Views From Zee Plane

After leaving Seattle I was finally awake enough to really look out the window and take some photos.  

Mount St. Helens, WA--Looks like there may have been an eruption there

The Three Sisters and Broken Top Volcanos--Near Bend, OR

The photos are from my ipod so the quality isn't as good as usual. 

Crater Lake, OR

Mt. Shasta!

It was great to pass over many places that I have explored and hope to someday get back too.

Then I got to LA....

OK, so some beach time wouldn't be bad right now.

Something is very wrong with the green to concrete ratio here

LA goes on for fucking ever...until the smog blocks it out.

Some photos from the band Closely Watched Trains (Portland, OR)

Here are some photos of the 2nd night I got to see Closely Watched Trains play this weekend in Portland, OR.  Lanie White, Heather Brule, and Alan.  Full of great cover and original songs they draw a solid group of regulars every Sunday and have a knack for drawing numerous people off the street too.

Yep, it is summer time in Portland.

Heather's first time on bass

Videos coming tomorrow.

Spur of the moment to Smith Rock

 I had a week off and some extra airline miles to use so I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Portland to see some friends.  I was on a plane to Portland within 12 hours of that decision and on the road to Smith Rock State Park a few hours after the plane touched down.  Sometimes big spur of the moment decisions are exactly what a person needs for a reminder that life doesn’t always need to be planned out.  Just like Malcolm Gladwell says in his book, “Blink”, your best decisions are made instantly based solely on your gut feeling.

Cool Clouds at Smith Rock, OR

Finding the shade in the summer heat

There were five of us packed in the car on the way down there.  And for some reason every day that we climbed all of our packs were filled to the brim and super heavy.  Everyone else around us seems to have a tenth of the gear we did.  Not sure what we were doing wrong except for that each of us is or has been a guide or climbing instructor and we were all being stubborn and had to bring EVERYTHING. 

Dinner cooked in the campfire complete with a chunk of firewood for a plate

Lanie on a fun 5.10 lead

Baby Rattlesnake.  We had to have one person keep an eye on the snake while others were climbing and belaying.

I haven’t been rock climbing very much in the last few years due to some elbow injuries and lately I have really been missing it.  This was just the trip that I needed to propel me back into it.  Too bad I’m heading up in a Denali expedition where there won’t be any rock climbing at all.