The Oregon Trail

Hello Again

2011-07-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first post in 2 years and I am really excited to say I am still with the most wonderful woman in the world, making the most of our lives in the Pacific Northwest and this last 4th of July weekend was no exception. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what we did… look forward to starting to update this blog again.

4th of July in Northern California

2009-07-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

July 4th afforded Alyssa and I the opportunity to venture south. Having heard from Aaron and Keri about the great bouldering next to the Humboldt county surf we made our way Thursday night to Golds Beach campground in Prairie Creek Redwoods National Forest. The campsite was of great demand and to our dismay but not our surprise the first come first serve campground was full-up with Oregonians, Wash-a-tonians and Californians. With a little luck we snuck my little truck into the single parking spot left and transferred our supplies to the cab laying 0ut our sleeping pads in the bed and spending the night in the truck, out of the sight of the pesky rangers.

Waking the next morning to the sound of the surf inspired us to venture about 5 miles north on highway 101 to the beach directly south of the Klamath River delta, Klamath Beach aka Lost Rocks. But before making the journey we decided to make the most of sleeping between the redwoods and have a look around. The theme song to Jurassic Park playing loudly in our heads we ventured to Fern Canyon, aptly named for the fern coated walls of the canyon. Soon after we left the park and being early enough out to the beach we were the first to hit some classic problems made famous by Joe Kinder and Chris Linder in Spray. The fog stayed on strong throughout the day but the rock miraculously stayed dry. We spent the majority of the day taking in the scenery napping on the beach and climbing some great problems.

That evening we ventured inland to the Kamp Klamath campsite where we were surprised to meet our new friends Brian and Maria. Both of whom were also from Minnesota and had attended the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Sharing a campfire we talked for a few hours as elk rustled in the woods not far away.

The next morning we headed for Arcata to spend some quality holiday time in style. Fortunate for us we found a hotel on the town square and spent the day at the local fair and the night watching fireworks. Arcata is an interesting town, as a seaside industry hub and settling ground for the die hard hippies of the sixties it makes for an interesting mix of art galleries and warehouses.

On Sunday we decided to briefly visit Moonstone Beach. Known as much for its surf as its bouldering we started our day with some great climbs and good views of the local swells. Unfortunately, Alyssa's cold had gone from bad to worse and we decided to call it quits and make the journey back home. On our way we pulled over to look at what was to be the icing on our cake The Promontory, a sport climbing spot just off of 101. We both decided it was a good reason to come back and continued the seven hour hike back to Portland.

The foggy weekend was one of the most gorgeous we have ever had. The scenery is beyond words and left us both wanting more.

Emily Haines Accoustic Set

2009-06-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

Alyssa Waiting in Line

Emily Haines of Metric at Mississippi Studio

Emily Haines and Mississippi Studio

Sitting at work on Monday morning quietly drinking my third cup of coffee and pondering why I get up at 5:00a.m. every morning to go sit at my desk and quietly drink coffee, my phone rings.

"Guess what?" Alyssa says on the other end of the phone.

As it was now eight a.m. my initial reaction was that something had gone wrong with the car. "Car accident?" I say fearfully.

"I just won tickets to go see Metric!" She exclaims!

That Friday we sat in on an exclusive acoustic Metric performance. A small crowd of about fifty people arrived at Mississippi Studio on the east side of Portland at 2p.m. We sat front row and had the opportunity to meet with Emily Haines and Metric after the show. They played a small 5 song set that merely wetted the taste buds for the show that was to occur later that night at the Wonder Ballroom. Unfortunately, because of my surgery we could not attend the later show but were happy to have had such a unique experience.

Thanks Alyss and 94.7!!!

The Waterfall That Was Almost Forgotten, Abiqua Falls

2009-05-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

Abiqua Falls

Abiqua Creek Just Below the Falls

The Trail Along the Creek

A bit of exploration one late afternoon online lead me to a photo of an inspiring waterfall just outside of Mt. Angel, Oregon. The description read “rough hike, rougher road, well worth it.” So I took off to the supposed spot of the photo, guided by some complicated instructions littered with talk of old logging roads and dirt paths and the understanding that if nothing came of the journey at least I would have had a beautiful drive. I knew from prior ventures into the area that any road I decided to take to the falls would lead me through pristine Willamette Valley wine and hop country, providing unique and inspiring views of Mt. Hood as I drove towards the foot of the western Cascades.

