Haven't been adventuring been moving

Well haven't made it out of town do any adventuring right now I'm in the process of moving, but on the weekend of May 16th got a mountaineering trip planned for diamond peak, all kinds of possibilities, my brother is also coming back into town this week so hopefully he will be able to go, anyways stay tuned for mor backcountry adventures

PB Wiki are Awesome

I'm using PB wikis in my middle classroom and they are a phenomenal tool for educating students.

Check out the PBwiki tour!

Midnight Ninja Riders float Tahkenitch Creek

This weekend I embarked on a float trip through the oregon dune ecosystem south of Florence OR. My buddies Shima, Jared and I took off on a Friday afternoon with canoe and all of the necessary supplies for a float trip.
The plan:
Put in boat at Tahkenitch lake and paddle through the lake to Tahkenitch creeka and eventually make our way to the ocean.

What actually happened: We put at Tahkenitch boat ramp, while we were loading the canoe we realized just how full she was going to be, with backpacks, camping equipment, and beer. I was the last one to get in, in the middle of the canoe when I got in the boat was real tippy, tippy to the point where we nearly capsized before ever leaving the boat ramp, our stuff got wet as some water flooded into the boat, thoroughly scared and all of us asking ourselves what the hell we had just gotten ourselves into. We got out of the canoe and decided that two people should float and one follow along the bank until we got to the creek. That would have worked if we could get to the creek, but after paddling to where the entrance should have been we saw that there was a dam. We had to reevaluate the plan we paddled back to the car, took a look at the guidebook realized that the dam was right there on the map and that we needed to drive a half mile back to another parking area where we could get access to the creek below the dam. We loaded the canoe back on the car drove down to the other parking area and made the portage to the creek.

This time we were able to successfully manage three people in the canoe without tipping. It was dark though and there was definately tree obstacles, all i can say is that maglites are awesome and are alot brighter than a head lamp. We made it throgh the twists and turns of the river and we would occasionally hear the roar of the ocean as we cut stealthily through the water. We became the Midnight Ninja Riders, cutting through water without making a noise. We found a spot camp along the river and to our surprise there was a fair amount of dry wood and soon we had a campfire to stare at until the wee hours of the night.

Second day: it had rained all night but had stopped when we woke up, we took the canoe further down the stream, got out hiked to the ocean, like always the beach was windy really windy, we took back to the protection of the dunes and paddled further down the creek until we spotted a sand glacier in the distance. We took off through the brushband which is a nearly impenetrable fortress of brush, trees, swamps, and spiky bushes and finally got onto the eerie sand dunes. All of the sudden the landscape is rolling hills of giant sandunes and we spotted the sand glacier that we had wanted to climb. We made it to the top and had an incredible view of the ocean the surrounding bluffs and the gigantic dunes. The day was ended by paddling back upstream to camp, to stare at the fire once again

Third day: Packed up camp and paddled back upstream the Midnight Ninja Riders had completed their mission and we hastily made our way back to Eugene, where the weather was incredibly warm and it felt as if it was the first day of summer.

The Primal Beginning of an Oregon Weather System

Last Sunday on February 25, my girlfriend and I took from our house in Eugen to investigate Baker Beach on the dunes just north of Florence. We drove through ferocious rains each sipping our hot drinks of choice mine being coffee, hers being mate. Both of us sufficiently wired as wove through the dreary small towns in between Eugene and the coast. We passes Walton (don't blink or you'll miss it) and the logging town of Mapleton, Oregon. I had been yearning for the smell of the ocean and after an hour we had made it to the coast and I smelled the sea air wafting up my nose, along with the torrential wind and rain that came into the car. We drove through a swampy bog to the entrance of Beverly Beach. This area of the Oregon Coast has giant sandunes that follow the coastline for almost a hundred miles. There are thickets of forest, mucky bogs full of reddish water, and beachgrass by the plenty. We dawned our rain gear and stepped out into the storm, most of the trails had become small creeks and we backtracked a few times through the bushes to avoid the small ponds that had formed in the trail. We ventured through the dunes able to get our first glimpse of the sublime beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Not to mention the raw force of the gale force winds that slammed against our faces as there was nothing to protect us from the fiery of the storm system coming off the ocean. We soon had to retreat to the wind block of the dunes just behind the beach, there we rested and regained our energy after being faced with the onslaught of the ferocious weather. Soon more dark clouds moved in and small icy balls began to pelt us and we took off of a mad dash for the car before the hail could become dangerous. We arrived at the car drenched and with frozen hands but we had delicious thermos of hot cocoa awaiting for us in the car. We were once again reminded of the primal beginning of an Oregon storm system as we made our way back to florence to dine on fresh seafood.

