Embracing the Journey

An Actual Blog Entry

2012-01-30T19:00:00.002-06:00

While Seminary on top of ministry have, in effect, taken all the writing energy I have (with the result being no blog entries), I was asked to write an article for Wesley Seminary's blog. It can be found here if you so desire to check it out!

I'm Still Here...Just Busy

2011-02-21T23:48:00.012-06:00

For the one or two people who still check this blog now and again, I wanted to let you know that I haven't stopped blogging. Things got a bit crazy for awhile, and to be honest, in the midst of it all, I sort of forgot to blog. It just popped into my mind one day, and I realized that it had been a few months since I'd written something. Oops. My bad.

It all started in mid-December when we were sorting food for our Christmas food baskets that would be distributed to families around Aumsville. We had partnered with the local elementary school and our church had responded generously--not only donating food and money for local residents in need of food during the holiday season, but also donating 118 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I was like a proud momma. I was also blown away by individuals who were willingness to give, even when they might be struggling themselves. Our Mt. View family continues to amaze me time and again.

But we were sorting food, and it was raining, like normal. We can get some pretty windy storms through here, but this one was different. It started hailing pretty heavily, and the wind was almost shaking the building. Teresa, our Administrative Assistant and I ran to a window to check out the storm, and the tree across the street was almost blowing sideways! I even said, "Wow! That's like hurricane winds!" Little did I know. We shrugged and went back to sorting our food.

About 10 minutes later another lady who was helping got a phone call from a family member saying a tornado had gone through Aumsville. We were shocked! We hopped in our car and drove the 4 blocks to where it had gone through, and sure enough, one building was gone, roofs were missing, houses were moved off their foundation, and trees were snapped off and toppled. In an incredible stroke of good fortune, it had taken out one building and within a matter of feet, had hopped over the water tower, city hall, and the fire station. The response was amazing, and our church became a red cross coordination center for a week or so. This led us right up to the week before Christmas Eve.

*tornado pictures from kgw.com

Christmas Eve was a great time of worship, but it takes time and effort to put together another service, especially two days before regular, weekly worship. And to top it off, Mark was sick. He woke up Christmas morning, having preached two services the night before, with absolutely no voice. He spent the day writing me notes, and I had to call up our youth pastor on Christmas Day to let him know he was probably going to have to preach the next morning. I am thankful he responded with a great attitude, and we worked it all out. Mark was so sick he actually missed church, which takes a lot.

And then the traveling began.

I went to Wisconsin the week after Christmas to see my family. I got to see my sister, which makes twice in one year and was definitely a gift. We had a great time together, and it went by too fast. I had to get back to Oregon so that Mark and I could head out to The Gathering, a Wesleyan pastor's conference that happens every four years. We got to see so many people, which was the frosting on the cake, since all the sessions and breakouts were really good as well.

Wisconsin snow...NOW it feels like winter!

Paul Baloche leading worship at The Gathering

I returned, and after a month of craziness, it took a few days to get back in the groove of things. It wasn't long, though, before I had my ordination interview (yes, pending I pass my current class, I will be getting ordained this summer!), and school started again. And it was several weeks into my semester that it dawned on me that I hadn't blogged a single word of anything that had happened since November.

So, I have not given up on blogging. I am still here...just busy! I hope I will not fall into silent mode again, but I guess I won't make any promises. I'd hate to make a promise and not keep it. But I will do my best to show up here now and again, and if by chance it takes three months again, just know I am probably just sitting in front of my computer and writing assignments on preaching and I'll be back soon.

I Think He Missed Me...

2010-11-13T12:09:00.003-06:00

Mark was on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University this past week visiting some friends. There was also a research conference happening, so booths were set up for different veins of ministry and education, Wesley Seminary, being one of them. Apparently, this time around, I was the face of Wesley Seminary:

I still think it's weird to see my face on these signs...

But I also think Mark missed me when he was gone:

A student who knew Mark and I from Heritage Wesleyan Church was walking by and saw Mark taking this picture out of the corner of his eye and thought, "Who's that creepy guy pretending to kiss Jess?" He then took a closer look and realized it wasn't a creepy guy, it was a legitimate kiss from a husband :).

The Gift of Friends

2010-09-28T23:40:00.021-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we were blessed to have some of our great friends visiting for a week. Steve, Amber, and their son, Lincoln came to visit from Illinois. Steve came out to help us with some sound stuff at the church, but we got the bonus of getting to hang out with them. Julie also was able to come from Colorado, and we had an awesome week together hanging out and just being together. Amber and Julie are two of my best friends from college, and they were also two of my bridesmaids in my wedding. Steve and Mark lived in the same townhouse our senior year of college, and since we don't live near each other, it is always a gift to be able to spend time together in the same place.

I am constantly reminded what a blessing good friends like this are. These friends knew us before we were married and walked through various seasons of life with us. They are people we just get to relax with, laugh with, and "be" with. And while we talk on the phone pretty regularly, getting to spend time together is always refreshing. We spent a lot of time at home hanging out and playing games, but we also got to head out to do a few fun "local" things like Silver Falls State Park and the downtown carousel.

Mark got to hold our purses and Julie's pink phone while we rode the carousel. Doesn't he look good? :)

Julie and I on our horses whose names I've already forgotten. They were something like "moonstar" and "liberty" but I'm not totally sure.

Lincoln and Steve rode a horse that didn't go up and down. I think Lincoln enjoyed it even though he was a little unsure at first.

What a cute family!

This picture makes me happy. It's the "girls" picture by South Falls.

We made the guys take a "boys" picture even though they weren't as gung-ho about it :).

Welcome to Oregon!

What a fun line-up! Steve and Amber made Mark carry Lincoln around as "practice" for some day down the line.

Lincoln "bouldering" with Mark as spotter. He was quite the climber. He practically scaled the booth in a restaurant one night, so this was nothing for him!

So cute!

Julie flew out seven hours later than Steve, Amber, and Lincoln, so we made a quick hop over to the coast at Cannon Beach for the afternoon to do a little hike. This is a crazy zoomed in view of the lighthouse at Cannon Beach.

Yep, that little rock out there is the lighthouse.

At the end of our hike at a viewpoint.

the gorgeous cliffs and rocks that typify the Oregon coast.

I am so thankful for this week we were able to have together. I feel so blessed to have them in my life and to be able to have times where we get to see each other, even when we live halfway across the country. This, combined with seeing Amber and another great friend, Christin, in August, has combined to make for a great few months of connections. I truly feel like the friends God has given me are gifts of grace, and I need these times to remind me to not take them for granted. Thanks, friends, for a fun week. Let's do it again soon!

Mt. Shasta & Lassen Nat'l Park

2010-09-06T22:36:00.029-05:00

This past week Mark and I were able to take a Labor Day vacation. Finding an adventure we could pull off while still having internet access took a little time to figure out (apparently online school doesn't stop if you take vacation!). We finally settled on an attempt at climbing Mt. Shasta in northern California and spending some time in Lassen National Park. We were more than lucky; the weather was as good as we could have asked for. And even though we live near sea level, we were able to summit with nothing more than a shortness of breath and a slight headache that went away as we descended. Overall, the climb was amazing and challenging, and it was an awesome week! Here are a few pictures to document our journey...

The view from the pullout on I-5.

The mountain at sunset from the city of Mt. Shasta, CA.

At the trailhead getting our gear ready.

We took the Clear Creek Route up the mountain. The trailhead is at 6500 ft.

Our first steps up to our campsite at 8500 ft. at "the springs."

The view of our route. Obviously it's not exact, but the red line is relatively close to what we walked. We camped by the springs, where are the green patches by the red line lower on the mountain.

Our campsite at 8500 ft. at the springs. It took a little over an hour to hike up to this spot and we were able to scout out our route and talk to a couple people who were on their way down.

We woke up at 4:30am and began hiking around 5:15am. It was still dark but surprisingly warm. We were so thankful that it wasn't frigid and windy! It's never any fun to climb out of your sleeping bag when it's dark and cold :).

Since we followed a route and not a trail, there were several options of where to go as we went up. There were several "user trails" (trails made by hikers, but not official ones) and we ended up crossing the snow and scrambling up the rock to Mark's right in the picture above. Much of the route was scree (loose rock and sand) so it was nice to have semi-solid footing for awhile!

This was a class 3 scramble and wasn't as steep as it looks in the picture. I was thankful for the rock climbing experience I'd gotten this summer that helped with hand-holds and footing...thanks Danielle!

This was a random rock that we could see even from our camp. It sits at around 12,800 ft. We've heard it called the UFO Rock (because it is sort of randomly dropped on the shoulder of the mountain) and one lady who was on the summit with us called it the Pancake Rock because of the flat layers. I call it the Weird Rock. We stared at this rock for hours and it was so great to finally reach it. That alone felt like an accomplishment!

Of course we didn't take any pictures of the steep scree or snow climbing we did between the Wierd Rock and the summit. It was on the intense side and of course the camera never comes out in those times. This section was the most challenging, but in a good way.

Here I am on the summit! 14,162 ft. We summited around 12:15pm, making the climb a 7 hour journey.

Mark on the summit! A total of 7,662 ft. from the trailhead, and 5,662 ft. for the day.

We decided it was safer to come down a scree chute and not the steep snow we climbed up. Mark is down and out of the way of rock fall, and I am just beginning my plunge-step down the loose rock.

This is the steep scree and rock we had to climb down (and up!) between the Wierd Rock and the summit. It was actually easier going down than up, and I was very glad to reach the Wierd Rock and user trails again!

Mark ended up with a handful of sand and rock in his shoe after that part of the descent!

Descending the user trails and on our way to our campsite and then the car. By the time we got down to the car, my "descending legs" were exhausted! We were so excited to have accomplished our goal, and treated ourselves to a hotel room (instead of camping) so we could crash in an actual bed. I think we were out by 8 or 9:00pm!

Even though the next day was the Friday of Labor Day weekend, we were able to get a campsite at Lassen National Park. The hope was to be able t climb Lassen Peak and to see some of the other volcanic features of the park. This is the view of Lassen Peak from Manzanita Lake Campground.

The trail up Lassen Peak has been closed for repairs for awhile. We had been hoping it would be open (the Park and indicated it might be) by Saturday (the day we were there), but alas, they only opened the first half of the trail. We were able to climb the first 1000 ft. and still get a good view.

We even watched this guy get a ticket for jumping the fence and heading to the summit anyway (he wasn't the only one slapped with a $175 fine for doing this!). Do you like how discreet I was by taking his picture?

The other cool volcanic feature we saw was called Bumpass Hell. There were quite a few thermal pools/lakes, boiling mud holes, and interesting landscapes. The only downside? The sulfur smell :).

The view of Bumpass Hell from the trail.

We were even able to visit our friends Paul and Amanda and their son, Findley, for a couple of days, which was a great conclusion to our week. It was restful, but also a lot of fun to catch up with them and to chase Fin all over the place. He is almost three and full of energy! Paul and Amanda are also great people to hang with after an adventure because they are adventurers themselves. It's always fun to share stories and pictures with people who have done similar things at some point.

It was such a fun, exciting, challenging, and restful week, and I am constantly reminded that difficult tasks just need to be taken one step at a time. Even in the moments when I am nervous or scared, I only have to focus on each step I am taking at the moment, and before I know it, I have reached my goal. I love looking back and knowing I was stretched. This means that I grew in areas I wouldn't have otherwise, and I am reminded that I can do far more than I give myself credit for. It is also a great reminder why it's good to only be able to see so far in front of me. If I truly knew how hard this climb would be or how steep the scree or snow, I might not have even attempted to climb Mt. Shasta in the first place. But because I faced them in the moment, I was able to conquer my fears and reach the summit. Even though it was painful and hurt to walk for several days afterward, it was a reminder of where we'd been and what we'd done. The journey was worth every step.

Harvest Time

2010-08-28T20:10:00.006-05:00

Now is the time for harvest. Here are a few pictures of the veggies that are growing on my plants. I am pretty continually eating cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, and onions from my garden. It's pretty awesome. Here are a few pics of what's growing. Since we lost our camera while kayaking (yes, this should be a post with pictures of us kayaking the North Fork of the Santiam River), I took these pictures on my cell phone - my 5-year-old cell phone :). Sorry if they're a bit blurry!

carrots. notice they aren't as "pretty" as the ones you buy in the store.

onions...I love onions, so I love that I get to grow them! they make my eyes water way more than the ones I buy though!

green peppers. I have red ones, too, but none of them are red yet.

the ever-expanding cucumber vine. we have to work to keep up with these guys!

zucchini. these are MUCH bigger than the ones you buy at the store!

roma tomatoes. I am getting one or two of these at a time. however, my plant has enough tomatoes on it to can bottles and bottles of salsa. if only they would turn red...

big boy tomatoes. i haven't had one red one yet, but there is an abundance of these as well. I can't wait!

Thanks again, Dad for helping me out! Hope you enjoy the update!

Jefferson Park

2010-07-17T14:53:00.016-05:00

On May 17, Mark and I went on a hike toward Jefferson Park, a really beautiful area on the North/Northwest side of Mt. Jefferson. We hiked through there on the PCT, and are excited that there is a trail nearby that will allow us to access it. Everything you read about the hike we did says that the trail is open mid-July to October, so we knew May 17 was really early, but we gave it a try and we were stopped in our tracks by a huge wall of snow that we didn't have the time to really traverse safely. Last week we gave it a go again, and this time, since it truly is mid-July, we had much better luck and were able to hike the full 5.1 miles (10.2 mile round-trip) back into Jefferson Park. Here are a few comparison pictures:

These weren't taken in the exact same spot, but they are in the same general area.

This is the exact spot. Amazing the difference a couple of months can make!

Once again, these aren't the same exact spot, but in the same general area. The drop-off down to the right is pretty steep (even though you can't tell in the picture), so even though we climbed up on top of the snow, we didn't feel comfortable risking it. To fall was to equal major injury. This time we just sailed on through.

And this was our reward! A view of Mt. Jefferson from the trail.

Does the view get much better than this?

The Whitewater Creek Trail connected with the PCT about a mile outside of Jefferson Park. It was so fun to reconnect with our old friend (the PCT). From here into Jefferson Park was about 90 percent snow.

The view from Jefferson Park. We didn't get to stay very long. We basically took a few pictures and turned around and left. It was getting late and we had 5 miles to hike back out. Next time we may try to hike up and camp overnight.

We had to cross Whitewater Creek on our way up and down. There is a "bridge" over the creek, that, as you can tell, is pretty washed out. We were able to make it across on the way up by using a combination of rocks and the "bridge" and then making a big leap onto the snow (hiking poles are awesome helps for times like this!). We knew that hopping onto a snow bridge was much easier than hopping off of a snow bridge (the snow is much more likely to break from the force of hopping off of it). So on the way down, Mark went first, and sure enough, the snow bridge broke as he launched off of it. Luckily he made it safely to the rock, but got a bit of a wet foot in the process. This was fine for him, but left me with a huge gap that I wasn't willing to try to jump over. The circle above is where the snow used to be :). Plan B: ford the ice cold creek.

This is me making my way over to really the only easily accessible place to the water that wasn't a complete snow bridge.

It was about half way through that my feet realized how cold the water was.

This was my "my feet are so cold it's painful" face. I had to hop around, go find sun, and just get hiking again to warm up.

It was super fun, even though I had to walk through ice water :). Next time, I hope we can leave earlier and stay overnight, giving us more time to enjoy the amazing views and gorgeous surroundings! Also, maybe by then the bridge will be fixed :).

Take Two: French's Dome

2010-07-11T16:28:00.009-05:00

I got the chance to go rock climbing again Saturday. That is twice in one week, which is crazy, but it just worked out that way. I found some climbing shoes on craigslist for $5, which is a steal, and I needed to try them out. Let's use that as an excuse. Do I need an excuse? :)

We went to French's Dome, which is near to the Salmon River Slab where we went last time. There were a lot more people out, but we had so much fun and it was cool to see some people attempting the harder routes that we can't do yet!

My friend Julie was rock climbing outdoors for the first time, and she bravely attempted it with tennis shoes. It is MUCH harder to climb in tennis shoes because they don't stick to the rock nearly as well. Danielle says that going from tennis shoes to climbing shoes "feels like magic." Either way, Julie did a great job! She's the one on the far left.

Julie on her first outdoor climb ever! Andy is belaying her.

Me at the top of climb #2. I took up the camera because I was told there would be some great views of Mt. Hood. Yes, I'm clinging to the side of a rock taking a picture :).

The view down to where Danielle is belaying me.

I believe this was on my third climb of the day.

Danielle is practically a mountain goat. She makes it look so easy!

Danielle repelling after "cleaning" the route (getting the rope ready to come down).

Super fun!

Salmon River Slab

2010-07-06T00:19:00.009-05:00

I learned to rock climb today. It was awesome. I had climbed a couple of times in gyms on rock walls, but to be honest, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about clinging to the face of a big chunk of rock. I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. I love hiking and love to have my feet planted firmly on the ground. But I really liked it! I had so much fun. Mark had climbed a little in high school, and we even had some of the gear from our mountaineering excursions (Rainier, Hood, etc), but neither of us had much experience. So when some friends said they were heading out on our day off, we jumped at the chance to go with them. The two most experienced climbers led the climbs and fixed a top rope for us newbies. This is the much safer and easier way to climb. Our friend, Danielle, was able to borrow some shoes for me and another girl to share, but most of the guys weren't able to squeeze their feet into Andy's size 8 1/2 climbing shoes, so they went up in tennis shoes (not the easiest thing to do, which makes their climbs even more impressive). Mark and I each completed 3 routes and had a blast. I can't wait for the next time!

chalk prints.

I'm the one at the top! This was my second climb.

Repelling down.

This is Danielle after racing Josh to the top. She was climbing on an injured ankle, but she scampered up the rock face like it was no problem (at least she made it look that way - I think it actually hurt).

This one is Mark at the top. He climbed up a 5.9 route in tennies. What a stud!

Repelling down after a victorious climb.