An hour later after leaving Portland I turned right out of Scott Mills, OR and and followed an old country road to its end where it abruptly changed to dust. Switching quickly from asphalt to gravel, I followed the dry spray of an old logging truck the crushed the pebbles of the trail beneath it. As the truck disappeared out of sight I spotted my turn and quickly came to the realization that I was very fortunate for having brought my Dodge Dakota. The road that laid out in front of me was a smorgasbord of broken shale and scattered basalt rocks that had me inching down the switch backing path until I finally stopped a few miles later at a locked yellow gate. This small widening of the dirt path was to be my parking spot. This small widening of the road, scattered with green and red cased shot gun shells and broken glass became my vehicles reprieve.

As I researched information about the falls I came to discover that in 2002 Abiqua Falls had become the world largest waterfall to be Kayaked at 101 feet (video here) by Tim Gross. This drove my decision to venture farther into the woods and kept me motivated even with the sight of shot gun shells skewed around my truck’s tires. Abiqua Falls is a bit of a welcome surprise to those who have 4 wheel drive and a penchant for adventure. Unlike it’s friends down stream at Silver Falls State Park, Abiqua Falls is very remote and is a much more technical hike to get to then the gentle walk at the State Park. This lack of easy access has kept the majority of “Fall Chasers” at bay complacent with the ten or more falls that lay down stream within a few miles radius of one another at the state park. What sets Abiqua Falls apart is its massive volume and the grandeur of its amphitheater of which Silver Falls State Park does not emulate.

After a short, but steep hike to the creek I followed it up stream to a large amphitheater with walls of red spiced basalt over 100ft tall and a width of approximately 300 yards in diameter. Being that the snow was still melting high in the mountains the water was exceptionally quick and the sense of grandeur coupled with the sound of the falls ricocheting around me was almost spiritual. Alone in this serenity I sat on a vast matte of smoothed gray and blue stones that splayed out in a vast floor at the base of the amphitheater just yards away from the falls.

Abiqua Falls may be a hassle to get to but it is well worth the adventure. This combination of remoteness and splendor lend the imagination a hand in forgetting there is anything else in the world other than the moment. Abiqua falls is a “rough hike, rougher road, well worth it”

Seattle Our New Fav City

2009-05-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Pike St. Market

The Market

Red Sox Game at Safeco Field

The Space Needle

A View From The Sculpture Gardens of Puget Sound

Throwing Fish at Pike St. Market

Sarah & The Surf

2009-05-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Alyssa at Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls

Otter Rock Surf

The Girls at Otter Rock

Sarah Elliot the world traveling vagabond and best friend made her way to Portland the last weekend in May. Spending her last year at Crystal Mountain in Washington and the prior two years surfing throughout New Zealand, it took only a few moments to decide that it was time to bring Sarah to the coast when she arrived in town.

The best swell seemed to be on Sunday afternoon so we spent the weekend hopping around Portland; art fairs, comedy festivals and the occasional bar. On Saturday afternoon we set off to the Columbia River Gorge to experience Hood River. Like predicted the weather was less than perfect but typical for this time of year in the Pacific Northwest. On our way we made the stop at Multnomah Falls just off of highway 84. Having made prior obligations with friends we ventured back towards the city for a night on the town.

With rain on the horizon for the weekend, we set out to improve our skills in what was forecasted to be a rainy 50 degree day with water temperatures around 45 degrees. To our suprise and the suprise of many other who joined us in the surf come late afternoon the sun peaked from the clouds on the west side of the coastal mountains. 65 degrees and a sun that made sure to give us all a sun burn warmed up the sea enough to give us a good number of waves. With the occasional seal spotting only a few feet away it felt like they were having just as much fun in the sun as we were.

