Saturday, October 11, 2014

Spring Break John Day River Trip

In April, Kirti and I spent 7 days on the John Day river in our rafts.  We put on at Service Creek and traveled 120 miles to the take out at Cottonwood.  Kirti ran her Super Duper Puma and I was in my Pioneer Riken.  We were comfortable in our rafts.  Since there were only two of us, we were traveling light.

Partway through the trip, at the Clarno put in,  Jonathan joined us in his sea kayak.

We lucked out with great weather.  It was sunny and warm during the day and cool at night.  Camping was fantastic.   We were able to do at least 5 good hikes.  Several were new hikes for us.

The flow was good and we had a lot of time so I was able to pull over to check things out whenever I wanted to.

Here is a slideshow of our trip: John Day River Trip Vimeo


Hiking above camp looking upstream

Soaking Up Warmth from the Sun
Kirti rowing downstream

Taking in the view on our first hike
Painted hills are hidden everywhere

Kirti splashing through some fun stuff

Monday, September 8, 2014

Spring Hikes 2014

Spring found us heading out to some of our favorite hikes.   Hamilton Mountain, Elk Mountain, Coyote Wall, Forest Park, Eagle Creek, Indian Point and Dog Mountain were some of the ones we enjoyed.  We hit a few of them at a prime time for wildflowers.  Coyote wall was especially spectacular.  I spent time relearning the names of the common wildflowers.  It has been awhile since I've been hiking a lot in the spring.  Usually I'm spending my free days paddling to train up for a summer trip.

Here is a slideshow set to music to show you the beauty of Elk Mountain.

Elk Mountain Hike

Here is a slideshow to show the beauty of Coyote Wall in spring.

Coyote Wall Hike



Trillium in Forest Park

A snail crossing the trail on a rainy day

Sulfur Buckwheat at Coyote Wall

Bumblebee

Sky and flowers

Kirti and Jenny on the trail








Shelly, Gerry and Thia at Coyote Wall

Ladybug visit at Lunch

A Reptilian View

An unusual purplish blue bachelor button

Coyote Wall Trail

Larkspur on Hamilton Mountain

Jenny on Hamilton Mountain with a view downriver

Lupine on Coyote Wall

Jon and Kirti walking the switchbacks on Hamilton Mountain

Indian Paintbrush

Bleeding Heart



A view from Elk Mountain in the Coast Range
Mt. Hood in the distance from Coyote Wall

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Cross Country Skiing 2013-2014

Our 2013-2014 ski season got off to a slow start.  We had less snow than normal in most of our regular ski areas. We skied at Mt. Hood Meadows, Teacup, Bend, the Methow Valley and Anthony Lakes.  Anthony lakes actually got decent snow so we went there several times.  It was our favorite place to ski this year.  Jon and Kirti signed up for a trip to ski across the country of Finland.   Therefore, we did a lot of classic skiing to help train for their trip .  We joined the Millennium ski team and participated in several races.

A figure at Mt. Bachelor's Nordic Center
Wonderful snow and wonderful grooming at Anthony Lakes.

Anthony Lakes 

A view from the Elkhorn Byway

A view looking out over the valley from the top of the downhill ski area.

Anthony Lakes Cozy Nordic Center

Jon and Kirti pausing for a picture.

Building up the classic ski muscles

We're launching the boat into what?

Friends happy to be skiing

Methow Valley River

Our group skiing over the suspension bridge

One of the open meadows that you can ski around

A view looking up the Methow Valley

A view looking down the Methow Valley


Jenny and Kirti at the North end of the Methow Valley


Sunday, August 31, 2014

Wood Turning 2013-2014

Jonathan has created a wonderful space for wood turning.  He has given Kirti and I lessons on his lathe.  We have both learned to turn a bowl out of a block of wood.  Jonathan is learning to make all kinds of things and is constantly experimenting.  As a group, we have now added wood collecting to our list of activities.  Below you'll see photos showing a lesson on using the lathe.

Jonathan showing how to hollow out the bowl

All set up to spin

Jenny prepared to work around dust

Sanding the inside of the bowl

A well organized shop

Kirti praticing her lathe turning skills

Jenny adding crushed rock for a colorful inlay on the rim

Hold your tools steady



Here is a link to Jonathan's wood turning blog.  He has some beautiful pieces.

Sylvan Treasure Blog