Fall leaves and changing weather...

...are two of my favorite things about the outdoors. I got to experience both this week as Graham dog, Jake dog, and I went hiking just outside of town above Fall Creek Reservoir.

The day was ours to explore, and we left town around lunchtime to start our journey. The original plan was to find mushrooms, so with a basket in the car I made a bee-line for one of my trusted sites. We ended up detouring up a gravel Forest Service road that looked promising and I soon found myself driving along a steep, winding road that paralleled a ridge.

After driving about five miles on this road, I stopped the car so the dogs could have a break and I could start looking. While walking around I noticed the amplitude of leaves that were changing from their summer greens to wonderful shades of yellow and red. This proved to be the only "bounty" I would yield today, as the mushrooms evaded my capture.

We enjoyed our day thoroughly just the same, the dogs running around like lunatics and me enjoying every moment of it. We spent about two hours traipsing through the woods, and then drove home for a nice long nap. What a day!

Although I don't have any photos from this day, fear not! I'll add another post above to showcase what I've been seeing around Oregon in the last week. Stay tuned!

Tahkenitch Lake Backpacking Adventure!

Anson wasn't afraid of the dark woods, thankfully.

My wife, son, and I went just south of Florence this weekend for our first backpacking trip as a family. As you might remember we tried backyard camping a few months ago with great success so it seemed we should be able to manage a more adventurous outing now that the little man is four months old. We were very lucky in many ways this weekend and fulfilled our goal of getting out in nature, seeing something new, and having some time alone to reconnect with one another.


We got a late start (what else is new?) to our trip and arrived at Tahkenitch Campground & Trailhead around 7:30p.m. We knew we had about an hour and a half of daylight left so we got moving quickly and were on our way to Threemile Lake which was, you guessed it, three miles from the trailhead.

We didn't know what the trail would have in store for us becuase we'd never been there, but were pleasantly surprised that there weren't many hills or difficult sections. We didn't know if we'd find a flat spot for our tent, but were delighted to find a great forested area next to the dunes that was very flat and protected from the wind.

About two miles from our destination the light had diminished so much that hiking through the thickly-covered forest required a headlamp. The dogs, as well as Claire and I, were ambitious about hiking regardless of the time of day so we made good time getting to Threemile Lake, having taken just about 1.5 hours.

We pitched the tent and cooked our dinner before I went out with the doggers to explore our campsite. We were on a tall bluff about 50-75 feet above sea level and therefore had a commanding view of the coast and dunes to the south. The night sky yielded a full moon, the Perseids meteor shower, and the occasional wisp of clouds moving across the horizon. After putting the young one to sleep, we enjoyed a relaxing light show, trying to find meteors racing across the sky.

What a campsite!

After a good nights' sleep (with a four month old that is a very relative term!), we awoke to the now-familiar sound of crashing waves. A light breeze and the low sun kept us cool as we began our hike, meandering through the sand on our way to the ocean. 

The dogs enjoyed a quick dip in Threemile Lake as we made our way to the shoreline. We were smart and only put waterproof items in their dog packs, knowing how much they like to swim.

Wet dogs=happy dogs

Threemile Lake

 Once we arrived at the beach I was pleasantly surprised to find many animals, although most of them ravaged by seabirds, washed up along the shore. We saw numerous crabs, starfish, and jellyfish.

Seashell carnage

As we walked further along we looked for our trail back to the car to complete our six mile loop. We came across people hiking on the beach, backpackers like us, heading home from their own adventures. The whole time we were backpacking we saw only 13 people. It was refreshing to be in such solitude along the coast.

A great Oregon memory

We were approaching noon about the time we left the seaside, and the sun was high in the mostly cloudless sky. The breeze was virtually non-existent and made for a hot walk back the last 1.5 miles to the car. We were happy to have found the shady trail again and get off the sand, which made for hot and difficult hiking.

Shade from the surprisingly hot sun

All in all, we know that we are very lucky for many reasons, not the least of which is to live in such a wonderful place like Oregon. Anson is lucky to have been born here, and we are lucky to be able to take him on such beautiful hiking adventures.

Success!

Until next time...

Benternship sights & sounds Summary

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Benternship July 6- DAY 7

This series documents a very special opportunity I had recently. I was accepted as an intern at a company in Oregon that provides naturalist-based guided tours in many different activities that travelers enjoy. All of the entries are taken directly from my makeshift journal, my camera, and my iPod video camera. Items in bold are not original to the journal, they have been added for clarity or reading enjoyment. You can decide which.

1:00 a.m. No work on 7/4- too festive. Great time at Jeff, Aaron, and Jake's...spent day (July 5) 9:45-5:45 at office. Introduced Dave to color breakouts on Google Calendar- he took to it right away which made me a bit nervous...hope whatever he uses is to his best advantage...wanted to do kayak trip with Joe or Jeremy but didn't seem appropriate at the time. Helped Dave at Costco (and got to talk business)...5k and then dinner with Jack at Deschutes Brewery. Tomorrow work 9-12 then to Tamolich at 12:30-5:00 or so with Dave. Excited to see him guide for the first time...should be an eye-opener.

Overall things seem to be going well, the ball is definitely in my court as to find what's next...

Being the owner of the company, I expected Dave to really know his natural world. The way he conducted himself in the office as an introverted individual was something that I expected to carry on into the outdoors. However, Dave had a wonderful way of engaging his audience ("oh, baby!") and getting them as excited about the outdoors as he is. I was truly honored to be working next to him on this outing as it was a special place for me anyway. The tours that his company does are typically in Central Oregon on the east side of the Cascade crest. Today however, we were on the west slope in the thick and heavy presence of Douglas Fir trees, Oregon Grape and Vine Maples. The McKenzie River roared along adjacent to our trail and I was continually impressed by Dave's understanding of what I consider to be my own backyard. This same trail is the one that my old Boy Scout Troop 318 and I hiked in 2008, just weeks before CTR and I wed.