South Sister Weekend Excursion

Fact: at 10,358 feet, South Sister is the third tallest mountain in Oregon.

Fact: South Sister is a nontechnical hike.

Fact: everyone knows South Sister is a nontechnical hike.

Final fact (is this played out yet?): everyone climbs South Sister in July.

This was my experience this past weekend, at least. Nevertheless, this hike was a real stunner and the crowds did not detract at all from the experience.

Even this jaded Alaskan had nothing bad to say. In the background are (according to people who don't really know that much about Oregon) the other Sisters, Three Fingered Jack, Jefferson, and Hood. 

Unfortunately, this also means that I'm ruined; I'm 99% certain that nothing else in Oregon can live up to South Sister, and I'm already mad about it. But hey, better to have experienced than blah blah blah, right?

Let's rewind to Friday. We didn't leave Eugene until 5:00 p.m. because of various work commitments (work commitments and responsibilities? What's that?) and, because climbing a mountain isn't adventure enough, without a campsite! We very nearly paid dearly for that mistake. Which, I'd like to add, wasn't my doing. I was all for reserving a campsite but was told that campgrounds abound in the area and there was no possibility of us not finding something. Well, I suppose that turned out to be true, but only because we slept at a horse camp.

Have you ever heard of a horse camp? I hadn't. It's just a campground with corrals at each site for (duh) horses. I'm not sure what horse camp etiquette is but apparently it's not camping without horses. According to the camp host, we were the most hated group there. Sorry, horse folk, that we didn't come equipped with loud, smelly animals [side note: I'm cool with horses but come on, they're definitely louder and smellier than no horse, right?]. The camp host was fine with it, though, no one else showed up needing the spot, and we couldn't stomach driving to yet another campground at 10:30 p.m. on a Friday night. Horse camp it was, then!

I had a pretty miserable night, puking up my Manley's clam chowder and shivering throughout the surprisingly cold night (you're welcome for that visual). Fortunately, I felt slightly better the next morning at 7:30 when we drove to the Devil's Lake trailhead.

The first mile takes you through woods, but once you emerge from that boringness, you're treated to some pretty awesome views for the rest of the hike (that's ten miles of views!).

Mt. Bachelor, or something.

 Cairns, my favorite!

And, of course, the summit.

I swear to you there is no filter on this, even though it looks like there is and even though I refuse to use that hashtag that proves there isn't.

It took us roughly 4 hours to summit hiking at a pretty leisurely pace, and once there we took the time to enjoy it. This is something I often forget to do; I'll hoof it to the top, spend 3-5 minutes there, and turn right back around. This time, though, we were there for nearly an hour. There may or may not have been whiskey and cigars involved (don't try it at home, kids!).

The way down was a bit of a slog (turned death march once the blister on my foot burst open and I had nothing to put on it), but we were back at the campsite by 5:00, where we spent another fun night.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! I give this hike a billion thumbs up. It is, in my book, the most worthwhile thing in Oregon (that I've seen).  A distinguished award, indeed!

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Up next: that time I checked out the site of a fall race to see whether it might make for a good first (mini-) ultra. Verdict: ugh.

"Like Something Out Of True Detectives" - New Trails!

Two posts in as many days? What's happening here? Extreme boredom, that's what. I definitely didn't see this coming. I pride myself on my ability to vegetate and used to be totally content with being a useless sack for hours on end, but I've lost it. Also, didn't I used to have hobbies other than running and drinking? What were they? Damn you, grad school!

Take yesterday. I woke up early to renew my apartment lease, and when we got home I was ready for some serious lounging after an action-packed week. I blogged, queued up some Netflix, and... was SO. INCREDIBLY. BORED. It took all of five minutes.

I managed to kill some time by getting a haircut (first since January!) but the second I got back to my apartment I knew I needed a plan. Since it was a cloudy day, I had postponed my planned hike to the following day (so the views wouldn't be obscured) and decided to take a rest day instead. But that was before the boredom kicked in.

I don't think Spencer Butte is a particularly scenic hike (I know, grumble grumble, Jean's not impressed) but it's nearby and you don't have to pay for parking so I decided to head over and walk around for a while. And what did I happen to find but new fun trails?!

You always hear about what a running mecca Eugene is, and from what I gather a lot of trail runners live here. I was always curious about where they run, though, because between the usual suspects (Pisgah, Spencer, Baldy, etc.) there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trail available. Enter: this place!

I don't actually know what it's called, but it absolutely beats any other trails I've seen here. I mean, it's not all trees! You can see things! It's Eugene's own little Powerline! I was insanely excited to discover this new paradise.

I continued on what I'll call mini-Powerline for a little over two miles before turning around. I think I exited the park after 1.8 or so, but the trail showed no sign of ending so I continued onward. Unfortunately, I started seeing small shacks and other signs of humans which in such a (seemingly) remote area scared the shit out of me. Determined not to end up on the next season of True Detectives, I turned around. I was probably being ridiculous, but better safe than sorry and all that. I'm going to look up more about the area (like, who are these people and how do they access their houses? Are they hill people? Will they shoot me if I run there?) before I venture that far again.

