My little brother turned 36 on the 19th. I took him bowling and we even had an extra treat - galaxy style! The lanes were all lit up with black lights and flashing runner lights and cheesy music videos. Wowzers! Happy birthday, Paul - I'm glad I'm your sister and am happy that we got to spend a few hours together this weekend. Let's do it again sometime!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Crater...Caldera...It's all the same, right?
I'm afraid not, my friends. That being the case, I propose that "Crater" Lake be renamed "Caldera Lake", which more accurately reflects its origins and current state. The lake, of course, was formed during a massive volcanic explosion, which caused Mt. Mazama to collapse and form the lake at the top. As you may recall from Geology 101, a crater is formed by an impact (think asteroid impacts that form craters on the moon)...which is not the case with "Crater" (psh!) Lake.
One of our first views of "Crater" Lake. Gorgeous, huh?
At any rate, I thought I'd share a few pictures that we took when Chris and I went on a little road trip a couple of weeks ago. We headed down south through Bend to Diamond Lake, which is just north of "Crater" Lake by about 20 minutes. We camped with some friends for a couple of nights there at the Forest Service campground. First of all, what a gorgeous place to camp! Second of all, we need a bigger tent. My backpacking tent is just not much fun for car-camping, especially when the people you're camping with have trailers and palatial tents with separate rooms for their dogs, for Pete's sake!
We found this sign at the Crooked River overlook. Dogs are so dumb.
Our campsite at Diamond Lake. Mosquitoes are dumb, too.
These are dragonfly nymph exuvium that I found on the shore of Diamond Lake. Dragonflies are definitely kewl. I am obviously a nerd.
Our second day in we spent the day at "Crater" Lake. While it is misnamed, it *is* beautiful. Wowzers! And there was still plenty of snow up there. We drove around the lake, stopped at the visitor's center so that I could get my National Parks Passport stamped (heh heh), then took the hike down Cleetwood Cove trail to the lake shore. From there, we took a 2.5 hour boat tour around the lake where our guide talked about the geology, mythology, and biology of the lake. We even got to see several hundred kokanee swimming below us at one point! They aren't native (along with the rainbow trout), but the lake hasn't been stocked since the 1940's. It's America's deepest and most pristine lake, so removing the fish would be very difficult and the Park Service has decided to just let them persist. The hike back up the trail was not all that fun, but the weather was warm and sunny so I'm not going to complain much here.
Me and Chris at "Crater" Lake. The scenery was nice, too.
Our friends James, Becky, Wicket, and Willow. Even at the end of July the road was closed because there was still a little bit of snow around!
At the bottom of Cleetwood Cove Trail; that's our boat waiting to take us around the lake.
Our view of Wizard Island from the lake surface. The water was really calm and clear.
The next day we stopped at Lava Butte National Volcanic Monument (and got another passport stamp - cha-ching!) on our way back home. It's just a few minutes south of Bend, and it pretty darn cool. We drove to the top of the butte and you can see its huge lava flow - almost 7000 years old and the pumice field looked as sharp and jagged as ever.
The forest ends abruptly at the lava flow's edge; yes, that wall of dark brown rubble is all sharp pumice from the flow!
Chris, in front of Lava Butte.
The view from the top of Lava Butte. You can see the lava flow extending out (dark brown) and then the forest beyond. 7000 years later and the rocks have not eroded or been colonized by plants!
Chris had a great birthday weekend, and I decided we need to go camping more. With a new tent. And possibly a queen-sized air mattress. But first thing's first: where to go next?
Happy birthday, my love! You are smokin'!
One of our first views of "Crater" Lake. Gorgeous, huh?
At any rate, I thought I'd share a few pictures that we took when Chris and I went on a little road trip a couple of weeks ago. We headed down south through Bend to Diamond Lake, which is just north of "Crater" Lake by about 20 minutes. We camped with some friends for a couple of nights there at the Forest Service campground. First of all, what a gorgeous place to camp! Second of all, we need a bigger tent. My backpacking tent is just not much fun for car-camping, especially when the people you're camping with have trailers and palatial tents with separate rooms for their dogs, for Pete's sake!
We found this sign at the Crooked River overlook. Dogs are so dumb.
Our campsite at Diamond Lake. Mosquitoes are dumb, too.
