Snow - to Shoe or Board? its all COLD

Over the past weekend, Dec 1-2nd, Mikey, Jod's hippie cousin, and I went up into the Mt. Hood wilderness to camp and snowboard in the back country. Now we are by no means alpinistas, well I am by name at least. But this trip was not to be alpinista-ish. That is, we were not conforming to the Alpinistas standard of back country exploration. We were merely going to snowshoe into a campground that was only a mile or so from the highway and stay the night. Then we were planning on finding a hill/mountain to snowboard on for the day, then return home to our warm beds later the next day. A less traditional alpinista mountain experience for sure. But still there were traces and influences of the Alpinista doctrine (That is to be discussed at a later time).

We departed my residence around 1230 on Friday. We had to make a stop at the finest bread shop in all the land for some breakfast and coffee. We then drove for a bit to the base of the mountain and stopped at "Fred Mayerville" as Mikey called it. We picked up some essentials, Duraflame's and some canned sweetened condensed milk (an Alpinista standard). We then finally were on the way to our destination. Once we started up the mountain, at about 3000 ft, the scenery turned white with luscious pillows of heaven. We got to the parking lot after another quick stop to purchase some wax and a snow-park pass. We quickly changed to our outdoor gear and mounted our packs and snowboards on our backs and headed for Trillium Lake campground. We started on the trail and quickly asked ourselves, "Why are we snowshoeing downhill?" So we answered that question by strapping on our snowboards and heading down the hill. We passed many on the way up. We heard things like, " Your ruining the ...", and, " WhooHooo, that looks fun!". Mostly those people were X-country skiers. I suspect that they were mad at us because we were 1. snowboarders (who have a very bad reputation of disregard for anyone but themselves) and 2. because we were in their X-country ski tracks. Now I agree with the latter, but the former I cannot take responsibility for....Well maybe in this circumstance I can. haha. Anywho, We roared passed them and made it to the bottom of the hill. We took about 10 minutes to change our method of transportation. We then were in sync with our snowshoes in a matter of minutes and at the camp in a few more. We found a camp site that looked secluded and serene. It had a picnic table and a nice flat spot for the tent. Mikey started to setup the tent and I started on clearing off the bench and table to make room for our kitchen. I dug a neat little caveish sort of thing. It worked out well. I dug down to the ground and cleared off a portion of the table. My favorite was the snow shelf that is an Alpinista tradition. Once camp was setup, we were eager to explore our new surroundings. We proceeded to attempt a circumference of the lake expedition. We started out heading east for a bit. Mikey found a trail, sort of. That ended up leading us to a meadow that was covered in thick snow and exposed creeks. We navigated through most of them with ease, but the sun was disappearing into the abyss so it was growing harder and harder to see. But then, as if on cue, the moon appeared with its glory. Bright and white. It lit up the meadow like the lights at Wrigley field, I suppose (I have never been there). It was truly amazing. Because it was getting dark, we decided to retrace our steps back to camp. But I wanted to save some time by trying to cross one of the frozen creeks. Mikey was all for it. So I stepped out on to the ice. So good so far. Then the next step, as soon as there was a fraction of weight on it, it gave way to suck me into its midst. With cat like reflexes, I flopped onto the shore and tucked my feet into my chest. I immediately felt the cold on my leg of the water seeping in. Mikey was already trying to pull be to safely, but I was good. I was on dry land, or so it seemed. I crawled out of the bluff that I had been grasping on to. Mikey laughed. Then so did I. "Don't tell the ladies that one", I said. Mikey was worried and wanted to get me back to camp so I could warm up. I agreed but I was not that wet. So we retraced our steps back to camp. I changed into some dry apparel and we started dinner, Kathmandu Curry. It sounded better than it was. We burned our Duraflame and went to our tent at around 830.
I love my wife. When we were at REI, picking up some essentials for the trip, she suggested that I get hand and foot warmers. I thought to myself that Alpinistas don't need warmers. But she got them anyway and packed them with us. I was so glad she did. I cracked those things open and put one in my bag by my feet. They were as warm as in my bed at home. Thanks, Jo! I will always listen to you about things such as these. She also packed us some extra food. That turned out to be a life saver.