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Today a friend and I headed over to Mary's Peak near Corvallis, which is allegedly the tallest mountain in Oregon's coastal range. I won't get into too many details because it was a perfectly ordinary hike, but I will say that we showed up expecting a 5-9 mile hike (the internet wasn't very clear on trail distance) only to find that we'd driven nearly all the way up the peak! There was only a half mile left. That was unexpected, to say the least. There were trails that started farther down the mountain, though, so we were able to get in six miles or so.

The view was largely obscured by clouds on the way up, but they cleared long enough to take in some nice scenery at the top.

I wish my camera could have captured just how green the moss/grass was.

tl;dr : boredom is a real issue in my life right now. Whine, whine, whine. I guess I'm just confused by it since I've always been such a lounger. I'm sure I'll get over it and return to my slothenly (if that's not a word, it should be) ways soon enough. In the meantime, however, I'm off to Bend for the weekend!

Adventures in Oregon

I've been cooped up in an office for the past six weeks (for the last ten months, really...), so when I finally finished school stuff last week I was dying for some adventure. Between now and September, I'm trying to spend as much time outside as possible. So far, so good!

I spent the weekend at a cabin near the coast.

I also discovered that I'm completely obsessed with tubing. It's the perfect mix of terror and relaxation.

I can't get over this picture. Neither of those people are me but I definitely looked like that more than once.

A couple of days ago, I hiked something called Browder Ridge, which is in the Central Cascades two hours from Eugene. 

I'm going to climb the peak on the right this weekend.

I don't know what these are but they're famous - Jefferson and Hood, maybe? Let's go with that.

Wearing my Butte to Butte shirt.

Funny story about that last photo - it was taken just after I found out I passed my exams! I knew we were supposed to hear sometime that day so had purposefully turned my email off on my phone. I wasn't planning to check it until I was home and could curl up in a ball and die without any witnesses present, but then I started getting texts that the results were out and after some prodding, was convinced to check it.

So it looks like I might just do this PhD thing! I've been somewhat hesitant to discuss school with anyone not in the program, knowing that I could well be thrown out on my ass after the first year (this is typical with economics PhDs - give 'em hell the first year and if they survive, start actually training them to be economists), but now my position (and future) is much more certain. What a relief!

And, of course, the best part about all of this (besides, like, pursuing my dreams) is that I have the rest of the summer to do whatever I want! I am ridiculously privileged.

Anyway, I stayed up into the wee hours celebrating that night so woke up too late the following day for an all-day hike. I settled instead for a trail run on the McKenzie River Trail, which is a little over an hour from Eugene.

Clear Lake, or something.

To be honest, the McKenzie River Trail is boring. I mean, it's nice for what it is, but you spend a lot of the time plodding through the woods which, given my distaste for trees, is less than ideal. This section was more scenic than where I ran last fall, but there was so much volcanic rock that I had to take frequent walking breaks. After 3 miles I was sufficiently pissed off that I decided it was time to turn around.

 Such volcanic rock.

I had planned to run to Sahalie Falls but since I didn't make it that far I decided I might as well drive over since I was already in the area.

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It's rainy today (THANK GOD - multiple months of sun, sun, sun were starting to wear on me) so I decided to take it easy and do some adult stuff. Tomorrow I'm planning to hike a coastal mountain and on Friday I'm heading to Bend for the weekend! It should be a fun time. My roommate also has extra tickets to the track shenanigans happening at Hayward right now so I might try to check that out. Happy mid-week to y'all!

Questions:

• Are you doing anything crazy exciting this weekend?
• What's your favorite track even to watch?

FREEDOM

 FREEEEEEEEEEDOM!!!

This is me, ecstatic.

You know what I did this morning? And what I'm doing right now? I'm lounging. In my room. On a Thursday. At noon. You know what I did yesterday? I went swimming. Because I can. Because my school year's finally over!

Thus far, freedom has meant a lot of sunsets.

My calendar's wide open for the next 2-8 weeks, depending on school stuff. I can't fathom having so much free time. The last time I had a break this long was in high school. What do people do when they have nothing to do? Plenty of running and hiking, certainly. And camping. And the beach! Waterskiing! Road trips! The possibilities are endless, and slightly overwhelming. I've got some fun things planned for the next week, though, so I'll leave planning the rest of my summer for another day.

So what does this mean for the blog? I'm back, baby! For now, at least.

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Since it's what brought me out of blogger isolation, I guess we should talk about that race, huh? This far out, there's not much to be said about it, other than "unless it's in Alaska, mid-summer races are dumb."*

The race was sold to me as a tough one, particularly the first mile, but it really wasn't that bad. The race starts in a nondescript neighborhood near Spencer Butte, which surprised me as I thought the "really steep part" was on the road that passes a lot of the Spencer trailheads. I don't really know where we were, but the first eight- or nine-tenths of a mile were very reasonably inclined. The last bit, not so much, but it was still runnable.