Newport: Our Latest Trip to the Coast

2009-01-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

Fishing Boat Coming into Harbor

Alyssa on Nye Beach

Newport Bridge

Tasting at Rogue Brewery

Rogue Brewery

Check Us out on TravelOregon.com

2009-01-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

http://blog.traveloregon.com/2009/01/18/whale-watching-in-depoe-bay/

Whale Watching Spoken Here

2009-01-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Growing up most boys become fascinated with dinosaurs or race cars but for some reason I became fascinated with whales. I have never really figured out what drew me to them but in the years since childhood I have stayed just as captivated. I have gone whale watching in both the Pacific, Hawaii and Atlantic, Massachusetts. Yet my first time ever seeing a whale off the coast of Oregon was January 2nd this year. I had let too many trips to the coast past me by and made the somewhat nerdy proclamation that my new year’s resolution would be to “see more whales.”

So I set off on the second knowing that the Oregon Coast saw the majority of its migrating Gray Whales during December and January. As most Oregonians know this is not the best time to see anything in Oregon with the amount of rain and more recently snow that we have been getting. Fortunately the weather was little of a problem on the second in Depoe Bay, the self proclaimed whale watching capital of Oregon. As I entered the Oregon Parks Whale Watching Center in the middle of Depoe Bay I was welcomed by two park guides who told me about the long history of the area and the migrating whales of the Oregon coast. The centers two guides sat next to me as I stared intently out the viewing windows with a pair of binoculars being instructed on where to look for the whales. During my short time at the center I saw four whales and a total of 41 had been seen that day by noon.

Depoe Bay is not only known for its whales but it also has the world’s smallest harbor where on many occasions I have spotted a relaxed harbor seal (the same size as normal harbor seals). Being located between Newport and Lincoln City, Depoe Bay is a great place to relax, shop and reminisce about your childhood.

Snow Snow Christmas Snow

2008-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve with Friends

Alyssa with our new World Market clutch thanks Mom and Dad!

Fixing the obstruction on highway 46

Highway 22 up to Mt. Hood on Christmas Day

The most snow in Oregon for 10 years!

Breitenbush Hotsprings: Peaceful Relaxation in the Middle of the Cascades

2008-11-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

Silent Pool

One of the Many Trails Around the Grounds

Main Lodge

Brietenbush Hot Springs is probably one of the most relaxing and peaceful places I have ever been. I spent a day lounging in the middle of the cascades guiltlessly contemplating my inner exsistence at the spirtually inspired, 100% self sustainable, vegetarian retreat.

Unlike most of Oregons hot springs Brietenbush has a restriction on the number of people that are let into the grounds each day. They try, successfully, to keep numbers to a minimum in order to preserve the esscence of the experience along with the peace and tranquility of the environment. Brietenbush has been homesteaded since 1904 but was known much earlier and frequented often by the local Native Americans. Since 1985 the resort has been community owned and across the river, that the springs are named for, lies a small village of individuals who have payed their dues to be allowed to live amongst the hot springs.

Brietenbush is more than the hot springs that it is most famous for it is also a retreat center. The resort has many overnight bungalos ro accomodate those who plan to make their stay a little more permanent. Along with your meditative dips into the geothermally heated and stoned walled pools you can enjoy the sauna which is heated by a hot springs river that flows beneath the wooden slots in the floor and heats the room with the naturally occuring steam. If you are tired of the heat you are allowed take part in one of the many other activities presented for free. Edgu, yoga, or a walk on one of local BLM trails are always an option.

My day began in pools and the sauna where I was told I would feel the best results from each if I altered from hot to cold. In other words this meant getting out of the hot tub/sauna and dousing myself with ice cold water and then returning to the hot tub/sauna. After a good many rotations in the over seven pools I made my way into the lodge for lunch which had been prepared for me and was an amazing organic vegetarian borritto buffet. From this all to filling lunch I headed into the woods and explored the local scenery and the trails which skipped from one side of the Brietenbush River to the other. After returning from my retreat, from my retreat, I ventured over to the sanctuary, a hexagonal building with a steepled roof where I joined about a dozen others on pillows positioned in a circle with legs crossed for an hour and a half yoga session which lasted into the night.

If you have the opportunity the cost is less that you would ever imagine. You are asked to pay what you think the experience should be worth and for your meals in advance. For both myself and my partner it combined cost us less than $50. We recieved an hour and a half long yoga session, amazing hiking, delicious food, and renouned relaxation. Make your way down the gravel path to the humble parking lot and spend the day in the woods.