So that night, I got up to go pee, as I often do, and discovered that it was light outside. I woke Mikey with my stirring. He was just as surprised that it was light. We both had our heads down in our bags as black as, well, night. So we got up and I brewed some coffee, as any good Alpinista does. We made oatmeal (thanks again Jo) and we packed up our bags with just our snowboards and headed out on a journey that we will never forget. Across from the campground is a road that is the start/end of Mud Creek Loop. We decided to start up it. We quickly found that it was going to be a rough time. Mud Creek Loop was not groomed like the trail coming into the campground. It only had two lines in the snow from the X-Country skiers. So we did not want to ruin the XC trail, so we made our own next to the parallel lines. It was all uphill. We would change who would plunge through the snow and who would follow. Following was much easier. We would go a while, rest, then look up the hill and say something like, " It should end just around that bend up there." It did not. We would go a bit more, rest and repeat the same thing. And on and on this went, for two hours. We were finally passed by a X-Country skier who stopped and asked where we were going. We told him we had no clue. We were just looking for a place to snowboard. He suggested we take Quarry Trial. It cut to the other side of Mud Creek Loop, essentially making the loop 4 miles shorter. He said that there was a ridge that we could ride down all day long, all by ourselves. Sounded good to us. So we climbed some more. We were getting pretty tired. I was getting thirsty, so I reached for my bottle of water that Mikey and I prepared earlier in the morning from snow from our cave. I took the first drink and almost puked. The water tasted like smoke. It was from the night before, those Duraflames soaked into the snow and them we melted it to make water. Uggggh. It was so nasty. So we kept going up. We finally reached the Quarry Trail. We rested for a bit and strapped on our long awaited boards. We started down the trail and then stopped rather soon. The snow was deep and the trail was not as steep as we would of liked. So we changed back into our snow shoes. We did this a few times. We finally found a cut out road that went downhill. We took that road and it was glorious, but still not as steep as we would of liked it. We had to stay in the X-Country tracks to maintain speed. Not incredibly fun, but it was OK. We came to a section that opened up, the Quarry. It was a nice section that looked fun. Steep and some nice terrain that could cause worry and wonder. But we were tired and hungry and had no idea how much further it would be to get back to camp. So we decided to head back without tackling the Quarry. Then I heard something on Mikey's radio. I wondered why I had not heard that on mine. I looked down and it was gone. I lost my radio somewhere between changing from snowshoes to snowboard, the 12 times I did that earlier. Suck. Oh well, we were hungry. So we snowboarded the last of the downhill and came to the other side of the Mud Creek Trail. It was a slight uphill, so we changed again into snowshoes. This time is was less than a minute for Mikey and I to change over. We had some practice. So on we climbed. And climbed. And climbed...etc. My Hip Flexor started hurting. Bad. Mikey was hungry and his Hip Flexor was hurting as well. We would go a few steps and rest. We would have the same conversation we had earlier in the day. "I think the end is just around the bend up there". Yeah, I heard that before. We kept trekking, and hurting, and hurting. On and on that trail seemed to go. We finally made it to the camp ground. Mikey ate and I drank some better water. We rested for a bit and made some lunch. We packed up our camp and then we had to hike out. Man, we thought it would never end. We were so spent. We did finally make it out. Man it was nice to get into that car and start the heater. We drove home and stopped by the quiky-mart to pickup some Gatorade and chips. We ended the trip with an outing to a Mexican food restaurant. In true Alpinista fashion...

Costco and Mexican Pastries

Anyone that know me, knows that I am a mexican food fanatic. I will eat mexican food, if given the opprotunity, everyday for the rest of my life. It is so good. Anyway, I was in Costco today. It was lunch time and My Mother-in-law was in town visiting. So we decided to eat at Costco's eatery. I ordered a chicken bake and a new item that Costco recently started offering, a Churro. Now to those of you who dont know, a churro is like a doughnut but straight and covered in cinnimon and sugar. I would always get them at the Swap Meet in Goleta on Sunday mornings. Occasionally they would be sold at fairs and Fiesta around So. Cal. So when I saw them on the menu at the Costco in Tigard Oregon, I was a bit aprehensive to order it. But what the heck, you only live once and bad mexican food is way better than no mexican food. Can I hear an AMEN? Anywho, I quickly ate my chicken bake and was on to the churro. Then first bite was taken by my son, Beck. Judging by his reaction, I would say that it was good. Really good. I took my first bite and it was Awesome. I recommend you give it a go for yourselves.