Unsurprisingly (to me, at least), the next couple of downhill miles were the toughest. I really dislike downhill running, and this descent was unrelenting. I went with it, though, and soon found myself on familiar roads in town. At that point, the sun was getting to me, but the temperatures were still semi-reasonable.

I haven't done any speedwork since last year and run the vast majority of my runs at a moseying 10:30 - ish pace, so I took it easy the first half of the race. My pace sped up naturally on the downhill, however, so I decided to keep the momentum going the second half of the race. By which I mean I ran 9:30's or so. Not blazing fast, but decent for my current fitness level. 

Garmin splits?! Haven't seen those in a while.

I finished in just under an hour, which was what I had unofficially declared as my goal for the race. At that point, I was a hot, sticky mess so we didn't hang around for long. I'm obviously a jaded curmudgeon, but I think race finishes are a pain in the ass. Usually I'm kind of miserable and just want a cold shower. Which I got, and which was glorious.

Here's a crappy photo of me from the race. Post-race, might I add. When my friend sent it to me I was like, "Seriously? I'm so slow these days that running and walking are indistinguishable?" I don't know why Forrest Gump on the right there is still running.

Here's to summer!

*[This is where I need to somewhat irrelevantly vent my frustration with the Eugene Marathon's decision to move the race to the end of July. I know, this is old news and it doesn't affect me in any way because I'm not even running it this year, but whyyyy?! Why take a race that happens during one of the most lovely (and cool!) springs I've ever experienced and throw it into the hellish hell that is July? Do you really think marathoners are going to be able to feel any sort of kinship with their track brethren when they're being carted off to the hospital? Oh, wait, sorry, the race starts at 6:00 a.m. to "beat the heat." Even worse.

In case you're wondering, I will not be spectating the race. Not out of protest or anything, but because it's too damn hot out. And because I should be hiking South Sister.]

Fourth of July Butt to Butt

GUYS. I KNOW. I do. I've been gone a long time. Far too long. Your defunct 2003 Xanga journal sees more action than this blog. Frankly, I was dismayed to realize how long it's been. So dismayed, in fact, that I considered filing a complaint with my department. They obviously missed the "afternoon Phd" box I drew and checked on my application. I was brought here under false pretenses!

Fortunately, the madness is almost over. Almost. Unless, of course, I failed everything, in which case I'll spend the rest of the summer doing it all over again BECAUSE I LOVE SCHOOL SO MUCH. However, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

So why, you might be asking, am I taking a break from the 6:30 - 10:00 grind that is my life right now to check in? "Jeano, you don't have time for this shit!" I hear you. But then I couldn't tell you about my race tomorrow!

That's right: I'm finally doing another race. The last time I donned my Pace Gloves for anything other than a casual jog was for my marathon last June, so this is big news (or, at least, a statement of fact).

Tomorrow, I'm running the local Butt to Butt Butte to Butte 10k (yes, I'm five years old, but I also hadn't ever encountered a butte until I moved here so have to make up for all the butt jokes I couldn't tell when I was a kid). I don't think I've ever raced anything shorter than a half marathon so it should be an experience.

Honestly, I don't really like racing. Why? Why not?! Races mean stress!  An early wake-up! Pain! A non-zero probability of Julia Moss-ing! Why would I pay money for that? Unless it's a carefully-chosen race I've dedicated time to train for, I'm not really interested. However, this race is free (for me - so connected).

Also, how could I pass up what may be the most racist race t-shirt of all time?

I know, I know, it's just a hippie but to me it screams "Get out of my country!" Also, why is this gentleman incapable of running properly?

I think you know better than to expect a race report from me, but maybe I'll talk about it the next time I drop by. For now, I'll leave you with some photographic evidence that I (occasionally) get out of the office.

Bohemia Mountain - a stupid short hike but a pretty decent view for this area.

Chilling in California, where I spent an all-too-brief weekend with some family folk.

This is near Pre's rock. NO, I DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF THE ROCK. IT IS A ROCK. Overlooks within running distance (for me) are few and far between but this is swell. And incredibly dangerous - I took this through a fence on a windy road without a sidewalk/shoulder. Such a rebel!

I'm going to have to pawn my firstborn if I have to retake either of my tests. Bars near places of stress are dangerous.

Crater Lake! Which, by the way, is such a bizarre place - beautiful but so very tame and accessible. Which is nice and all, but so many people. Everywhere.

My Pace Gloves really tried my patience on this hike. In my defense, the park ranger I spoke to the previous day lied and told me all the peaks were closed so I didn't envision us encountering snow. Closed my ass!

My other blog, "Water Skiing Jeano," will be up and running soon. I did actually manage to stand up using the rope but no one thought to take a picture of that.

COME ON. I've wanted to see a mini in the flesh for YEARS, and it finally came true.

It had never occurred to me to run up Skinner Butte until last week. It's five miles door-to-door, which is perfect for the limited amount of time I've had to run these past few weeks.

This was fun. We should do it again sometime!

Questions for you!

• What's the funniest race shirt you've seen?
• Are you doing a 4th of July run?
• Does anyone even bother with this blog anymore?