Pro-Soup Propaganda: hiking

Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts

Monday, December 30, 2013

Pro-Soup Propaganda's 2013 Year in Review

Oh, 2013, what a funny, weird, great, horrible year you were.

I did some pretty awesome stuff this year.

*I did a fair amount of hiking! I did some nice walks at Mt. Tabor, other hikes around Portland, went to some parks, hiked up Multnomah Falls, and hiked (and camped!) in Central Oregon's high desert, to name a few.

*I met Lil Bub, Internet Cat Sensation!

*Jonathan and I finally kayaked and it was awesome!

*I got laid-off from my "main" job and all of my side-hustles soon became my job! Luckily I am making a bunch of money and am able to put a ton of it into savings.

*I saw Michael Pollan speak for the second time.

*Jonathan and I went whale-watching at the coast and it was awesome!

*I had a great, well-earned sandwich at the top of Mt Waynapicchu.

*I went to Ketchikan to work a lot and saw some bears, went to Easter Island and saw a lot of moai, saw the Nazca Lines, hiked the Sun Gate Trail, was forgotten by the train in middle-of-nowhere Peru and hiked back to Machu Picchu Pueblo in the dark (still one of my top favorite travel memories!), explored Machu-freaking-Picchu!, and explored Cusco.

*We adopted the weirdest member of our family, hands down. Welcome, FunCat, we are glad to have you, even though you may be a small evil orange wizard, but we are glad you live in the Fortress of Joy with us!

*I made a packing list of my carry-on bag for my three weeks in South America. Maybe it will inspire or help you?

*Amy and I had some amazing conversations.

*Jonathan and I only snowshoed once this year. We tried to go again last week, but Mt. Hood doesn't have enough snow on it. Boo!

*I thought I helped co-create #slothing but apparently it's been the rage on the internet already.

*I fulfilled some Gob Bluth wannabe-ness and rode a Segway!

*I cooked some of my favorite recipes that I still love to make: Chicken Vegetable Soup, Thai Coconut Soup, Basil Garbanzo Beans and Quinoa, Curry-Fried Quinoa, and the best Chicken and Veggie Noodle Soup ever!

*I visited a U-Pick farm with Amy and look forward to returning!

While there were more many happy memories this year than not, this was a really painful year in parts. I had some personal life issues that took several months to deal with. I'm still dealing with them, really. I'm doing my best to focus on the now and look forward to healing and feeling better, but sometimes it sucks. I feel kind of lost and floundery sometimes (like I'm floundering, not like this guy, cute as he is). I know things will get better and I'm doing the best I can, but I am really excited to go to Antarctica and focus on me for a bit. I have been working my butt off the past two months and am looking forward to reaping the benefits.

This was my list of 2013 Resolutions. While I actually did pretty good on that stuff (yay reading lots of books and saving money!), there is stuff that didn't really happen (going to the Japanese Garden and yoga).

This new year is going to be called "Year of the Radical." (2013 was "Year of the Waffle." It was a delicious year.) There are going to be some radical changes. Things are going to be shaken up. Amy is going to be moving in with us quite soon, which will help both her and us with our respective money situations. I will be going on my big adventures. Jonathan and I will both be getting mountain bikes. We want to go on more bigger adventures together. I no longer need to totally kill myself with trying to earn money to pay for my trips. I will still be hustling but I would like to think that now I don't have to drive myself crazy with Making All The Money, but, who am I kidding myself, it IS nice to have it. ;o)

Brendan Leonard's post "Do Things And Make Things Next Year" really resonated with me. His goals for next year? "Do Things" and "Make Things." After being SO busy this year and having it jam-packed with everything, I am looking forward to a little bit of downtime. I want time to do stuff and time to make stuff. What will those things be? I don't know, but I look forward to finding out.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Hiking Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

Back in August, Sofia and I decided to do a hike that neither of us had done before, even though it is so close to Portland - Multnomah Falls! Only about half an hour from Portland, Multnomah Falls is definitely a sight to see. It's the tallest waterfall in Oregon and the second tallest year-round waterfall in the U.S. I love driving through the Gorge and seeing Multnomah Falls on the way by. I've hiked around the area quite a bit, but never have I hiked to the top of the waterfall.

The hike itself is fairly easy overall and is only 1.1 miles long with 700 feet of elevation gain, but get ready for lots of switchbacks - 11 of them! Be sure and wear good footwear because we saw people in both flip flops and heels. Ouch!

I'm glad Sofia went with me! The weather was beautiful and we had a great time!