hi

 

My new favorite Drink

I came to love coffee the way that most people my age did. Through the gateway drug of Mochas. Most everyone I know started drinking those creamy chocolate sips of ecstasy topped with whipped cream. I know, I was one of them. But soon my wallet felt the crunch as $2 mochas appreciated to $3 and now $4. I had to make a change, but what? Feeling the need to stick it to the "Man", i decided to go for the cheapest thing on the menu, straight coffee. It was only a buck for a tall, robust, pungent cup of joe. However, it was quite unpleasing. I remembered taking a sip of my Dads coffee when I was much younger. He filled his coffee with cream and sugar. It was sweet and good. So I tried that. I was pleasantly surprised when I could not only pallet the taste, but I actually liked it! That was it, I was hooked on coffee for the next 7 years. I gradually became somewhat of a coffee snob. I no longer went to Starbucks because their coffee was too weak (Besides the fact that they are lame). My sister turned me on to Peets. WoW. That is a cup of coffee. I went there every morning and got my delicious cup of goodness. But like all things, I felt that the coffee was fading. It did not have that pop that it did in the beginning. Feeling kinda restless for a new place to call home, I searched... and found nothing. Occasionally I would find a good cup of coffee at a hotel or a nice restaurant, but I could not find a place that topped Peets. I would have to live with what I had.

I took a trip to Europe. I was surprised to find out that there really is not such thing as coffee as we know it in the USA. They have espresso and related drinks that are based on espresso. Still, they are 3-5 bucks. I thought that I am still not going to yield to the "Euro Man". I did see something called the "Americano". I figured that was like our American coffee. No way. It was beat. So gross. So I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. A straight shot of espresso. Oh Man! I finally found what I was looking for! A stronger substance than Peets. I devoured shot after shot while I was in Europe. And, like here, there are big differences in the quality of coffee shops you go to. There were really good espresso places, and places that literally made me vomit. Truly hit or miss.

Back in the states I would order an espresso if I was not feeling like normal coffee. It did help, but I found myself needing more and more espresso. And once again, my wallet felt the hit. So I decided to stick to coffee.

Then things changed when I took a trip to Washington DC. A colleague of mine took me to Starbucks and ordered an Iced Coffee. What? Iced coffee? I had heard of Ice Blended espresso based drinks, but Iced coffee? Never. I decided to try it...OH My Gosh! So good. I can have a cold drink of coffee...Whoo Hooo! That became my new favorite drink for about three trips to Starbucks (they did not have a Peets near my hotel in DC). Then I could not do it anymore. It was like, well, drinking cold days old coffee. So I stopped. I went back to the old standard, regular coffee.

Then on trip to Texas, I was so hot (as most people are in Texas) and I needed a coffee fix. So I went to the Starbucks (They really are everywhere) inside the building I was working in and saw that they had Americanos on the menu and it was not much more than a regular cup of coffee. I asked what an Americano was and the lady told me it was a shot of espresso and hot water. What? That sounds gross. Watered down espresso, next. But the lady convinced me to try it, so reluctantly I did. And it was glorious. I had finally found what I was looking for. But being in Texas, it was an unpleasant experience because it was very hot outside and the americano was very hot on the inside. So the next day I ordered an Iced Americano. And to my pleasant surprise, it surpassed all my hopes and dreams of what an americano could be. It was my new favorite drink.

It has been 6 months since I had discovered the Iced Americano. I am still holding to the fact that it is the best coffee drink out there. Although I have been tinkering with a fine grind Ugandan coffee in my drip coffee maker that makes a super strong yet smooth cup of coffee. I have a feeling that when my Ugandan supply runs out, I will be searching for a new favorite that I can make at home. But on the plus side, my cheap espresso machine that barely makes palatable espresso just turned out some decent iced americanos. So I may be set. For now...