The end of one adventure is only the beginning of another. This weekend, wonders of the Oregon Coast were shown to me. Within that ocean landscape I saw a promise to another grand adventure. Stay tuned folks. The Journey is just getting started.

 

  Hello everyone, I've been a bit busy but I haven't forgotten to post here. I've had some cool hikes the last few weeks and some pretty cool  road trips.Three weeks ago I hiked Franklin Falls over at Denny Creek Trail-head. It was a pretty easy hike, however breaking in new hiking shoes that dont apparently fit well made for some sore feet. From there we drove to Cooper Lake and Pete Lake trail-head. I wrote about that trip in better detail and shared a video with you earlier.
  The second hike was on Tiger Mountain, Northwest Timber Trail. This 5 mile hike was relatively flat and you hiked through many different systems of a forest. I don't have any pictures that would do it justice. It's just one of those hikes that any beginner hiker or anyone wanting to just get out should try. I highly recommend it. The third hike was again on Tiger Mountain. the north trail. It had some steep sections, and quite frankly the map system is a bit confusing. I would recommend buying a green trails map because it's easy to miss the right section and you can find yourself on a completely different trail then you started on. That being said, hiking towards the afternoon on this particular trail, i would seriously consider bringing some additional lighting source because it can get dark on the trail and with steep falls to the side of the trail, its an easy mechanical injury or worse. Before I turned back the best section apparently of this trail started around the 4 mile mark. I wil go back to this trail early in the day to have more time exploring it.
  I recently went on a road trip with my good friend Kelly to Mt.Hood and Central Oregon. Along the way i was able to visit a friend in Sandy Oregon which is where the "gold miners" from Gold Rush on the discovery show are from. Mt.Hood was beautiful and the Timberline lodge apparently was in the original Shining with Jack Nicholson. One thing i did not know is that the Pacific Crest Trail went right on Mt.Hood. That was pretty cool. From there we drove to Lake Trillium which Mt.Hood towers over. It was an absolutely gorgeous lake that one could camp at. I would say getting there early on a weekday would give you the best chance camping there.
  We stayed in Madras woke up early and I convinced Kelly to drive through Central Oregon. Crooked River and Smith Rock State Park is an absolutely fascinating place to be geologically speaking. I could have spent hours there just looking at its geological history. Without a doubt this place would have been perfect for any western movie complete with cowboys and six shooters. Smith rock which is in the Crooked river system is a place I intend to revisit on many occasions. It reminded me a bit of the Peshastin Pinnacles here in Washington state. 
  I really wanted to See the Painted Hills in the John Day Monument area. I was and wasn't impressed. The video will show pictures of this area in greater detail. I won't describe this area because I think you should discover it for yourself. We ended the trip in Kelly's all time favorite place. Multonomah Falls.

And without ado here is the video of the trip

Franklin Falls trip

At long lost a video of new pictures taken august 25th. I hiked a 2 mile round trip to Franklin Falls, fell down in the water while breaking in new hiking shoes. Afterwards my friend Kelly from the east coast, and I drove through Rosalyn where the tv show Northern Exposure was filmed, then through Ronald. WE took pics of Lake Cle Elum, Cle Elum River and Cooper Lake near the Pete Lake trail head. (that video is also on the blog just look for older posts)

Thought I would post a poem i wrote thinking about death.  I recently had a high school friend pass away in a car accident, so its been on my mind.  Here it is.

 

Farewell, Farewell. To this journey I take

Towards a fading sun, A lonesome tread to where I know not

I will tip my hat and smile, wave to all gathered

Grieving they may, for we shall depart here.

Alone we must go forward to the unknown.

Do not fear, for pain cannot exist.

Do not shame your tears, for they are not sad

For the sun may have set here, it will rise there

As long as there are memories inside your heart

I will not be forgotten.

I may be gone, but I am still with you.

I apologize for not posting in a long time. There are several personal issues I have been dealing with, Some I can share, some I wont. I am dealing with some complicated health issues. They are fairly significant for me. I went in to the doctors finally for one issue and in doing so they discovered another health issue. And that is I have a very fast heart rate. They order an EKG for my heart which basically showed what the doctor called just a name "tachychardia". Her suspicion was also possibly angina.So i have been put on medication diltiazem since i refused atenolol. This medication makes me quite fatigued when i take it in the morning.

 Ok with that being said, i have one thing to get off my chest..... For everyone out there, when you have someone around you who is constantly negative, overly critical, and unable to understand their actions and words, and in general a jerk... Sometimes you just have to cut those people out of your life.  For me, I do not wish to live my life listening to someone's constant negativism, and constantly going out of their way to prove they are better. It is fruitless, immature, and in general it will show in their lives how miserable they actually are.  In the end such people can and will pull you down.

I made a small video of some of the unexpected beauty here in Washington State. Everyone enjoy, and please leave a comment.

A good friend of mine Neils Humphries rafted the Green River Gorge  in the same area of my hike. It's a pretty good video taken on a Go Pro camera. Enjoy everyone.

I'll describe this hike in further detail when i have more time. I have a video for everyone, plus some guest blogger, as well as some cool upcoming trips.

I hiked Wilderness Peak over on Cougar Mountain. It's about 4-5 miles and 1200 feet elevation gain. This was a tad challenging as I've had issues in the past with steep inclines because of my weight and stubby legs. However It worked out real well and I was able to get some good training for the AT and was relatively pain free. Unfortunately It was really wet from the rain/mist so I was unable to take more then two pictures. This is the best of the two.

I also recorded two videos tonight of me talking about today's hike and a hike i did many years ago which i like to refer to it as the hike from hell.