Basecamp at 8 Mile Crossing

Headed out to the East side of Mt. Hood this past weekend to do a little camping and mountain biking. The plan for Adam and I and crew would be to use Eight Mile Crossing Campground as a base camp for our mountain biking adventures. Adam and I got into camp late on Friday night and spent the next few hours polishing off some MacTarnahan’s growlers and stoking the fire.

In the morning, we started off our day by riding the 8 Mile Loop trail, which isn’t 8 miles, It’s 6 and some change. The trail took us up to the 5 Mile Butte Fire Lookout, but it was occupied by some people who left a sign asking for privacy, so we didn’t get to climb to the top for the killer view of Mt. Hood. We ran into lots of bikers heading the opposite direction and descended down into the Bottle Prairie TH before ripping back down the trail to our campsite.

That afternoon, we met up with the rest of the crew, including Kerrie, my dad, my sister, Megan and Rylee Dog at the Mt. Hood Winery. We spent the rest of the afternoon tasting wine and lounging out on the patio. Mt. Hood Winery has amazing views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams so it’s worth going there not just for the wine.

We spent the evening drinking beer, eating sausages and spaghetti, and roasting marshmallows by the campfire. I had the pleasure of introducing everyone to S’mOreos. Oreos and Marshmallows. We got to bed on the earlier side as we knew we had a long day coming up.

I awoke to a crackling fire and the smell of French pressed coffee. Adam’s dad, Greg, arrived as we were beginning to make breakfast. We would need our fuel today as we were planning to ride Surveyor’s Ridge from North to South. Over breakfast, we straightened out the logistics for the day and were happy to have the help of Megan and Kerrie for shuttling purposes.

On the way to the trailhead, we dropped a car off at fireroad 012 and continued on Rd 17 all the way to the powerline trailhead. We unloaded then headed off up the technical, rock garden ascent .Throughout the day, we were challenged with long climbs and technical descents. The dads were pushed to the edge of their abilities many times, but Adam and I only heard minimal complaining. The southern half of the ride proved much more manageable for them and was full of scenic views of Hood and nice rolling singletrack. In the end, we completed the trail in 2hrs and 18minutes. Toasted our success with a round of fat tire ales. The weather was excellent all day with clear visibility and temps in the low 70s.

We got back to base camp, threw back a few more brews, ate lunch and lounged around in the sun before packing up and heading back into Portland. All in all I had a great weekend camping with everyone and riding sweet singletrack. It is easy to come home from trips like this when you have another one right around the corner. This 4th of July Kerrie and I will be meeting up with some in Port Angeles, WA for some bachelor party shenanigans and Olympic National Park adventures.

UNT,

Bryan

Kings-Elk Mtn Traverse

Finally got around to doing the Kings-Elk Mountain Traverse. I’ve wanted to do this one for awhile now, but with all the snow we’ve had this past spring, the conditions weren’t right until this past weekend. I loaded my pack and grabbed some gear and headed out around lunch time this past Sunday. My plan was to start at Elk Creek CG then head west on the Wilson River Trail till the Kings Mtn TH then head up and round back to Elk Mountain and back straight down to the car. It seems most people start up Elk Mountain Trail and go counter clockwise, but I wanted to let my legs warm up instead gaining almost 2,500ft in roughly 1.5 miles on the Elk Mtn trail.

Overall the run was everything that I wanted it to be. Some nice rolling singletrack on WRT, tough climb to the top of Kings, sketchy running/scrambling/hiking on the back side till Kings, good exposure, alpine-ish landscape and no injuries/knee problems. However, coming down Elk Mtn trail back to the car was a pain in the ass as it was so steep and loose. Very difficult descending conditions. If I do the traverse again, I will probably skip Elk Mtn and return via Elk Creek trail (longer loop with more runnable terrain). This was definitely more of an adventure run than a typical trail run, but this is why I started trail running in the first place, see more terrain, more quickly. Looking to do something fun this weekend so keep an eye out for another post next week.

UNT

Bryan

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Kings-Elk Mt Traverse

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Oregon

Kerrie's Bday Weekend

The Burker turned 24 yesterday, but we did a pre-bday trip East to Hood River this past weekend. This past weekend was the first 80 degree of the year so there were throngs of people in the Gorge hiking and sightseeing. I decided that Mitchell Point would be a good options because a) not very popular = not crowded b) Ive never done it c) it was a short hike d) great views from the top. In the end, the trail turned out to be super steep and a little sketchy for Kerrie. She was a trooper tho and even let me run to the top to check out the views, which were pretty sick. After that I may or may not have locked the keys in the car and we may or may not have waited around 45 mins for AAA to show up.

Eventually we made it up Hwy 35 to the Viento Wine tasting room, which was very crowded but fun. After that we continued south to the Mt.Hood Winery which was very nice and had excellent views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. It was nice to just relax in the sun and sip on some nice wine.

Next, we headed back down into Hood River for dinner. Much to my surprise and excitement, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic was underway, and Kerrie and I stood and watch the finale of a crit (not sure what CAT or age level). It was cool because I haven’t seen an actual bike race like this in person. We followed the events with a wonderful dinner at the 6thStreet Bistro and headed back home to relax by the outdoor fire pit.

UNT

Bryan

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3 day Timeout at the Ranch

This past Memorial day weekend, Kerrie, my dad and I headed down to our family cabin on the Rogue River called Timeout Ranch. We needed to do some major yard work on the property to get it ready for summer use. We arrived late on Friday night and promptly got the fire pit roaring and beers cracked open. The next day my dad and I mowed the giant lawn, weeded, pruned, chopped firewood, and fixed sprinklers. Kerrie and my dad dropped me off at the Upper Table Rock Trailhead so that I could go for a run while they headed into Medford to get some supplies. The trail to table rock is pretty steep so I was sucking wind after spending all day doing yard work. Once on top, I ran through the open wildflower filled mesa to the aircraft beacon, then looped back around on the primary hiking trail. The weather was coming in fast so I had to high tail in back down the car.

View from the top of Upper Table Rock

That evening, we all had dinner with my grandma at the RogueValley Country Club and spent the night sitting around the campfire drinking beers.

Kerrie warming up around the wood burning stove

The following day we did more yard work and laid the pipe for the irrigation system and reinstalled the pump. After that we climbed in the car and headed over to check out Ashland. I really wanted to take a run in Lithia Park, but I didn’t have the time and didn’t want to make everyone wait for me. We had lunch at the Standing Stone Brewery, check out the various Shakespearean Theaters (which Ashland is famous for) then grabbed another pint at Caldera Brewing.

The Outdoor Theater

With all the rain and snow the PNW has had this past winter and spring, the Rogue River was extremely high so we would have to wait to put in the dock till the river went down. This also meant that the fishing would not be so good so I didn’t get another chance to try and check some more trout. After fishing on the McKenzie, I’m starting to enjoy the relaxation and occasional excitement that comes from fishing. And I now know how to clean and eat the trout which makes it that much more fulfilling.

Looking back at the cabin from the river. Ry Dog getting used to his life jacket. It will be good for our rafting trips this summer.

The weather finally cleared up on Monday so we hung around the cabin finishing up some chores and took off back to Portland around 2pm. We proceeded to follow every RV and motor home back up I-5.

UNT

Bryan 

Wildflowers on Table Rock

Aircraft Beacon

Unbreakable: Western States 100 trailer

Very motivating video on the front runners of last years WS100. Amazing inside look into the pace and racing going on during one of the hardest 100s in the country.