Crater Lake

It seems we bypassed a post on our trip to Crater Lake. Being busy and distracted will do that. Let's warm up our flux capacitors and go back to Sept. 9 and 10!

Michael and I left early on Friday morning, heading south then east, into Umpqua National forest. Our New Friends had just visited Crater Lake the weekend before so they gave us their maps, permits, and campsite tips. Because of them we found a (free!) campsite off a forest road just a mile from the entrance to Crater Lake National Park. It was unpopulated, quiet, and beautiful. Our kind of camping.

With camp settled, we went into Crater Lake National park for the day. The only road through the park curves along the rim of the lake, allowing breathtaking views. We stopped frequently and lingered. There was no rush, as we had only two objectives for the day: climb Mt. Scott and swim.

Mt. Scott is the highest peak in the park and is located on the southeast side of the rim. We drove to the trail head and started our hike in mid-afternoon. I love my husband. For many reasons. One of which is because he didn't think me silly when I asked him if hiking through meadows ever made him think of Jurassic Park. You know, that scene when they first see the Brachiosauruses (Brachiosaurusi?) walking through the meadow and then that song plays? We hummed it throughout our hike. Anyway, Mt. Scott is a beautiful climb and ends at a lookout tower.

After the three hour hike (in which we saw elk!) we were exhausted and looking forward to a swim in a cold, cold lake. We drove up to the northern edge of the rim and found the trail head down to the lake. There was a sign at the trail head that said taking the trail back up is like climbing 75 flights of stairs. Holy shit! We debated what "like" meant. As in, as exhausting? Or like climbing stairs? Whatever. We wanted to swim and were not dissuaded by the people we passed on our way down. They were gasping and asking us how much further to the top. Jeez! After the 15 minute hike down we found a place to jump in. It was a rock twenty feet from the surface. No problem, right? It's important not to over think these things.

The place we swam is the only place people can enter the lake. And boating of any kind is forbidden. Since we climbed Mt. Scott and swam in the lake we, in a way, were on both the highest and lowest parts of the park. Neato burrito! And I am proud to say we kicked the ass out of those "75 flights of stairs."

After getting back to camp and having a burrito dinner we made a fire, though the light of the full moon lit our entire campsite.

The next morning we headed back west toward the raft put-in where we were meeting up with our raft guides and group. There were about fifteen of us total in three different boats with three guides. The North Umpqua River boasts three and four class rapids and since we had such a rainy summer the water levels were quite high. We left in the morning, stopped for lunch, and finished our trip in the mid-afternoon. We went through some cool rapids, such as The Pinball, Eiffel Tower, Frogger 1, 2, and 3, and we saw cool wildlife: an osprey flew over the river as did a bald eagle. We watched him perch in a tree as we drifted on by. We don't have pictures from our white water trip because of, you know, the water. Sorry kittens.

That night we found another free campsite, having inquired with our river guides. We camped a quarter mile from the North Umpqua river next to Calf Creek. That night we ate at a local ma and pop restaurant, celebrating one year of marriage, then watched the sun set over the river.

Calf Creek behind campsite 2:

The North Umpqua River:

One of the nights we sat at the campfire and talked about our favorite memories from the past year: Graydons with A and L, swimming in Lake Michigan, our trip to Sydney (sans spider flu), Bennington graduation, our visits to the homestead in Rhode Island, many of the evenings spent on D and M's porch, and more. It's been a good year. Difficult and scary. Definitely. But so good. There was a tree at campsite 2 that had an "M" carved into it, which seemed so fitting. An "M" for MacDainings and and "M" for marriage.

I am lucky to have married my best friend, a man who understands (like, really understands) my Jurassic Park references. We are so happy to be here, together. Though we miss you all like crazy.

