January Flowers Around Town
I short walk yesterday to Alton Baker Park and there were flowers still hanging on, or coming out early – only they would know. clicking a photo opens in higher resolution
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Data Geek Special
Getting things set up for 2026, but for those data lovers a look back at just hiking data first. Carbon Karma Bank For every 1 hour driving to hike, 3 hours of hiking is “net zero” carbon karma; I’m balancing the environmental cost with sufficient time in the woods. I started tracking in 2024, but…
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Frosty Pisgah’s Trees
A cold morning around 30 degrees with possible sunshine after the fog … snow at lower elevations in the foothills, and Ridgeline Trail hiked last week. I decided to head to Mt Pisgah for a solid ramble around the hill. I left North TH around 7:00 with headlamp on and went to Pisgah Summit arriving…
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Building hope after winter solstice!
As we start the first longer days of earth’s annual cycle, I think important to build and share hope … for each of us, our community and our planet. Good planets are hard to find, they say … Ray Bradbury’s reminder is perfect, “Action is hope. There is no hope without action.” … Greta Thunberg has…
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Ridgeline Solstice 25
Hiking Ridgeline Trail and Spencer Butte has become a Winter Solstice tradition over the last 3-4 years. This year, however, was the worst weather. Rained for the first 2 hours and then just foggy and misty with just very little sunlight reaching through clouds at times. Gortex top-to-bottom and an umbrella … Once the rain…
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Spencer sunrise thru crack in sky
As with several recent hikes, I make a plan the night before with great ambition and motivation, but had a contingency or two in back pocket to manage OR weather. I wake up and review the weather and combine everything into a simple balance: how much carbon will burn (gallons of gas) and what is…
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Avoiding rain on Pisgah, and driving less!
A local hiking buddy and I planned on heading to Westfir and hike up Alpine Trail Thursday, Dec 4. We were all set the night before and then in the morning, the weather shifted and Oakridge area would have rain all day, but Eugene very little … We both had the same thought around 5:00am…
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Another day at the park
and, amazing things to see … dancing pigeons, reflected mill race grasses, oil paint trees and a solitary still blooming flower … clicking on a photo opens a better resolution view
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Kirby’s VERY favorite photos from 2025
My kestrel persona, Kirby from Cascade Raptor Center, selects her favorite pictures from the blog over the last year. This set of photos are her ‘VERY favorite’ … these she found to be the very best and wants to keep looking at them. Full resolution photos are posted at Adobe – the ‘VERY BEST‘ gallery….
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Kirby’s almost favorite photos from 2025
My kestrel persona, Kirby from Cascade Raptor Center, selects her favorite pictures from the blog over the last year. This set of photos are her ‘almost favorites’ … they were good, but not quite good enough. Often, the subject or content was really good, but the photo quality stretched. Full resolution photos are posted at…
