Finding Summer at Timeout Ranch

Another whirlwind weekend. The fam and friends headed down to our Timeout Ranch down on the Rogue River. Everyone in Portland was still waiting for summer so we thought we’d go looking for it. Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday were in the mid 90s so I’m pretty sure that we found it.

Kerrie, the rest of the girls and I got to the cabin late Friday night and proceeded to set up camp and drink some growlers around the campfire. The following morning, we emerged from our tent like sauna and stumbled into the shade for a little relief. Ya summer is definitely in Southern Oregon right now. That day my dad rented a 14ft self-bailing raft and we spent almost 4 hours floating/crashing down the river. Unfortunately, Ry Dog still has to get used to rafting. Might need to spend a little time practicing with him. The evening was full of card games, reading, the occasional jump in the river to cool off and more growler consumption.

After a late start on Sunday, everyone decided that they’d like to do a little tube float down the river so we packed up the cars again and headed to the put –in. I think most of the girls failed to realize how much more difficult it was going to be floating the river in tubes rather than the raft. The river was running fast and high, and while there weren’t any classifiable rapids on this particular stretch, everyone, but the girls in the Sevylor kayak, were in the drink in a matter of mintues. Kerrie lost her tube and shoes. Other people lost glasses and drinks. Everyone was scattered across the river unable to pull over to the side.

These photos are a little fuzzy since they were taken through my SealLine waterproof case

Luckily, I had my phone on me in a waterproof case so I called for support and had my dad pick Kerrie up since she no longer had a tube. In the end, everyone managed to make it back to the cabin and had a good float and great upper body work out. We proceeded to pack up the car and head back home to Portland after a great SUMMER weekend at the cabin.

UNT

Bryan

 

Yeti Spotted

PA and BVT

Heading to Cresent Lake

I had a couple of busy weekends with some minor adventures thrown in, but I’m always more eager to blog when I have good pictures to back the text up. This has not been the case recently as I have not been taking many pictures during my outings due to limited camera access and general laziness.

Yes this was shot out of a moving car

Two weekends ago, Kerrie and I and the GU crew headed up to Port Angeles, WA for our buddie’s bachelor/bachelorette party. His family has a house on Lake Sutherland so we spent the weekend playing beach volleyball, tubing, and drinking beer. I had illusions of doing some big runs in Olympic National Park, but low elevation snow levels, a closed TH access road and general exhaustion from the constant heat and activity, left me with only 1 run. I wanted to do a loop on the Elwah River but the access road had been taken out by a landslide (or so we were told by the park ranger). I also wanted to do a loop to Lake Angeles, but the snow level was still too low and finally, I wanted to do a loop up and aroung Mt. Muller, but I was too tired and lazy. In the end, the boys and I did an 8 mile OAB on the Spruce Railroad Trail along Cresent Lake. We all felt pretty crappy the whole time, which lead to the laziness the following day. Overall, it was a great trip, good to see the Moran’s, Haguewoods and A Langfield. I’ll see them all again in two weeks for the actual wedding.

This past Friday, Kelly Cumiskey, and I headed to Banks, OR after work and did a 45 mile road bike OAB on the Banks-to-Vernonia State Trail. The trail was very similar to the Centennial Trail in Spokane, WA, which we used to ride quite a bit when we were at school. I gotta say that I love the idea of rail-to-trails that seems to be spreading across the pacific northwest. The ability to stay off the road, but still have great pavement, along with exploring new areas that gets you off the beat pack is a great idea. Another important point to note is that this ride signified a return to equilibrium for me as I have now ridden my bike father than I’ve run. My goal is to sign up for a century sometime in the fall so that I can knock that off my life list and feel justified in believe that I could ever run 100 miles (which is also in the plans for the distant future).

That’s all I got for now. I hope to plan something bigger for this weekend, but we’ll see.

UNT

Bryan

The Elwah River Trail I didnt get to do

The Lake Angeles/Heather Peak Trail that I also didnt get to do.