even with bad light, the images really show how varied and bright the colors are.

People aren't the only visitors to the Painted Hills.

One of the greatest things about this area is the lack of garbage and defacing so common to most public areas of interest. It almost restored my faith in humanity... almost.

So we had seen all the area had to offer. Now what? Do we head back the way we came... or do we take the road less traveled (literally) and take the 40 mile off road route to the little town of Antelope. Any guesses? Yeah, we went the off road route.

After a few miles with one or both of us camera clicking, we rounded a bend and saw this sight.

We happened to notice a road with a sign that said boatramp that led down a very steep route towards the river. Yeah, we took it. This was the first indication that I should have driven my 4wd truck as Tye's is 2wd. Still, his truck did a great job! Going down was very soft and we both looked at each other then at the road. Too far down and steep to back up. Crap. So we figured a good run at it might get us back up, but not before we look around at the bottom.

It was a very spartan area. No fires unless you burn on a metal pan, no trace philosophy, meaning you take out everything you bring in. This makes for a great experience as there isn't any trash or evidence of humans. It is definitely a spot I will be returning to, to spend a night or three!

So the road out... we made it, but it was not without a bit of concern. Very slippery and if possible, even softer going out then coming in. Once we made the top of the hill I decided to try to catch an image of the sun coming over the hill. There are times I swear I shoot more black and white than anything. Good choice in this instance.

So back on the original road we managed to find an original homestead building that was partially intact. Amazing to think about how hard it must have been this far out with no way to get to a store without a day journey (if not more).

The harsh realities of this area came to light with the finding of critter remains in a gully by the road. Not having your head screwed on right out here is just not an option. No cell service and VERY light road traffic could make a minor accident a major catastrophe.

The sun was starting to get lower in the sky, but we still stopped for a few random shots. One of them we got lucky and found a small herd of deer.

I can be a bit of a macro whore, but I like seeing how close I can get to get an image. Just happened to walk by this thistle and figured I would give it a try. The one on the right is still a bit out of focus, but overall I am happy with it.

We rounded a bend and came across this homespun setting. It definitely would not suck living there.

Less and less light. The sun seemed to speed up it's decent so we hurried a bit. We came across the messiest, stickiest, and most slippery section of road I have ever been on. You wouldn't think that you could have all of those conditions at once would you? Guess again. The tires loaded up so that we were riding on 3 inch thick mud/clay donuts, the road gave about 3-5 inches, and it was steep, so we were sliding all over. After some great white knuckle driving by Tye, we made it to the top of the 4 mile ascent in time to get some great sunset images.

About 15 minutes later the sky blew up into this.

Then it just kept getting better!

The rest of the journey was basically uneventful. With the color to end the day, what a perfect way to end a journey!

Camera batteries died so I didn't get anymore photos anyway. I had enough for one day. It was time to get some sleep!

Until the next journey!

P.S. Click on any image for a larger view!