Curves, twists and Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon is one of the few outdoor sports meccas. A town where adventurers and dirtbags can get their fix without venturing too far from civilization and muddy hiking boots are considered fashionable. Locals enjoy daily access to the kinds of outdoor adventures that us tourists merely dream of.

Old Mill District, Bend. Credit: Bend Lodges

Bend’s landscape sets the tone: the pristine Deschutes River twists and curves through town, the Cascade Mountains rim city’s western limits and the high desert landscape to the east offer a seemingly endless horizon of adventure. The river is lined with single-track, streets are painted red with bike lanes and the downtown area boasts copious gear outfitters for all your wildest adventures.

Nearby Smith Rock State Park features miles of hiking and thousands of popular rock climbing routes. During a trip to Bend earlier this month, we took a morning to hike around Smith Rock, taking the formidably named Misery Trail for views of the famous Monkey Face outcropping and the valley below.

The trail maintains a steep climb for the first half mile before cresting the summit for a chance to catch your breath and take in the panoramic views. The trail descends to the Crooked River and around the base of numerous climbing routes. When you’re standing at the base of a climbing route, people watching takes on an all-new meaning; climbers, you are a rad/crazy group.

Beyond the scores of adventure sports, Bend has wholeheartedly embraced the art of craft brewing. In a town of 80,000 people, you’re nearly bewildered choosing between the 22 craft breweries to enjoy a post-hike pint. For fans of craft beer, the Ale Trail is a unique and fun way to see some of the town’s most popular brewers and sample their best work.

Bend finds itself being near everything while also nothing; a balance that could only be fully appreciated by people looking for adventure.

Urban Cow Half Marathon

As the summer of weddings came to a close, it was time to focus on running. I’m happy to say the early morning runs, now entirely before sunrise and becoming cold, paid off. The weekend long runs through rolling hills paid off and then some.

Early in the race, when one has the energy to be goofy.

The Urban Cow course is mostly flat, weaving through a popular Sacramento park, then near the state capitol and into Old Sacramento before sending runners on a painfully long stretch along the bike trail next to the Sacramento River.

It heads back through the city streets to the park where we started, making a few turns before finishing with a great crowd cheering us on. Race operations felt very smooth and professional, the course was well marked and water stations were well-staffed and moved fast.

This race, however, was more than just a half marathon. It was my first half marathon. It was me achieving a goal I set last New Year’s and better yet, I did it in the time I knew possible if I left it all on the road. It was a great day, a great race and an even greater amount of fun. After all, if this isn’t fun, then why bother?

I’m getting better at eating quality pre-race foods, timing the recovery drinks/meals and have learned the importance of foam rolling everyday. But I’ve also learned the joy and pride in training and running a race. It’s becoming addictive; the longing for the finishers medal pulling me in.

I’ve decided to push harder from here instead of taking my foot off the gas. Greg and I are running the US Half in San Francisco, hills galore, in two weeks. I don’t expect to beat my Urban Cow time (1:59:51 chip time) because this course looks significantly more challenging, but I hope to keep it under 2:10.

For those who might be wondering why my wife, Kari, didn’t run with me, there’s a good reason. Though we both registered, she’s 14 weeks pregnant and doctor’s orders said no long distance running. Thankfully I have a best friend who can, with two weeks notice, train and run with me. Greg’s support is a big reason why I crossed the finish with  nine seconds under the two-hour mark, sprinting with jello legs. Thanks dude.

To anyone with a used jogging stroller, I’m in the market. Let’s make a deal!

A summer of memories

I’ve been known to get caught up in the moment.

Maybe it’s not just me, but I have a hard time seeing the vast importantness of life’s moments until they’re happening or shortly after. I get so caught up in the exact moment that, presto, the big shindig happens and then later on I realize big-picture awesomeness.

This summer has been action packed and it’s all starting to hit me. So far I’ve been part of five weddings, two bachelor parties, bought a house and celebrated my first wedding anniversary. Big summer, almost too big to see just how big it’s been.

For the most recent wedding, I was privileged to be the minister (yes, I registered online and yes, they’ll let nearly anyone sign up!). I helped my sister-in-law and her groom with the script, edited everything so it had a nice flow and found time to practice it in front of my wife a few times.

Never did I realize the power those words held and the emotion they would bring. I was in charge of the biggest day of two people’s lives, the day their parents dreamed of, the day their friends and family drove hundreds of miles to witness.