I think we found ourselves a new adventure :). Thanks for the invite Danielle!

Family Fun

2010-06-12T00:23:00.017-05:00

My parents and sister came to visit for a week, and we had a ton of fun! I only get to see them a couple times a year, and it's been a long time since my sister and I have been able to be in the same place at the same time, so it was really special to have all four of us in the same place for a time of exploration and fun. Here is a brief overview of our week:

We were at the mall and met a lady who's husband runs the carousel in the park in downtown Salem. She called over and got us a free ride, and it was way more fun than we anticipated! They had a game where the outside riders could try and hook these rings on your fingers as you went by a certain spot, and if you got a gold one, you won a free ride. Somehow I won two :).

My dad is in the rodeo! Giddyup!

Our first full day was a big circle around Mt. Hood. We went up to Multnomah Falls, over to Cascade Locks and Hood River, and then around the east side and up to Timberline Lodge and back home. We google-mapped it and it came out to over 5 hrs of driving! This is Multnomah Falls, which is often on calendars.

Mark, Jess, Bethany, and Mom at Multnomah Falls.

Dad at Mt. Hood. We were lucky and the clouds parted for a view of the mountain!

This is a view of Mt. Hood from Trillium Lake near Government Camp, OR.

Our next full day was spent at Silver Falls State Park. We saw 9 out of 10 of the waterfalls. By the time we realized we missed one, we were too tired to go back :). This was a 4-5 mile hike day and oh-so-beautiful. The falls in the picture is South Falls.

Wednesday we hit the coast at Newport, OR. It was raining pretty steadily in the morning, and as we dried out at lunch, the rain stopped and we had a dry, but cloudy and cool, afternoon.

We climbed the lighthouse at Yaquina Head. I think it has about 114 steps.

We also saw some tide-pools, sea lions, and harbor seals. Mark climbed out on a rock when we were tide-pooling. We didn't see anything too crazy, but there were plenty of sea anemones and and starfish.

My sister and I "shopping." No, we didn't bring the hats home :).

Family photo! The first one we've had in a long time!

My dad is a gardener, and he helped make my garden awesome. We planted my tomato plants, zucchini, cucumber, and peppers, and he helped me stake out a trellis for the cucumbers and the cages for the tomatoes and zucchini. I even got a few ripe strawberries!

mmm...yum! Fresh from the garden!

Dinner, Silent Auction, and a Pie in the Face

2010-05-27T01:12:00.008-05:00

There are roses in the center of the table, Italian music play in the background, and the smell of wonderful food is in the air. "Yes," you think, "I must be at at a high-class restaurant." But then you look around and realize your waiters and waitresses are 6-12th graders! While it's not technically a high-class restaurant, the food might rival one and the service just as good :).

We put on a spaghetti dinner and silent auction last night as a fundraiser to send our kids to youth camp. There were a lot of hands that went into making the night a success, and our students did an awesome job of helping set up, serve, and clean up - earning the money that will go toward camp. Each one played their part, and did it well, and the night was a huge success! Mark even auctioned off taking a pie to the face!

Our "Italian Bistro."

Some students were the "cooks" and made up the orders that came in from the waiters and waitresses.

We had a pretty full house!

Christina doing dishes...I hear this is a rarity so I thought I'd post the picture so her family would know it happened. There's proof! :).

We auctioned off the opportunity to hit Mark in the face with a pie. His parents, who are visiting actually won the bid! They then let the kids/youth guess a number and the winner got to throw the pie. Cooper was our winner!

Here's the result of the pie in the face. There's a short video below if you want to actually see it happen! One guy in our church said, "It was worth the price of admission just to see this!"

Two of our students, Josh and Kyler, also raffled off a pie in the face, which we got to do tonight at Youth Group. I think Kyler got some up his nose :).

I think Cooper looks way too excited about this!

Gotta Love the Mountains!

2010-05-17T22:50:00.007-05:00

We have been duped by the weather more than once now. We will plan to go hiking, snowboarding or something else that involves being outdoors, then notice that the forecast calls for rain or storms and decide not to go. Then the day will not be nearly as bad as it sounded. Well today was one of those days. We had planned on going hiking on some trails that would lead up to Jefferson Park at the base of Mt. Jefferson. Then last night the weather report called for, not just rain, but thunderstorms. So we decided not to go. Then as I was watching the news in the morning they mentioned that the thunderstorms were already passed, so after some debate, we decided to go, albeit a little later than we originally had planned. It was will a bit overcast and a little rainy here and there, but we had a great time and really didn't need anymore time than we had. Here is the progression of our hike. You'll soon see why we didn't need anymore time!

We had to stop half a mile short of the parking lot because of a snow drift in the road. We had just gotten done saying, "I'm surprised we haven't seen any snow yet..."

Here we are at the trailhead. 4100 ft.

As we climbed, we soon hit patchy snow. It brought back memories of hiking the PCT.

At about 4500 ft. our trail became 95% snow covered. Luckily it was still pretty easy to follow and navigate...just follow the clear cut and look for small patches of trail!

At this trail junction, we could have taken another trail 2.7 miles to meet up with the PCT, which runs through Jefferson Park as well. We didn't have time to go all the way into Jefferson Park, but we thought we'd go a short ways down the trail to see if we could get any views of Jefferson.

Soon the trail looked like this...

And finally like this. At this point we climbed up on top and only took a few more steps. We decided it wasn't worth the effort and risk to keep going if we weren't even going to go all the way. This is a western slope, so they usually take much longer to clear out, but this is nuts!

We are so lucky to live near beautiful mountains where we can head out for a day to places we would have to take a week off to go to for vacation in the past. We will definitely come back here, but we'll probably give it a few more weeks (months?) to melt out a bit more!

Growth

2010-04-12T16:43:00.012-05:00

Growing up, my dad always had a big vegetable garden. I never paid much attention to it, other than to eat of it's bounty each summer, but looking back, he was able to grow an abundance of vegetables in our own back yard. It wasn't until I had graduated college and gotten married that I had the urge to attempt to grow my own food. As I have grown in my love for the outdoors and for vegetables in general, the desire to have a garden has only become more tempting. However, this is the first time we've ever lived in a place where we had a yard and the opportunity to do so.

As I've walked through this process, I've come to realize how much I have just enjoy growth. I love to grow in my own life, whether that means spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. I love seeing goals met and dreams come true. I love seeing and helping other grow as well. We have great opportunity for this in ministry, and it is so fulfilling when we are used to challenge or encourage someone who takes that next step, whatever it might be. I'm not sure if these two passions are connected, but regardless, the processes are similar. There is some aspect of weeding out the stuff in our lives that will inhibit good things to grow before we can really plant, nurture, and eventually reap a harvest. We have to remember that growth is not an end result, but a journey that we have to take one step at a time.

This is what happens in the NW when you plant grass in the rest of the yard and then proceed to ignore the dirt patch that will be your garden in the spring. It took a whole afternoon to weed it. I had put down some straw to keep my strawberry plants from freezing, but the grass still managed to grow up through it.

The straw and grass/weeds filled 6 garbage bags! Debbie got a lot of organic material for her compost :).

This picture was taken 4-6 wks ago. They are my strawberry plants that are now blooming! Yay!

I was very eager and started my zucchini and cucumbers a bit early. They did germinate in my kitchen and are now planted in the garden. It's a bit early for them, so I'm hoping they make it. If not, I will just replant and take note for next year to wait a few more weeks :).

Cucumber, Zucchini, Onions, Broccoli, and Roma Tomatoes. It's early for tomatoes as well, so this plant is in a flower pot in my kitchen for now.

It took another few hours of an afternoon to till the hard-packed soil. Because I didn't want to wait to borrow a tiller, I did this with a shovel and P90X power (aka: my arms) :).

Someone gave me some flowers that had this pinwheel in it. I thought it only appropriate to put in in the garden.

Here is the semi-finished product that I put in just this past Saturday. I planted the onion, zucchini, cucumber, carrots, romaine lettuce, and broccoli. I also have the strawberries, and will also plant tomatoes and possibly peppers and green beans once it gets a little warmer consistently. The marigolds are planted around the peripheral as a natural way to keep bugs from the veggies. Apparently they like marigolds even better. I hope it works!

I will definitely enjoy the end result, but have really enjoyed the process of preparing and planting. It was and (I'm sure will continue to be) a lot of hard work, yet it was so much fun! I look forward to learning more and *growing* in my knowledge of gardening as the summer goes on!

Happy Birthday Mark!

2010-03-29T22:18:00.002-05:00

Today is Mark's 28th Birthday...28 on the 28th. This is probably more exciting when you are little than when you are 28, but it is what it is, and today Mark turned 28 :). We are very blessed to have Mark's parents with us. They are back out in Oregon to help work on cabins and to do some work at the same camp they were at last fall, and they came down to come to church with us and then spend a couple days with us.

We went out to lunch to a seafood grille, and they made Mark wear this fish hat and have his picture taken. Luckily he got a hot fudge sundae for his humiliation. Isn't he lucky I put this picture on the blog? ;)

Our wonderful church family planned a surprise brunch between services this morning as well. There was a cake, homemade cinnamon rolls, fruit, and a plethora of quiche-like dishes. It was all so yummy and such a fantastic surprise. I must confess that I knew for a few days, but luckily I was able to keep it a secret from Mark. He was truly surprised! Oh, did I mention they sang "Happy Birthday" to him in both services?

It's crazy to me that this is his 7th birthday that we've celebrated together- two before we were married and five since we've been married. I'm amazed at how far we've come and how much we've learned. It has been a journey that I wouldn't trade for the world, and I look forward to many more birthdays celebrated together...hopefully without the fish hat :).

Happy Birthday, Mark! I love you!

Laura & Daniel's Wedding - Puerto Morelos, Mexico

2010-03-21T15:20:00.014-05:00

On Feb 26, 2010, Mark's sister, Laura, married her fiance, Daniel, on the beaches of Puerto Morelos, Mexico. I have always seen pictures of the Riviera Maya and the Caribbean and wondered if it was as beautiful as the pictures made it look. The consensus? Yes, it is! The sand was white and the water aqua and clear. The weather was beautiful - in the high 70's and mid 80's almost everyday. This was our first time at a resort and it was a great time to relax and spend time with family, not to mention get to celebrate this important day in Laura and Daniel's lives. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

The bride and groom right after the ceremony.

Mark and I at the wedding.

The wedding site. This was the only day it was overcast, but it actually worked out great - no rain and no squinting into the sun for pictures!

They had programs each night as entertainment. We can't remember what they really called it, but it was basically a circus night. There weren't any animals, but lots of acrobatics!

Dinner in one of the three amazing restaurants in the resort. This was with Mark's parents and his aunt and uncle. It was so fun to get to see his aunt and uncle whom we haven't seen for a few years!

There were some fun activities, such as snorkeling, kayaking, and going on a hobiecat that we could do from the resort. This is Mark heading out to snorkel :). What a stud!

This is the view from our room. Rough, huh?

This cracked me up every single day; not sure why I thought this was so funny, but the public restrooms were the "he" and "she" rooms. I just had fun saying, "Excuse me, I need to use the she room."

My birthday was the 27th, the day after the wedding. It worked out nice, because I got to spend my birthday with family and in a really beautiful place. We went out to dinner that night with Mark's parents and Paul and Heather, his brother and brother's wife.

The lady at the restaurand went out of her way to bring me a birthday dessert, which was probably the best dessert I had the whole time we were there. She even had the chef write "Happy Birthday" in caramel. We still aren't sure what the name is she used, but it looks like Sushan. We think she misunderstood my name and was aiming for Susan. Oh well - I won't complain. It tasted amazing!

We are so thankful we were able to go and support Laura and Daniel. It was their dream to have a destination wedding, so it was so neat to see that dream come true. It was also well-timed because it rains from October through April here, so it was nice to have some more sunshine in the midst of all that dreariness :). Other than being a little sun-burned, we came back refreshed and rested and well-fed :). Congrats Laura and Daniel!

The Way of Descent

2010-03-02T21:04:00.004-06:00

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

-1 Peter 5:6

Our church is on a journey together that corresponds to the season of Lent. We are calling it The Way of Descent. The following is an excerpt of something Mark wrote for our church newsletter that will bring some understanding:

“We usually want to be uplifted or encouraged. Descending is a “downer” word. But, we need to understand God’s design for us to move upward. At the heart of all of this is humility, a lowering of ourselves. 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” It seems that precisely in lowering and humbling ourselves, God is able to lift us up and use us for great things. Even Jesus came as a servant and slave of all.

I’ve been reflecting on some of the words written by Andrew Murray, an influential missionary to Africa in the 1800’s who said, “I am amazed at how little humility is seen as the distinguishing feature of discipleship.” That line strikes me over and over. Could it be that somewhere at the core of being a follower of Jesus is understanding what it means to be humble?

Moses, we know as a great leader in the Old Testament who God used to lead His people out of their slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. He was one of the most influential people of the Old Testament, remembered and revered for generations and even to this day. One thing often missed about Moses is his humility. In the book of Numbers 12:3 it says, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” That is quite a statement. We often remember the great things that Moses accomplished. But, before anything great happened, God saw humility in Moses. More than anyone else on earth! Moses is an example of the 1 Peter verse. He was humble and God raised him up. Often I think we want to do the raising up part. We want to succeed or to be noticed when we do well. The problem is we first need humility. We have to lower ourselves. Murray defines humility as “the place of entire dependence on God.”

Moses also had the timing factor, as 1 Peter mentions “in due time.” Moses spent years and years in the land of Midian where he was married and had children before God appeared to him and sent him to deliver the people from Egypt. We not only have to have humility, we must continually live in humility and God in due time will raise us up. We don’t like the years and years of waiting and being humble. It’s hard for us. But, God can do great things in us when seek humility and begin to understand what it looks like to live it out…In [Andrew Murray’s] words, ‘nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to be nothing in order that God may be everything.’”

The eight weeks (beginning the Sunday before Ash Wednesday) focus on the following:

1. God Pursues Us

2. Our Condition

3. Our Humility

4. The Cross

5. Confession & Forgiveness

6. We Pursue God

7. The Way of Descent

8. Resurrection Sunday!

There are daily Scripture readings and challenges that focus on the Lenten themes of sacrifice, repentance, fasting, prayer, and self-control. We are excited to see how God is using this and will continue to use this to challenge our church to deeper places in Him. If you want to join us, we are posting the daily Scripture readings each week here.

While many Protestant churches have shunned such seasons of the church calendar because the meaning was lost in ritual and tradition, I have found such season to be meaningful and deeply challenging when I can refocus on the foundation and principles that it was originally meant to point to.

I will close with a quote from a great website I use when I am looking for information on the different season of the Church Year. Let this be our hearts cry this Lenten season:

“Perhaps during the Lenten season we should stop praying for others as if we were virtuous enough to do so. Perhaps we should take off our righteous robes just long enough during these 40 days to put ashes on our own heads, to come before God with a new humility that is willing to confess, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Maybe we should be willing to prostrate ourselves before God and plead, "Lord, in my hand no price I bring; simply to the cross I cling." That might put us in a position to hear God in ways that we have not heard Him in a long time. And it may be the beginning of a healing for which we have so longed.

O Lord, begin with me. Here. Now.”

No Knead Skillet Pizza

2010-02-19T00:49:00.004-06:00

This bread recipe amazes me. I made up my first batch of dough the other day and it literally took me less than 5 minutes to make. Once it's made it just needs to sit for 12-24 hrs to rise, so that is the trade-off for not having to knead the dough. However, one of the recipes we were shown how to make are these skillet pizzas that take about 5 minutes each to make! Very Italian: dough, mozzarella, basil, and tomato. So easy and so tasty! My next test will be to try it with whole wheat flour. I'll let you know how it goes :).

No Knead Artisan Bread

2010-02-13T01:29:00.002-06:00

For Christmas I was given a great gift. A friend paid for me to go to a cooking class called "No Knead Artisan Bread" that just took place this past Monday night. Not only did we learn to make a VERY easy Artisan bread that tastes wonderful, we also learned how to use the bread to make some super yummy recipes that include pizza (in the oven), skillet pizza, bread pudding, and soup (I know it sounds wierd but it's amazing...I made some today!). Not only is making the dough easy, but cooking it is super easy too! I made the boule you see below by baking it in a preheated cast iron pot (also pictured). It was such a fun gift because we got to go together (along with another friend), ate some great food, and learned how to make a fun bread recipe that is very practical and usable. I have really loved learning how to make homemade bread this past year and a half!

No Knead Artisan Bread. So good! It has a weird texture to the crust because you put flour and cornmeal on the dough before you wrap it in a flour-sack cloth to rise. Once it's baked it will just fall right off. Our chef also mentioned you can make it with whole-wheat flour as well. I may give that a try sometime as well.

Nice, soft, yummy bread. Perfect with some olive oil, Parmesan, and freshly ground pepper :).

Finally...

2010-01-21T22:21:00.006-06:00

...we got to go snowboarding! I'm ashamed to say that this was our first time to go this winter. We have been meaning to get out for awhile, but since we now have to drive 1.5-2 hrs, it has eluded us until now. We headed up to Timberline on Mt. Hood, and the day was beautiful and clear. We kept hearing, "this is the best day we've had all season!" which made us happy. As the day went on, clouds moved in and the wind picked up. Below you'll see a short video (the camera battery was dying so it's REAL short). It's pretty windy...and the video was taken in a lull!

Beautiful, white, snowy, Mt. Hood.

At the top of the Magic Mile lift in the wind.

Mark and our friend, Andy (from Portland), who we were able to connect with for the day. He is a skier, but we hung with him anyway :).

A Look Back at 2009

2009-12-26T23:43:00.011-06:00

It's amazing to think that at the beginning of 2009 we didn't have a clue what we would be doing right now! It's been a crazy but fun year. We started out the year living in Bend, OR, having only been there for a couple of months. We moved there in Oct 2008, after finishing our hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, interested in finding "fun jobs" that we could simply do for a few months while we determined which seminary we would be going to in the fall of 2009. We were sure we would only be living in Oregon for a few months, so we didn't think that local church ministry was an option for us at the time (who would hire pastors that would only be around for 10 months or less?).