 My content camping face: 

Love from the west,
Katie and Michael

Hi World.
It is a cloudy Sunday morning in the Northwest. The weather has turned toward fall this weekend. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow and be cooler. I'm not used to September being so hot, its been in the 80's and humid the last couple weeks. Kt and I are looking forward to rain (which we may regret in about two months) and maybe a thunderstorm or two. It is a strange thing to miss but we miss thunderstorms.

I spent a good part of my morning on the BCM Facebook page (yes it is still Bad) looking at their wall posts and remembering working there. It's strange looking back now and thinking about the good and bad times there. That place was such a big part of my life and my dissatisfaction with life and now it seems unimportant and almost like a dream, as if maybe it happened to someone else. I guess a couple months of context changes things especially if those months involve moving across the country and desperately needing a job. Now I listen to people at work complaining about similar things I would complain about and think how unimportant those things are and how I'm just happy to have a job. That may change as I get more settled into the job and the daily frustrations of it. My job now is fairly simple. We unload boxes of chips from Semi-trucks, stack them in the warehouse and later load them on other trucks to be distributed around the area. The only difficult thing about the job has been figuring out where everything goes, which I'm getting better at, and operating the worst computer program I have had the misfortune of using. Parts of the program are about 15 years old and still use the old DOS format. Its so old Microsoft had to write a DOS emulator to get the program to run on new Windows based computers because the old program couldn't talk to the new Windows programs. It is the most user unfriendly and SLOW program and computer combo I have ever used. My coworkers say it is better than it used to be though. Nevertheless I am glad I have a job and am making money. School is expensive! :)

Classes start Tuesday. I am only taking two classes; Chemistry 150 and Writing 121. Both basic level courses but I need them and it has been a long time since I have been in school. It should be a good term of refreshing those parts of my brain that haven't been used in a long time. I'm excited and a bit nervous. Kt has been great about encouraging me, telling me I will be great and kick schools ass.

As some of you probably noticed Kt is off Facebook and as I posted on my Facebook, I am thinking about getting rid of it altogether too. Lately it feels like Facebook has become a way of just barely staying in touch with other people without any effort or deep connection. It is possible to spend two hours online looking at pictures and reading updates without having any real idea of what is going on in a single persons head or life. A Facebook post saying happy birthday or congratulations seems like enough in the moment but is only the bare minimum of human contact. It feels hollow. We are still figuring out what it means to have long distance relationships with friends and family and I don't want my daily contact with the people I love to the bare minimum. I know I haven't been the best about keeping in touch with people, it has been hard being on our own. I don't think I really understood what it would be like to be so far away. Thinking about writing letters to people I love makes me feel lonely and sad so I have been avoiding it. I know that is antithetical to what I should do and I realize more everyday that I need real human contact with people that truly understand me. We are starting to make friends out here but I need people that know me well and understand what I think before I say it. Facebook does provide one good thing and that is pictures of friends and family. Especially nephews. Pictures are way more important that I ever expected. It is sooo good to see a picture of someone I love every once in a while. Sometimes it makes my heart hurt, but I need them. So if Facebook stays it will be for the pictures.

I have to go to work soon so I should sign off.
Love from Eugene.
Michael (and Kt)

Music for Your Monday

Last week Michael and I went to Sam Bond's Garage, a bar down the street from our place, to meet up with my "Uncle" Kurt and some family friends. We drank good beer from mason jars and listened to the live music of Tony Furtado. He is a folk artist and wicked good banjo player. A fiddle player accompanied him and it was magical, the best live music I've experienced in months, if not years. So, here is a video of a song he played called "Angels We Know."

All rights go to the owner and maker of this video

In October both Ryan Adams and The Head and the Heart will be here in Eugene. We have tickets to the latter, the former being a wee expensive. We love folk rock. We like it here. 

