Guidance

Just in case you feel defeated after hearing about global climate change, here is a 7 minute story of a man's quest for god.
"MAN seeks GOD"

Pay Attention to Science!!

Can you believe some people still think the world is flat?

Nobel-Winning IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri Urges Obama to "Listen to Science" on Global Warming

November

Fall is here.  It is the month of my birth.
Henry got to enjoy a relic of Todd's fall hunt.

Today may just be the last sunny day.
Snow is expected this weekend.

First timers

July 24 was the launch date for the Main Salmon River, but I had to cancel to save the ability to apply for future trips.  All was not lost though, over the weekend of July23-25, Todd and I took Henry for a three day float down the Grand Ronde River from Minam to the Bridge above Troy.  This was an exciting trip as we have not done a multi-day in my raft before.  I have been on multi-day trips before but that was a long time ago and someone else did most the packing and planning.  We did well packing for this one, but I forgot to bring a book or something for the non-rafting moments.
Here is a breakdown of the trip.

Day 1, put-in at Minam on the Wallowa River.  Packed and near ready to go, Todd could not find his life Jacket! oops, it did not make it into the truck.  So he rented a sexy one from the local rental shop. (Note: Minam Store does shuttles and you can rent all the gear you need for a decent price). 

The first few miles on the Wallowa R is where the "big" rapids are.  Glad we floated at 2900 cfs as higher flows would make bigger waves and lower flows would expose more rocks.  Minam Roller snuck up on us, no problem for me.  Red Rock, or House Boulder, was a fun wave train on the left and a thrill for me to maneuver.

Blind Falls was probably the trickiest but Todd oared it well.  Martins Misery and the other named boulder-garden style rapid were no problem as we barely noticed which they were.  Henry did not care for the rapids as he would get splashed and jerked.  He spent most of the time in the center of the raft.  Only pulled forward before a rapid that required maneuvering.

Our first camp was at "Arm Pit", named for its tucked away, small location and the filthy beach located on the Grand Ronde a few miles down from the confluence.  Whom ever has camped there before did not read the regulations for Leave no Trace in the river corridor.  We dismantled the two fire rings (illegal, one must use a fire pan) and picked up the beer cans in the bushes.  What we did not pick up was the toilet paper, all located where the Groover (river toilet) should have been. 

Todd cooked up Hash Browns for breakfast. Yummy yum. While, Henry would fetch in the sand and water.  The sun did not hit camp until we left.  My clothes were still damp from the day before.

 A golden eagle also blessed us.  He flew across the sky moments after we saw a bald eagle.  The golden was significantly larger than the bald.  Impressive.

Day two, we floated a little bit and worried about getting to far down the river putting us to close to the take-out.  So by lunch, we selected a wonderful camp and chilled the entire afternoon.  Swimming, PBR drinking, and getting a wonderful nap.

Henry was exhausted from swimming, fetching, and just being on the river.  He was happy to just be chilling on the river.  While at camp, I discovered, my legs were sunburnt.  I was covered most the trip and must have burnt while napping during one of Todd's beach walks. OOps.

The next day we did not hurry out of camp.  The floating had some fun unnammed rapids and lots of scenery.  However, we underestimated how far day two float time was.  We had lots of distance to cover, the weather was starting to change, and occasionally the wind would be upstream, side stream, and rarely downstream.  We got off the river at 5pm.  Exhausted, we drove home. Stopped off at Boggins Oasis for ice-cream and saw that the river dropped to 2100 cfs.  Glad we finally got this trip in.

Leaps and bounds

This past weekend, Todd, the zoo and I went to Boise and on the way back stopped along the SF Salmon River.  We went up to Stolle Meadows where the sedges were high and the river calm and meandering.  No salmon up there yet so it was okay for Henry and Todd to be wading about.  The steep banks and deep pools were perfect for Henry to practice his water jumps.

once again, photo by Todd

do you ever wonder?

There are only so many weekends in the summer.  June came and went quickly and the weather did not let on that summer was coming.  However I was able to get out and notice the rise of the waters.  Here are some pics of me and Colin with the raft on the St Joe and getting ready for a day on the Grand Rhond.

Thats two weekends out of 4.  Not bad.  Thanks Todd for the pictures.

family time

I spent the fourth of July with my fam-damn-ly in the Kansas City area.
here are a few pics of the newest members:

Harvest time

Shelley and I went to Riggins this week. 