Mark found himself as a snowboard instructor at Mt. Bachelor, and Jess eventually ended up as a Lead (a type of assistant Cafe Manager) at Barnes & Noble. We really enjoyed our time in Bend. Our friends Aaron and Annie, whom we met while working at Heritage Wesleyan Church were fun to hang out with and get to know better, and we also made some great new friends, Stephanie and Ryan, who are now serving in the Peace Corps in Mongolia!

In April, Jess got to go back to the Quad Cities for a fun weekend with friends who all came together there (can't find the pictures on my computer). In May we celebrated our 4 year anniversary with a weekend in Newport on Oregon's coast. These guys were just hanging out on the docks!

In June and July, Mark's parents visited as they drove through on their way to and from a SOWER's project near Portland. We did a lot of fun stuff, including taking the chairlift up Mt. Bachelor for lunch with a view!

Also in June, Jess' parents visited; it was their first time to the Pacific Northwest, and we had a blast walking in lava tubes, canoeing, seeing waterfalls, and walking on snow in June!

By this time we had become intrigued as we heard more about Indiana Wesleyan University's launch of the new MDiv program and Wesley Seminary. As we prayed and talked more, we decided that despite the fact that I (Jess) was already accepted to several seminaries, I would apply to IWU as well. The beauty of this program is that it is completely online (with the exception of 2 wks each August for onsite intensives), so you can not only live anywhere you want, but you are also required to be in local church ministry for at least 20 hours/wk. We began to think that this would be ideal for us and would open up possibilities for Mark to do ministry while I started school. So Mark began putting out his resume to different districts across the country (in the Wesleyan Church). The result was a church less than 3 hours away in Oregon that was looking for a pastor and seemed to be a good fit for us. In June we came to candidate (This equals an onsite interview with preaching involved), and we were voted in by the congregation the same day. They were interested in taking on Mark as a Senior Pastor and were open to my being on staff as an Assistant Pastor as well, so it worked out perfectly.

We got in one last hurrah (well two) in July by squeezing in a summit of South Sister and a week-long thru-hike of The Wonderland Trail that circles Mt. Rainier before heading back to the Quad Cities to load up a moving truck to really move out to Oregon (we didn't bring much with us the first time, thinking it was a temporary move). We packed up our apt in Bend, moved to Aumsville, and the next day I flew to Indiana for my first 2-week intensive that marked the beginning of my MDiv program.

Middle and North Sister from the Summit of South Sister.

Hiking the Wonderland Trail. Don't let the flat land here fool you. There is 20,000 ft of elevation gain and loss on this trail!

Mark and Dave loading up the moving truck in the Quad Cities.

Good Ol' Blackboard. This is how my online classes are done. Much time is spent here :).

We have loved our church so far. What a loving, supportive, encouraging, servant-hearted group of people! Mark has enjoyed learning what it means to be a Senior Pastor, and Jess just finished up her first semester of school (thanks to all those at Mt. View who gave me feedback for my assignments!). I look back and could mark this year as one of transition, however, it seems like so much of our life has been filled with what feels like transition and change. And while we have enjoyed that, we are excited for our time here, hopefully more stable, and we're excited for what this next year will bring!

The Gift that Kept on Giving

2009-12-26T19:43:00.008-06:00

I did something last week that I haven’t done since before Christmas of 2004: I bought conditioner. I know it sounds a little strange (did you buy the really large value bottle at Costco?), but aside from the small bottle of Pert Plus when we were hiking the PCT, I truly have not had to purchase shampoo or conditioner since 2004.

My sister is an extremely talented cosmetologist who graduated from the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, MN. One of her perks is a great discount on Aveda products, and so for Christmas in 2004 she sent me some Aveda shampoo and conditioner, which I was excited to receive. But here’s the deal: my hair is pretty thin and fine and it doesn’t take much shampoo or conditioner to clean it, so the next year when she sent me even bigger bottles, I had to say, “Stop! I love it, but I’ve barely put a dent in the first bottles yet!”

Now I confess that we hiked the PCT for 4.5 months (and so I wasn’t using it then), but I am just as surprised as anyone else that these bottles of shampoo and conditioner have lasted nearly 5 years. And it’s not because I don’t shower (I know you were thinking it). But these simple gifts were like the bottomless carpet bag that Mary Poppins carried around or like those faucets that seem to pour from the middle of the sky with a never-ending supply of water coming from who-knows-where. They were just always full. It isn’t everyday you get shampoo and conditioner that unexpectedly lasts for nearly 5 years. So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I say “Thanks” to Bethany for giving me a gift that was not only quality, but one less thing I had to think about, which is always a win in my book.

We Wish We Were Here...

2009-11-23T21:29:00.003-06:00

Opening Day at Mt. Bachelor was Friday, November 20...this video was taken on opening day, and we are so jealous of all the fresh powder! Last year I only got to go a couple of times because of my work schedule, and the days never looked as good as this! Mark had plenty like this, and I'm pretty sure this powder is making him itch to get back on the slopes :). We are looking forward to spending some time at Mt. Hood and Hoodoo this winter, and hopefully we'll get a chance to head over the Pass and hit Bachelor as well. If anyone is up for a ski or snowboard day, let us know!

Church Events

2009-11-10T23:43:00.010-06:00

Since being at the church we've had several events. The first one was called the Jumble Sale. It's a fundraiser that happens every year for our women's ministry. All summer people from the church/community donate stuff to be sold...everything from clothes to furniture and everything in between. It's a big rummage sale, but provides our women's ministry with funds needed for the year.

Around the same time our kids were in the local CornFest parade. Yes, I said Cornfest :). We moved away from the Iowa region, but ended up in an agricultural area. Reminds me of going to school in Indiana. But it was fun, and we got to eat free corn on the cob...yum! And since we were new, we were talked into dressing up with the kids and walking in the parade. I was in a poodle skirt and Mark had the classic white shirt and jeans. Our kids' float won "Best in Show" though!

We had a youth bonfire in September. It was a blast and it was a great way for students to connect and hang out.

This was at the bonfire. Apparently Mark found this in a closet somewhere...hot huh?

We did an all-church trivia night that was really fun! Mark MC-ed and I, along with a couple other ladies, were the judges that counted up the points and kept track of the scores. It was a blast, and luckily everyone was kind to the judges :).

Our MC. Next time we need to get him a bowtie :)

Our second youth event was a Barn Bash in conjunction with two other Wesleyan youth groups - one from Salem and one from Portland. We had about 80 kids total and it was a blast. There was a hay maze, a corn maze, a hay ride, this slide (fun!), and candy. There was also a guest speaker. Luckily it didn't rain on us too much...just a light mist, which is basically like it not raining here.

Not sure why I am putting this picture on the internet, but oh well! We had a Harvest Party for the kids in our community on Halloween. There were different games and events in different rooms, where they could win candy and treats. There were door prizes and free espresso for adults. The reason I'm wearing this pretty peach dress is b/c the theme was Knights and Damsels, so all the women helping dressed up like "princesses." Thanks to a local thrift shop, and a little tag board and cloth, I was transformed (I think) into a "damsel." I got to be the barista and give away the free espresso drinks.

We've had a lot of fun times since being here; we've gotten to dress up in costumes a lot, and I'm sure it won't be the last time! It's been so great getting to know the people here and getting to see their hearts for God and for ministry (in the day-to-day stuff as well as the big events). We are excited about what's been happening so far and look forward to seeing how God will continue to work!

Keepin' It Local::Some Fun Stuff We've Been Up To In Our Area

2009-10-12T21:13:00.010-05:00

Last week I went apple picking with my friend Julie. This is what happened to the apples I picked. I have a great recipe from my grandma for microwave applesauce (chunky or smooth), which takes a total of 10-15 min. to make. So I whipped up a few batches and took a shot at canning by myself (thanks google!). It worked perfectly, and was so fun to hear the "canner's music" (the lids popping as they seal). I only did about half the apples, so I will be doing the rest sometime this week. Yum!

Today was our day off, so we decided to head to Silver Falls State Park to ride the bike paths. Unfortunately we locked our keys in the car as soon as we got out and had to call a tow truck to come unlock our car. We were pretty lucky because we were there later in the afternoon and we have no cell service. Luckily there was still someone in the lodge to let us use a phone. We did get to ride for a little bit, although it wasn't as long as we wanted to. It was gorgeous, though, and we will definitely go back.

The leaves are changing...fall is here!

It was $8 for a 5-gallon bucket, so we split a bucket and got a variety of different apples.

My friend, Julie, lives in Portland. I know Julie from when we lived in Illinois, and it's really fun to have her so close! We've gotten to hang out a couple times now, and the last time we hung out we went apple-picking (and got coffee, which is why we are surrounded by cement in this picture).

I have always wanted to learn to can, and a friend from Church, Debbie, was canning tomatoes and invited me over to learn last week. It was easy and fun! I even ended up with quite a few jars of canned tomatoes, even though they were all Debbie's; all I did was help put some in jars! Thanks Debbie! Can't wait to put them to use!

We went to the Stayton Library book sale a couple weeks ago. It was three days long, and on the last day, it was $5 for a grocery bag full of books! We went expecting it to be really picked over, but there were still tons of books to choose from. We got a varying array of books that range from some outdoors-focused books, some faith-focused books, some novels (steinbeck, mischner, and some other randoms), and some cook books (yay!). We had no problem filling two grocery bags. Now the problem is where to put them...we need some more bookshelves!

In Defense of Food

2009-09-26T01:51:00.004-05:00

I read this book a few months ago, but just recently found the notes I took while reading it. It wasn't a completely new idea and thus, didn't transform the way I eat or think about food too much. The one thing it did do was challenge me to eat less meat and more vegetarian. The book starts out telling you in 7 words what the rest of the book is going to be about:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I had a friend in Bend who was basically a vegetarian, and that, along with some other reading I did while there, began to challenge me on the health benefits of eating less meat and more veggies. I am not sold on a completely vegetarian way of life (I just like meat), but both Mark and I are really interested in having more vegetables in our diet (beyond simply being a side dish). The bonus of living where we live now is that everything grows here and everyone has a garden, which has resulted in us being on the receiving end of the overflow of veggies that people can't finish themselves. Here are a few other thoughts from the book that I liked:

*Don't eat anything your great-grandma wouldn't recognize as food.

*Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than 5 in number, d) include high fructose corn syrup (these indicate foods that are highly processed and may no longer be what they purport to be).

*Get out of the supermarket whenever possible (farmers markets, CSA's, your own garden).

*eat meat as a condiment to veggies, not the other way around (less than 1 serving/day).

*The diet of the animals we eat has a bearing on the quality and healthfulness of the food itself (have they been injected with growth hormones? Are they eating nutritious food themselves?).

*If you have the space, buy a freezer. Freezing produce, unlike canning, doesn't significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce (I still want to learn to can though) :).

*Don't look for the "magic bullet" in the traditional diet: in the same way that foods are more than the sum of their nutrient parts, dietary patterns seem to be more than the sum of the foods that compromise them.

*How a culture eats may have as much a bearing on health as what a culture eats (i.e. snacking, eating alone vs with others, etc.).

*We tend to believe that the portion served to us is the proper amount to eat (i.e. in restaurants). Often the serving is much larger than we should actually eat.

*eat until you are 80% full, then stop. Consult your gut: stop when you're full!

*the less we spend on food, the more we spend on healthcare.

*do all your eating at the table (not at the desk!).

*Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does :).

*try not to eat alone: we eat more when we're alone. Eating with others is also a cultural act and forms community.

These were just a few of my notes (I had about 3 pgs). It was an interesting and worthwhile read and it will definitely challenge or remind you what it means to eat actual "food" vs. some of the stuff we buy in the stores. I know that I find that as I eat more and more real food, I notice a difference in how I feel and my energy levels when I eat more processed food. It's not totally unavoidable, but we do our best to eat decently without breaking the bank. I challenge you to try to find some good vegetarian recipes as well. I have found several that I love and that taste just as good rewarmed up as leftovers. Best of luck! Cheers!

A Random Update...

2009-09-17T23:04:00.005-05:00

A good chunk of my time is spent here these days. Good ol' Blackboard. I have fallen into a schedule of working at the church in the mornings and doing school in the afternoon, which seems to work out pretty well. If you would have asked me a year or two ago if I would enjoy doing an online school program, I would have said no. But I really am enjoying this format and the freedom it brings to the schedule.

This is my "garden." Basil and Rosemary. They started out so tiny and have flourished. It's so fun having fresh herbs. I had them outside, but Oregon has these wonderful slugs (that we first met when we were hiking) and they apparently like to eat Basil. So, once I figured that out...in came the plants :).

Everyone here has a garden. We were having lunch at the home of a couple that goes to our church, and we discovered that they grow corn, summer squash, tomatoes, green onions, apples, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. There may be more, but that's all I can remember. I am pumped...next summer I am going to try and have a garden of my own...maybe less extensive to start, but I definitely have my pick of what to grow...it seems like everything grows here!

mmm....triple chocolate scones. I got the recipe from a fun blog I found that has tons of great recipes. These are super easy and quick. If you want something yummy for dessert or just enjoy baking...give these a whirl. Of course, you have to like chocolate :).

Other than these few things, we have been spending our time getting to know people at the church and in the neighborhood, getting the house organized and settled via craigslist, and discovering what our new area has to offer. Did you know that we live an hour from downtown Portland? There is also a great array of fun date places for less than $10 between the two of us. We are really enjoying it here, although we are continually being warned about the rainy winters, which we have yet to experience. Something to look forward to :).

The Whirlwind

2009-08-22T21:34:00.010-05:00

For reasons unknown to me, the blog just doesn't want to let me write above this picture, so Aimee and Elijah get to be right at the top :).

We are finally in Oregon for good! It has been SO busy since the beginning of summer, but very fun. Right after our hike on the Wonderland Trail, we landed back in Bend for two days, and then headed to the Quad Cities to pack up the rest of the stuff we had stored in Mark's parents house. Most of it was still in boxes from when we moved out of our apt in Rock Island, so it didn't take nearly as long to pack it all up, but we did put in a good amount of work packing the U-Pack trailer that we went with to move out to Oregon. It's great...you pack it, they drive it...you unpack it. It's a LONG drive from IL to OR, so we were glad to put in a little work in order to have someone else drive it for us! We got to hang out with a bunch of great friends while we were there (and all the babies!). My parents also drove down from WI which was a nice added touch to the time there.

After IL, we landed in Bend, had two days to pack up our apt there and we moved over to Aumsville. We landed here on Friday, and Saturday I flew to IN for the start of my MDiv program through IWU. After a week there (and some GREAT time with Christin and the Summers'), I was back in Aumsville and ready to dive into the church and unpacking. So, you can see why updating the blog didn't really happen for a few weeks!

It's been great so far. The people have been awesome at helping us settle in, and we've gotten so many fresh vegetables! Everyone has a garden here on top of the fact that it's a huge agricultural area. We even got to do U-Pick blueberries today. Yum. I can't wait to have my own garden next summer!

Virginia and Oliver

Jess and Amber

Jamie and Oliver

Thad and Will...sorry Steph...we didn't get you in the picture too!

Steve and David

Jess and Liz

Jess and Lincoln...I just love the look he has on his face!

The fam

Mark after the trailer was all packed up and the walls in place.

Silver Falls State Park...just 15 minutes from our house! Mom, you'll love this one! Lots of gorgeous waterfalls to see when you come visit!

We had the great pleasure to drop our friends Paul and Kerry Kind off at Elk Lake. They are doing a section of the PCT this week. We got to spend a couple days with Kerry touring the Salem area as well. They are walking an incredible section of trail!

We picked 7.5 lbs of blueberries! Yum!

and we have no air conditioning...

2009-07-21T14:32:00.001-05:00

at least it's not humid!

The Wonderland Trail

2009-07-19T18:22:00.020-05:00

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. The Schmerse's (the in-laws) were back in town for a few days on there way back to IL, and we got to spend some fun time with them sighseeing. We headed down to Crater Lake, which was very fun and beautiful. We also got to see Smith Rock State Park, Tumalo Falls, and we took the ski lift up to Pine Martin Lodge at Mt. Bachelor to take in the view. Mark and I also climbed South Sister and headed over to Salem for a day to connect with Carmen, the senior pastor of Mountain View who is leaving. We had a great time getting to know him and his family, and he was more than helpful in showing us around and filling us in on the inner workings of the church (technical and otherwise).

Soon after the Schmerse's headed home, I finished up my work, and we headed out for a week to hike the Wonderland Trail that circles Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful trail, but a lot of work. There is a lot of elevation gain and loss (20,000 ft total!), and we spent the first two full days in a cloud with misty rain. Most of the week was gorgeous, and the views were amazing!

The trail was well marked at each junction, and every once in awhile a sign showed up in places where there was still snow that helped reassure us we were headed in the right direction.

Beautiful wildflowers!

Hiking up Emerald Ridge in a cloud.

Most of the time there were bridges over the creeks, but every so often they hadn't gotten one fixed yet, and we would have to walk a big log. Many of them wash out each year and need to be replaced. Luckily we only had to ford one creek!

Misty, cloudy, forest.

Ipsut Pass.

There were two large suspension bridges that crossed over the Carbon River and Tahoma Creek. They are both glacial creeks...this one is the Carbon Creek Bridge.

The end of the Carbon Glacier. It was really cool to hike up next to the glaciers, because you could hear them popping every so often and see rocks falling off the end. It reminds you that it really is moving.

Close up of the Emmons Glacier.

Cooking in camp. Boy was I happy to have a tent on this trip! It was so nice to be able to get in and not worry about the bugs if I wanted to keep my sleeping bag open a bit at night. Also, the mosquitos weren't bad in too many places, but it was so nice to be able to get in and know they weren't coming under the tarp!

Heading up to Panhandle Gap. One of the few places I used an ice axe.

If you look closely at the snow slope (zoom in!) there are mountain goats!