-Connor

A Break In The Weather, A Day At The Beach... Pacific City, OR

2008-11-13T17:54:00.001-08:00

Haystack Rock From The North Side of Cape Kiwanda

The Center of Cape Kiwanda

Cape Kiwanda

Pacific City From Cape Kiwanda

Today was the first in many days (probably around 2-3 weeks) that the sun decided to shine. Today also, fortunately for me, coincided with my day off. I made the most of the opportunity and ventured to Pacific City, OR:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_City .

Pacific City is unique in many ways, the first of which is that it has both a micro-brew at Pelican Pub (I recommend MacPelican's Scottish Style Ale, http://www.pelicanbrewery.com/) and a couple of tasting rooms such as Basket Case Vineyards (http://basketcasewine.com/). Perfect for the man or woman, like myself who enjoys watching the surf with a cocktail. The second is Cape Kiwanda sand dune, where the majority of the above pictures are taken on top, around the side and in the middle of. I was unsure of the parameters associated with my wondering on the cape and often found myself in situations where I would suspect a "Do Not Enter" sign should be. In all of my searching in the aforementioned areas I could not find a single sign or another human being which made the experience even more surreal and exciting. I will admit that at points I was a little uneasy when the force of a wave slamming into the cape shook the sand under my feet. Two of the pictures above (2,3) were taken in situation where I had to capture the shot before the sea captured me. Though there were not signs in the particular areas that I adventured into, after a more thorough search of the cape I did come across many well marked areas that were designated as "Do Not Enter."

Alltogether I loved Pacific City. If you have the chance to go, take the opportunity and don't bother looking for the signs.

Pacific City is located approximately one hour NW of Salem, OR and we would love to bring you there.

Love,

Connor & Alyssa

Happy Halloween We Miss You

2008-10-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

October at Smith Rock

2008-10-28T20:29:00.002-07:00

Andrew and I After our Second Pitch.

Climbing at Smith

Smith Rock Through the Brush

Sunrise at Smith Over the Crooked River

My cousin Andrew and I descended, or ascended, upon Smith Rock last weekend for a beautiful climbing and camping trip. Smith Rock is located in central Oregon and if you look back a few posts ago, was one of the first places Alyssa and I stopped in our initial jaunt across our new home, Oregon.
Smith is the birth place of modern American sport climbing and with more routes then I could think to fit into our weekend we made our journey east to central Oregon. We arrived late and laid ourselves under the stars next to the Crooked River in the $4 a night Bivouac camping area across the river from the cliffs. The Crooked, which meanders through the park and sits just below the gold and pink walls is not often fished within the park limits but is a popular fly fishing river upstream.
Smith has a great history and even greater climbs. The rock here is tuff and basalt, known for its texture. After a few routes of searching for foot holds I came to the realization like every climber eventually does at Smith, that there are foot holds everywhere. The rock, when looked at closely resembles some make-shift organic concrete that set up before it was smoothed out with small pebbles protruding from it's surface. This may be because of the geological history of the area and that tuff is technically consolidated volcanic ash common to the central Oregon area. The marble sized pebbles that sit sticking out of every inch of the walls surface are hard to identify at first to those who are not used to using miniature pebbles as sturdy unyielding stairs. Once identified as such you are on your way to becoming part of the ardent community that prevails at Smith. The local climbing "bums" who spend their time mesmerized by the jagged peaks that rise from the shores of the Crooked and out of the dust of the desert terrain are like most Oregonians, very welcoming. These climbers were more than willing to give me beta (a climbing term for information) when my guide book would seem to fail me or when I would fail it. An example of the gracious fun loving attitude can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzPqNRVu6-w where a local, Joel Sprenger dressed as Santa Claus, slack lines across the top of Smith Rock to the mouth of one of the most popular multi-pitch routes in the country, Monkey Face.
Smith Rock is one of the most unique and inspiring places to climb in the country with sport and trad climbing that will challenge the best of climbers. The community is welcoming and fun, and the weather is almost always dry which creates close to year round access.
I highly recommend taking the desert roads and heading to Smith. If not to climb the hiking in the area is beautiful as well.