We hiked up Lake Creek-Patrick Creek trail for about 3 miles and gained about 3000 feet in elevation. Yeah, our legs felt great afterwards. 
On the return stretch near the tree lined riparian corridor, we found some morrels.  Not enough to run out and harvest but a few, plenty for one night's dinner for two.  Yummy yum yum.

 
I also saw two orchids.  Such beautiful flowers.

Sunshine

A week ago the sun came out and the temperature was above 60'F.  Whoa!  So Todd, the zoo and i went to the Salmon River.  The water was cold, very cold, but it felt great on my legs after the hike up the steep Salmon River breaks hill slope.

Happy Earth Day weekend

What are you doing this weekend?
Todd and I are going camping, which means we are burning fossil fuel to get us there.

" Scow town again

Greetings to all.  I am back in Idaho, Moscow to be exact.  We arrived with the high winds on Tuesday.  Wednesday we moved all my stuff from the storage unit into our tiny little house.   It was raining and super duper windy.  What a fun time (insert sarcastic tone here).  My items were not without wear as a few field mice decided to nest in the couch and one died in the rug.  Picture this: unrolling the carpet in the living room and as the last bit rolls open, a dead mouse is nestled in the center.  Ugh.  Rats on the island, mice in the fields. 
I reclaimed desk space at the university and will begin work on the thesis this afternoon.
So far, I feel more alive since returning here.  Is it living in town? being able to walk from the house to town? having cell phone service at home? the coziness of the small house? seeing people a bit more alive than wealthy retirees? having acquaintances to say a bit more than a courteous hello to?  Maybe.  In time things will settle out, life will normalize, and I need to find a job.
No photos to add with this as our road trip down the coast was 90% driving with rain and squalls.  Overall, not a relaxing trip for me.  I developed a cold on the second day and the weather was not cooperative.

Well, its time to get to campus to start rolling the ball.

Mooooving

The house is practically empty as most of our stuff is in boxes.  Here is a picture of the pile of items that we moved to Moscow last week. 

80 % all week

hello

enough said.

Winner!

When one buys a lottery ticket, its common to dream of how they are going to spend the money.  That is the easy part.  Managing the money and the people coming out of the woods in the difficult part. 
No, I have not won the Powerball, but I did win a permit to float the Main Salmon River late July.  Imagine this dream: 7 days, six nights traveling the River of No Return.  Idaho summer heat, water cool and refreshing to swim in, sandy beaches, and only the people in the group to play, talk, or be silent with.  Ahh, the joy.  But the reality is being picky of who to invite on the river trip.  Of course everyone wants to come along, but who can pilot a raft?  Who is willing to paddle in an inflatable kayak?  I have been out of the river loop for so long, my boating connections are minimal.  To anyone who actually reads this post, should you want to come and have or know someone who has a raft (and can pilot it), feel free to contact me. What's the worst to happen, I can say "NO".

frozen

I drove out to Moscow Thursday to house hunt.  The vehicle was loaded with items to go back into the storage unit.  Along the way I encountered freezing rain.  The rain along with road filth coated my vehicle.  Here is a picture of the raft frame and dry box on top my car, 1 hour after the freezing rain storm.

Coming of Age

Sick and tired of sleeping on the ground in the wet and cold of the PNW, Todd made a decision:

Yup, he bought a camper for the back of his pickup.  We have now entered the realm of RVrs of the world.  Our maiden voyage was to the Washington Coast, Olympic National Park and Seashore area.
Inside the camper we were warm, dry, and comfortable.

Olympic Coast- Beach 3

The drive out to the coast took 4 hours including the ferry.  By the time we started seeing beach from the road, Todd was getting stir crazy so we parked and proceeded to go for a beach walk.  Wow, I am such an inlander.  The "ooohs" and "ahhhs" and "what is that"s we never ending.  Henry was loving it also.  The fetching opportunities on a beach are endless.  These pictures were taken by Todd.  Look for Scooby in the above tree!

Olympic Coast- camping

We spent two nights in a designated campground.  We PAID for camping, gasp!  But, it was the only place we can camp on the beach and there were heated bathrooms.  One night, we even had a campfire thanks to the neighbors who came out only to have a cozy fire.  The view from the camper was good.

The sunset was beautiful.  How many different shades of color can one photograph in one night? 

Olympic Coast- morning

More beach walking.  What do you expect when visiting the coast?  We probably walked 10 miles the entire trip.  Picked up over 20 gallons of trash (mostly plastics and ropes).

Saw a seal, reflections, fog, sunshine, blue skies, twisted trees,

Olympic Coast - Afternoon