A tip of the shovel to the tooth

Friday night the 20th I was back in the woods for Winterfest at Gold Lake sno park. A bunch of REI employees and I skiied in to the Westview shelter to camp for the night and enjoy the pristine Oregon forests. My buddy Wayne and I set to build the world's tightest snow shelter with my my tarp from Barret designs. We dug a huge snow pit and anchor the tarp tie outs with skis in all directions. We had dug a snow palace that comfortably fit 11 people underneath when we all gathered for dinner and alcoholic refreshments. After hanging out for awhile the party dissipated to go to their own shelters and me and Wayne set out to improve the shelter by building bigger snow wall around the outside of the tarp. We were just putting on the finishing touches on a stairway leading down into the shelter when Wayne's shovel smacked me square in the tooth. My mouth was bleeding profusely and we covered my face in snow until I was able to pass out.

I spent the next day cross country skiing with a chipped tooth which really added to my hockey player appearance because I had just gotten a black eye the past weekend from downhill skiing.

anyways I hoped I can find a good dentist

Today I do three

My next outdoor adventure related goal is to do the pole pedal paddle solo this spring in Bend, OR. It consists of alpine and nordic skiing, road biking, running, and kayaking. I have begun training for the event with a steady dies of jogging which has really felt great on my body and I have already noticed the extra energy benefits. Today though I linked up three different types of exercises in hopes of better enhancing my training. I went for a five mile run then biked over to the local climbing gym in Eugene, climbed for a bit and I had to take off on my back to be at school. I feel great right now and love the endorphine rush of excercise.

cheers josh

Snow Camping around Todd Lake

My buddy Daniel and I went back into the woods for some snow camping and sking in the beautiful forests surrounding Mt. Bachelor. We drove up to the mountain in the middle of a snowstorm, got to the parking lot to unload gear and was welcomed by the icy chill of the mountain wind whipping through the parking lot. We skiied through the Mt. Bachelor nordic area and finally made camp in the middle of the night close to the trail. The snow was so soft and it was nearly impossible to make much headway off trail. The snow kept pelting us in the middle of the night and I awoke with a couple of inches of snow at the foot of my sleeping bag, Daniel and I bravely ventured outside the tarp to shake off the snow and returned to the warmth of the bags.
The next day the weath was still afoul yet we ventured on towards Todd Lake in hopes of setting up a more permanent snow shelter for the next few days. The weather kept us moving quickly because of the cold, we found a spot just above Todd Lake, where we we stomped out a spot for the tarp and set to work building. We made giant snow blocks to use as walls along the tarp and then started digging we dug so much we could stand up inside our shelter. We had a foyer, shelves, a sleeping platform, it was cozy and one of the best parts about snow camping.
The next three days were filled with blue skies and lots of awesome sking, we headed out each day through the webs of trails around the area. Each night we skied around Todd Lake with nothing but the light of the moon to guide us. We drank hot tea at the side of the lake as we would watch the fiery crimson glow of the sun set behind Broken Top the giant volcano that blew its top off thousands of years ago.
We came home after the trip hungry and starved ready for the warmth of my parents house, and when we arrived my family went out to celebrate at Deschutes Brewery. Cheers!