The snow fields past Panhandle Gap and headed toward our camp at Indian Bar. You can see our tracks through the snow behind Mark and down to the right.

Mark hanging our food bags on the bear poles. We only saw a couple bears the whole trip, and those from a distance. We never had a problem with them in camp.

Martha Falls. The spray from this falls felt like air conditioning as we hiked by. It was 80 degrees or so and we were climbing, so we just stood there and soaked in the spray!

Rainier and Reflection Lakes.

Here we are in the Nisqually River Basin a couple short miles from Longmire and our finish of the trail!

A celebratory burger at the Copper Creek Inn. We ate here after our attempt at climbing Rainier a few years ago, so it was fun to return to a familiar place!

We were one of the first groups to finish the whole trail this season, and had a great time doing so. Now it's time to start packing up...moving time soon and then I'm off to IN for school!

Moving...Again!

2009-07-04T14:07:00.003-05:00

We moved to Bend knowing that it might be temporary. We had been planning on going to seminary this fall, and just wanted a cool place to live. As we've lived in Bend, we've been praying and processing and honestly, the verdict has fluctuated all over the place from staying in Bend to going to seminary to going into ministry again.

Four to Six weeks ago we prayerfully decided to put out Mark's resume to some local churches. We had been praying about going to seminary, but weren't feeling 100% about going to Duke or Azusa, which had been the plan. We had been hearing about IWU's new MDiv program, which could be done onsite or online, and so as Mark put out his resume, I put in my application for the online program. You have to go to IWU for the first 2 weeks of August, but other than that, the whole program is done online. The program requires you to be in ministry at least 20 hrs a week, so the hope was that Mark would get a position as a lead pastor in a smaller church, and then I could work part time (paid or unpaid), and do school. Eventually Mark will look to start school as well.

Mark's resume went out to DS's all over the country - some in the east, a lot in the midwest, and quite a few out west as well. But what ended up working out for us was a great church near Salem, OR called Mt. View Wesleyan Church. We went and cadidated a few weeks ago, and couldn't have been more welcomed by the congregation. They were pleased with us as well, and they collectively voted us in and extended an invitation to Mark to be their new Lead Pastor. We start on Aug 2, and soon thereafter, I will leave to do my first 2 week stint at IWU. We are really excited and are looking forward to beginning our life and ministry with this great group of people in Aumsville. The great thing is that, although we will have to go back to IL to move all our stuff from there, it is only 2 hrs from Bend (in good weather), so we still have great access to the mts and all they have to offer.

Thanks to all who prayed for us and gave advice through this process. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for us and for our church!

Parents Visit

2009-06-22T15:02:00.012-05:00

My parents came out to visit last week for 5 days or so. They had never been to Oregon before, and Mark and I hadn't gotten to do much of the touristy stuff around the Bend area yet, so we had a great time showing them around, trying out the local restaurants, and seeing the sights. It was a bit overcast with rain forcasted for just about every day, but luckily the rain held off and didn't hinder our days at all.

Jess and the parents at Benham Falls. The falls here is more of a long cascade...nothing too dramatic, but still pretty. And we could hike up to this viewpoint to get a head-on view of the falls.

We walked a lot this day...along with hiking to Benham Falls, we also walked a mile back into the Lava River Cave - a lava tube that is quite big, but gets pretty small toward the end. This is my dad about as close to the end as we got. We weren't up for crawling.

We also walked around the Newberry Crater Monument. There were some shorter trails that wound through the lava fields, which were pretty cool. We also drove up to the top of Lava Butte (behind us), which gave a great view of the surrounding area and the mts.

If you look closely to the top of the cliff, you'll see, mom, dad, and Jess overlooking Benham Falls.

We made our way over to Tumalo Falls one day as well. Mark and I hadn't ever taken the makeshift trail over to the bottom of the falls, so it was cool to get that close.

Mom and Dad up at Bachelor standing on snow in warm weather. This doesn't happen in WI! :)

We spent one afternoon canoeing at Elk Lake for a couple of hours. We got a pretty good tour of most of the lake, and pretty good views of South Sister and Mt. Bachelor as well!

Mom and Mark canoeing with Bachelor in the background.

Devil's Lake is just off the highway back toward Elk Lake. It's hard to tell even in this picture, but parts of it are an incredible shade of green.

We had such a great time, and my parents were excited to do some things they don't get to do in the midwest (lava caves!). Maybe next time we can coerce them into white water rafting ;).

Goodbye Friends

2009-06-17T00:51:00.005-05:00

We first met Stephanie and Ryan at church one morning. We had just decided to start attending our church, and during our 5-min. break between the music and the message, they introduced themselves. Then, after the service was over they said, "Hey, we're having a Christmas party tonight if you want to come." And we did. And we hit it off right away. We got asked all evening, "how do you know Stephanie and Ryan?" and I got to say, "we don't really! we met them this morning!" It was really fun! They quickly became great friends. We had a lot in common, but as it turns out, they had applied to the peace corps a year or so before, and were waiting to find out what country they might be going to. So, quite excitedly, and also quite sadly, we said goodbye to them recently as they headed out for a two year stint in Mongolia. Yes, Mongolia :). Even though we hadn't known them too long, we became good friends fast, and we will miss them tremendously. Good Luck friends. We will miss you, but are excited for what is ahead! Keep in touch!

Summer in Bend

2009-06-12T22:43:00.005-05:00

Balloons Over Bend was last week in the Old Mill District. Apparently hot air balloons go up in the mornings but it was too windy this year. We didn't get down to see the balloons because I was working, but we went down on a sunday afternoon and they still had festivities going on....vendors, blow up jumpies for kids, and sidwalk art. Here's a taste of the artwork...it was pretty cool!

Kids could even join in the fun!

4 Year Anniversary :: Newport, OR

2009-06-01T22:48:00.016-05:00

It just worked out that I had a long weekend off just after our 4-year anniversary, so we planned a mini vacation to celebrate. We have been told by so many people that we just have to get to the coast sometime, and similarly, we had heard how cool Newport is, so we decided to head there. Our original plan was to go to Newport for a day and a half, and then drive up to Portland for a day and a half, but after driving 4 hrs to Newport, we decided it would be too much driving and instead stayed in Newport the whole three days. We camped at Beverly Beach State Park the first night, which was really beautiful, but packed, and got a cheap hotel the second night. We live in a section of OR that is high desert, so it is dry and brushy, and well, deserty. West of the Cascades OR is green and lush. It was a gorgeous drive with great views of the mountains as well.

When we first got to the coast it was cooler out (the highs were in the 50's and 60's), but sunny. Our second two days were overcast, so we didn't have as great of views, but it was still nice. It looks warm in this picture because of the blue skies, but it was chilly and really windy! We got to see some guys kite boarding and wind surfing, which was cool. They were wearing full wet suits! i hear the oregon coast water is never warm.

Beverly Beach State Park, OR

Part of the rocky coastline from Yaquina Head "Outstanding Natural Area." This is the headland where an old, but currently functioning light house is. It juts almost a mile out to sea!

We ended up at Yaquina Head at low tide, which was cool because we got to explore the tide pools. These are sea anenomies...I called them "green nasties" because, although they look cool when they are open like this, they are nasty looking when they fold in their light green tentacles...kind of like a green nasty blob.

A bed of muscles.

the coastline from Yaquina Head

The lighthouse at Yaquina Head.

a starfish in a tide pool.

Sorry about the sideways picture, but I was taking them directly off the camera, so it wouldn't let me turn it. I know it's annoying to view them sideways. But, this is a fresnel lense at the top of the lighthouse. In the late 1800's it cost $11,000 and was shipped from France!

A view down the lighthouse stairs.

fishing boats in the harbor.

We had been walking to dinner in the "historic bayfront" and could hear sea lions barking, but couldn't see them. We wandered out onto this deck and bam - there they were, right below us! It was really cool! This one was posing for everyone :).

There were a bunch of them...

It was a really cool trip...not too overdone, but enough sight-seeing and relaxing to make it just right. We are not huge beach people, but it was a great time to see a part of OR that we hadn't seen yet, and there was enough stuff to explore that it made it fun. If you ever have a chance to get to the coast, it's totally worth it!

Friends and Family

2009-04-27T17:42:00.009-05:00

Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be one year to the day that Mark and I took the first steps of our thru-hike of the PCT - a journey that would take us 4.5 more months to complete. It's incredible to me that it has already been a year since we started that adventure. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were hiking. I took off of work this past weekend so that Mark and I could go to the PCT Kickoff Weekend, which marks the official beginning of the PCT thru-hiking season. It's essentially a big party, with vendors, current hikers, past hikers, seminars, food, and all things for long-distance backpacking. We didn't get to go last year because of timing, so we thought we'd go this year to reconnect with people we hiked with last summer.

Needless to say, it didn't work out (again), but I still had this long weekend off and a free flight to use. It wasn't long until I figured out that friends from college were going to be visiting some other friends in the Quad Cities, so I jumped on the chance to go. Mark decided to stay behind to be available for job interviews, so a few days ago, I headed out alone to see friends and family.

I got to stay with Mark's parents while in the QC's. It was fun to get to see them and catch up on life in person! They were also very generous in letting me borrow a car to visit friends, etc. The funny part about this picture is that we decided to take the picture at night instead of in the morning before I left, so I have pj bottoms on, but changed into a sweater to make it look better for the picture!

Julie was visiting from Michigan, along with Steve B (not pictured). It was super fun, but I think we tired amber out since she's got a new little baby who keeps her up at odd hours of the morning :).

Amber and Lincoln. I just love how she keeps track of his pacifier!

Aimee is just one of four friends that had babies in the past 6 months. Elijah is 5 months old!

Kate is due with her second...and she just so happened to have her shower the weekend I was here! It was really fun to get to connect with so many great friends!

Babies galore! Elijah, Lincoln, and Oliver.

Virginia and Oliver...he's tiny because he was born 6 wks early!

Libby...she didn't have a baby (one of the few), but we got to catch up over coffee.

I wasn't so great with pictures, so I didn't get pictures of Stephanie and her son Will, Steve B, or Liz. There are always more people to see than there is time for, but I had a great time squeezing in time where I could. It was just so nice to get to reconnect with so many people that I miss and love, but I am looking forward to seeing mark again tomorrow! Off again to battle the airlines...

Winter Camping

2009-04-07T16:03:00.014-05:00

We had planned an overnight winter camping trip with our friends, Ryan and Stephanie, at least a month ago. We just got lucky that when the days rolled around to go, it was the two nicest days, not only of the week, but of the year so far. It has been snowing a week or so before, so there was plenty of snow on the ground, but our days were bright, sunny, and warm. It was probably 50-60 degrees, but the sun made it feel even warmer. Mark and I snowshoed, and Stephanie and Ryan are telemarkers, so they skinned in. We chose a destination that wasn't too far away, about 3 miles or so from the car, but you would have thought we were miles from anything. It was beautiful and so much fun!

Mark, Jess, Ryan, Stephanie

Our view as we headed out from the sno-park. On the left is South Sister; the little bump in the middle is Middle Sister, and on the right is Broken Top.

Mark and Ryan headed down the trail.

This is what happens when you try to walk backwards in snowshoes without stepping carefully :)

When the snow isn't here, this is a bathroom like you'd find in a campground. It gives you an idea of how much snow we are standing on.

We stopped for a break right around Todd Lake, and apparently these birds are accustomed to people. Mark put a tiny piece of a chip in his hand and the bird came right over and took it, but not without posing for a picture first!

Our camp near Todd Lake, with Mt. Bachelor in the background.

Surprisingly, we weren't too cold...we had enough warm clothes. "Big Pink" kept me nice and toasty.

It did get cold at night, and since we were kind of in a little valley, some fog settled in overnight, leaving a pretty frost layer on everything.

The fog.

Our view of Broken Top after climbing the ridge behind our camp the next morning. We thought about climbing it, but didn't have enough time. Another day...

Ryan and Stephanie got to ski down the ridge while Mark and I slugged down on our snowshoes.

R & S have a kite like you would use for kite boarding, so we brought it along for something to do at camp.

Headed back to the car the next day. We were roasting, and if I could show you my face now, it would be a pretty shade of red, even with 50 spf sunblock :).

Dixie

2009-03-24T16:34:00.002-05:00

Dixie is one of the sweetest and most loyal customers that we have in the coffee shop I work in. She comes in almost every day and spends her days knitting. She says she's addicted. Everyone loves seeing her and know exactly what she likes to drink and eat. Chatting with her, however brief, just makes you smile.

A co-worker of mine is having a baby in a week or two, and Dixie vowed to make her something special for the baby. And even though I am NOT pregnant (just to make that clear), she decided to make me something for "when that day comes." :) Just the other day she showed up with a beautifully wrapped package that when opened, bore these wonderful gifts: a little knitted hat and a pair of socks, made lovingly with baby-soft yarn.

They are very cute and very well-done. They look like they could have been bought in a store. It's such a strange sensation owning baby clothes! It's the way it feels when you are single or dating to think forward to being married. That's how I feel/think about having a baby. I want to do that, but not quite yet...but it's still exciting to think about, especially now that I have clothes for him/her (well, at least his/her feet and head will be warm!).

But, the socks/hat are not the point. My real reason for posting was a tribute and thanks to Dixie for her skill and thoughtfulness. It's a reminder that the little things we do for others that may seem insignificant or are just an extension of yourself really do bless others and bring moments of joy.

Valentines Day

2009-02-15T16:24:00.007-06:00

For Valentines Day we decided that instead of spending a bunch of money on going out to eat, we would get creative. When we were in college I made Mark a white chocolate rasberry cheesecake from scratch and he loved it! So we decided to make one together for our celebration. Since Mark had to work on the 14th, we made it fri night together, and sat. while he was at work, I made the chocolate topping. We then enjoyed it together sat night after dinner! It turned out pretty good, except the center was still a little runny. It was definitely still fun and worth it! Yum!

We definitely need to think of some people to share this with....Not sure we should eat the whole thing :).

Bend is one of those places that has a festival for every season (and more!), and this week Winterfest was going on. It has concerts, food, and the Rail Jam. Fri night was skiing and sat night was snowboarding. So after dinner we headed down there and got there just in time to see the finals of the snowboarding contest. Some guys just got air, but many were doing 360's, 540's, and one guys even did a back flip/attemped a double backflip! It was fun to watch, and a band was playing nearby for entertainment. They even hauled in the snow to make the jumps!

If you can't tell, there is a guy in mid-jump just to the left of the light.

We weren't using a flash, so these are a bit blurry...but there is a guy on the rails.

Last, but not least, here we are, enjoying the festivities...all bundled up! It was in the upper-20's/lower-30's, so it was pretty cold. We had on a ton of layers, but it was definitely fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

Wakeboarding? Surfing? Wakesurfing?

2009-01-29T21:01:00.008-06:00

Mark is a snowboard instructor this season, and as part of their job, they are encouraged to attend a number of different clinics that will help them improve on their riding skills. The clinics include things like riding switch (the opposite foot forward than you normally ride), waxing and fixing your board, jumps, and helps for your teaching certification, etc. It just so happens that the most recent clinic was more of a fun one, but still applicable to your riding skills because it worked on balance and coordination. There is a place in Sunriver, which is a resort community about 20 minutes away, called Mavericks. It's a health club, but one thing it features is a wave machine that you can sort of surf on. The board is much smaller...more like a longboard skateboard than anything else. The water shoots out of the bottom over a structure reminiscent of a wrestling-mat, and creates a wave-like formation that you can glide over on a board. If you fall, you are inevitably swept up and over the top and onto a platform. I went to watch and take pictures.

The falls were fun, but sometimes scary to watch. Mostly the reaction from the crowd was something like "Ohhhhh! Ouch! Did you see that??" People were doing summersaults off the board (not on purpose) and belly flops, and anything else you could imagine. Most people we saw the following day had a sore neck. But all agreed it was totally worth it.

The progression for most people went something like this:

Slide into water, fall immediately.

Slide into water, wobble for a few seconds, fall.

Slide into water, and wobble for longer, fall.

Slide into water, and finally glide up and down the "wave."

Eventually, most who stuck with it were able to stay up for a bit longer by the end. Mark did an awesome job! By the end, he was staying up for quite awhile, but his comment was, "as soon as I tried to do any sort of turns, I fell!" It's a progression, folks.

Our friend, Cameron, "dismounting."

Our friend, and neighbor, Charlie, on his way down.

Mark...lookin good :).

I tried to post some videos, but they weren't loading. I will try again another day. One of the snowboard instructors is also a professional wakeboarder, so he was pretty good. Then, the guys that worked there got into show off. They made it look so easy!

Corresponding

2009-01-27T21:49:00.002-06:00

Probably about a year ago, when Mark and I were planning our hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, I suggested an article on our trek to the editor at the Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispach that I periodically wrote for (also over Radish Magazine). He told me to get back to him once we hiked the trail; I did, and just last Sunday (the 25th), it was published in the travel section. If you are interested in checking it out, click here.

Update

2008-12-28T14:59:00.003-06:00

Mt. Bachelor is the local ski resort, and we were lucky enough to move here when they were beginning their hiring process for the winter season. We have always thought it would be fun to work at a ski resort (last year we almost took jobs at Vail Resort in CO). When we passed up the Vail jobs, we thought we may be passing up this opportunity all together, so we were excited to find out that we might get jobs at Bachelor. Unfortunately, because of the state of our economy, they had an overwhelming amount of applications...way more than normal. Mark just recently got a job as a snowboard instructor at Bachelor, which is very cool, because he gets a free season pass. I didn't want to wait around, so I ended up getting a job at a book store/coffee shop and a seasonal job at Bath and Body Works. I also just recently took a "holiday on-call" (read: week-long) job at Bachelor selling tickets. Not only do I get paid, but I get a free day lift ticket for each day I work. It's pretty nice. I'll take a free day of riding any time!

We are enjoying Oregon a lot though. It has been snowing a ton, and we definitely had a white Christmas. Because our families are in the midwest and our jobs wanted us around for the holidays, we stayed here. I would have guessed one or both of us would have actually had to work on Christmas day, but luckily, both of us were off and we got to spend the day together, relaxing and gearing up for the days ahead.

