Saturday, May 15, 2010

NW Trip Day 14 - Bike the Alpine Trail

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The Alpine Trail trailhead.

05/15/10 Saturday

We did a shuttle ride on the Alpine Trail outside of Oakridge with Dad.

It’s a long, long climb up a gravel road to get to the trailhead, so most people arrange their own shuttle or use a commercial bike shuttle.

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Just starting out.

The Alpine Trail is nationally known, due to its length (15.4 miles), descent (3,400’), and smooth, flowy ride.

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Cruising through the forest.

The trail is intermediate, with only a couple of very short steep sections.

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Dad getting some turns.

There are virtually no rocks in the trail, which is always a shock for us riders from Tahoe.

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Floral.

The ride is in the trees practically the whole way except for this clearing with wildflowers in the sun.

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A view of Westfir / Oakridge near the end.

It’s a fun trail, although not at all challenging.

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BIG blowdown.

There’s a fork in the trail about a mile from the bottom, and somehow we lost Dad, as he left the car at a different trail’s end west of the usual end point.

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Covered.

The normal trail end is at the Office Covered Bridge across the North Fork of the Willamette River in Westfir.

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The Office Covered Bridge.

We eventually found Dad on another part of the trail and made our way back to Eugene.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

NW Trip Day 12 - Hike and Ski Mt. Hood

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Getting ready to do a little skinning on the lower snowfields.

05/13/10 Thursday

We stopped at Mt. Hood on our way back to Eugene to hike up and get a run in.

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Just out of the parking lot.

There was a small storm a couple of days ago that left a layer of fresh, punchy snow.

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Skinning up with Mt. Hood Skibowl in the background.

We just skinned up about 1200’.

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It looks like winter.

It was a chilly day, despite the blue skies. It felt good to get out on some snow again.

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Are we there yet?

Nancy had never been to Mt. Hood, so she was interested to see the layout and the ski areas nearby.

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Getting ready to head down.

I had hiked and snowboarded the Palmer Snowfield almost twenty years ago, but this was the first time I had been on the mountain since then.

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Making turns in funky, punchy snow.

The snow was pretty sketchy—Nancy resorted to making alpine turns all the way down.

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We brought our skis all the way for this?

It was interesting skiing—I had to be diligent to not catch an edge, especially on skinny skis.

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Awesome scenery.

We both got down in one piece, despite the punchy conditions.

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Traversing out of the gully to the parking lot.

Although it was a short run, it was worth it to get out and fool around on the slopes.

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Good times.

Beats getting rained on.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

NW Trip Day 11 - Victoria to Port Townsend

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Passing the Empress Hotel.

05/12/10 Wednesday

We spent the day ferrying back to Port Angeles and then goofing around in Port Townsend.

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Goodbye Canada.

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Wandering around Port Townsend.

We walked around Port Townsend, trying to decide where to spend the night. We wound up driving halfway to Mt. Hood and camping at Seaquest State Park.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

NW Trip Day 10 - Butchart Gardens

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Entrance to Butchart Gardens.

05/11/10 Tuesday

We toured Butchart Gardens today. We came here once before, in 2004.

The tulips were especially grand at this time of year.

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If we could only merge all these photos …

The rose garden has been a disappointment both times we've been here, in May and August.

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More tulips.

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The pavilion at the entrance to the Sunken Garden.

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Pretty

Nancy says these tulips remind her of cotton candy.

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The Japanese Garden.

The Japanese Garden had a nice flow and relaxed feel.

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The Japanese Garden.

It has walkways next to and through flowing water, giving it a serene ambience.

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More tulips in the Italian Garden.

The Italian Garden was much more structured to resemble an Italian piazza.

Monday, May 10, 2010

NW Trip Day 9 - Galloping Goose Trail

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Where are we?

05/10/10 Monday

The Galloping Goose Trail is a 34 mile converted rail line that runs from downtown Victoria west to Sooke, finally ending at the ghost town of Leechtown.

We rode about 20 miles from Harbourview Road to Leechtown and back.

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Riding along Sooke River.

The trail is double-track the whole way, and paved in the urban areas closer to town. It’s much better suited to city bikes than mountain bikes.

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Lots of long flat stretches through the woods.

Pretty, but boring if you’re looking for any sort of mountain-ish riding.

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The Todd Creek trestle.

The highlight was the Todd Creek trestle. It’s a big wooden railroad bridge converted into a walkway as part of the Galloping Goose.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

NW Trip Day 7 - Golf with Bryn

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Bike ride by the harbor.

05/08/10 Saturday

We rode around downtown Victoria with Bryn for a quick tour of the city.

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From sea to shining sea …

One of the stops was Beacon Hill Park and a ride along the water.

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Sami with her photograph “Untitled #3.”

We stopped by a local art gallery where Sami was working. She had one of her own works in the exhibition.

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Just get it over.

In the afternoon, Bryn took us to the Metchosin Golf & Country Club for a round of tragic golf.

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Batter batter batter batter batter …

Well, my swing is tragic. Bryn’s is pretty good.

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… SWING!

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Yeesh.

Maybe one day I’ll get serious about fixing my hideous swing.

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Arms straight, front foot planted.

It seems so obvious when looking at the photos.

Friday, May 07, 2010

NW Trip Day 6 - Ferry to Victoria

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Hanging out in Port Angeles.

05/07/10 Friday

Mom and Dad drove to Port Angeles with us, and then headed back to Eugene after we caught our ferry.

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Crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

We took the Black Ball Ferry over to Victoria to see Bryn and possibly one or more of his daughters.

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Entering the Inner Harbor.

The last time we were in Canada was six years ago.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

NW Trip Day 5 - La Push & Sol Duc Falls

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Our campsite at Hoh Rain Forest.

05/06/10 Thursday

After camping at the Hoh Rain Forest campground, we drove to the coast town of La Push.

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Dad checking his coordinates.

There are a series of beaches just south of La Push, a couple of which are accessed by hiking trails.

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Bret checking his posture.

We made the short hike to Second Beach to do some beach gazing.

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Stacked.

There are some tidal pools with starfish and number of off-shore features.

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Getting silly in the driftwood.

There are miles of beaches, but each beach is separated by a rocky headland, so each has its own access point.

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Nancy doing some beach parkour.

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Amenities.

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We spent the night at the Sol Duc Campground.

After the beach excursion, we drove around to the north side of the park to the Sol Duc Valley.

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Hiking the short trail to Sol Duc Falls.

Just by coincidence, we saw a picture of Sol Duc Falls in Sunset magazine the week before we left, so we had to go see it.

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Looking upstream toward the falls.

It’s just a short little hike to the falls.

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Sol Duc Falls

It’s a pretty waterfall, but you don’t get the full force of it because it drops sideways into a narrow gorge.

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Hiking back.

I think you need to make longer hikes to the higher elevations to see the best of Olympic National Park.

The rain forests are nice, but they are not that much different than a lot of forest in Oregon and Washington.