Just before I started the ceremony, I was introduced to the groom’s mother. She’s wonderful, thanking me for doing this for her son, who she’s so happy for. Then it hit me like a punch from Mike Tyson. Today means the world to her; she’s flown to Oregon from Nebraska and the guy responsible for pulling it off? Me.

The ceremony went great. I made some funny ad-lib jokes about the Oregon weather and everyone said I did a great job after. But it was the hug from the now-husband’s mom that took me back. She was teary, happy and so proud of the man her son became. Proud that she was able to be there and meet her new in-laws.

I felt out-of-body for a moment and realized whenever she thought of that day, her son and his new wife accepting their rings, she would also see me. She’ll remember me guiding them through their vows, three words at a time, and saying, “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”

I’ve been trying to spend this year in the moment and not being another cellphone-distracted live-life-through-a-digital-screen you-know-what. I’ve made memories to last a lifetime because of it and it turns out, I’m starting to realize how I’m helping make memories for everyone else.

Double win.

Pt. Reyes – 1 Year Anniversary

What do two outdoor junkies do for their first wedding anniversary? Backpacking, of course! We try to head to Point Reyes at some point each season and decided to book this trip long before our wedding-filled crazy summer. What a good idea!

The cool coastal air was a sigh of relief from the brutal heat of Sacramento this summer. We stopped to get our permits and plan our route. We were up for a challenge and decided to take the long way to Glen Camp, a 7.5 mile hike mostly along Sky Trail.

We made good time getting up the steep Meadow Trail to Sky Trail, hung a left and followed it down to Baldy Trail. If you’re reading this, don’t hike Baldy Trail! The name is misleading; the trail has not been maintained in a long time and the Poison Oak is rampant and waist to shoulder high in some areas.

Can you see the trail? Me neither.

The trail continues downhill to Glen Trail and Glen Camp Loop. We wound in and out of thick canopy until we found camp. Point Reyes is great for having steel boxes and benches at each site, but the camp was very exposed to the mid-day sun and fairly warm. Still, better than not backpacking, so we took the time to relax and nap.

Being our anniversary, Kari hiked in a very nice bottle of wine from our wedding venue in a lightweight Platypus wine bag. Classy! We enjoyed some dinner, put the tent fly on in preparation for the morning fog and called it a night.

The hike out was a little different and longer. We decided to avoid Baldy Trail and the Poison Oak and hike from Glen Trail to Coast Trail. Not only did we avoid a bad trail, but we got more ocean views, cool breezes and wildlife.

 

 

We continued up Coast Trail until we met the end of Sky Trail, heading back uphill a for the majority of our hike. We turned off a bit earlier than before to explore a new trail for us; Old Pine Trail. We hiked under the cool canopy through the last few hours of the morning fog and until we found ourselves back at Bear Valley Trail, the main connector and our way to the parking lot. 

Glen Camp is nice, but not our favorite at this park. We still need to explore Sky Camp, but the hike is too short to get us really interested. Next time, we’ll plan a hike here during winter to make the sun exposure to our advantage. Pack weight was 26 lbs for me, carrying the tent on my own, and 23 lbs for Kari.

Get out there and have fun!

Missing canadian found, I’m back!

Where oh where have I been, you ask? Or maybe you didn’t and I’ll tell you anyway. It’s been a long time since my last post and I have some explaining to do. This summer has been a little more than cramped. Busy doesn’t do it justice. I’ll spare the details and bring you up to speed real quick.

Ready? Let’s go.

First, we traveled to Coos Bay for my sister-in-law’s wedding. Welcome to the family, J! We stayed in yurts at Sunset Bay State Park. Swank camping.

The area is beautiful and yurt camping rocks if you haven’t done it.

Flying stand-by to Las Vegas earned me a day in Portland roaming the town and Deschutes Brewery. Bottoms up!

Kevin, in the middle, didn’t let dialysis tame the bachelor’s party. Vegas, baby!

We headed to McMinnville, Oregon to visit wineries around our wedding venue last year with my parents.

Who says Oregon is rainy all the time?

Next, I headed to Tahoe for Greg’s bachelor’s party. Seeing the wedding theme yet? More to come on this hike later, I promise.

We celebrated Joe’s 45th birthday with bash and some kickin’ cake.

