Bike - Mt. Rose to Marlette Lake

Greg, Vince and Rich at the Mt. Rose TRT trailhead.

6/28/08 Saturday

I joined Rich, Vince and Greg from TTSA for a bike ride on the Tahoe Rim Trail. They planned to ride from Mt. Rose Highway to the Marlette Lake overlook, and then drop down the Chimney Beach trail.

I drove out to Incline Village, where they drove down to pick me up and leave a car at Chimney Beach.

Greg finessing the granite.

This part of the TRT is relatively easy, except for occasional granite steps that you have to walk over or risk a pinch flat.

Rich rocks & rolls.

I hadn’t ridden this section in a couple of years, so it was great to get back on such a fun and scenic trail.

Bret at Tunnel Creek Road.

The trail is predominantly downhill until you reach Tunnel Creek Road. If you drop down to the Flume Trail instead of climbing up to the Marlette Overlook, it’s as easy (effort-wise) a trail as you’ll find in Tahoe.

Vince negotiates a loose, steep corner.

However, if you stay on the Rim Trail and skip the Flume Trail, there’s a little more effort involved. You end up re-gaining all the elevation you lost in the last nine miles.

Marlette Lake and Lake Tahoe in the smoky haze. The Marlette Lake dam is to the left of Vince.

The view makes the climb worth it. The recent fires have been filling the Tahoe Basin with smoke, but we lucked out for a fairly clear day.

After taking a break for some food, we rode the long, smooth downhill to the south end of Marlette.

Taking a break after climbing to the top of the Chimney Beach trail.

There were still two short climbs to go: the easy climb out of Marlette Lake, and the much steeper climb to the top of the Chimney Beach trail.

The Flume Trail map warns that the Chimney Beach trail is “steep and difficult.” It’s steep, but not difficult, since there are virtually no rocks on the trail. However, it’s about 2,200’ of constant downhill, so your brakes get a workout.

Greg fixes his flat, Rich supervises.

Greg got a flat, possibly from his rims getting too hot, and Vince had to eke his way down on one brake, because his rear brake was leaking fluid and became useless three miles into the ride. I could smell his front brake pads burning.

It was a really fun ride, about 21.5 miles in four hours.

Oregon - Ski Willamette Pass with Dad

A panorama from the top of Eagle Peak, elev. 6,666’

Looking south at Diamond Peak and Odell Lake.

As a result of the huge snowpack, Willamette Pass Ski Area opened for the weekend after being closed since April.

Nancy had to drive back to Truckee, so Dad and I came out for a very rare day of June skiing.

Dad getting some good early morning corn.

We rode the Gondola to the top and skied the runs on the backside. It was good skiing first thing, but got very sticky after a couple of hours.

Keep those knees together!

It was a little bizarre to be skiing the Pass in summer. It reminded me of the years at Squaw where we would work/ski until July 4th.

Odell Lake

Fun day skiing, although it got so sticky that we could only ski a half day.

Oregon - Bike McKenzie River Trail

Starting up the hill to the east of Trail Bridge Reservoir.

06/11/08 Wednesday

Mom and Dad drove us up McKenzie Pass for a ride on the McKenzie River Trail.

We crossed a beautiful creek after a mile.

This was our third ride on the trail. Today, we just wanted to ride the lower half of the trail, from just above Trail Bridge Reservoir to the end.

Lush

Dad would drive from trailhead to trailhead, hiking out to meet us.

Blow-down. BIG blow-down.

The trail is generally a cruiser, but there are a few parts with technical hazards.

Maybe a little too rocky.

The trail is very rocky for a half-mile east of Tamolitch Falls.

Discretion is the better part of bloody shins.

The technical sections are limited to a few spots that go through old lava flows, but they get nasty in places.

Tamolitch Falls.

The trail goes by Tamolitch Falls and the famous Blue Pool.

Tamolitch Falls rarely has a waterfall; usually the water emerges spring-like through the rocks below.

However, due to a huge snow pack, water was flowing over the falls and the blue pool wasn’t very blue.

The McKenzie River below the falls.

One aspect of a long river trail is seeing the river get bigger and bigger as you continue downstream.

We continued downstream after lunch.

Crossing one the many single log bridges across tributary streams.

The trail is especially lush above Deer Creek.

After the falls, the trail becomes more of a cruise.

There’s no moss like this in Tahoe.

Riding in the Pacific Northwest is like mountain biking through the Lord of the Rings.

Communing

Dad went hiking while waiting for us at each intersection.

Crossing Deer Creek.

We met the folks at Deer Creek to get some lunch.

Vacationing with the folks.

After Deer Creek, was just another four mile cruise to the end of the MRT.

Oregon - Bike Brice Creek

Getting ready.

6/09/08 Monday

Nancy found a trail to ride that we’ve never ridden before, the Brice Creek Trail, which is about twenty miles east of Cottage Grove.

A half-mile into the trail.

The trail borders Brice Creek for about six miles, traversing mining claims, waterfalls, and old flumes.

After a mile, we encountered a cliff area protected with a cable fence.

It had rained the night before, so everything was dripping wet. The uphill side of my body got soaking wet from brushing against overhanging vegetation.

A panorama.

The one section with any exposure.

Northwest math: vacation + Oregon = rain

You can ride the trail as an out-and-back, or ride it as a loop by riding uphill on the road next to the creek.

We rode uphill on the trail for about a mile, and then crossed over to the pavement at Cedar Creek Campground to make the next four miles a little bit easier.

Trestle Creek.

Once you get back on the singletrack at the east end of the trail, you quickly come across Trestle Creek, an incredibly lush ravine that is strewn with logs suspended across its narrow width.

Lush vegetation on the trail to Lower Trestle Creek Falls.

There’s a short, steep, no-bikes trail up to Lower Trestle Creek Falls.

Arriving at Lower Trestle Creek Falls.

The scenery is well worth the short hike.

Primordial.

It feels like the Land the Time Forgot.

The bridge at Cedar Creek Campground.

Dad left us at Lund Campground due to a sore butt and rode down the pavement to Cedar Creek Campground while Nancy and I continued down the singletrack.

Rhododendrons bloomed along the trail.

Nancy almost rode off the trail while looking at the flowers.

Waterfall? Where?

There was supposed to be a waterfall near the campground, but all we could find were some rapids.

One of the few rocky sections

Nancy and I joined Dad at the “waterfall.”

Getting scientific.

We started playing around in the pools in the rocks, looking for weird stuff.

Don’t bogart that waterbug, my friend.

Nancy spotted waterbugs in the pools that were like hermit crabs. They built shells that they dragged around and retreated into when disturbed.

Soaked but happy.

It was a fun ride, pretty easy for the most part, with some extremely lush scenery.

Oregon - Hiking Mt. Pisgah with Dad

We hiked up on a cool, cloudy day.

06/07/08 Saturday

We joined Dad for a quick hike up Mt. Pisgah in Eugene.

Ferny!

We usually hike Spencer Butte, but I had never hiked Pisgah, so we came here for a change.

Checking the view near the top.

The hike is a combination of forest and wide-open meadows.

A monument to Jed Kesey.

There is a monument to Jed Kesey, son of author Ken Kesey, at the summit. It’s a bronze stump with a topographic map of surrounding mountains and gaps for the solstices.

Please be serious.

The trail has lush vegetation and more than a little poison oak.