Oregon Day 7 - A Day in Portlandia

How did I get here?

05/08/12 Tuesday

We drove up to Portland for a day of sight-seeing.

We visited the Oregon Zoo, coincidentally on the second Tuesday of the month, which is Walmart discount day.

I spent more time staring at the people than the animals, as it was the first sunny day all spring, and the Oregonians were wearing shorts and T-shirts exposing their incredibly pale limbs.

A neurotic polar bear.

Zoos are a bit depressing to begin with, and they’ve only gotten more so as nearly every exhibit includes information about vanishing habitat and species extinction due to climate change.

The polar bear was missing patches of fur due to repetitive behavior. We watched him rock back and forth, over and over, like a robot.

It’s supposed to do something.

We next drove across the river to visit OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

OMSI has a lot of exhibits, including a submarine parked in the river. It’s especially kid-oriented, but adults can play too.

Goofing around by the river.

We walked all the way from OMSI across the bridge to downtown Portland.

Where am I?

We had beers at the Deschutes Brewery and then stumbled back to the car to have dinner at Biwa, a Japanese restaurant in southeast Portland.

Oregon Day 6 - Bike Hardesty Trail

Shuttle high point.

05/07/12 Monday

Today we rode the Hardesty Trail near Lookout Point Reservoir east of Eugene.

Dad drove us to the top and rode the upper part with us before driving back down to meet us at the bottom.

Some uphill doubletrack before the singletrack.

Even with a shuttle, you have to ride about 1.5 miles and 800’ uphill to get to the downhill.

An exposed meadow on a steep ridge.

There’s some brief views on the ridge near the top, but after that it’s all forest.

Getting ready to head down.

It’s a little early in the year and we encountered a lot of branches and debris on the trail.

Just bomb it!

Hardesty is a lot steeper than the Alpine trail, and more overgrown with bushes and ferns.

You drop about 3,500’ in five miles.

Mossy.

It’s not a technical trail, but it does have some sharp turns and steep camber in places.

Cruising on the lower part.

The pitch lessens somewhat on the lower part.

Hardesty runs into the South Willamette Trail.

We met Dad on the South Willamette Trail, which we rode on a trip to Oregon seven years ago.

It was a fun ride, but the trail just wasn’t quite in condition yet.

Oregon Day 4 - Drive Santiam Pass

It might fit.

05/05/12 Saturday

We stuffed everything back in the Subie at the Tumalo campground to drive to Eugene.

A butte south of the ski area.

We stopped at Hoodoo Ski Area so Nancy could see what it looked like. Nancy has never skied in Oregon.

Hoodoo’s main face.

We had a snack in the parking lot and watched a skier skin up and make some turns in the upper bowl.

Sahalie Falls

A stop at Sahalie Falls.

Oregon Day 3 - Bike C.O.D. Trail

Looking for the Deschutes River Trail.

05/04/12 Friday

We planned to ride the Deschutes River Trail near the Entrada Lodge, but it wasn’t what we were looking for—it’s more of a walking trail than biking trail.

Dad went back to see Mom and Nancy and I went back across the highway to jump on the C.O.D. trail.

One of the few technical sections.

The Cascade Lakes Highway runs next to an old lava flow, the edge of which provides some difficult rock ramps.

Nancy hitting a small feature.

Once past the lava flow, the trail becomes typical Phil’s Trail flowy smoothness.

Junction #7—Phil’s / KGB.

The major trail junctions are marked by metal sculptures.

Riding down a rock ramp on C.O.D.

The riding here is a little more similar to what we encounter in Tahoe, such as the Summit Lake Trail, with its tricky granite sections.

Phil’s just has much, much less of the technical stuff.

Oregon Day 2 - Bike Phil's Trail with Dad

The Skyliner Trail trailhead.

05/03/12 Thursday

We did a shuttle ride in the Phil’s Trail area, starting on the Skyliner Trail at its west (upper) end.

Starting with a short, steep climb.

The trail is mostly downhill, except for a short climb at the start.

Dealing with the snow.

We ran into a lot of snow patches and blowdown before getting to Whoops.

Having fun in Whoops.

The Whoops Trail is about two miles of downhill features, a constant series of bank turns and small jumps.

Whoops is a blast—you can bank on it.

It’s so much fun that we often ride back up to do it again.

There’s some tight turns in the trees.

After Whoops, we finished off on Ben’s Trail, more cruising through the forest.

Dad hit a manzanita bush and the bush won.

Dad missed one of the turns and got taken out by a manzanita. He got a bloody cheek, but no serious damage.