We got keys to our house and Kari started painting, and painting, and painting. And yes, we were closing escrow this whole time…

Then time for wedding #2, groomsman duty with some classy dudes.

It was an honor to dance and party all too hard in celebration of this amazing couple.

Greg and I took some youngsters out backpacking at Penner Lake the night of the super moon. Trail review to come soon.

To celebrate our first year of marriage, Kari and I headed out with the new tent to Point Reyes. Another trail review to come soon.

Any lastly, wedding #3 for the year. Best friend got married and yours truly was the best man. Best-ish, I guess. I invented a dance move for all you Crossfitters. It’s called the WOD.

Things are slowing down and life is returning to a more normal speed. Thanks for staying with me. There is plenty of fun ahead. Let’s make memories and enjoy every step of the way.

Keep your stick on the ice!

2012 – Life’s next phase

The phone rang around 5 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. Kari knew what the call meant; Sarah was going into labor. I fell back asleep, Kari’s mind took to racing. Once the morning started again, she made a list of 2012’s most important events.

It wasn’t the length of the list nor the people involved that surprised me. It was the events that were tallied. Life has changed over the past two years. Somewhere along the line, we moved from one phase of life and into the next.

We were at Squaw Valley to round out the year. It was a sunny 17 degrees outside. Kari’s list was sprawled over two pages of hotel notepad. Four weddings (including ours!), three engagements, four babies born, six job changes, job promotions, the sadness of dogs lost and the joy of the dog we gained.

Until a few years ago, looking back on each year meant remembering the exams taken and classes past, summer breaks, part-time jobs, great skateparks and epic snowstorms. I knew nothing of life’s next phase and cared little to consider it. But now, here we are. The transition was smooth, nearly unnoticeable. Better yet, it’s exciting.

We find ourselves trying harder and harder to live in the moment, taking it all in instead of recording it for later. I leave my phone in the other room so I can’t hear it chirp and chime every two minutes. I call friends for conversations, no more long text message exchanges. I deleted almost every social media app from my phone.

While walking around the village at Squaw, I realized that years are measured not only by the events and accomplishments, but the memories and feelings made along the way. That’s what happens when you’re present in the now. Years in this phase are remembered by the weddings and births, the deaths and the uneasy excitement of what may happen next.

Life is for living. It’s important to remember how each event felt, who was there and what it looked like. Not what it looked like through your camera phone or the Tweets/Facebook updates you posted.

We have five weddings on the calendar for 2013. I can’t wait for each of them. Memories will be made and fun will be had. I’ll be there physically and emotionally. My phone will be in the car.

Be there in 2013, live and in person. Make memories that can be told by a campfire or a frosty beer. Memories that turn into the stories that make your gut hurt from laughing or your face sore from smiling. Facebook can wait.

Birthdays, Christmas, Seattle oh my!

I spent each day since Thanksgiving looking forward to this time of year. The rapid succession of fun that is the end of December. We go from Kari’s birthday to Christmas to New Year’s without a minute to rest. It’s great.

Us in front, my parents in back on one of Seattle’s busses. Seattle natives love their bus transit.

The other benefit? Traveling. We took to the sky to visit my parents in Seattle. To us, it’s one of the most amazing city’s in the country. Clean, with the perfect mix of modern and historical, and a thriving downtown waiting to be explored. Good coffee, better seafood and world-class views of the Puget Sound.

Sidenote: I don’t fly a lot anymore, but is Alaska Airline’s the only one offering healthy food? I buy their fruit and cheese plate onboard and love it. It’s the perfect portion of apples and grapes, cheddar and brie and crackers. How is an airline offering healthier snack options than most places I live near?

Look close and you can see the birthday girl.

For Kari’s birthday, my folks treated the four of us to a float plane tour of Seattle. Amazing. The sun broke out and gave us a window for flight. Not only are the views great, but the thrill of flying in its most simple form makes Kenmore Air’s tour so memorable. We saw the pilot adjust the throttle, flaps, tail rudder, everything with ease. Flight is an art, an art that toys with the laws of physics as we push a 1950’s piece of metal through the air and back down to bob on the lake surface, floating back to the dock.

We saw more parts of Seattle. So many great things to say, so many ideas for improvements Sacramento can/should/I wish would make. Seattle is a world-class city in every way. Especially the South Lake Union Trolly -or SLUT as locals call it. Ok, that’s just plane funny if you ask me.

