Biking Through D-Town (Duluth)

For all that the bike lanes and bike culture do to make Eugene a great place to ride a bike, Duluth just has some really fun places to ride. Granted the roads are all in pretty tough shape and yesterday felt more like late September than June I still had a great time cruising out along Skyline Parkway stopping at Chester Bowl and Enger Park.
Chester Bowl is home to several classic if not somewhat rickety ski jumps that used to be the place to be in the Winter when ski jumping was more popular and folks would pay admission to watch folks jump. People still ski at Chester Bowl though I haven't heard of people jumping there in years. What makes the place so cool is that it's literally in the middle of the residential East End of Duluth and only a few minutes from my house and maybe 15 minutes from downtown. It also encapsulates the notion of the single two chair lift (not that it has a need for any second lift) that I always feel more drawn to than the mega resorts where huge quads are meant to attract obnoxious numbers of people. Chester bowl also links right up with a trail system that runs along Chester Creek. There are a great couple of trails that were always a hoot to bomb on my mountain bike back in the day.
Enger Park is great as well. Not as many great trails, but there is a nice open park area and a classic stone tower from which you get great views out toward the lake and down over the industrial harbor and port of Duluth. The industry at the heart of the town.

Biking and Basking Along the McKenzie

A great companion and perfect weather converged to make a two day mountain biking trip on the McKenzie River Trial a fantastic tour of sorts. Deciding at ten O'clock the night before leaving Briana and I decided two days of biking along the McKenzie River would be a suitable way to escape town together one more time before I leave for the year and also fitting as we had gone on our first trip together in the Fall on the McKenzie River.
Catching bus 91 at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday we joined the ranks of like minded folks hefting large packs, though we seemed to be the only ones combining over night essentials and two wheels instead of rugged boots and trekking poles.
A very informal trailhead awaits hikers and bikers at the trailhead and immediately links them into the rhythm of the McKenzie Trail. No part of it is straight for too long and gorgeous views of the river and encapsulating forest make focusing on the trail in front of you utterly difficult. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it means the trail is exhilarating enough to require your full attention. Some trails tend to be too technical with massive rocks or roots hampering any attempt at constant motion, while other trails are just boring without any variants to spice things up. Those trails right in between with a mixture of both have a sense of Flow which is perfect for riding. The McKenzie Trail is one such trail an at 26.5 miles the flow that comes seems never ending.
Carrying more than a day's worth of gear uphill the first day proved to be a task that left us pretty tuckered by the time we set up our tent off trail and a little ways up the Smith River. A Small tributary of the McKenzie River the Smith is a great little river and on a large gravel bar we found a flat spot just big enough for a tent. We were seemingly immersed in the Smith River with it running past us on two sides and it creates perfect spots for us to sleep and cook. We were camped relatively close to a public campground where seemingly all thing internal combsustion related were celebrated. We investigated its fresh water supply and snuck glimpses of how the other half enjoys the outdoors without sacrificing the modern amenities of home. After realizing we weren't missing out on anything by not being amongst the big trucks, RV's, and noisy generators we returned to our own camp in the woods to cook some dinner and enjoy each others company before falling asleep beneath a clear sky.
We lazily awoke the next morning and set out on a morning excursion farther up the trail leaving a majority of our gear behind. The trail caught more technical and the mixture of blocky obsidian rocks in the trail and the continued climb made progress slow so we stashed the bikes and hiked on a bit more. After having lunch at a pool where the river re-emerges from underground we began our descent first to our bikes, then down to where we left our tent, sleeping bags, cook ware, etc. and continued descending all the way back to the ranger station and bus stop.
Along the way I started thinking how carrying all this stuff first seeped into the way I thought about ski trips and now I was carrying it all on bike rides. Everything I do, I concluded, is an attempt to combine passions and make my life as much of an outdoor trip as possible. Having hiked the McKenzie by myself Trail a couple times before I also realized how important good company is to having a good trip, and for this trip I couldn't have asked for better company.
check out my picasa page here; http://picasaweb.google.com/fredachi to see all the pictures from the weekend.