This picture was taken from the top of the first section, looking out over the bottom. We still had many switchbacks to go to get to the top!

The view from the top!

Are there any other Gorge hikes you'd recommend? I've done quite a few, but it seems like there are always more to do!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Three Easy Hikes in Portland, Oregon

Here in Portland we're really lucky to have such great access to the outdoors. There are many trails right here in the city and I've been able to hike a few of them lately, so I thought I'd share some photos. I've been to Powell Butte, Forest Park, and Mt Tabor recently. They're some of the more popular hikes, as they're located directly in the city, not too far from anything.

Powell Butte

Powell Butte is an extinct volcano cinder cone, one of several in the surrounding area. It's fairly good-sized with over 600 acres to it. It's mostly meadow but has a good chunk of forested area, which is my favorite part! It's easy to get in the middle of "nowhere" and to not see people for awhile, which is pretty great, considering it's right in town. There is also a LOT of wildlife there and I've seen deer almost every time I've been there, including this day!

Andi and I went there with her dog, Chief, and Artoo last week and had a great time! The dogs got in lots of sniffing and stick-chasing and we had the park to ourselves. The weather was nice and cool in the morning, so we didn't overheat. It was a perfect day!

Ta da, we saw a deer!

Forest Park

Forest Park is GIANT! According to Portland Parks and Rec's website, "Forest Park now includes over 5,100 wooded acres making it the largest forested natural area within the city limits in the United States." Bam! That's so awesome that we have claim to that! Jonathan and I love to take Artoo there and beat around a little bit. We usually walk around on the Germantown Road access side. I'd love to go spend an entire day and really thoroughly explore it some day!

Mount Tabor

Totaling 1.6 square miles, Mt. Tabor is a fairly good-sized little oasis within the east side of the city. Like Powell Butte, it is a volcanic cinder cone. Before joining Portland proper in 1905, the area was a rural farming community dating all the way back to the 1850s. (I once bought some CraigsList items from a woman in a house in the neighbourhood and she said it was one of the original houses and it had been in her family since the 1800s! There are apparently pictures of the house surrounded by nothing but farmland, which I imagine would be so beautiful.)

Mt. Tabor's trails go alllllll around the park and there are a LOT of them. It also features an off-leash dog park area, which is pretty nice. On Wednesdays they close and lock the main gates so no vehicles can enter the park. It's a perfect time for bikers, dog walkers, and joggers to get out and get on the road and not have to worry about competing with traffic. Andi and I have been doing this every Wednesday for quite a little while now and it's one of the highlights of my week!

What are some other great Portland walks or hikes that I should get out and try? I love exploring new areas!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Hiking and Camping in Central Oregon's High Desert

In the past month I've been lucky enough to camp and hike in Central Oregon's high desert a couple of times. Because Portland is a temperate oceanic climate and the woods around Portland often look like Southeastern Alaska's temperate rainforest I'm pretty much used to a damp climate, so it's always kind of weird and special for me to go to deserts. It doesn't happen often, so it's exciting when it does!

In October and November I've gone to Bend, camped in Tumalo State Park, and climbed Smith Rock twice each. I also got to stay at the Prineville Reservoir in October, which was gorgeous. These photos are all from the October trip. The weather was pretty warm still and I felt like dying of heat and exertion while climbing Smith Rock, but it was still worth it to see the view at the top!

The drive to Bend is about three hours from Portland. Plus, it's beautiful! Tumalo State Park is fifteen minutes or so outside downtown Bend. I've stayed in both my tent and a yurt there and, I gotta say, the yurts there are the fanciest I've stayed in! Fancy because the heaters are really good and when you are arriving at night in low-30s temps, having a blast of heat when you enter the yurt is kinda nice!

The drive from Bend to Prineville is a little less than an hour but driving to the reservoir adds some time, about half an hour. It's a slow and windy road, but worth it when you see the views of the reservoir. It's gorgeous! We had reserved a tent site back in the lot but were lucky enough to change to a spot looking right out over the water. Pretty spectacular!

Getting to Smith Rock was easy from both Bend and the reservoir, a little less than an hour from both places. Smith Rock's highest point is around 3000' in elevation. I've now gone on the Misery Ridge trail on both visits and it's pretty awesome. I've started both ways and I prefer going the way that starts to the right of the footbridge you have to cross over. It's steep all the way to the summit, but then you don't have to deal with all the switchbacks otherwise. But it's all beautiful so just go check it out for yourself!