We found a church we like, and are looking forward to getting to know people and getting more involved. They have this great 5 minute break between the music and the sermon where parents take their kids to their classes. The rest of us get to chat with those around us, and we have met some great people in that 5 minutes. We even got invited to a Christmas party by a couple and we really had a great time! So, it's taking time, but we are getting involved and figuring out what life for us will look like here. It's definintely not all neat and tidy, but it's slowly but surely shaking out to be what we (and God) would have it be.

East of Eden

2008-11-24T18:50:00.002-06:00

Just a couple days ago I finished reading Steinbeck's East of Eden for the second time, and as soon as I read the last word I wanted to start over again. If you haven't read this book, it is the book he felt he had been waiting his whole life to write. It is loosely based on his family history as well as the Biblical story of Cain and Abel and explores the themes of good and evil and generational sin ("it's in your blood"). I am partly smitten by this book simply because it took place in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. It is a time in history that I have always been fascinated by, I think, because the way of life was so different than now, and in the big scheme of things, it wasn't that long ago. But apart from the historical insight, Steinbeck is one of those writers who has incredible insight into the human psyche and nature that makes me really stop and ponder as I read. It's a long book and there's so much to it, that I really just want to keep reading it over and over.

A friend/professor of ours from college has done several reading/discussion groups with this book, and I only wish I had been around to be a part of one. He is currently just starting in on reading the whole of Steinbeck's work, which I would hope to do one day as well. East of Eden is definitely at the top of my list of all-time favorite books and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a book that is a great novel, but one that will really make you think. Just last night I started in on A Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters, which is the journal/notes Steinbeck kept while writing the novel. I hope it will be an interesting read with insight into his thought process and writing process.

I'd love to hear any thoughts from others who have read the book...

Things I Want To Do in Life

2008-11-17T17:59:00.003-06:00

I decided that I wanted to be better at making things from scratch. I get tired of all the hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and other unnatural ingredients in all my foods. When we got to Oregon, I made a list of things I wanted to learn to do at some point in my life. A few of the domestic-type things were: make bread, learn to sew (I once learned this, but haven't done it in so long, I would be relearning this once-common activity), can (fruits, vegetables, etc), plant a vegetable garden, and grow my own herbs to use fresh and/or dry them for later use.

So since we live 10 steps from the library, I decided to pick up a few books on baking bread. I found one called, "The Bread Bakers Apprentice." It is pretty in-depth; I had to learn a whole new language to really understand it all, but I decided to give it a whirl. It took me two days.

Day 1, I made what is called a soaker and a poolish. Basically, some flour, grains, water, yeast that had to sit overnight.

Day 2, I made the bread. There was a lot of specifics of how long to knead it, let it rise, divide, rise, bake.

As you can see from the picture above, I ended up with two, whole-wheat loaves that were really yummy! I was really proud of my first bread-baking attempt and turns out it was really fun! It's so cool to eat bread that wasn't bought in a store, but that I made in my own kitchen. I can't wait to try the next kind!

Oregon Locals

2008-11-02T22:28:00.007-06:00

This is us as we are getting ready to leave for Oregon. Yes, cheesy, I know. This should be a picture of us already in OR; however, our camera is still packed away in a box in the minivan. Thus, all you get right now is a picture of us in Mark's parent's garage :).

We loaded up Mark's parent's minivan and our car, and headed out for at 27 hour drive cross-country. We spent a night with friends in York, NE because there were "blizzard-like conditions" in western Nebraska. Our second night was spent with a friend we met in SD, Jonathan Elliot. The air force had just assigned him to a base in Utah, and it just so happened to be on our way. We had a great time getting to spend time with people we hadn't seen in awhile, and it made the trip a lot easier to break it up. Did you know that ther's absolutely NOTHING in Western Nebraska, Wyoming, and most of Utah? Eastern Oregon doesn't have much either, and even though there isn't much there, it's absoulutely beautiful! Day three, we finally arrived at our destination.

Since we couldn't get into our apartment for a few weeks (which later fell through), the parents of our friend, Aaron, were generous enough to let us stay in their little guest house that is behind their home just outside of town. This is where we've been for the last week.

Our time has been spent looking for apartments (since the first one fell through AFTER we got here), and jobs. Applications are out to a few places, and a few more will go out still, and then we just wait, pray, and hope that things fall into place.

Why did we choose Oregon? We had visited Aaron and Annie on a past vacation and really enjoyed the city. Then, when we hiked the trail, we stopped by again, and since we didn't have any commitments to a location when we were done hiking, we decided to move back here. We've lived in the Midwest our whole lives, and yet we are in love with the mountains. It was time for us to try living in and near them. And so, here we are. Giving it a whirl. Our hope is to take advantage of the beauty and adventure that is at our fingertips out here: hiking, biking, snowshoeing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, winter camping...mountains to climb and wilderness to explore. And in between, I guess we'll have to go to work :).

Want to come visit?

California pt 1::Mexico to Kennedy Meadows

2008-10-19T17:53:00.021-05:00

We were in CA for 3 of the 4.5 months, so there are quite a few CA pictures. Hope it's not too many! Enjoy!

Here we are in the QC Airport before we left for the trip.

This is the Monument that at the Mexican border. The metal wall you see behind us is the border! See how nice and shiney and clean we are?

A view looking down the dirt road that the border patrol uses to...well...patrol the border.

Jess touching the wall.

These signs aren't along the whole trail...just at mile 1.

Our first campsite, just off the trail. This night we had 37 illegal immigrants walk by us!

Most of the nights in the desert we just slept out. It never rained, so we didn't really feel the need to use our tarp.

A great view of the brushy desert mountains.

We set up our tarp for shade one day in the desert during a break.

These cactus flowers were my favorites.

Eagle Rock. No question why it got it's name! It's a natural formation.

Here is what our typical desert trail looks like.

The biggest pine cones (and heaviest!) I've ever seen!

Our hotel in Idyllwild. This was our first of three places where we made up our protein shakes to mail ahead. I think we each made about 50!

This is how we got our water along the way...then we treated it with bleach to kill, what Mark's grandma called, "skeegleweegles." :)

We had just descended 6-7,000 ft down to the desert floor. It was HOT here. Behind us, you can see Mt. San Jacinto at over 10,000 ft. We were trying to squeeze ourselves into the shade by this boulder.

We hiked nearly 200 miles only to have our first bear be in a cage. This bear will be trained and used in movies.

The biggest rattler we saw.

Mark is sitting in the Deep Creek hot springs. The water behind him is cold from the creek and the water he's in is from the hot springs.

I had to include a picture of a horney toad because Mark took TONS of pictures of them before we got this good one!

We walked through several ski resorts, so we decided to get our picture taken on the lift!

Mark is an Eagle Scout, so we had to get his picture on the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (he's the founder of the Boy Scouts). We only had to walk 1/3 of a mile out of the way and a couple hundred feet up to get here from the trail.

Another view of the desert mountains.

Vasquez Rocks State Park, near Agua Dulce, CA.

The most famous trail angels on the whole trail are the Saufley's, who run Hiker Heaven.

A brushy desert view.

500 Miles!!

We saw this in a field as we walked near a ranch.

As we walked the desert floor through the Mojave, we found shade under a Joshua Tree.

This was a burn area, but was more what we would have expected the desert to be like.

In Souther CA, especially around the town of Mojave, there were thousands of wind turbines everywhere!

A water cache in the desert. We were VERY thankful for these!

This was the windiest day of the whole trip. We could barely walk straight the wind was blowing so hard!

Sleeping out...look, I'm journaling!

At the Post Office in Onyx, CA. This is our bounce box sprawled all over (the box we sent continually up the trail to ourselves).

A sunset. This is where we first started noticing the mountains getting bigger as we got closer to the High Sierra.

California Pt 2:: High Sierra to Oregon Border

2008-10-19T15:35:00.052-05:00

At Kennedy Meadows, the enterance to the High Sierra, we had to pick up our ice axes (in the aptly shaped box in Mark's hands) and our bear barrels...those wonderful black containers that weigh 2.5 lbs empty.

This fire had kept previous hikers from walking through. We heard this part of the trail was okay to walk through, but then we saw this smoke. There were still a few fire fighters around and a few rangers montering it, and a few days later it started back up (after we were long past it, we could see the smoke rising from a ridge behind us).

A view from the climb up Mt. Whitney. The lake on the right is named Guitar Lake.

Here we are on the summit of Mt. Whitney, 14,495 ft, the highest point in the lower 48 states.

We were always excited to see a way across the creeks that didn't involve us getting our feet wet, whether it was a bridge, a log, or rock hopping.

Forester Pass is the highest point on the official PCT at 13,200 ft. Mt. Whitney is a side hike.

Mark at Forester Pass.

The Kearsarge Pinnacles.

We did a side hike out over Kearsarge Pass to resupply in Independance, CA. We stayed at a hotel in Bishop, CA, which had a grill we could use. A bunch of us bought some food at a local grocery and Wiz Kid offered to grill it up for us.

Jess postholing (sinking into the soft snow) as she descends Glen Pass.

Climbing up steep Mather Pass. This is the only pass we used our ice axes on.

One of the many incredible views in the Sierras.

I had lasik done a month before we left, so I got to put these wonderful eye drops in 6-8 times a day!

Beside Evolution Lake, just after Muir Pass.

Just after crossing Evolution Creek. It is one of the top two creeks that have the reputation of being the worst crossings. This year, it wasn't too bad. In 2005 when we hiked the JMT, it was roaring white water.

Mark admiring the view from Seldon Pass.

One stop is at Vermillion Valley Resort. There is a ferry that shuttles you across Lake Edison so that you don't have to walk the 5 or so extra miles in. The lake was so low this year that they hadn't gotten the ferry in yet and were using these small fishing boats.

Mark crossing a creek.

One of the best views we had one a break: Lake Virginia. Isn't it postcard-esque?

Snowplant.

For about 14 miles, the PCT and JMT split. The JMT goes down by Shadow Lake, nestled under Banner and Ritter Peaks (shown above).

Thousand Island lake.

Jess and JZ as we head down from Donahue Pass.

All the snow had melted out except this small ridge of snow on the trail. If you slip down the right side, you fall between the snow and the rock; if you slid down the left side, you landed in a white water creek. Luckily it wasn't a long walk!

Crossing the 1000 mile mark!

We camped high on this rocky ridge a few miles short of Sonora Pass. We had to clear a space in the rocks to sleep!

One of our last views of big snowy mountains.

Mark in a field of Mule's Ear flowers.

Aloha Lake in the Desolation Wilderness.

These were some of the wierdest and coolest "flowers" we saw on the trail.

After we hitched around a forest fire, a crew of us ended up sitting on this patch of lawn outside a grocery store for a few hours in Chester, CA.

A boiling Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

The only Mountain Lion we saw on the whole trip was dead and frozen in a locker. A forest service guy offered to show it to us. It had been hit by a car.

Burney Falls in Burney Falls State Park.

One of the many incredible flowers along the way.

Squaw Valley/Creek. (one of two along the way).

This is where Mark ended his hike with Coach in 2003. We had to hitch at the on-ramp to I-5 to get to Mt. Shasta (the city).

Castle Crags State Park.

Oh, my wonderful heat rash. We figured out later that it was from my pants that had a chemical in them called Buzz Off that was an insect repellant. It worked pretty well at keeping away bugs, but when it was hot out, gave me a rash all over my legs.

It wasn't very often we had to sleep on the trail, but this day we had hiked 32 miles to a spring and were dead tired. So, up the tents went on the trail. As you can see, it's not the best campsite ever.

This is Billy Goat. He is a famous hiker, who lives on the trail nearly year round. He is retired and loves hiking so much, he finds trails to hike most of the year. The LA times featured an article on him. To read, click here.

This is what most of northern California looked like...smokey haze from all the forest fires.

We hadn't seen snow for awhile, and then we came around a corner to see this big pile of snow!

A great old car in Etna, CA. We figured it was just an old car sitting around, and later we saw it driving around town!

We ran into some cavers who took us into this cave near Marble Valley.

This was the worst day of smoke on the whole trail. We walked with bandanas over our faces for awhile. We were pretty much whited-out for a good chunk of the day.

We would often wash out our shirts, socks, etc in creeks when we could...especially if it was hot out. Mark actually dove into this creek...it was VERY cold water! Notice the great hiker tan he has on his arms and legs!

A view at the top of the incredibley long climb out of Seiad Valley, CA.

In Northern CA we would often come across cows. Not sure how it all works, but ranchers let their cows wander and graze in the mountains. Unfortunately, it meant that the water sources were often contaminated by cow pies...one good reason to treat your water! We skipped those ones if possible.

Oregon

2008-10-07T11:58:00.023-05:00

California/Oregon border. Nothing too spectacular, but still exciting since we'd been in CA for 3 months or so!

Crater Lake, with Wizard Island behind us. We stealth camped on the rim, and got to see a spectacular sunset AND sunrise!

A sunburst.

Oh, the wonderful mosquitos that were with us for much of Oregon!

At Elk Lake Resort the ladies working the ice cream counter would bring us out the empty ice cream barrels and let us scrape them out with our spoons....yum!

Mark silhouetted on some volcanic rock.

The trail wound through some volcanic rock areas. It was a cool change of scenery, but at times it hurt your feet to walk over the chunks of rock used to make the trail.

These cairns marked the 2000 mile mark of the PCT.

You can see the burned trees behind the alive new trees. We walked through quite a few sections like this.

As we were going around Mt. Jefferson, we had one night with a thunderstorm that dumped hail and tons of rain on us in a span of 10 minutes. Since we had a tarp, the hail was bouncing in under the tarp!

Mark and Mt. Jefferson

rainbow

A sunset at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.

Ramona Falls. We had to take a short alternate route to see these falls, but it was definitely worth it!

We took the Eagle Creek Trail into Cascade Locks, and this trail boasts tons of beautiful waterfalls....this one is called Tunnel Falls because the trail goes through a tunnel bore into the rock behind the falls.

This sign wasn't for us, although Mark thought it was at first. There was a wedding at this hotel and the bride and groom had our names. We were bummed, though, that we didn't have a room waiting for us!

The city park in Cascade Locks, right on the Columbia River, that we were allowed to camp in for free.

People thought we were in the woods alone all the time, but for most of Northern CA, Oregon, and WA, we were hiking with a group of 8-10 people. It wasn't often we all actually hiked together (mostly we camped together), but at times, we ended up in a line like this.....

Washington and the Mop Up Tour

2008-10-07T10:55:00.027-05:00

Heading across the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River and into Washington.

Picking (and eating) Huckleberries...they were everywhere for awhile!

Crossing a glacial creek around Mt. Adams.

Walking the Knife's Edge in Goat Rocks Wilderness. The drop on either side of the ridge is a couple thousand feet!

Mt. Rainier

Just north of Snoqualmie Pass.

Amazing View.

Cruisin', Boomer, Flippy, JZ, AntFarm, Swiffer, and Eric in front of the Dinsmore's home in Skykomish, WA. The Dinsmore's are trail angels. This was saying goodbye to JZ and Boomer, who we'd hiked with for a long time. They had to jump ahead to finish in Canada and make their flights.

We saw 1 bear on the whole trip. Then we hit Glacier Peak Wilderness and saw 4 in one day! This is one of them!

Glacier Peak

Climbing under one of the many blowdowns in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Floods and storms in Nov 03 messed up the trail. They had instituted a reroute, and this was the first year most hikers were walking the real PCT route. There was a section of about 2-3 miles where the blowdowns were huge and abundant.

Another blowdown tangle we had to navigate.

Crossing the Suiattle River via log. The bridge was washed out in the Nov 03 floods. This was the crossing that made us most nervous since the Suiattle isn't really something you can ford, but it ended up not being as scary as we thought it might be, and we made it across safe and sound.

Stehekin is the last trail town before the border. It is also only accessable by hiking in or taking a 55 mile ferry up Lake Chelan from the town of Chelan.

another great view.

Our last camp at Woody Pass, the night before we hit the border. Also where the bear came nosing around Flippy's tent at 3am. Luckily Mark and Flippy scared him away easily.

Hopkins Lake.

At the Monument and end of the trail! Notice the clearcut of the US/Canadian border behind us.

Another monument picture.

Manning Park Lodge. After you end the trail, you have to hike 8 more miles into Canada to get to civilization of some kind. Here you can catch a Greyhound to Vancouver and then back to the US.

This guy lives in Etna, CA, and he had fun showing off his bikes to us. He built these himself from several bike frames. He has several different bikes like this, and rides around town on them. We were back in town here to hike the 24 miles we had missed earlier in the hike due to a fire.

The skies around Etna the first night were ominous. Luckily it only sprinkled on us a bit.

On our second leg of the Mop Up Tour, we hiked out of Sierra City, CA and up around Sierra Butte. Very pretty.

Ironically, we found this post at the end of our trip. It says, "PCT Midpoint," and Mark spent a few minutes reading the other few entries and writing our own, last, journal entry.

This is the last picture we took on our camera before it broke on us :). We are at Hwy 36, where we just reconnected our steps and finished the last fire section. Woohoo!

Mop Up Tour Complete!!

2008-10-01T18:16:00.002-05:00

We walked the 3.7 miles to Hwy 36 relatively quickly. It was a gentle descent, and then an ever so brief climb back up to the road. We hit the road, cleaned ourselves up a bit, and walked over to a PCT sign to take a few pictures our our glorious finish. We took a couple, and just as we went to take one last picture, the words, "System Error" popped up on our camera screen. Our camera had been temperamental since northern California, and we had considered trying to get a new one along the way. We hadn't, and it had held out til the end. The very end. We took our final pictures and it went and died. Well, we think it died. We need to play with it a bit more to make sure. We are still hopeful that it will kick back in after some rest, but even if it died, that camera went the distance. It traveled with Mark around the world, went on several smaller trips, and then walked the PCT with us. It was a trooper.

