To prepare for upcoming PCT adventure, a backpack kit shakeout was definitely needed. After driving last week to ID and planned adventures, driving more than 1 hour away was not an option. 3 hikes were possibles: Alpine Trail to Tire Mountain, King Castle to Macduff Mountain and finally Hardesty to Sawtooth (or June). The decision…
Recent news had Coeur d’Alene, ID in the negative, wtf, spotlight. Strangely, we were visiting the lake last week … we visited Spokane and Yakima, too – Spokane was the highlight as we were there during Hoopfest 2025. here’s what Coeur d’Alene looked like. It’s a weird place without doubt and not one that even…
While out riding along the Mckenzie River today, with the flowers blooming, the sun shining, and the wind blowing, a diving small raptor caught my attention. – truly out of side of eye as I was coasting down a hill. I wasn’t sure what it was at first – it dove, and then waveringly flew…
After biking last week in Painted Hills, I wanted to make sure my legs hadn’t forgotten how to climb hills. A decent weather day (a bit cool) and a half-moon perfect for a sunrise walk up and around Mt. Pisgah. When I pulled into the parking lot there were 9 cars at 05:15, and then…
On the way to Mitchell for bikepacking the painted hills, an overnight stop at Camp Sherman fit perfectly into the schedule after canceling Ochoco hiking due to high heat. Prior to crossing the pass, I stopped at Clear Lake Resort to hike a good section of the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail. After that hike,…
My bike buddy and I planned to get out bikepacking months ago, and this the first real trip after the recent shakeout. Oregon Scenic Bikeways are plentiful and well documented, and we did a variation of the Painted Hills and Old West, but mostly on Painted Hills and Journey Through Time. We chose to stay…
Hot weather in the upper 80s lower 90s landed in the valley for a couple of days, so an early morning jaunt along Pre’s Trail seemed like a good idea. – All this walking right from my front door. The birds were out in force early before the heat. Merlin recorded songs 2x and each…
A typical June day in Oregon … started a bit hazy / cloudy and by noon blue skies and sunshine. To save more of my knees and feet while getting in a bit more biking to prepare for upcoming bikekpacking trip, a good local bike loop seemed like a good idea. I added water, food,…
Hiked with a buddy Goodman Creek trail to Eagle’s Rest on a wonderful June Tuesday – sunny, warm, but not hot, a small breeze … a good day to be in the woods. We had a ‘must return by’ time box and we wanted to hit Eagle’s Rest so we drove up the forest service…
With new gear and an upcoming bikepacking adventure, shaking out the gear for an overnight with my biking buddy started at Waterloo County Park outside of Lebanon, OR. As large ‘RV’ campgrounds go (120 sites total), the facility along the Santiam River was perfect – clean, super flat and of the 120 sites, there were…