Chillin' with Nature

While appreciating the sunset atop a reservoir in Hendrick's Park last night David Wonser and I were joined by a few deer who lazily and indifferently nibbled the bushes and undergrowth around us. We sat silently as two fawns first approached the base of the reservoir less than eight feet below us. Not long after the mother doe joined them and they kept working their way down the hillside toward a few homes and their gardens I suppose.
It had been a little while since I'd seen a deer, let alone three so the moment was pretty neat. Being so close reminded me of a morning spent hunting years ago. I was hunkered down in the loft of an old and abandoned barn facing East. I had promptly fell asleep after getting settled in and was only awakened by the rising sun warming my face. As I lazily opened my eyes and became alert of the world around me I was startled by the number of fawns and does grazing beneath me! I could hear them chewing grass, urinating and snorting. They were all relatively small so I waited for a buck to get attracted by this knitting circle of does and come closer, but no such luck. Instead I got a morning of deer watching only comparable to last night's show.
Thank god for green spaces within cities where you can experience the simple pleasures of the natural world just minutes from the comfort of your own house and warm bed. Sometimes the city doesn't actually seem to shabby.

A Fine saturday Evening

With guitars, banjos, and mandolins the music atop Spencer's Butte was a perfect accompaniment to the fine weather, friends and all together atmosphere of the evening. Without a cloud in the sky it was possible to make out the Sisters Mountains and a lone peak to the north, perhaps Jefferson? The alpen glow must have been phenomenal on the peaks of those mountains.
The evening was complete with food and drink, though ended seemingly prematurely for my friend Nick and I who had bikes waiting at the base of the Butte and aspirations of making our way back into town before it got too dark. So as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon and the temperature began to drop as well we began our descent and timed it quite well.

Rogue River Clean Up 2009

In it's 19th year now, the Rogue River Clean Up has both a preceding reputation and a calculated approach to its mission; 27 volunteers leap frogging their way down the Wild and Scenic Portion of the river untangling fishing line from branches, freeing beer cans from between boulders, and digging leech infested tires from the river bank.
It is my first time going on an a multi-day rafting trip and I'm firs struck by the amount of stuff being packed. My camping experiences have always been measured by cutting weight and the restrictions of backpacks. Not so when your seat in the raft is the cooler filled with ice and catered lasagna and a spider web of cam straps is the only real restriction to what is lashed down in the rear of the raft.
I was reassured that not all raft trips are quite as plush as this one, what with donated catering and a crew of people who are passionate enough about the remaining wild areas to volunteer to clean up trash along the way. Though as long time paddler Ed Fredette points out every trip should be a clean up trip.
This trip though, this official clean up trip is partnered with the BLM so that along the way we deposit the trash we collect for them to later carry out and allowing us to pick up more trash the next day and the day after that.
Four days to be exact. One of which was perfectly sunny and downright warm. The other three were only slightly less than ideal, though by no means bad. Occasional rain kept most of us in paddle tops if not wetsuits as well. Perhaps the karma we were receiving for our role played into the luck we had when it came to set up our campsites, because it neither rained when we were putting up our tents nor when we were taking them down. We were also allowed the luxury of nightly fires despite damp firewood, which always makes an evening all the nicer.
Spending four days in such a new environment made taking photographs a fun project as everything was new and deciding how to frame rafts, rapids, steep valley walls. It made me realize being familiar with the sport or activity makes taking photos of it all the easier. To see my pictures from the trip check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/fredachi

A New Found Discipline

This blog for me has been an on and off attempt at practicing my trade, though a lack of devotion has made it seem like a lack luster hobby. So once again, for real this time, I'm cracking my knuckles and settling in to take this blog thing seriously.
Welcome back to the Green Flag Gallery and the happenings in my life.

Green Flag Gallery