Love,

Connor

Fly Fishing: The Crooked River and the Metolious

2008-10-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Metolious River

The Crooked River

Ron and the Red Side

I met the husband of one of Alyssa's bosses at a dietetics potluck the other day and he asked me if I would be interested in going fly fishing with him. Little did I know the trip would turn into a 6am to 10pm all day fishapalooza. He did show me two great rivers though, The Crooked in central Oregon and The Metolious in the high Cascades. It turned out that I had a great time and that Ron was a great guy. The Metolious is world famous for its fish and I hooked into a big one but snapped him off a soon as I hooked him. Otherwise, I caught one fish all day and it was on The Crooked river at about 1pm. The fish is what is referred to as a Red Side and is a unique to Oregon version of the Rainbow trout. Above are some of the pics. Including a picture of Ron with a Red Side that he caught on a tiny black and yellow nymph.

Love,

Connor

coffee, wine, and beer

2008-10-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

That's what the Pacific Northwest is all about. It is not hard to find someone who is passionate about coffee, wine, and beer around here. Every street in town is littered with drive thru coffee stops and I think Starbucks owns at least 50% of city real estate in OR. Today Connor and I made our first wine tour around the outskirts of Salem. (And not a drop went in the spit bucket, mind you). The Willamette Valley wine region is rapidly growing in popularity, and becoming known for their pinots, due to the shorter growing season. We thought it was about time to see what the fuss was about.

The valley is beautiful and just right for all sorts of crops not just grapes. Much of the produce that we buy comes from less then 25 miles away. The farmer's markets this time of year are overflowing with peaches, berries, apples, and pears, all grown in this region. Yummy!

I guess the rainy season is almost underway so we have a few more sunny weekends that we must make the most of.

Keep in touch.

Alyssa and Connor.

Silver Falls State Park... 30 mins

2008-09-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

Another Reason to Visit....

Lincoln City... Hour From Home

2008-09-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Coast... Neskowin

2008-09-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the coast in the town of Neskowin about an hour from our apartment...

Another reason to come visit... hint hint....

Love,

Connor and Alyssa

OR at last settled at Fur Villa Apartments

2008-09-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Connor and I have finally gotten the apartment together and looking decent enough to take pictures. We do not have much furnature to fill the place but it is nice to have room. There is an extra bedroom for anyone who wants to come visit... (hint).

So far so good. Connor is going to his second interview today with a company called K Designers. They do home remodeling. I had a Serve Safe class yesterday and learned how to avoid poisening others while preparing food. Other than that I think we have the rest of the week to check out our surroundings. Yesterday evening we drove around downtown Salem and checked out the Salem Hospital where I will be spending my first 4 weeks of internship. It looked really nice, and we saw signs claiming that it is the best hospital in OR.

Until next time...

Alyss and Connor

We Have Arrived

2008-09-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

We made it folks. We have been in Oregon for a few days now. Stopped off in Bend, OR Friday before making it to Salem on Saturday at 11a.m. pacific standard time. Bend was great we went to an amazing mexican restaurant and went climbing at Smith Rock (pictured below). Our apartment was pleasantly supprising. We feel like we have to much space for how little stuff we have. So we went to good will yesterday to try and find some furniture and found an awesome picture of a group of owls instead, which now sits in our bathroom. Anyways, we are here and safe and are trying to put everything away. Come visit us becuase we have a full extra bedroom where you may sleep comfortably. We will post some more pics of the apartment soon sorry it's sort of a shambles still.

Love,

Alyssa and Connor

Buffalo, Bears, Elk and Trout

2008-09-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

So, we made it to the rockies, over the river and through the woods. Against all odds we made it through not one but two nights of camping in Yellowstone National Park. Now we are sitting back in the hustle and bustle of the "civilized world" in a Comfort Inn and Suites in Boise, Idaho. I know in our previous posts we mentioned that the drive through South Dakota on highway 90 was boring. Dear God, did I ever wish I was back on highway 90 after driving highway 84/86 through southern Idaho. I guess we did decide on the drive because it was less hilly than going north to Coeur d'Alene and hence better on our vehicles. Little did we know how flat and treeless the world could get and still not be desert.

Before we got into Yellowstone we were blown away by the beauty of the Big Horn Mountains. There was also the stop off at Connor Battlefield, oh thats right and I messed some people up.

