Costa Rica Vacation… Went to Cosa Rica for two weeks. The first four days were spent canyoneering, led by a local guide. A local guide makes the approach and exits on private land go more smoothly, as it’s normal to…

Cerro Frio (Cerro de La Muerte Trail)… While in the mountains we hiked through the tropical forest jungle to a high point, Cerro Frio. The summit has many radio towers, and also a road one can walk just short ways…

Gata Fiera Canyon… Fourth of four canyons. Wow, the best for last. This was a much more technical canyon than the others, especially the Gata Fiera Falls…3-anchor stations, and 4-rappels. Then the last drop is amongst three separate falls. So…

Gold Canyon… The third of four canyons. This canyon is named for the color of the rocks, that have been coated with a mineral that is gold in color. Not sure what the mineral is, but it comes from the…

Ciudad Esmeralda Canyon… Our second of four canyons. Very scenic, including a very unique narrows section. 100’ plus tall walls with lush green vegetation. The drainage had a good flow. Another fun day out in the creek…

Gata Media Canyon… The first of four canyons on this trip to Costa Rica. This canyon was a good warm-up canyon. Pretty straight forward drops. And like the others, very scenic. A lot of the canyons here, unlike in the…

Heckletooth Mountain via Aubrey Mtn… Originally planned to hike up to Aubrey Mountain, but ended up extending our hike to Heckeltooth mountain. Aubrey Mtn is a treed summit with no views and sort of a thrash to get to, then…

Buffalo Peak – Battle Peak – Point 3558 A three-peak trip. Mainly wanted to explore Buffalo Peak, as we spotted it from the ridge on the other side of the canyon several days before. We parked at this spot mainly…

Huckleberry Mountain Lookout Loop… I parked just 17 minutes from home. Not even enough time to finish my coffee, or warm the truck up. I parked at about 3790’ because of the icy snow, but found out later it was…

Gold Lake Trail Snowshoe… Parked at the Waldo Lake Sno-Park, just off Hwy 58. Waldo Road is closed this time of year to let the snow mobile’s play for the winter. We walked the road for 2 miles before dropping…

Vivian Lake from Salt Creek Falls… Sunday was the better weather day, so we decided to hike up to Vivian Lake from the Salt Creek Falls trailhead. The parking lot was slush and, of course, raining… Salt Creek Falls was…

Paulina East Lake Loop… We thought we’d head to Paulina before the seasonal closing of the gate. We started our hike at the Cinder Hill Trailhead, and decided to go counter clockwise. After a bit over 4 miles we went…

Maiden Peak… It was nice to do a hike that hasn’t been affected by wild fires. The hike, to the summit and back, is all on trail. The trail appears to be a very popular trail, although I only saw…

Mount David Douglas… From several high points in the area, Mount David Douglas looked interesting, so I found a good spot to park, for a cross-country route to the east summit (6255’) and then the west summit (6035’). Not much…

Fuji Mountain… Fuji Mountain from the upper trailhead. After exploring Mount David Douglas, I drove up to the Mt Fuji upper trailhead and did the short jaunt up to the summit. This summit offers incredible views of the surrounding area,…

Dead Mountain… This hike is in our backyard, although the trailhead is down in the town of Oakridge, just 8 miles away. The trail has become a popular mountain bike trail, where many bikers hire a shuttle to take them…

Whychus Rock (Squaw Rock)… It’s been a few years since we’ve been up here. Always an enjoyable mini adventure. One can see this pinnacle from as far north as just coming up from Warm Springs, and as far south as…

Central and SE Oregon Road Trip… This was a father son road trip, covering 1,120 miles, eight nights, through central and SE Oregon. To make it a bit more adventurous, we took the van. We started the trip in Oakridge,…

Waldo Mountain Lookout… Deb’s sister, Cheryl Hill, mentioned that she needed to get to the Waldo Mountain lookout for a lookout project she is working on. Unfortunately, the standard Waldo Mountain trailhead is still closed due to the current fire…

Mount McLaughlin… Last time at the summit of this peak was Oct 2007, good to be back. Living in Oakridge, we are a little closer to the trailhead, although still a 2.5 hour drive each way. Good day for a…