We started hitching around 9:30am. The goal was to hitch Hwy 36 west to the town of Red Bluff, and then have our friend, Amanda, come and pick us up. We would be staying with them again in Redding for a day or so. It took 45 minutes before we got our first ride. The guy was only going about 5 more miles down the road and then turning off, but we figured any distance was better than nothing, so we hopped in. He dropped us off at an intersection with Hwy 32. There wasn't TONS of traffic, but there was enough, and plenty of people who could have given us a ride. It was getting close to noon when we finally gave up, tired from standing in the hot sun, and decided to walk down the road a ways, away from that wretched intersection.

I don't know if it was the look of desperation in my eyes or the fact that Mark threw up his arms in frustration that made them turn around; maybe it was simply a change of heart or conversation that was had between them, but we were picked up shortly after noon by a very nice couple on vacation. They were headed up into Lassen National Park, and they gave us a ride to the tiny little town of Mineral, 18 miles down the road. We were famished, and decided to refuel by eating some cheeseburgers before heading back out to the road.

As we were getting ready to leave (and I dreading this process that could take hours again), we saw another couple at a table nearby getting up as well. We scooted out the door and began walking across the parking lot just as they were driving our way. I stuck out my thumb and smiled at them, and they pulled over immediately and offered us a ride. I was so happy! They were headed to Red Bluff, so it was the last ride we would have to hitch for. Woohoo! I don't think we had ever had a hitch that took that long on our whole entire hike. Hwy 36 just wasn't a hiker friendly area...at least not in September.

Wes and Judy dropped us at a McDonalds, and soon after Amanda and Finn, her baby, showed up to escort us back to Redding. It was so nice to be in the company of friends, and to know that we were at the end of our travels and near-homelessness. We had another great night chatting with them and playing with Finn before retiring to a great nights rest in, yes, a bed :).

What a journey.

Total Miles:1335.8

Miles Today: 3.7

Camp 147: Stonehouse's - Redding, CA

Absolute Last Full Day on the Trail

2008-10-01T17:43:00.003-05:00

We woke up at Cold Springs and took it easy getting going. We had planned on going only only 23.5 miles today, a relatively easy day. The walking was easy in the morning, and by our first break, about 2 hours flat, we had walked 6.8 miles, and I started to wonder if we would be able to make it all the way to Hwy 36 tonight. It would only add on 3.7 miles, but with our late start, we started to wonder if we could make it by dark. I had started thinking about the possibility of getting a shower tonight, and that alone spurred me on and got me hiking fast. It had been so dusty in this little "mop up tour," and even though I was wearing pants, the dust would go up the pant leg and coat my legs in dirt. They were almost dirtier than if I had been wearing shorts! We had ducked in and out of Belden pretty quickly due to the rave (no shower or laundry), and all this together made me excited for a shower.

As the day went on, the skies started to darken and it started to look like it might rain on us. It was kind of sad, since we had had blue skies since a day out of Skykomish, and California had been no different. It would have been ironic that our very last day of hiking would include rain.

We continued our climb up to what was called "Junction to Butt Mountain Summit Trail." Butt Mountain? Really? Did they let an elementary aged child, or for that matter, a college kid, name this peak? It didn't even look like a butt. We had to laugh a little, but decided it was probably some poor guys last name rather than a reference to an anatomical part of the human body.

At some point we began hiking as fast we we could, not to escape the rain, but to see if we could make it into town by dark. We took a brief pause at a post we came upon that said, "PCT Midpoint." It was funny to hit this point since we didn't know any marker like this existed, but also because it was the end of our hike. We read and signed the journal that was there, took a few pictures, and continued our mad haul for the highway. As we pulled away from the midpoint, a few drops decided to fall on us, but in the end, it amounted to nothing.

At some point we realized we needed a break and sat down to rest our weary legs. We decided to make some phone calls to see if we could gauge the prices on hotels to even see if it was worth going in. After several calls, we realized the price was going to be higher than we wanted to pay, and we relaxed a bit. At this point, we only had a mile and a half to go to our campsite, and it was early.

We reached our campsite at Soldier Creek Springs, and took our time setting up camp and washing as much of the dirt off our feet and legs as possible. The water was ice cold, so my feet were the only thing that got clean. After Mark was done, he looked like he had just jumped in, he was so clean! I was amazed at his tolerance. I fully expected it to rain, and possibly rain hard all night, but the skies held back their fury and we stayed dry as a bone.

It was our absolute last night on the Pacific Crest Trail, and that was a welcome thought mixed with a bit of nostalgia. It was a wierd feeling knowing that we wouldn't wake up and hike in the following days, all day, every day. Our way of life was changing, but we were ready for that change. In just a few short days we would be back in the Midwest, seeing family and friends, and eating foods that didn't have the word "granola" or "trail mix" or "pop tart" in them :). It was a nice feeling. Tomorrow we would reconnect our steps, and the trek would truly be finished.

Total Miles:1332.1

Miles Today: 23.5

Camp 146: LAST LAST Night on the Trail

September 28:Last BIG Climb

2008-09-30T23:11:00.001-05:00

We woke up to the sound of music still pulsing loudly from the speakers across the road/river.
It had gone on all night with no breaks, and I was amazed to still see people dancing and milling around the resort. How do they do it? One guy was even going nuts on the trampoline, flipping all over the place and throwing in some break dancing moves for variety.

We walked to the rest stop nearby where we camped and sorted through our food and packed up. Other people who stopped at the rest stop to use the bathroom seemed amazed at the music and the scene across the river as well. One guy even muttered, "So much for getting out into nature!"

About 9:30am we headed up the trail and began the 4600 ft climb that would be our last big climb of the trail. Once we got up high here, we would stay high. Luckily this climb was spread out over 15 miles or so, and it made the climb more bearable.

We had read in our notes that the trail had been rerouted around some slides, but it was a brief mention with no indication of where or how many reroutes there were. We were mid-climb, and hit a spot where the trail split. Our maps indicated that we should go up (while the other split went down), but someone had put some logs across the up portion of the trail, which usually indicates that i's not the PCT. We wondered if this was a reroute area, but there were no markings, so instead of heading downhill, we took the high trail. Our first indication that this was not our trail anymore should have been the massive overgrowth that made it near impossible to navigate. But we kept at it until it just ended at a major washout, causing us to turn around and take the reroute downhill and across a stream. It was good because we knew for sure we were on the right track, but it cost us 30 min or so. Luckily it was the only reroute; since we didn't have a map for this, it took us awhile!
before we knew exactly where we were on the map again. I am thankful, once again, that the PCT is well traveled and maintained. In those moments of uncertainty, it is almost always easy to follow...unless you hit a meadow where the trail is lost in the tall grasses, which is what happened soon after. Here I was thankful to those who went before us andput rock cairns in the meadow to mark the way.

We camped near a gravel road at Cold Springs, a wonderfully gushing piped spring. It was easy to fall asleep after a long day of climbing. Earlier, before we left Belden we had finally thrown away our makeshift, garbage bag pack covers because the skies had been blue this whole section. Mark even said the famous last words, "It won't rain today." So of course the skies let a few droplets fall in retaliation to that comment. It was only a few, andit lasted for maybe 10 minutes. The tarp was dry in the morning.

Only one full day left of hiking from here!

Total Miles:1308.6
Miles Today:19.3
Camp145:Glad the Climb is Over

September 27:Belden Town Resort

2008-09-30T23:10:00.008-05:00

This is how some previous thru-hikers described Belden in one of our note guides: "Belden is creepy;" "My opinion of Belden is that it is a haven for hard drug/alchol abuse;" "This place sucks." So needless to say, we were interested to see what it was like.

We had a somewhat longer day to get into this "town," but the trail looked good in our notes, so we figured we could do it.

We had a pretty smooth day but for one small glitch. There was one point where the trail hit a "shady glen" where the trail shot left. At the same moment, we went around a downed tree, and followed what we thought was our trail to the right. It was wel worn, but soon became hard to follow through a meadow (filled with cows). Eventually it completely disappeared, and we decided to shoot left, knowing we had to run into it at some point. Luckily we ran into it within minutes, but we had already lost 20 min or so rooting around in the woods. A mile down the tubes.

Back on trail, we eventually began the crazy descent into Belden. We dropped 3000+ ft into the valley, and I was already dreading having to climb back out the next day.

Just as we were nearing the road we ran into three people (20's-ish) who seemed to be out for a stroll. They were dressed really strangely (costumes...I hoped), and they told us Belden, which is a resort town (7 local residents!) was rented out for a party this weekend. Interesting. We wondered what this would mean for us since we no place else to go.

We hit the road and walked for a inute or two and started seeing cars and hearing music. The North Fork Feather River runs through the valley and it was lined with tents for three quarters of a mile.

Then we hit town.

More tents. Hundreds of people. Crazy costumes. Loud music. A guy came over to us and asked what we were up to. He explained that this was a Burning Man-esque party weekend. They were a "community of people who like to party." And we had walked into the middle of the Dr. Seuss party night. Hence the costumes. They had art all over, swing sets, a trampoline, a dance floor, a magician,and VERY loud music. It was pretty crazy. Everyone was super nice, and we were invited to stay and enjoy the festivities; being that we weren't into drugs and alcohol, we decided to hit the restaurant and store and find a place to camp.

We ended up heading across the highway near the trail and setting up camp there. We were more than thankful we had earplugs because the music was pumping LOUDLY all night. No joke. It never quit. Not once. Regardless, we slept surprisingly well and decided to sleep in a little in the morning before heading out and up.

Our consensus on Belden? Not really creepy, persay. Possibly a haven for hard drug and alcohol abuse, though. It's a place to walk through, but not a place you think, "We should go THERE for vacation."

Total Miles:1289.3
Miles Today:26.8
Camp 144:The Rave

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September 26:Lot of Down; Lots of Up

2008-09-30T23:10:00.007-05:00

We began our day knowing that it would be a unique day of hiking- not unique for the trail, but for most sections outside of the High Sierras. We would spend most of the morning descending 3000 or so feet down to the Middle Fork Feather River, and then climb back up 3300 ft and into the Bucks Lake Wilderness. There wasn't much variance outside of down, down, down...up, up, up.

It was a rather dry section, so we hauled 2-3 liters most of the day; it has been so dry that we could never be sure water would be where we were told it would be. Springs would be dry or just a wet mud spot on the trail; creeks would be nothing more than a rocky hollow we walk over. This has made the walking feel more like the SoCal desert, and we end up with water-heavy packs.

Not only did the descent take us back into poison oak territory, but there was also this unfriendly phenomena of tiny little flies that would hover around your face and kamikaze dive bomb your mouth, nose, and eyes. We quickly decided the headnet was worth it, and dug them from the recesses of our packs (ah, the good ol' days!). The headnet comes through again! Luckily they didn't bite; they were more annoying than anything. The other bonus is that since it's almost October, the poison oak was very dry and somewhat sparse. It was wierd to have it appear just over 4000 ft. I had gotten so used to it showing up at 1000 ft or so in Washington.

We hit the Middle Fork around lunch time and took a break on some rocks on the bank of the river. It was a nice respite from the face flies since they had no desire to follow us down to the water from the trail. The trail actually stays a little ways above the river and walks you across what the guidebook says is the "biggest equestrian (and hiker) bridge on the PCT." It's a pretty cool bridge, but in order to enjoy the water, you have to scramble down some rocks on a makeshift trail.

We began the climb up in the hot afternoon sun, cursing the weight of the water on our backs. It was a long, sometimes steep, cluimb up, and by the time we hit the top of the climb, just around dusk, we were beat. I didn't want to do anything but sleep- not eat, not journal, nada. So I didn't. I tried to eat my spaghetti, but after a couple bites, put it away and fell asleep pretty quickly, only waking up to roll over or throw out the ant that had crawled, not just into my sleeping bag, but into my shirt and up my arm. It's a creepy feeling when you're half asleep!

Total Miles:1262.5
Miles Today:24.7
Camp 143:Top-O-the-Climb

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September 25:Quincy-LaPorte Road

2008-09-30T23:10:00.005-05:00

We tanked up on water at Summit Lake because the miles ahead were dry and dusty. The trail continued to wow us with beautiful views and miles that, although weren't easy, weren't really hard either. It always amazes me, and it was no different here, how we can look at the data book and see descents, and the trail always manages to take you on a climb first. Oh the joys of knowing too much and having expectations because of it. :)

The other thing that stood out about today was the wind. It was WINDY! Not the strongest wind we've had yet, but constant, blow you sideways, hard to walk wind. Sometimes a little wind feels nice if it's warm out, but this was just a bit much. We had to try hard to find places we could take a break without all our stuff blowing all over!

Toward the end of the day we crossed Quincy-LaPorte Road. We had taken a dirt road the last mile there (it paralleled our trail and took us closer to the creek we were aiming for, eliminating backtracking). The reason this road even stands out to us at all is that it was the official beginning of the fire closure earlier in the summer. We could have hiked to this roiad, but it gets very little traffic and would have been a hard hitch (out and then back in later when we came back). It was fun being there and knowing we were heading into territory where very few thru-hikers had gone this year.

We camped a couple miles passed this road, clearing some sticks to make a space our tarp would fit in. Throughout the night we kept hearing the crunching noises of some animal moving around, but Mark made some noise and it ran off. We were pretty sure it was a deer by the sound of it's footsteps. Day two down, four to go!

Total Miles:1237.8
Miles Today:26.0
Camp 142:In the Sticks

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September 24:Back to Sierra City

2008-09-30T11:12:00.000-05:00

Jim and Jan were kind enough to offer to drive us to Sierra City, even though it was a two hour drive for them one way. We rolled into town at noon and had a great picnic lunch while we waited for the PO to open (they closed for lunch). About 3 months ago we had mailed ourselves a box of shakes and guidebook pages, and when we realized we were going to skip the section, we asked if we could have them hold it for a time. They had me write in big, bold letters with a red permenant marker, "Hold until July 30." Our plan was to call at the end of July and have them forward it to Cascade Locks, with full intentions of sending it back to them so we could pick it up when we came back to hike this section. For whatever reason they never forwarded it (we thought it was lost in postal no-mans-land), and it was still waiting for us when we showed up. Score.

We hit the trail at 1pm (in shorts and tshirts nonetheless!), and began the 2700 ft climb out of Sierra City. The bummer is that there was no water for 14 miles, so we lugged 3 liters of water each up the hill. Luckily the climb wasn't too bad, but the views of Sierra Butte and beyond were gorgeous! Awhile back another hiker (thru-hiker in 2007) wrinkled her nose and told me I wasn't missing anything in this section; boy was she wrong! The views have been incredibly beautiful so far. We have loved it!

Thus far the trail has been extremely dusty and dry. Many of the water sources are dried up by this time, and only the most reliable ones are still flowing. It's hard to judge how much to carry. We will probably just end up carrying way more than necessary just to make sure.

We hiked in about 14 miles to our first water source to camp. We made camp and slept better than we have in a long time. Hiking is starting to feel normal again...

Total Miles:1211.8
Miles Today:14.2
Camp 141:Summit Lake

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September 22-23:More In-Between

2008-09-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

Amanda dropped us at the bus station just in time to catch our bus to Truckee. We were to transfer buses in Sacramento and arrive in Truckee around 5pm.

If only it had worked out that way.

We only had a one hour layover in Sacramento, and we used the time to eat and make a few phone calls. Unfortunately the person making boarding calls sounded like the nanny on Muppet Babies ("waa waa waa waa"). Thus, we looked up just in time to see our bus pull away ON TIME. Can you believe it? A Greyhound left on time for once, and we missed it.

There were no other buses that were going to stop in Truckee until the morning, but the nice lady behind the desk worked her magic, and wahlah (how do you spell that?), she had the last bus to Reno stopping in Truckee for us! The bonus was that we didn't have to pay for another ticket. The downside was that we had to sit there for 4 hours bored to tears.

By the time we left, it felt like we had been there for days, but we were just happy to get on a bus (which, of course, did not leave on time).

We arrived in Truckee around 9pm and were picked up by Mark's relatives, Jim and Jan, who live on Lake Tahoe. We had tried to connect with them when we hiked through here before, but it hadn't worked out. We were excited to get to meet/know them a bit.

We spent the whole next day with them. They showed us around the area, and we enjoyed some great meals on their deck overlookong the lake. We also really enjoyed hearing about their adventures. They are two of the most active people we know; they are constantly hiking up mountains, kayaking, running, swimming, or playing tennis. They have also been into windsurfing! They asked tons of quwstions about our hike, and we had fun sharing our stories and expanding on what we've journaled about.

We were really thankful for their hospitality, generosity, and enthusiasm, and look forward to connecting with them again in the future!

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September 21:Redding, CA

2008-09-30T11:10:00.000-05:00

We woke up to the sound of a car driving by, heading up to the hiker's parking lot. We scrambled to peak out of the tarp as they drove back down, giving us a litle wave, and having no idea that we needed a ride out of the mountains.

We packed up, wanting to be ready in case another car happened by, but after an hour or so, we decided to walk a little ways. It was 7 miles down the road to a main road that would take us out to the highway. We didn't want to have to walk those 7 miles, but since we had no idea when anyone would be leaving, we decided to make some progress.

We walked a bit, sat in the sun a bit, and when two cars drove by in an hour, both going the wrong way, we got up to walk again. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be walking the 7 miles down to the main road.

After a couple more miles, we finally had a truck come our way, and we jumped in the back, happy to finally have a ride. They took us most of the way to the highway, but were turning off to head home. This is where it gets funny.

A pickup truck with three twentysomethings drove by, and 100 yrds down the road, turned around and secided to give us a ride "into town," as they put it. We hopped in the back with all their luggage, and were excited to find a big pillow to sit on. They dropped us at a gas station, and as they went to ask directions to wherever they were going, we walked out to the highway to see if we could get a ride. Guess who picks us up? Yep, the same pickup with the same comfy pillow. They were headed our way, and took us all the way to Yreka. We got a kick out of being picked up by he same car twice in a row.

