Crater Lake Bike Ride

On Tuesday September 14th, I biked the Crater Lake rim road with my friends Perry and Carol. From  the starting point the rim road is 33 miles long and requires 3800 feet of climbing. 

We left from Rim Village, at an elevation of 7100 ft., at about 9:30am.

 Most bikers choose to ride clockwise around the lake and so did we.   As you can see we had pretty good weather.



The whole rout is pretty much either going up or down.  Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding we had to do the worst hill at the end of the day.

There were traces of snow remaing along the road and as you can see here there was still snow down next to the lake.

There are over 30 turnouts and view points along the rout and so many chances to regroup along the way..

Crater Lake was formed when 12,000 ft Mt Mazama erupted over seven thousand years ago with an explosion thought to be forty times more powerful than Mt St. Helens.  The resulting crater filled with rain and snow melt to a depth of over 1900 feet.  It snows so much here that the entire loop road is only open for 3 or 4 months a year.

This picture is taken from one of the lowest elevations along the rout.

Here you can see Phantom Ship Island.

2010 Sisters Folk Music Festival

Here's a slideshow video I put together from a recording I did of Geoff Muldaur and Jim Kweskin playing last weekend at the Sisters Folk Music Fesitival in Sisters, Oregon.

Melakwa Lake Backpack Trip

On Monday I left Seattle just before noon to take a two day backing trip to Melakwa Lake near Snoqualmie Pass about fifty miles east of Seattle.  Due to a late start I only hiked in about a mile and found a place to camp near Denny Creek.












On Tuesday I packed up and headed up the trail toward Melakwa Lake which was about a 3.5 mile hike and took a little over three hours.

It's been a few years since I've done this hike and the trail was quite a bit steeper and rougher than I remembered.  Much of the trail is just a boot beaten track through the rocks and tree roots.

The lower part of the trail passes a couple of beautiful high falls.  They're a little more scenic earlier in the year when there's more water--  which unfortunately also means more bugs.  There weren't many bugs on this trip.

Melakwa Lake was as beautiful as I expected and I was able to spend some time hanging out on shore after dinner and watch the shadow from the setting sun move up the mountain side and then the moonlight creep back down.

On Wednesday I woke to yet another sunny day and was on the trail at 10 am.

Bainbridge Island Bike Ride

After getting scared off from backpacking on Monday and Tuesday by a bad weather report I left on an overnight bike trip to Bainbridge Island on Wednesday.

Bainbridge Island isn't far from home but is the fastest way I know to get a half a world away.

"Without going out of your door, You can know the ways of the world. Without peeping through your window, you can see the Way of Heaven. The farther you go, The less you know. Thus, the Sage knows without traveling, Sees without looking, And achieves without struggle." Lao Tse.

And it seems like there were some other people who had the same idea I did...

Everybody likes to stare out over the water... who needs cell phones, text messages, or cable TV?

...especially when you've got a fishing pole.

... or a sunset to watch.

Kitsap Peninsula Bike Ride

On Tuesday I left for a three day bike ride on the Kitsap Peninsula west of and across Puget Sound from Seattle.  On the first leg of the trip I rode to the Bremerton ferry dock downtown where I caught the ferry.  To the right you see the ferry arriving in Bremerton.

After arriving in Bremerton I rode four or five miles to the campground at Illahee State Park. 

There was lots of colorful sky  and some great views while hanging out on the water before sunset.

On Wednesday I took about a twenty-five mile bike ride from Illahee north to Brownsville ( picture to the right); then west to Silverdale; then back to Illahee State Park.

On Thursday morning I was on the 11:10 am ferry from Bremerton to Seattle and arrived in time for a late rock-fish taco lunch at Fisherman's Terminal in Ballard.

Vashon Island Bike Ride

On Tuesday I left for a three day long bike ride to Vashon Island just west of Seattle.  To shorten the ride a bit to the Vashon ferry dock in West Seattle I took the water taxi across Elliot Bay-- about a ten minute ride across the bay.

As you can see here they're well equipped to handle bicycles.

After arriving in West Seattle I continued on to the Vashon Ferry Dock via Alki Beach.  It was a good day to be hanging out on the beach but I was just riding through.

I arrived at the hostel in the middle of the afternoon after a quick stop in town for an icecream cone.

They used to have four of these old covered wagons at the hostel but are now down to just two.  Lucky for me I was able to book one of them for the two nights I planned to be there.

On Wednesday I left the hostel in the late morning for some biking on the island.  I ended up riding to Dockton Park which is actually on Maury Island.   Maury Island used to be a separate island  but is now connected to Vashon thanks to the busy bees at the Army Corps of Engineers.

Quartermaster Harbor between Maury and Vashon Islands.

Seattle's Harbor Island with Mt. Rainier in the background.

Summer Sail

Today I went sailing with my friend Mark to help him move his boat from the boatyard to its regular moorage.