These are dragonfly nymph exuvium that I found on the shore of Diamond Lake. Dragonflies are definitely kewl. I am obviously a nerd.
Our second day in we spent the day at "Crater" Lake. While it is misnamed, it *is* beautiful. Wowzers! And there was still plenty of snow up there. We drove around the lake, stopped at the visitor's center so that I could get my National Parks Passport stamped (heh heh), then took the hike down Cleetwood Cove trail to the lake shore. From there, we took a 2.5 hour boat tour around the lake where our guide talked about the geology, mythology, and biology of the lake. We even got to see several hundred kokanee swimming below us at one point! They aren't native (along with the rainbow trout), but the lake hasn't been stocked since the 1940's. It's America's deepest and most pristine lake, so removing the fish would be very difficult and the Park Service has decided to just let them persist. The hike back up the trail was not all that fun, but the weather was warm and sunny so I'm not going to complain much here.
Me and Chris at "Crater" Lake. The scenery was nice, too.
Our friends James, Becky, Wicket, and Willow. Even at the end of July the road was closed because there was still a little bit of snow around!
At the bottom of Cleetwood Cove Trail; that's our boat waiting to take us around the lake.
Our view of Wizard Island from the lake surface. The water was really calm and clear.
The next day we stopped at Lava Butte National Volcanic Monument (and got another passport stamp - cha-ching!) on our way back home. It's just a few minutes south of Bend, and it pretty darn cool. We drove to the top of the butte and you can see its huge lava flow - almost 7000 years old and the pumice field looked as sharp and jagged as ever.
The forest ends abruptly at the lava flow's edge; yes, that wall of dark brown rubble is all sharp pumice from the flow!
Chris, in front of Lava Butte.
The view from the top of Lava Butte. You can see the lava flow extending out (dark brown) and then the forest beyond. 7000 years later and the rocks have not eroded or been colonized by plants!
Chris had a great birthday weekend, and I decided we need to go camping more. With a new tent. And possibly a queen-sized air mattress. But first thing's first: where to go next?
Happy birthday, my love! You are smokin'!
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Bikin' It!
The weather is finally nice here in the Pacific Northwest, so I figure that I have at least another month or two of a suitable climate for biking to work. Yes, I'm kind of a fair-weather biker. But my bike it totally pimped out now and is great for commuting!
- Note the rad fenders that prevent skunk stripes on my back (for when it rains, and when I have to bike in it, which will probably not happen very often)!
- Observe the cushy seat that provides more padding for my bum!
- Marvel at the bike rack that Chris just installed so that I don't have to ride around with my backpack on, rendering my hands tingly and my back achy (and I also don't resemble a turtle so much)!
And I'm all safety geared up too, with lights (when I need them), a reflective BRIGHT neon yellow jacket, and aerodynamic helmet (although, this does little for diminishing my turtle-like appearance).
It's only 4.3 miles to work if I follow a route with bike lanes, so I figured I should probably try to bike more. So far this summer I've biked to work 7 days (biking 60.2 miles), which has saved the environment 48 lbs of carbon dioxide, 1309 gms of carbon monoxide, and 2 gallons of gasoline. Some people in my office bike 60 miles per day, so I know I can do better - how 'bout I update you at the end of the summer and let you know how it's going?
In the meantime, read this: On Biking - Why Can't the US Learn Lessons from Europe?
- Note the rad fenders that prevent skunk stripes on my back (for when it rains, and when I have to bike in it, which will probably not happen very often)!- Observe the cushy seat that provides more padding for my bum!
- Marvel at the bike rack that Chris just installed so that I don't have to ride around with my backpack on, rendering my hands tingly and my back achy (and I also don't resemble a turtle so much)!
And I'm all safety geared up too, with lights (when I need them), a reflective BRIGHT neon yellow jacket, and aerodynamic helmet (although, this does little for diminishing my turtle-like appearance).
It's only 4.3 miles to work if I follow a route with bike lanes, so I figured I should probably try to bike more. So far this summer I've biked to work 7 days (biking 60.2 miles), which has saved the environment 48 lbs of carbon dioxide, 1309 gms of carbon monoxide, and 2 gallons of gasoline. Some people in my office bike 60 miles per day, so I know I can do better - how 'bout I update you at the end of the summer and let you know how it's going?
In the meantime, read this: On Biking - Why Can't the US Learn Lessons from Europe?
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