At Yreka, they dropped us at another gas station. Here we would have to hitch on the on-ramp to the interstate. They drove off, and we hung around for a few minutes before walking over to the I-5 on-ramp. We stood there for maybe 5 minutes when who should appear but the same pickup truck. They pulled over, and we now learned that they were headed to Sacramento. Redding, where we were headed, was on the way, and they were happy to drop us there on their way by. We couldn't believe it! What are the odds off being picked up by the same people three times in a row? We laughed, thinking that this could only happen when riding in the back of a pickup, since we couldn't talk to anyone in the cab during the ride.

Our plan was to connect with Paul and Amanda in Redding for the night. Paul had been an RD at IWU when we were there, and they had also hiked the PCT in 2003, the same year Mark hiked with Coach. We had run into a couple from Scotland on the trail who had gotten the idea to hike from Paul and Amanda while they were doing some schooling in the UK. It was a random connection, but we were excited to connect with them and meet the new addition to their family, Finn.

We were dropped at yet another gas station, where Paul and Amanda picked us up. It was evident right away that they had been thru- hikers. They offered up all the things that thru hikers are looking for: showers, laundry, internet, food. They even asked the question, "Do you want some cotton to wear while you're here?" which is just another way of asking, "Do you want to wear something other than hiking clothes?"

We had a blast with them. It was fun hearing about their journey and the job Paul just started as a professor of Outdoor Leadership at a local university. It was fun sharing stories about the hike since they had an idea of what it is like. When we got there, they had no desire to really hike the desert sections they missed. By the time we left they were itching to throw Finn in a backpack and hit the trail. They were more than generous. It's amazing how previous thru-hikers are always excited for the chance to "pay it forward" and be trail angels to other hikers.

We topped off the night with dinner from the famous In-and-Out Burger and then we made homemade ice cream in this crazy contraption from REI. It was some of the best ever!

We had such a blast with them, and look forward to the possiblity of connecting with them again before we fly home!

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September 20:In the Marbles

2008-09-22T02:09:00.005-05:00

We woke up, ate breakfast, and then climbed out of the tarp to find ourselves in a cloud. We were surprised, because the night before was clear, and the dark clouds were high in the sky. It seemes fitting, and a bit ironic, because the last time we hiked part of this section we were whited out by smoke from the nearby fires. It felt like we would end up with no views of the Marble Mountains whatsoever, regardless of when we hiked it.

It was chilly, but by the afternoon, the clouds had started to break up a little, letting the sun peek through and warm us up a little.

It was really fun to get to see what all the hype was about. We had heard from so many others how beautiful these mountains were, and they were right! The rocky ridges and alpine lakes were incredible. We wove in and out of trees, but for the most part, the trail was rugged and rocky and hard on the feet.

We knew that giving our feet, knees, and legs 10 days off would make jumping back in a little hard. We were hoping that it wouldn't feel like starting over, which luckily it didn't. Our knees and feet screamed at us (we had tricked them into thinking we were done!) for making them walk all day again over such rugged terrain, but it served as a great warm-up for the longer section we still had to hike a bit farther south.

We rolled into Marble Valley in the late afternoon, excited to reconnect our steps for this first section of trail. We took a short break, and then headed down the Canyon Creek Trail that would take us the five miles down to the Lovers Camp Trailhead. My feet told me that I had walked 35 miles, when in reality we had only done 24.

We were hoping that there would be someone there that was heading down out of the mountains that we could snag a ride with. We figured our odds were pretty good since it was 1)a Saturday, and 2)opening weekend of hunting season. Unfortunately, we saw lots of cars but no people. This trailhead is pretty remote, but it seems like it gets a fair amount of traffic, so we weren't too worried.
We wandered down to the parking lot for cars pulling horse trailers and ran into two hunters hanging out by their camper. We chatted for a bit, and they let us sit in their camp chairs (luxury) and fed us some fruit and zucchini bread. They weren't leaving until the following afternoon, so once it got dark we wandered over to a nearby campsite and set up for the night. Our hope was for a ride from someone leaving in the morning. We slept well, section one of the mop up tour behind us.

Total Miles:1630.4
Miles Today:19.1 (+5 mi on Canyon Crk Trl)
Camp 137:Lovers Camp Trailhead

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September 19:Back to Etna, CA

2008-09-22T02:09:00.003-05:00

We were up and ready to go by 6:30am. We drove out of Bend and managed to stay gone this time :). The drive down Hwy 97 is beautiful, and we enjoyed the views of Mt. Shasta that were clearer than when we hiked through.

We hit Yreka around noon. When we returned our rental car, the lady working gave us a number to call, and we soon found out there was a bus to Etna that left in a couple hours. We jumped on that idea since it was cheap ($3.15/person) and more relaxing than hitching. Plus, we got to sit around for a couple hours in front of the Social Security office, which was also next door to the DMV. And who wouldn't want to do that? :)

At 3:30pm we found ourselves back in Etna. This time it was a bit more sleepy since there was no bluegrass festival happening and no other thru-hikers. There was a guy, however, riding a homemade bike that was a mixture of several bike frames welded together. The seat was at my face level, and he had to step up on a little bar before he could climb on the seat. He even had several of these, and after showing off one, he went to get a second one to show us. He even tried to hitch with us for a few minutes, with the intention of going to Etna Summit (the pass where the trail crosses the road into Etna) and coasting down. He gave up when our ride was only going a mile or so down the road.

We were dropped a litle ways down the road, outside of town, and were finally picked up by a guy who really had no room for us. The back of his pickup was overflowing with wood, so he bungied our packs to the roof rack and we jammed inside with him. Soon we were standing at Etna Summit.

It was a fun, yet wierd feeling being back in these places we'd been two months ago. It had a familiar feeling, yet it felt so different being here this time of year. We founf out that it was opening weekend of deer hunting season, which didn't excite us much. Luckily Mark has a bright orange rain coat we could bust out if needed. The upside is that there will probably be people at the Lovers Camp trailhead, where we would end.

We hiked in about 5 miles before making camp in a spot that was probably meant for one. The forecast called for PM Showers, and the skies were starting to look pretty nasty. We called it a night when it started to sprinkle, but all in all, it didn't rain more than a few sprinkles.

We had no mice, but there were some deer or elk that came by in the night that were easily shooed away by a shout. Other than that, it was a comfy, cozy night. A bit wierd to be back on the trail, but nice as well. it will be a nice warm up for the longer section ahead.

Total Miles:1611.3
Miles Today:5.0
Camp 136:Tight Squeeze

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September 10-18:The Time In-Between

2008-09-22T02:09:00.001-05:00

We finished the trail on the 9th and hopped on a bus to Vancouver the next morning. This is where we parted ways with Flippy, hopefully just for a short while. We were meeting up with our friend, Katie, whom we went to school with our freshman year at IWU and hadn't seen in a long time. Flippy was staying in a hostel and was heading back to Seattle the next day. We were hoping to connect again to hike the CA fire sections in a few days.

We stayed with Katie and her husband, Mark, for a couple nights; it was so fun to catch up with her and hear how life had been going for her the past few years. I also got to add her to the long list (and growing) of friends and family who are pregnant. To put it in perspective, I am one of two women (out of 7) from our home group in the Quad Cities who is not pregnant. There are also several others who have joined that club lately, but I am not one of them. Regardless, we had a lot of fun exploring Vancouver with Katie, and then hopped on another bus that took us to the Seattle area.

We stayed in a hotel (no mice!), and were picked up the next morning by a hiker friend named Old School. We had first met OS near White Pass in southern Washington, and had crossed paths with him again in Stehekin. He was only hiking Washington, and offered to give us a ride down to Bend, OR on his way back to CO. We took him up on his offer, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with him.

He is an avid biker, hiker, and sailor, so we enjoyed picking his brain on these subjects (well Mark did most of the picking since I slept a lot). He drives an awesome van that had a bed in the back and enough room for us to sleep on the floor, so that's what we ended up doing. The State Park near Bend was full, so we found a little pull-off near the river and slept there. After a brief stop into Starbucks in the morning, he was on his way to CO, and we were on our own.

Our friends in Bend were out of town for the day, so we spent our time in REI and just sitting around chillin' out. We ended up spending a few days in Bend since it has become a prospect for us to live in this next year. They were busy with family most of the time, but we had a blast cruisin' around town on their 1950-esque bikes (they are all the rage in Bend). Very fun.

We were planning on leaving on Thursday, driving (we rented a car) to Crater Lake, camping there, and then driving to Yreka, CA and hitching to Etna to hike. Well, on our way out of town we had a few quick stops to make, which should have taken us no more than an hour tops. The last of these stops was WalMart to pick up a couple prescriptions. When we got there, only one was ready, so we had to wait. Fine. I can handle waiting. But to spare you my ranting, we didn't leave WalMart for nearly 2 hours. Yes, it took THAT long. It was rediculous. REDICULOUS. But I'm over it :).

We left WalMart intending to drive a ways and camp, our dreams of Crater Lake left smashed on the floor of the WalMart pharmacy. We got 20 minutes down the road, and then I realized I had left my sunglasses in WalMart. Now the dilemma: do we go back for them? Is it worth it? since we weren't sure where we were going to camp, and it was almost dark, we knew we weren't getting far tonight. Luckily our drive was only 4-4.5 hrs total and could be made in the morning.

We ended up sucking up our pride and calling Aaron and Annie back up and asking if we could come back for the night. We felt horrible, but they obviously didn't care. So 4 hours after we left, we were back at their house and headed for the same bed we woke up in. Go figure. Well...we tried to leave. Really, we did...

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September 9:We Made It!!!

2008-09-10T10:07:00.007-05:00

Yes, we are in Canada!! We woke up 12 miles from the border, so we hiked the first 6 miles, took a break, and then 6 more miles put us at Monument 78, the Northern Terminus of the PCT, for lunch.

It was such a cool feeling to walk into the clearcut, which serves as the US/Canadian border, and see that monument. It looks exactly like the one on the US/Mexican border, and it seems like eons ago that we were there. It's almost surreal to think that we are done (minus what we are calling the "mop up tour" in CA). It has been a dream to do this for so long, and it's a dream that is, for all intensive purposes, realized. For this reason, it was a little emotoinal. I must admit that I got a bit teary, although I almost expected it to be more emotional than it was.

We took a ton of pictures and sat around eating lunch and reading/signing the journal that was there for almost 2 hours.

Then we headed into Canada. It's funny to just walk into another country that way, but we hiked the last 8 miles, and lo and behold, we were in Canada. The trail technically ends at the border, but since it's in the middle of nowhere, we either have to turn around and hike back into the US 35 miles or so to Hart's Pass or walk the 8 miles into Canada to Manning Park. Most choose to walk into Canada.

We hit Manning Park Resort around 5:00pm, and pretty quickly hit the restaurant for dinner (where I'm told by Flippy, who knows French, that the people sitting behind us mentioned how bad we smelled!). We decided to splurge for a room at the Lodge when we realized how cold it was (which made camping not as desirable) and that for an extra $20 total, the three of us could get a hotel room instead of staying at the hostel. It was so nice to be warm, dry, and clean.

The next task is to figure out how we're getting back to the US and how/when we're getting back to Northern CA. I'm sure we'll have more posts coming up with reflections on the hike and thougts on what the future holds, but for now we are just thankful to know we made it: 2663.5 miles, Mexico to Canada!!

PS:We sprung for the hotel room only to have a MOUSE running around! We had to put a towel around the bottom of our door to keep him out. We can't get away from them!

Total Miles:2663.5
Miles Today:20.4
Camp 135:Manning Park Lodge

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September 8:Last Full Day on the Trail

2008-09-10T10:07:00.005-05:00

It was a wierd feeling waking up and knowing that today was our last full day before hitting the border. It was a chilly morning, but the sun was on us which helped warm us up. It was another day of blue skies and sunshine, and as we climbed up to over 7000 ft, we took in the views, from up high. The mountains in northern Washington are just spectacular. It gives you the feeling of being up high in big mountains, even though they aren't nearly as big as the Sierras.

We went through several passes today- many high, some low- the first being Hart's Pass, where we found a Guard Station, pit toilets, and picnic tables. It was a great place for our first break and the last road we would cross before Manning Park in Canada.

Eventually we came to a junction just before Woody Pass. We stood at the junction on a ridge and looked to the left where we saw Woody Pass just about level with where we stood. Then we looked at where the trail went, dropping several hundred feet down into the valley, and then switchbacking back up to Woody Pass. We had read in our notes that it would be tempting to take the side trail straight across to the pass, but that it was an abandonded trail and that if taken, we would surely die :). The side trail was cut across Powder Mtn, and the side of this particular mtn was basically a scree field, and it had been abandoned probably because it was a pain in the butt to maintain. So, in the interest of staying alive, we sucked it up, and headed down the rail into the valley.

Our goal was to camp on one of the flat spots on the way up to Woody Pass. We had been told by another hikr that there were several good campsites in the area, and there wasn't much for good camping beyond it for several miles.

We had just gotten high enough to where we would be hitting a campsite soon, when Flippy says, "Hey! There's a bear!" Great. That's just what you want to see when you are wanting to make camp. Of course he went running off, but there was no way of knowing if or when he would come back to check us out.

We decided to make a campfire, since that will help keep the bears at bay. We ate our dinner around the fire, and the climbed into our sleeping bags for the night.

It was around 3:00am that we heard Flippy growling loudly into the night: "grrrraaaaaarrrrr! grrrraaaaaarrrrr!" Apparently he had been sleeping in his Tarptent when the bear had nudged him through the tent with it's nose. This had startled him awake (obviously), and then the bear started it's loud breathing. Flippy, working through the sleepish haze, knw he had to scare it off, so he just growled at it pretty loudly! It was pretty funny. The bear ran off, and Mark and Flippy built another fire. We all fell back asleep, and the bear never came back. We hadn't had a bear in our camp for the whole hike, and on our last night on the trail one shows up. I guess it was bound to happen. The good part was that there were no mice for once. No mice, but one bear. Three down, one to go. Tomorrow we head for the border!

Total Miles:2643.1
Miles Today:24.5
Camp 134:Last Night on the Trail

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September 7:Up High

2008-09-10T10:07:00.003-05:00

Our day began with a refreshing 2000 ft climb up to Cutthroat Pass at 6800+ ft where we got a taste of what most of our last few days would be like. Today we would descend into the 4000's, spend most of the day there, then bookend the day with another 2500 ft climb back up to 6600 ft. We will spend the majority of our last few days above 6000 ft.

The sun was warm although the temps were cool- a good balance for hiking. We hiked on and off with Bryan and Dave as well, which was fun. Their goal was to make it to Manning Park on Wed or Thurs, wnhile our's was Tues, so toward the end of the day we said goodbye to the and hiked on when they camped.

The final climb was grueling and seemed like it would never end. We rolled into camp around 6:30pm and started a fire to warm us up. We had seen frost earlier today around 6000 ft, so we knew it would be a cold night. Flippy let us borrow his titanium cup to heat water over the fire. Who would have thought Crystal Light would taste good warm? It was just nice to ingest something warm and be heated from the inside out.

The mouse wasn't too much of a bother; he left us alone after Mark moved his food bag to under his feet, but we did wake up to find tons of little mouse prints in the sand around us. They might be cute if they weren't so annoying. Two Down; two to go.

Total Miles:2618.6
Miles Today:24.8
Camp 133:Mouse Prints in the Sand

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September 6:In the Homestretch

2008-09-10T10:07:00.001-05:00

We left Stehekin today and headed out for the final stretch of trail that would lead us to the border.

We hopped on the first bus out, and thoroughly enjoyed our tour-guide/bus driver who pointed out anything worth noting along the way. He also gave us some insight into life in Stehekin, having lived there his whole life.

We made a brief stop at the bakery before heading to the High Bridge
Ranger Station where we would pick up the trail. It was here that Cruisin' decided to stay longer. His flight doesn't leave until the 15th, and he needed to kill some time. It was a bummer learning last minute that we weren't going to get to hike with him, but we understood his dilemma.

So Flippy, Slim, Antfarm, and I hit the trail around 9:30am, with the goal of making it to Rainy Pass, only 20 miles away. A couple guys we met at Five Mile Camp (Bryan, Dave, and Andy) would be there waiting for their wives to show up and resupply them, and Andy was headed home. It was a short day, but we were okay with that.

The climb out of Stehekin was slow and gradual, and we heard from several others that it wasn't supposed to rain for a week, which made us super happy!

We connected with the guys at Rainy Pass, and got to meet their wives and Andy's son. They offered to take any trash we might have, and Flippy lost the battle with Andy's son after he offered his brownie bites and ended up with none for himself :).

We stealth camped in the picnic area, hoping we wouldn't be told in the middle of the night that we would have to move. The water spigot didn't work, but we had pit toilets, which is always a bonus. Day 1 down. Three to go.

Total Miles:2593.8
Miles Today:19.7
Camp 132:Rainy Pass Stealth Camp

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September 5:Last Zero Day

2008-09-10T10:06:00.001-05:00

It's a wierd feeling knowing that when we leave this place we will be on our last stretch of the trail. It's a wierd mix of being ready to be done and yet not quite ready. We were told to take an extra zero here just to hang out with our hiker friends one last time and to take advantage of the last chance to chill out. So we did.

Before I go any further, I have to go back to the fishing pole Mark found a few days earlier. We camped at Five Mile Camp the night before going into Stehekin with three guys who are hiking a section of Washington. In the course of talking with them we found out they had met the guy who lost it and that he would be hiking into Stehekin not far behind us. So we got to return it to him, and he was very grateful since it had been his father's. It was kind of cool. Mark had carried it for a little while, but ditched it when we hit all the blowdowns. Then Flippy and Cruisin' picked it up and carried it all the way in. Jeff, the pole's owner, was so thankful, he paid for part of Flippy and Cruisin's dinner one night, and then bought us some beer, which we promptly passed on to Flippy and Cruisin' as well :).

We found a rec-room above the PO that was technically reserved for guests at the hotel, but we spent significant time in there and never really saw anyone else utilize it. There was a TV, pool table, computer (that we couldn't get email to work on), and an exercise room, which we did not utilize :). It was just nice to have a place indoors to hang out since we were camping. It was also fun to watch TV. The simple joys others take for granted!