Worth It

This is a picture taken yesterday at Linton Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness area. Michael and I went camping with New Friends this weekend. We drove east of Eugene toward the McKenzie Pass, a stunning drive that takes one through old growth forests of Douglas Fir, past snow-capped mountains, lava bluffs, waterfalls, and more. We found a campsite off 126, set up our tents, then headed for the Linton Lake trail. We left around 4, each of us carrying 32 oz of water and a jacket, but not much more than that. The hike to the lake was an easy 2 miles through old growth hemlock and Douglas fir and over a lava bluff, then down to the forest floor. The trail ended at the lake, so we stopped to play around for awhile. And to throw stones onto the incredibly clear and calm surface.

From the northeast side of the lake we could hear roaring water, so we decided to go on despite the lack of kept trail. We circled around to the south end of the lake and found a river, then followed the river up into the forest, scrambling over down trees and mossy rocks. We were completely alone, off the trail by miles, finding our own way. We stopped for awhile by the rushing water to play on some down logs, poke at orange fungi, and take it in:

We then went on, further up and further in. We did some scrambling and climbing, using roots to pull ourselves up for another .25 miles. That's when the Linton Falls broke into view. One of our New Friends, who led the way and never gave up on finding the falls, said "That was worth it, huh?" We could only nod, our lungs sucking in oxygen. It was worth it. We found it by ourselves and we were alone. It was ours.

At this point the sun had another 30 minutes before it was going to set. Luckily our friend had a headlamp and Michael had his nalgene lantern because we hiked the last couple miles in the dark. Despite this, we could not help but stop back at the lake and watch the sunset:

When we finally got back to camp around 8 we started a fire, started dinner, and opened a few beers. The night went on until 2 am after hours of conversation around the fire and more beer. I slept better, despite the chilly 40 degrees and rain, than I have in months. This was possibly the best experience Oregon has given me, so far. We're still figuring out so much about what it means to be here, so far from friends and family. Which is hard, really really hard. And we get nervous about the unknown, but it's worth it. You know?

Love from the west,
Katie and Michael

Out with the old and in with the new!

We cannot believe it's nearly mid-September already. Did August happen? We don't remember.

Last weekend Michael and I went to Crater Lake for three days. It was a freaking fantastic time. Rafting, cliff jumping, hiking, camping, bald eagles, and more! He will tell you all about it later this week. Meanwhile, it's time to tell you more about Eugene!

The weather finally turned here. We had two solid months without rain--everyday temperatures were in the mid-80s and we had blue skies. Not until our trip to Crater Lake did I see clouds (it had been weeks)! Today it is a sad 70 and misty. Eugenians call the mistyness "rain" and so when they say it "rains" for months it really means it's gray and foggy. One thing you see on a majority of bicycles are front and rear fenders. Not only do they make you look super cool, but they protect you from water spitting off the tires as you ride. And in this small city, where one bikes everywhere, that's important.

Eugene boasts nearly 90 miles of on-street bicycle lanes and 30 miles of off-street paths. The Willamette River intersects the town, but there are five bike bridges that span it. This is the most bicycle-friendly city I've ever lived in!

Prior to our move, both Michael and I enjoyed riding around Grand Rapids. But mostly just for leisure. My bike, Dmitri, is an old Schwinn road bike that weighs nearly what I do. I named it Dmitri (nerd alert) after the Karamazov brother who everyone suspects killed his father for, oh, 1000 pages. I suspected Dmitri would kill me too. The bike is that dodgy. Upon arriving in Eugene, after scoping out the size and accessibility of the city, I decided to buy a new hybrid bicycle: a KHS Urban Soul single-speed. Since I ride pretty much everywhere except work, I'm saving a ton on gas. I named it Alyosha (Al) after the faithful and devoted Karamazov brother. I'm trying to get Michael to name his bike Ivan. Speaking of, Michael just bought some road tires for his bike, so now he's all over town too! He even bikes to work.

Dmitri:

Alyosha:

So, with a little bit of sadness, I tell you that I am selling Dmitri. He's taking up space, giving me that wild eye, and not worth the time to maintain. I hope his new owner feels as MEH as I did about him.

Also kids, know that Michael and I wear helmets. And you should too!

Love from the west,

katie and michael