Mt Rainier Camping

Over the long weekend for Independence Day, Janel and I went camping up at Mt Rainier (Cougar Rock Campground) with Michelle, Julien, Allen, Melvin, Anne, Jason, Kevin, and Andy.

We drove up and met at the camp on Friday, and then headed out to the Comet Falls hike. We got really lucky, as the snow had just cleared enough over the previous week to make the trail safe without ice axes. We first encountered some falls that we mistook for Comet Falls. They were quite nice, but not particularly exciting.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

Then Andy figured out that we were being idiots, and we walked a few hundred more feet and found our true destination. Allen decided it was the best waterfall he had ever seen. It was quite large, and you could get right up close to it and bask in its mist.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

After the hike, we headed back to camp for a nice dinner over the fire (mostly fresh Salmon) and some whiskey and beer. We called it an early night to get ready for a busy Saturday.

Saturday morning Julien and I got up at 4:45 to take some pictures of the mountain at sunrise. We headed over to Reflection Lake and setup our tripods and took a bunch of shots.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

We then headed back to camp, had some breakfast, and then set out for some hiking up near Paradise. Allen, Melvin, and Ann decided to hike from Paradise up to Camp Muir, the base camp for the standard summit route. The rest of us were not feeling that ambitious. We followed in their footsteps up to Panoramic Point and Pebble Creek before turning back. Couple things of note from this trip. (1) I love my polarizer. (2) Kevin's Yacktracks saved the day. Janel would have had a real hard time with her recovering knee negotiating the snow without them. We are going to grab a couple pairs despite the "they are great until they break" reviews.

Here is a photo of a Marmot (which were all over the place) with the mountain.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

Here is a photo looking south with Adams, Hood (in the distance in the middle), and St. Helens from Panorama Point.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

That afternoon Jason met us at camp. Michelle, him, Kevin, and Andy hiked up the Westside Road (now largely closed to cars) to Lake George and gave the hike poor reviews. Janel, Julien, and I relaxed and read at camp.

That evening we had another fire. Here is a photo of Janel cooking a marshmallow. I love being able to take low-light photos with my new camera. You still get some noise at ISO 1600, but in general the photos look pretty solid.

From Mt Rainier Camping - 4th of July

The next morning we packed up camp and headed out. The first big trip of the year was a success!

Cannon Beach w/ Janel's Parents

Janel's parents are in town, and we took a long weekend trip out to Cannon Beach. We left on Thursday after lunch and arrived at the Hallmark Hotel at around 2:00.

Thursday we had dinner @ Mo's, a "famous" chain on the Oregon Coast known for their Clam Chowder. We have been there before, and the food is decent, but nothing to get excited about.

Sunrise was pretty good Thursday night. We had a bit of trouble with some clouds blocking the horizon line, but I still got some good shots. Here is one looking North up Cannon Beach toward Tillamook Head.

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

Friday I had to work, so I stayed in while Janel's family scoped out Seaside and Cannon Beach. I took one of my meetings from the beach (along with my Tripod and Tele Lens) and got some photos of Puffins (and a lot of Gulls). Here is one with two puffins flying and one sitting on Haystack Rock. They are a bit hard to see but oh well.

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

Friday night we had dinner @ JP's in Cannon Beach. It was great. I had duck with a marionberry bourbon sauce. I would highly recommend this place.

The sky was perfectly clear for Sunset on Friday night. I took a bunch of photos looking North towards Haystack Rock.

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

Here is one of the little rocks with the sun peaking out from behind it:

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

Here is a photo I took at 10:30 (well after the sun went down) with a 25s exposer. Gotta love tripods :).

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

Saturday we drove up to Astoria in the morning in an attempt to see some Sea Lions that are "always" on this one pier up there. They were not there. Doh. We had a nice meal at the Bridgewater Bistro. Here is a photo from outside:

From Cannon Beach with Janel's Parents

After coming back from Astoria, we headed down and hiked out to the end of Nehalem Bay in search of Sea Lions again. Again, they were not there. I was not particularly excited by this hike. I suppose it would have been cool if the sea lions were there, but it is a bit of a hike for a "maybe". Unlike most of the other beaches on the coast, the one at Nehalem Bay was pretty much deserted. This probably had to do with the blistering wind coming off the ocean. I probably would not go back.