We didn't do much. We got a ride down to the bakery, ate breakfast, and then hung out there until almost noon drinking the free refill coffee. Then we headed back to "town" and hung out in the rec room until dinner. Then it was bedtime. It was a fulfilling and restful day. Mission accomplished.

Total Miles:2574.1
Miles Today:0
Camp 131:Stehekin Campground Overflow

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September 4:Stehekin, WA

2008-09-05T18:43:00.006-05:00

We actually had to make sure we were walking by 6:45am so that we would get to the High Bridge Ranger Station by 9am. Stehekin is a very remote town, and the only way into (or out of) it is by hiking or taking the ferry from the town of Chelan 55 miles away down Lake Chelan. There are no roads in and out of town; the only road goes from the tiny town 10 or so miles out to the High Bridge Ranger Station. A shuttle runs this route 4 times a day. I've read that the cars that are hear already were brought by barge years ago. We got a ride from a guy whose truck has been here since it was new in 1962, and it only has 51,000 miles on it! We also heard that, minus the tourists, the population sits at around 90. People order there groceries from Chelan, and they are brought up on the ferry twice a month. The school here was a one room school house until the 80's, when a slightly bigger one was built. It's a different kind of life, that's for sure!

So we were aiming for the 9am shuttle bus, but we ended up hopping in the back of the 1962 truck around 8:30am and getting a ride to the Stehekin Pastry Company, which is 2 miles outside of town. It's supposed to be one of the best bakeries on the entire trail...or maybe by the time people are up here they have just been hiking for long enough it seems like the best. Either way, we were excited to be there.

We ate some food and caught the bus as it headed into town. Since the weather was nice and the forecast was looking bright (literally), we decided to save ourselves $140 and camp for free.

We spent most of the morning and afternoon hanging out at a picnic table, sorting our boxes (thanks moms and dads and Jaggers!), taking showers and doing laundry. The other half of our crew had gotten in earlier and had decided to take a second zero, so it was fun to see them again and hear about their experience in this past section.

We sprung for a dinner at the Lodge Restaraunt and then headed up to the campsite to crash, having already decided to take advantage of our last chance to zero by taking tomorrow off.

Total Miles:2574.1
Miles Today:5.1
Camp 130:Stehekin Campground Overflow

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September 3:Blowdowns and the Dreaded Suiattle River Crossing

2008-09-05T18:43:00.003-05:00

Today was the day we would face everything we had been hearing about for weeks. The miles between our camp and the Vista Creek crossing (approx 2 miles) and then on to the Suiattle River (approx 3 miles) were rumored to be littered with blowdowns, some "as big as a bus that require something more like rock-climbing moves to get around." We hd also heard it was like an obstacle course. Luckily the trail was on pretty flat ground here so we weren't going to fall down the side of a mountain trying to get around them.

And blowdowns there were.

It was actually a TON of fun! Many we could just step over, but there were definitely some that required some hopping over; there were even 2 or 3 that lived up to the "as big as a bus" hype, but often we could scoot under them. No rock climbing skills needed. We didn't move as fast as norma, but it wasn't THAT slow (4 miles in 5 hours). The blowdowns simply added an element of fun and excitement to the norm of simply walking trail.

We crossed Vista Creek, and the blowdowns reduced significantly. There were still a bunch, but nothing too crazy, albeit the random pile of trees that had you searching for where the trail went on the other side.

Three fairly flat miles later we were at the *deh deh deh* (scary music) Suiattle River. Crossng this river had been one of the biggest reasons to take the detour. It had been hyped up to be super scary; a past hiker in one of our guidebooks even touted it to be One of the scariest things she'd ever done in her life. It's not really something you could walk through, and the bridge had been washed away by the floods. I was actually in awe walking through the river bed, thinking about what it probably looked like at flood stage. The actual river was probably 1/10 of the size of the riverbed, and the surrounding mountainsides had been washed away as well.

Luckily we had heard there was a log across it that was "massive." We heard that it was walkable, or if you were too skittish to do that (or if it was wet from rain), you could straddle it and scoot across on your butt. Well, I wouldn't say the log was massive by any means, but we walked across it safely, and rejoiced in our victory :).

After that we started hauling to make it to Five Mile Camp that was, yes, five miles out of Stehekin. Most of the day was a descent after a climb up and over Suiattle Pass.

We cruised into camp around 7:30, and sat around another campfire chatting with a couple other guys who had camped with our other hiker friends a few nights before. By the time we got in our tent we could tell mice had already been there (luckily we had our food by the fire), so we rigged up a way to hang what was left of our food inside the tarp. Regardles, they were still running around all night and I think Mark was up with his headlamp on more than he was asleep! The only thing they got was a granola bar that Mark accidentally left in the side pocket of his pack. Oh the joys of camping in established campsites!

Total Miles:2569.0
Miles Today:25.8
Camp 129:Five Mile Camp (aka: I Hate Mice)

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September 2:Glacier Peak

2008-09-05T18:43:00.001-05:00

We woke up to clear skies and were completely surprised to find it this way; we had been expecting a day of rain, so we saw this as a gift. Since we had walked through most of Washington in rain and clouds, I was starting to understand why some people would walk his far and just quit so close to the end. I knew I would never quit, but I could see why someone might do it. Washington has some of the most scenic terrain on the whole trail, but if it rains everyday, all day, it sucks. Many hikers end up hating Washinton because of this. But today we had blue skies when we weren't expecting it, and we were all smiles. I wasn't ready to take this good weather for granted; I was thanking God every 10 steps for giving us some nice hiking weather!

Just by looking at the data book, we knew today would be a hard day- a day of climbing, as Mark announced before we left, to the dismay of Flippy.

It started with a 2200 ft climb up from Kennedy Creek, passed Fire Creek and on to Fire Creek Pass. We had some incredible view of Glacier Peak, and couldn't resist stopping to take pictures. Of all days to have clear skies, this was the day! Along the way Mark found a fishing rod in a nice wool casing, that will come back into he picture later. We also saw another bear, taking the total count up to 5.

We descended down to Milk Creek, where we had heard there were a couple sections of trail washed out. Luckily it washed out on switchbacks, so all we hd to do was scramble down 20 ft, and we were back on the trail. Enough hikers had gone before us, so there was a rough trail already in place. I am always amazed at the power of water; it's hard for me to fathom that a rain storm (or maybe several) had simply washed out a section of the mountainside. But it had! As we descended, we could look across the canyon and see the numerous switchbacks cut into the side of the mountain, which would be our climb out of the Milk Creek drainage.

It took some maneuvering, but we managed to climb around/under/over the massive downed tree and boulders to get to the log crossing over Milk Creek. We crossed easily and yelled to Flippy and Cruisin' that it was no problem, but they were having too good of a time building their own "bridge" across. The creek wasn't that wide, and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, tossing rocks into the creek so they could rock-hop across. We were relaxing in a break, and we would hear them toss a rock (splash!) and then they would bust into laughter. You have to give them credit. They eventually got enough to stay in place and they made it across!

The climb out of Milk Creek was hard. The elevation gain wasn't the main factor, although it was over 1000 ft; Because this trail wasn't used much in the last 5 years, trail maintenance had dropped off significantly, and many parts were incredibly overgrown. We were climbing up through bushes that were often up to our waist or shoulders. To top it off, there were tons of rocks you had to watch out for and the trail was narrow as well. If you weren't careful, you could twist an ankle. We were super thankful to be done with that climb.

Eventually we began our descent to Vista Creek, where we would make our camp for the night. This was rumored to be filled with blowdowns (downed trees over the trail). We even met a couple guys going south that said they did 4 miles in 5 hours! That is some slow walkin'. They really didn't start until the last 1/2 mile to camp; we would save the worst of it for the morning.

Cruisin' wanted to build a campfire, so we let him go to town on that, and enjoyed a warm, glowing fire as we ate our dinner and got ready to sleep. We had only done 20 miles today, but had climbed well over 5000 ft. Our energy went verticle and not horizontal today. We even saw some stars before we went to sleep, which we hadn't seen in a long time. This nice weather was reminding us how much fun hiking can really be!

Total Miles:2543:2
Miles Today:20.0
Camp 128:Mid-Blowdown Camp and Campfire

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September 1:New Hiking Pattern

2008-09-01T12:04:00.000-05:00

When we started our trip, our usual hiking pattern was to ake up about 6am, be hiking by 7am, and hike until 7:30/8:00pm, then sleep. Once we started hiking with other people, it got harder to sleep until 6am, since they all got up at 5am, and were hiking by 6am. We soon slid into this same rhythmn. Now, with the rain, and since the main early risers are a day or so ahead of us, we had hit an even new hiking pattern: sleep until 6-something, start packing up around 7am, and start hiking by 8am at the latest (it doesn't get light until around 6am now). We have been hiking until 7-8pm as well. It has been really nice to sleep in a bit later, and not break camp in the dark, the rain, or the extreme cold of the early morning. Our days have tended to be more relaxed as well. We are hiking more in the 20-25 range, instead of the 25-30 range. This is helped by the shorter hiking days, but also by the more difficult terrain.

We were hoping for some clear skies in the morning, but instead we woke up in a cloud again. But it wasn't raining, and all we could do was hope for clear skies later in the day.

Today as the day od decision. We had to decide if we were going to take the original PCT route around Glacier Peak or if we were going to take the established detour. The big to-do about this section of trail, and the reason for a reroute, is that in November of 2003, big rains caused floods that washed out a bunch of bridges over the creeks on the PCT and even washed away a few small sections of trail. For the past few years all hikers either took a road walk around the area (skipping an incredibly beautiful section of trail) or took the reroute, which was rumored to be steep, less-maintained trail with a few hairy fords tossed in for good measure. A week or two ago we started hearing rumors that hikers were taking the oroginal route; they had even started rebuilding the bridges over the creeks, and the ones that weren't built yet either had logs we could cross on or were easy to ford. The Dinsmore's confirmed that the oroginal route was the way to go, so when we hit Indian!
Pass, the point of decision, we headed down the original route.

About the same time, the sun came out! *yay!* so we spent some time drying gear out and celebrating not getting into a damp sleeping bag later that night.

We climbed up to White Pass and then up to Red Pass, and since the sun was out, we had some stunning views of the surroundng peaks and valleys. We were tickled by the signs we passed that politely asked us to "Please Camp Elsewhere," instead of the usual "No Camping" or "Closed for Restoration."

Today was also the day for bear sightings. In the course of our day we ended up seeing a total of 4 bears! They were all from a distance, thank goodness, and they wanted nothing to do with humans anyway, since it is bear hunting season up here now.

We descened from Red Pass for 3000 ft, and made camp on the sandy shores of Kennedy Creek. The night before had been at a chilly 5000 ft, and we were thankful to be sleeping at a touch warmer elevation of 4000ish ft. Warm and dry- the two key words of Washington State :).

Total Miles:2523.2
Miles Today:24.3
Camp 127:Kennedy Creek Beach

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August 31:New Hiking Crew

2008-09-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

It was a sad morning as we said goodbye to both JZ and Boomer. We had been hiking with JZ since Kearsarge Pass in the Sierras, and we had thought we'd finish the trail with him. Unfortunately he hadn't been feeling well and he had a flight to catch, so he decided to jump ahead with Boomer.

We hit the trail around 10:40am with Flippy and a guy named Cruisin', who is from Berlin, Germany. We had been leapfrogging with him since the Sierras as well. We were also with a guy named Slim, who we hadn't seen since the Heitman's in Old Station, CA (Northern CA).

It was a cloudy day, and it sprinkled on us off and on for most of the day. The sun would come out for a bit, and then we would walk into a cloud, and all views and warmth would be lost.

Since it was Labor Day Weekend, we ran across tons of people out for the weekend. It amazes us that most Washington natives just seem to not mind the rain that much. It's just normal for them.

We ended up hiking until 8pm, mostly because there just weren't any campsites. The trail lately has been very overgrown, and we spend a lot of time on ridges, so it is hard to just stealth camp...especially with several people. We set up camp in a cloud, excited for the morning because the weather report had sunny with a 0% chance of rain for the next day. Labor Day was going to be a good hiking day!

Total Miles:2498.9
Miles Today:22.6
Camp 126:Saddle Gap Cloud-In

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August 30:Still Here!

2008-09-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Our group of ten is slowly dissolving. Today we said goodbye to JB (not to be confused with JZ), who had to leave the trail for a week to go to his daughter's wedding. It was also our last day with JZ and Boomer, who were bussing up to Stehekin and picking up the trail there; they had flights to catch. Neighbor, Chickety, Thrust, and Slider all hiked out this morning. That leaves us and Flippy left. The ones that hiked out we'd see in Stehekin. It was only a "see ya later" verses a "goodbye."

It was a lazy day. I read a good portion of John Grisham's The Brethren. We dinked on the internet. We watched some TV. We rested more.

It was also a very cold day, and we were thankful we weren't up at elevation. The snow level was around 4500 ft today. It was even cold at the Dinsmore's!

We had a little excitement during the day whn we got word that a fellow hiker was potentially missing. He had been hiking with a couple others and they had gotten separated. They got to Stehekin and two days later, the hiker, who's trail name is Lucky, hadn't shown up. No one had seen or heard from him in 3-4 days. We spent some time trying to figure out is real name and his wife's phone number (to see if he'd contacted her), and then the Dinsmore's contacted search and rescue. Long story short, he ended up walking into Stehekin the next morning, and he was fine. But for most of the day, we just had no clue. We're not sure yet what happened, but he probably either waited out bad weather or took a wrong turn on a side trail and had to backtrack. Who knows? At least he's alright.

We had been hiking with Boomer for awhile now, and even though he had been a chef in his pre-hiking life, the only thing we'd gotten him to cook for us were hotdogs on the grill. So we talked him into cooking up a meal, and ended up with steak with holondais (sp?) sauce, brei puff pastries, and potatoes with some special cheeses and spices. It was great! A fun memory for our last night together. A very fitting end to another day of rest.

Total Miles:2476.3
Miles Today:0
Camp 125:The Dinsmore's- Skykomish, WA

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August 29:Skykomish, WA

2008-08-30T18:25:00.011-05:00

A day off.

*eat

*grocery store

*internet

*bounce box

*phone calls

*rest

*read

The day was a usual zero. Nothing too crazy except that there were 13 or so people all going about their business. Toward the end of the day, for various reasons, we decided to stay for another day. It will be our first double zero of the trail, and most likely our last, but a bunch of hikers will head out tomorrow and the pace will slow immensley. We willdefinitely leave Skykomish well rested.

PS: Scroll down several entries for some new pictures!

Total Miles:2476.3
Miles Today:0
Camp 124:The Dinsmore's- Skykomish, WA

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August 28:4 Months!

2008-08-30T18:25:00.009-05:00

Even though the weather report had said clear skies today, we woke up to rain once again. It was just a light mist, but we weren't discouraged because we were headed to town! We hiked the 8 miles to Stevens Pass, cold, wet, and ready for hot food and a warm shower.

Andrea and Jerry Dinsmore are the trail angels who live in Skykomish, WA and they have been hosting hikers since 2003. They are awesome and take in hikers, offering showers, laundry, internet, a dry place to sleep, and even the occasional hot meal.

Steven's Pass is 15 miles from Skykomish, so we had to get a hitch into town and then the Dinsmore's would come pick us up. We hadn't stood on the road, shivering, for more than 5 minutes, when a truck haling a horse trailer pulls over and begins backing up. When they got to us, the guy sticks is head out and asks if we want to ride in the empty horse trailer. He says, "My wife said it's illegal, but I said, who~ going to check?" Luckily there were no horses in there, and we had hay to sit on and corral bars to hold onto. He laughed as he shut the door, saying, "It's like hauling illegal immigrants!"

He dropped us just across from the deli, and when we hopped out of the trailer, a teenager walking by stopped, grinned really big, and said, "Welcome to America!" It was perfect timing, and we cracked up.

After a great meal at the Cascadia Inn and Restaurant, we got picked up by Andrea Dinsmore, whose license plate aptly said, "PCT Mom."

They are so committed to helping out hikers that they even built a hiker loft above their garage. They have a couple beds and a handful of air mattresses, a computer, and a sitting area up there. They also open up their kitchen and living room for people to hang out in if they want.

We quickly claimed some beds, hung our stuff around to dry, and hopped in line for showers and laundry. We were just happy to be there, warm and dry, out of the rain.

Total Miles:2476.3
Miles Today:8.1
Camp 123:The Dinsmore's- Skykomish, WA

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August 27:Cold and Wet

2008-08-30T18:25:00.007-05:00

He alarm sounded at 5:15am as usual, and as usual, we rolled over to ignore it for a few more minutes. We could hear the ran still coming down in a steady stream, and the thought of climbing out of our sleeping bags, let alone our tarp, wasn't too enticing. We all (Boomer, JZ, and us) layed in our tents, drifting in and out of sleep until around 7am when we realized it had let up. Peaking outside, we saw patches of blue sky and sunshine, and we packed up our stuff, hopeful for a day free from drizzle.

No such luck. We were duped.

We hiked for about 2 hours and then the rain kicked in. It wasn't constant, but it pretty much rained all day- anywhere from a mist to a light rain. It didn't really bother me much. We were able to take breaks, and we got 4 second flashes of sunlight here and there. We had more of the ups and downs of the previous day, and by the end of the day, we hd gone over 4 passes that required us to climb 1000 ft or so at a time; some more, some less.

It steadily got rainier and colder, and by late afternoon I had lost my hope of any sun to dry us out. We camped a few miles short of Steven's Pass at Hope Lake, resisting the temptation to take the 1 mile side trail down to Hwy 2, which would take us into Skykomish and a warm bed and shower. We climbed into our semi-damp sleeping bags, prayed that we wouldn't get flooded out during the night, and looked forward to a dry tomorrow.

Total Miles:2468.2
Miles Today:22.4
Camp 122:Hoping for Sunshine

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