The Pursuit of Singletrack

Hardesty Trail

So I did it. I renamed my blog. Originally, when I started blogging, I didn’t really know what I was doing and didn’t really know how my blog would turn out. The main objective of my blog was to act as a story telling platform for all of my adventures. In the past, I would usually take pictures during my adventures, and they’d generally end up being forgotten about on iPhoto or trapped on my camera. But I wanted to tell my stories and open it up to a larger audience so I began toying with the idea of starting my blog during many solitary days on the trails. Eventually, I pulled the trigger and began researching blogging platforms. I eventually settled on Blogger and got things started. However, breezed through the setup phase and figure I’d come up with a better name down the road sometime. My domain name was stuck at bryanmullaney.blogspot.com.  I could rename that part but then how would all of my 7 followers know where to find me… ;)

Now over a year later, I finally settled on a more permanent name. This is a topic that I constantly pondered during runs and rides over the last couple of months. The reason for landing on this name is pretty simple. In the end, it’s all about the singletrack. Smooth, rocky, steep, flowly, forgotten, discovered, muddy, sandy, runnable, hikeable, climbable, endless singletrack.  It’s what I strive for, search for, and long for at the end of the day. The constant, never-ending, unconquerable pursuit of singletrack. Whether it’s trail running, mountain biking, cyclocross racing, road bike training, hiking, snowshoeing, XC skiing, or getting first tracks, singletrack is always and will always be the best part of the adventure. So get out there and ride, run, or walk and get yourself some singletrack.

Family Reunion #2

Swampy Lakes Shelter

This past weekend Kerrie and I headed down to the Metolius River outside Sisters, Or to spend a few day relaxing and exploring the local area. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

Kerrie and I left the house at 5:09pm and it took us an hour and a half to get through Wilsonville. I-5 South was a parking lot. I was hoping to be able to get to the Metolius area while it was still light out. However, by the time that we pulled off Hwy 20 towards Camp Sherman, the last beams of light faded behind the Cascade Mountain range. So there are I think 8 campgrounds along this stretch of the metolius and only 3-4 require reservations. The rest are first come, first serve. Great, I thought, pretty of time and plenty of room. Wrong. Every single CG in the area was packed to the brim, and I would know because we check every single site!

Okay plan #2: Forest road bivy as it was already 10pm by this time. That idea was quickly rejected by Kerrie so on to…

Option #3: Check every campground from here to Sunriver, OR, but realistically, check Indian Ford CG at the base of Black Butte. Success! 3 unused campsites located a mere 50 yards from the bustling Hwy 20, placed strategically in a large dusty sand pit in the middle of the campground. Decision time….  Hunker down in the dirt parking lot deemed a suitable campsite by the wonderful forest service or continue on to sunriver and join Feldmann family reunion #2 of the summer.  Time to make the phone call to sunriver…

“So how’s the evening going…” Me

“Good, everyone just got into the hot tub.” – Grandpa

“You HAVE a hot tub!! We’ll be there in 45 mins”  - Kerrie overhearing the conversation

“Make some room we’re inbound. ETA 45 mins” – Me

“I’ll put some more beer in the fridge.” – Grandpa

So just like that we ditched the plans for the weekend and headed to Sunriver, OR. Not a problem for me as there is plenty of mountain biking to be had in Sunriver, and Kerrie had more to do with visiting baby cousins. A consolation Win Win scenario.

View from the back window of the Swede Ridge Shelter

Saturday morning I rode the Swampy Lakes and Swede Ridge trails. Fantastic trails, only wished I had more time to explore the area and ride a little farther. Kerrie and I spent the afternoon lounging in the cold tub, aka turned off hot tub with garden hose fountain. And later that evening we headed into Bend for the, I believe, 2^nd annual Bend Brew Fest. This would make it my 4^th beer festival of the summer! Gotta love the pacific northwest! That evening we did more hot tubbing, played a little corn hole and competed during a few board games.

Local brew and a Potato Tornado!

Sunday morning started slow. We had planned to climb either Tumalo Mountain or Black Butte, but a blister/cut on my Achilles constrained me from anything requiring shoes. Thanks mom! But we ended up visiting Suttle Lake on the way home and took a dip in its cooling waters before enduring the painfully slow and crowded trip back to Portland.

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. But I’m definitely jonesing for a camping trip. Trying to coordinate some plans for this weekend but who knows.

UNT

Bryan

Green Machine & Batmobile

Inside Swampy Lakes Shelter

Trail Crossing

Sweet Central Oregon Singletrack!

Need I say more...

Daniel Boone's Backyard

Cumberland Falls

I’ve finally cooled off from my trip to Tennessee and Kentucky for a family reunion. I don’t think it dipped below 75 degrees the whole time that we were there. The real problem however was the humidity. Us Pacific NorthWesters had a hard time handling the intense humidity, which lead to very little physical activity outside the occasional hike or trail jog. Note: trail JOG.

Rock Island State Park

Anyway, the fam and I flew into Tennessee last Wednesday night and proceeded to Rock Island State Parkin TN the next morning and eventually ended up in Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. Rock Island State Park was a little oasis in the middle of Tennessee. The girls and I spent the afternoon sitting under waterfalls, swimming the river and jumping off rocks. We were definitely sad to leave and get back into hot rental car (the 2012 Ford Explorer had 44 miles on it when we got it and 700+ when we returned it) for another 3hr drive through the back roads of Tennessee and Kentucky.

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park (yes very wordy title) is Kentucky’s finest and most popular state resort park and hosts the nation’s 2^nd largest waterfall, only trumped by the Queen, Niagara Falls. The park was surrounded by miles of trail and the mighty Shelktowee Trail. Lodging included cabins, mini cabins, hotel rooms and campsites.

Eagle Falls

Maybe I should get a tan...

  The next few days included watching our relatives drink copious amounts of Milwaukie’s Best, while I tried my best to choke down the swill of the local Nashville microbrewery, Yazoo. Their intense hop flavor didn’t quite compare to the brews of the mighty PNW. But hey, gotta drink local and I was glad that there were local options to choose from.

The fam on top of a fire lookout

 All in all, the reunion was a joyous occasion with many stories both true and fictional. It was great to meet distant relatives and form new relationships. We bonded over line dancing, swimming, hiking and long humid nights under the moon.

After leaving Cumberland Falls, the fam spent a few hours exploring Mammoth Cave National Park. We descended into the dark depths of the caves and visited the underground flowstone waterfall called, Frozen Niagara. The tour was extremely crowded, but it was nice to get out of the heat for awhile.

 

Frozen Niagara

 After that we jumped back into the car and headed for the honky tonks of Nashville. With both sisters under 21, we weren’t able to visit many honky tonks, but it was still fun to walk the streets and hit all the tourist traps. We ate dinner at a local brewery and each had wonderful meals ranging from shrimp and grits to jambalaya.

On the final day of our trip, megan and I did a jog through Vanderbuilt Univeristy to get a feel for the college campus and stretch out our legs. That afternoon we drove out to the world famous, Loveless Café, home of the world’s best biscuits. We dined in the shadows celebrity patrons and feasted on some good ol southern soul food including, fried chicken, fried catfish, caramelized sweet potatoes, fried okra, BBQ peach pork loins, and BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. Needless to say that I was extremely full when I left.

I had a great vacation with the family. Good to spend some time with everyone. Now happy to be back in Portland with great weather and looking forward to hitting the trails hard over the next couple of months.

UNT

Bryan

Danny Does it Again