Larch Mountain

This weekend, Zephyr and I went on a hike to Larch Mountain.  It's an old extinct volcano just about an hour from downtown Portland.  It was gorgeous!  The hike is a 6 mile loop, with a quad-busting portion at the end.  The first part (trail #441) is all a steep downgrade where you pass through an abandoned camp site and stone wall left from an old logging railroad grade.

The stone wall. Pleasantly downhill at this point.

After trekking downhill, we turned right on trail #444.  There we crossed a cool bridge made from a fallen tree.

Once across the bridge, we veered right onto the crater portion of the hike.  We went around the perimeter of a meadow field filled with wildflowers.  Our guidebook states it was once an old lake, but centuries of natural sediments have filled it.

Gigantic mushroom

Then we trekked straight vertical for about an hour.  At this point, a bee with a vengeance circled us for over a mile.  We freaked.  We're both terrified of bees. And to think I felt bad for those suckers after watching a documentary the night before our hike titled "Colony" about how bees are mysteriously disappearing.  This bee was PISSED.  We BOOKED IT.  We ran for about a half a mile until I realized the bee had abandoned me and moved on to Zephyr.  At this point, he took my pepper spray (intended for bears), and tried to kill off the attack bee while I watched, secretly laughing, from a distance.  It finally abandoned us when two other hikers passed by and it decided to latch on to them instead of us.  We were relieved, and felt the tinniest bit guilty for passing on the pissed-off stinging insect to nice strangers.  But not really.
After the bee incident, we decided the pick up our pace and get out of the attack forest.  After a major uphill portion, the trail somewhat flattened out for the last mile or so.  We passed lots of wild flowers and wild huckleberries.  The end of the hike drops you off about 1/2 mile from where the trailhead began.  I'd like to try this hike again in the spring.  Apparently the crater at the bottom fills up with water when the rains arrive, creating a serene lake in the middle of the forest. 

Directions:

From Portland take I-84 East and exit at Corbett (aka US 30).  At the junction, turn left to go east on the Historic Columbia River Highway.  At mile 22.9 turn right on Larch Mountain Road (just past the Women's Forum Overlook), and drive 14 miles to the trailhead at the end of the road. 

Note: Parking is $5 cash unless you have a forest pass (you can use the same one used for skiing/snowboarding on Mt Hood)

So long sweet summer

Wow it's been a little over a month since I posted!  You can't blame me, I was soaking up as much sun as I could in preparation for another 8 months of rain.  Let's catch up...
My brother Geoff paid me a visit in August.  I think the highlight for him was spending a day at the coast hiking and exploring.

Quads were burning at this point.

Finally made it down to the beach.  These rocks provided lots of little spaces for tide pools filled with starfish, crabs, and sea anemones. 

Last weekend I paid my good friend from college, Ana a visit in Boise.  She recently moved there for work, and I'd never been to Idaho before.  I was pleasantly surprised by what a cute little city it was.  We spent Saturday at the farmer's market, zoo, rose garden, and biking all day around the greenbelt and Boise river.  We had the most amazing sushi at Fujiyama, and afterwards toasted in her late birthday celebration with champagne.

 Salmon and tuna dragon roll- mouthwatering.

Beautiful Ana and I.  It was so nice to spend quality time with such a good friend!

Zephyr and I spent a weekend in Seattle recently, as we often do since as he has many relatives in the area.  We did the Seattle underground tour, which Zeph hadn't done since he was a kid.  Claustrophobic to say the least, but interesting nonetheless.  We ate at our favorite spot- Honeyhole Sandwiches.  If you're ever in Seattle, you MUST visit this funky sandwich joint.  As per tradition, we picked up the most amazing cheddar cheese from Beechers, and fresh salmon from Pike Place, which we placed on ice and took back to Portland. I love to kayak, and we spent a sunny day on Fox Island paddling around the reefs.  Then we walked around Gig Harbor browsing antique stores and gift shops, such a quaint little town!

I've also been cooking a ton, something you can't really help when EVERYTHING is in season at once at the farmers market!  Our tomato plant has been abundantly presenting us with rip red goodness every day.  Not only that, but Zephyr brought home over 20lbs of tomatoes from the farmers market while I was in Boise. Over TWENTY POUNDS!  Typical guys would buy a Xbox while their girlfriend is out of town, not when you're dating an aspiring chef!  We've spent the last few days roasting and roasting and stewing and stewing.  We'll have lots of tomato sauce in the freezer when this is all through!

Summer means heirlooms, and heirlooms mean delicious caprese with fresh mozzarella and balsamic vinegar. 

Summer has been good to us.  But I am SO ready for fall.  Bring on the pumpkin lattes, butternut squash, and crisp air perfect for hikes in Forest Park and runs on the waterfront!