On a brighter note we were fresh off two perfect days of 70 degree weather and cloudless skies in Yellowstone where we saw Buffalo and Elk galore. We did see a grizzly (from our car) at dusk on our first night walking back into the woods about 10 miles from our campsite. Along with the bear we listened to Elk calls that were close enough to wake us out of a deep sleep. But my personal favorite were the trout. I was able to catch a few brown and a rainbow on the Firehole River the most unique river in the park and one of the most unique trout streams in the world. This is because along its path a high number of gysers pour over its banks and heats the river beyond typical trout stream temperatures (take a look at the river here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firehole_River ). If you look close at the picture below you can see I am fishing it in my sandals and shorts mid-day wadding through the perfect mountain stream. Alyss and I took some amazing pictures and saw some great sites in the park spending a full day driving and stopping and driving and stopping. One of our favorites was the battling buffalo which we have a video of but I can't seem to upload it so I will have to do that soon for you.

Alyssa wants you to know how scared of bears she was, very.

-Alyssa&Connor

So Long: The Current, Southern Minnesota, South Dakota

2008-09-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Southern Minnesota Windmill

The Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

Rolling Hills of Western SD

Campsite Night 1 aka Howard Johnson

Bouldering Just Before I Hit the Stream

Well the first day has come and is nearly gone. We woke up and the tender hour of 5 am and were off after a tear filled goodbye with Laurie and Gordy. On our way I texted my great friend VJ as we ventured down his daily route south to Shakopee on highway 169. He texted me back "I consider you a brother... I will miss you dearly." With that we were on our way south to Mankato. While on our way I phoned up 89.3 The Current's morning show and asked them to play something that would remind Alyssa and I off Minnesota. Instead, over the airways, they mentioned every radio station we could hear them on from Minneapolis to Sioux City and played a memorable and unique set of three songs to "wake up too."

Southern Minnesota, an area I very rarely frequent surprised me with its beauty. The first picture above is of a windmill I caught along the highway 60 area just south of St. Peter. It was a beautiful crisp morning and after a detour around some construction and with coffee in hand we reached highway 90 and headed for the long and arduous eastern 3/4 of South Dakota.

If you have ever driven along highway 90 through the flat expanse that is South Dakota you may have the names Wall Drug, Corn Palace, 1880 Town, and Pioneer Auto forever ingrained in you're cerebral cortex. Also don't forget that Jesus died for you're sins and that abortion is baby murder. Just as we were about to lose it and after about 6 pit stops to merely keep our sanity, we began to enter the gorgeous Black Hills of western South Dakota on our way to our first nights camp in Spearfish Canyon. For all of you who see the picture above of the beautiful valley and the bubbling brooke that was where we planned to camp. Fortunately for you the Howard Johnson won out and you now have this beautifully constructed blog update to keep you entertained (ask me what happened later). Got to do a little bouldering in the canyon thus far and also got to do some swimming when I fell in the river off the boulder as a piece of the limestone flaked loose on me, see above photo of said river.

All in all, both of us had a long days drive but our vehicles held up to the challenge, knock on wood, please. We are heading for Yellowstone tomorrow and there is potential fly fishing and geyser watching that should occur. Hope all is well and we will keep you posted.

Love,

Connor & Alyssa

2008-09-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

1 DAY LEFT....

It is Sunday. Alyssa and I are currently scrambling to put some finishing touches on the planning. We are leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn to venture into the great unknown. Well sorta unknown. We still semi-don't have an apartment (scary) and it is 2:30 and we still only have 1/2 the truck loaded. Sweet GOD.

But we are both super excited and can't wait until our feet hit the ground in Oregon. Plans are up in the air a little bit about what to do after Yellowstone but we are thinking the Black Hills of Boise, ID rather than city of rocks. We will see how the cookie crumbles.

Cross you're fingers say a prayer and wish us luck.

-Alyss and Connor

Devils Lake

2008-09-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Went to Devil's Lake and climbed for a day. Meant to climb for two days but rained all Thursday and climbed about half of Friday. Made it a great time but was muddy and wet through most of it.

Obey my Blog

2008-09-09T21:47:00.001-07:00

OBEY MY BLOG

Stopping along the way... @

2008-09-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Spearfish Canyon

Yellowstone

Jackson Hole

City of Rocks

Our Road to Adventure

2008-09-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Here is the route we plan to take. Our adventure will follow this trail. We will be traveling by chuck wagon and should only have to ford the river a few times with our oxen.