For dinner Saturday, we hit up the Wayfarer (in Canon Beach) and had another great meal. I enjoyed ripping a full Dungenous Crab to pieces. It was very tasty.

Sadly, the sunset did not cooperate Saturday night. I had plans to take some photos looking down on Cannon Beach from Ecola State Park. Oh well. I blame Janel.

Moving, Strawberries, and Waterfalls

Saturday we helped our friend Amy move out of her place in Beaverton to head up to La Center to move in with her boyfriend Derrick. The move was super fast and really easy :).

After the move, Janel and I went to Sauvie Island with Michelle and Julien to pick Strawberries. We had Hood, Shuksan, and Honeoye varietals to choose from, and went with Hood. Melvin and Ann (Melvin's new summer roommate) were supposed to join us, but they dilly dalleyed and showed up as we were leaving. We joined Michelle and Julien for dinner, and made jam with some of our collection.

Sunday I went hiking with Michelle, Julien, Melvin, and Ann to Eagle Creek. Only Michelle and I had been there before, and it seemed like a good hike since the weather was a bit iffy. We made it all the way out to Tunnel Falls.

Julien took this photo of us looking out towards Metlako Falls on the way out:

From Eagle Creek 2009

This was my first time hiking down the the bottom of Tunnel Falls, and it was well worth the effort:

From Eagle Creek 2009

Here is a photo of the four of them at Tunnel Falls. You should all ridicule Julien for giving bunny ears to apparently nobody. Crazy French :).

From Eagle Creek 2009

New Bike

I got my Dad's "old" (~4 years) road bike on Friday (a Trek 1000c) and took it for a spin with Janel on the Springwater Corridor Sunday afternoon.

From New Bike

I also picked up a pair of Keen Commuter sandals (with SPD clips). This was my first foray into clips, and I really liked the sandals. They are definitely not as stiff as some of the road shoes that I tried on, but I think they will work well for slightly less serious riding. If I turn into a biking lunatic (unlikely) ... then I will likely get a pair of road shoes at that point. The bottoms seemed pretty stiff, but I do notice a good amount of give when I am pulling up.

From New Bike

Janel also told me to take some photos of our Calla Lilies in the front yard.

From Around the Neighborhood

Anna and Danny Move, Allen Runs

On Saturday, on the way out to help Anna and Danny move into their new house, we stopped by and cheered Allen along as he ran in the Helvitia Half. Checkout my great sports photography skills -- background and such are nice and blurred while Allen's face is in focus. Dumb luck :).

From Running 2009

After the run, we headed over to help them move out of the old apartment and into their new place.

From Anna and Danny Move

Hiking with Rachel and Timm

RachelB (a friend from undergrad) and her fiance Timm were out in Portland this week looking for a place to live. Janel and I took them into the Gorge for their first hike in Oregon. We took them on the Multnomah Falls / Wahkeena Falls loop.

Here is a photo of the river above Multnomah:

From Multnomah - Wahkeena Falls Loop

Here is a photo from above Wahkeena Falls:

From Multnomah - Wahkeena Falls Loop

Janel's First Hike!

Julien, Michelle, Jagan, and Kendra joined Janel and I on Janel's first hike since her surgery. We did two easy hikes to get her going again -- Elowah Falls and Wahclella Falls. We took it nice and slow, which gave me plenty of time to play with my new camera :).

Here is Elowah Falls in the morning:

From Elowah Falls

Here is a view of Mt Adams from the hike up to Upper McCord Falls from Elowah Falls:

From Elowah Falls

Upper McCord Falls:

From Elowah Falls

After the first hike to Elowah and McCord, we headed up 84 to Wahclella Falls.

From Wahclella Falls