I have had the great pleasure of some great mountain biking in Oregon. These photos and videos are from June 26, 2016. I parked at a trailhead south of of Browns Camp. The river and waterfall here were very nice. The trail climbs a lot, but I like that in a trail :). The area is stunningly beautiful; the Tillamook State Forest, where this is located, is only an hour from Clackamas. The weather was perfect that morning: 50's and topping out in the 70's. The ride was great, through lush coastal range forest, with some open logged areas. The singletrack was all I have hoped for; some fast lines, some technical climbs, some great downhills with rocks and roots, and even a little mud.
I started out on the Wilson River Wagon Road Trail, rode clockwise south to University Falls, then swung north on the Gravelle Brothers Trail in a large, 8.5 mile loop. This is otherwise known as the Historic Hiking Trail.
I will be returning here many times as I get my legs back into shape. There are many other trails in the Tillamook to explore, and I will be returning for quite a while!
I just made a quick video from my recent mountain biking footage in Arizona over Christmas. This is my first attempt at this, so I expect o improve! I filmed this with my cell phone in a handlebar mount, so the video is very wiggly.
I have had the opportunity to spend from several months to several years with these packs and this is my attempt to share my experiences. Please excuse the terrible editing, my filming was not very good and the editing did not help much. Thanks for reading my blog!
We wanted to hike in
the Gorge. We had hiked in back of several of the big Falls before, the most
notable of which is the "10 falls" hike in back of Multnomah Falls,
including Fairy Falls.
On the trail up
We chose Angel's
Rest, hoping to see Bridal Veil Falls, and Coopey Falls from the top. We did
not know that there were fantastic vistas, but very little of waterfalls
visible!
The hike was very
nice, the weather was warm but not too hot. It was a relentless uphill 2.37
mile hike. The forest was beautiful, if a bit dry.
At the top, at
Angel's Rest, the views to the West and East along the Columbia River were
stunning. The pictures here do not do it justice.
Just below Angel's Rest, east along the Columbia River
Near Angel's rest, east along the Columbia River, a fire burning on the Washington side
Looking east from Angel's Rest
Looking west along the Columbia River. In the distance, in the middle, you can just see Portland City Center.
It is a very pleasant hike,
but we did suffer for a few days after! Our quads were overworked on the way
down.
Us, at lunch rest below Angel's Rest
Looking west through the trees
a Hobbit Hole! See the blue water bottle at the bottom?
backing out, the Hobbit Hole entrance
Oops, that's not a Hobbit!
We stopped off to lean over the Coopey River Falls and get some video of this small, pretty waterfall.
There were many pleasant people and dogglers on the trip. We missed
Korik. The next Gorge hike will include as many waterfalls as possible!
Cold Steel Scout;
Cold Steel Master Hunter; Mora Heavy Duty; Black Cloud Knives Shark.
I decided to conduct
a test with my comments and impressions of four knives that I have used for the
past 10-15 years, with the exception of the Mora, which I have used for only a
short time.
There is little new
in this video compared to many others on YouTube, except for the comparison
between these four knives at the same time, performing similar tasks.
My ultimate verdict
is that all four of these knives do a great job in the bushcraft arena. They
are durable, comfortable and great quality. The Cold Steel Master Hunter is a
great, lightweight knife that is very flexible in its roles. The Cold Steel Scout
is a bit large and heavy for bushcraft. It is
a better survival knife, but I would not feel disappointed if it was the
only the knife I had. The edge chipping is the real concern here, and I will be
testing this out more. The Mora is a classic bushcraft knife, and it is easy to
see why. I would feel pretty darn good if I had the combination of the Mora and
the Bahco Laplander. That combination can take on just about any bushcraft or
survival task. The Black Cloud Knives Shark is a great player here also. It has
the best steel, an excellent handle, and holds an edge best while still being
easy to sharpen. It is "Black Cloud Sharp"! Again, the BCK Shark and
the Bahco Laplander are an ideal combination that I feel confident can handle
every outdoors situation.
Steels:
Cold Steel Master
Hunter: Carbon V
Cold Steel Scout:
Carbon V
Mora Heavy Duty:
Sandvik
Black Cloud Knives
Shark: ATS-34 with special heat treatment.
This is a review of one of the classic best, all-time hall-of-fame outdoors jackets. The DriClime series has been one of the slimmest, lightest and highest warmth-to-weight-ratio jackets ever made. I have had an older model for more than 15 years and I am still using it. I have brought it on uncounted backpacking and hiking trips as well as an every-day in-town jacket. The Marmot DriClime series has withstood the test of time, durability and design.
The new Ether DriClime is no exception, I fully expect this to be part of every trip I take for the next 15 years.
This video will show you the ridge line modification that allows the Hennessey Hammock to be used as a very comfortable chair, lounger and an open hammock for sleeping. The model used is the Backpacker Hyperlight. Please forgive the low volume in the beginning and sudden increase later, I am still working out my audio setup! Thanks!