We also got to see one of the most important pieces of flight history: the Air Force 1 plane that held the swearing-in of Lyndon Johnson after JFK’s assassination. The plane was witness to so much history and never before have history books come to life in such a way.

As best I can tell, this is where LBJ became president.

Christmas came all too soon, which meant we had to fly home the next day (Boxing Day, for us Canucks). It’s a shame we have to wait another year for Christmas to come back.

We had so much fun in Seattle that it’s hard to put it all in a blog. Above all, we got to spend time with my parents. It had been over three months since our last visit, so this was long overdue. Until next time Mom and Dad, cheers!

He came, he ran, he ran farther…

Last weekend, my good friend Joe became a marathoner. One website shows that half of one percent of people have run a marathon. Joe is one of those people.

I watched Joe train for a full year to run the California International Marathon. He ran 835 miles training for the big day.

I get bored driving 26.2 miles, so we knew Joe would need to see friendly faces between the start and finish lines. Kari, Greg and I prepped for our duties with funny signs, nearly each piece of waterproof clothing we owned, trash bag ponchos and an understanding that we’d get soaked.

Our first stop was around the 10 mile mark. My shoes took five minutes to be soaked through. Despite our best attempt calculating Joe’s pace, to limit our time in the rain, we still had to wait for him. Better be early than miss him.

After a coffee break, we headed to the 20 mile mark to wait in the rain, again. One thing we didn’t know: Joe was involved in a “Tour de France style pile-up,” somewhere near the 13 mile mark. His knee got trampled but he was moving still. We knew one thing; Joe didn’t put in a year to take a DNF. He went on. That’s our Joe!

We saw him run across the finish line, bashed knee and all. I could not have been more proud. Joe’s name is now included in the definition of perseverance. I’m also pretty sure that he needs to put “Marathoner” on his business cards.

Joe: you’re a star in my book. You helped inspire me to start running in the first place. I can’t wait to see what time you get next year. I’ll be screaming on the side, waving another obnoxious sign.

My long run next weekend is six miles. I’ll let you know how adding 20 might feel.

Turkey Day on the Oregon Trail

Not really the Oregon Trail, but after driving all day it sure felt like it.

I’ve always traveled for Thanksgiving, but this year was a first for me. It was the first time Kari and I made the choice of which city in the Northwest we spend Turkey Day. So, last Thursday, I took a big step in the life of a married guy: I spent my first Thanksgiving away from my immediate family.

We took off for Toledo, Oregon to enjoy a Northwestern Thanksgiving with Kari’s sister Mandi and her fiance, Todd (plus doxies Scooter and Brody). Oregon is a great place year-round, but the  joy of the holiday, some time away from home, Rogue beers and many laughs made the weekend light and the conversation easy.

 

Thanksgiving 2012 was amazing and gave gave me many things to be thankful for, mainly having awesome in-laws. I was worried I’d be sad and missing my parents over the weekend (don’t worry, I was. It’s been two months since I’ve seen my folks), but my in-laws made it a trip to remember. Here’s to the many years ahead of splitting holiday’s between Oregon and Washington.

Backpacking shutdown

This summer has been tough for a close friend of mine: my pack. He’s been relegated to the closet for all but one trip.

My knee is 90 percent recovered from a nasty ACL & Patallar Ligament sprain and I’ve been cleared to hike. But my newest hiking buddy, our pup Lucky, has been put on a  rest order after having the ol’ man parts snipped. We’ve had to cancel a trip and this puts future trips in jeopardy with the changing weather around the Sierra’s and Lake Tahoe each October.

Should a weekend pop-up with good weather once Lucky’s ready to go, we’re there. But out of respect for the soon-to-be-changing conditions, I’ve decided to begin shutting down the backpacking season. Barring a mild fall and a late start to winter, I’ll be conditioning for snowboarding and Lucky will be sniffing and slobbering.

In honor of the season that wasn’t what I hoped for, I’m sharing a time-lapse of gorgeous scenery in Iceland to ease my back country cravings. The video is what backpacking is for me; motivating, empowering, peaceful, yet strangely calming and relaxing.

Here’s to a good snow season and an early start to next year. Cheers!

ICELANDIA – Time-lapse Visuals from 64° North from The Upthink Lab on Vimeo.