Oregon - the Brotherly State

Just got done with a week with Thomas touring western Oregon and even part of Washington. We dubbed our trip the "Northwest Volcanoes Tour", as you will see here shortly. To say we kept busy would be an understatement. We fit more into one week than most rational people would try in a month it seemed. We kept joking we were going to start writing travel books with titles such as "Portland in 1 Day", "Mt Rainier in 1 Day", "Crater Lake in. 1 Day", etc. Then we feared whoever would come along and write Portland in 3/4 Day, just like "7 Minute Abs" from "Something About Mary".

We saw a lot, so here is a quick recap and some great pictures. It's taking every ounce of restraint I have not to put 100 pictures up, because it is so scenic here. I will spare you though and just give the highlights...

Sunday we actually had the chance to go to Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Portland where the Thomas family serves. I've known the Thomas family since my years of going to Guadalajara for bball mission trips, where they used to live and churchplant. It was a great time to catch up with them and their 5 wonderful kids. If I had planned a little better, I would have been able to hang out with them a while longer. But as I did not, Thomas and I headed back to Portland after the service and saw the city for half a day. At the famous Saturday Market (even on Sunday), I bought a clock made with old forks and utensils. That was probably my most noteworthy event of the day. 

I've loved Portland ever since the first time I visited. As Thomas and I walked around, he was amazed at how much he liked it right away. I don't know if its built into the Frasers or what, but it made me feel a little better to have someone else immediately like a city I rave so much about.

Monday is when we really got going. From Portland, we drove west over to Cannon Beach on the Pacfic. You may not recognize the name, but you've probably seen pictures. There are a lot of screen savers and famous pictures of this place, deservedly so. Its one of the most scenic places I've ever been. Good thing it was scenic though, because the sandy beaches are not the sandy beaches we southerners know so well. The air was crazy windy and cold, and the water was even colder. Not exactly a lot of people swimming.

We walked right up to the rocks and saw some baby seagulls up on top of some. I caught one trying to take flight. I don't think he actually did, maybe just stretching his wings.

From Cannon Beach we drove further south on the 101. There are great views at almost every turn.

We ended at Pacfic City, a really cool little vacation town. We ate lunch at the Pelican Brewery, helped ourselves to one of their home recipes (when in Oregon...), and spent the next few hours exploring the rocks.

It's literally been a dream of mine to watch a sunset at Cannon Beach. Although I would've preferred a beautiful woman by my side, Thomas made decent company for the event. I've seen some cool sunsets in my liftime, but this may have been my favorite.

Tuesday was our Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood day. After driving down the gorge, seeing a few waterfalls and a sturgeon fish hatchery, we cut in towards Mt Hood at the town of Hood River. Just so happens Full Sail Brewery is in Hood River. So once again, Thomas and I had some lunch while checking out the local flavors. We both approved. 

Hood was great though. The skies cleared literally just as we arrived at the trailhead. It was like God was saying "I'll clear the way for you". Things like that happened multiple times throughout our week. As you can see below where Thomas is scoping out our journey, it was a little bit of a hike to Hood.

After getting lost once and hiking an additional .75 miles STRAIGHT up to the point shown below, we probably did about 13 miles round trip. The final .75, just like that one trail in Glacier, was brutal. Both of us thought every single step was our last before we should turn around, but our stubbornness kept us going. When we got to the top, we were thankful for our stubbornness. With views like below and a sense of accomplishment, the pain of getting there felt like a long-lost thing of the past. 

As we were doing this, I got to the top by continually telling myself "you only need strength for one more step, focus on just the next step". Because if you looked at the point we were going to and the trail getting there, it looked like too much to conquer. And I'm learning the same with life. Lord give me the grace and strength to get through today and to do it well and joyfully. Because if I look ahead to where I want to be at 35, 45, 50, it seems like it might not ever happen and the road to get there could be full of difficulty. So instead, I won't worry about that road, but consider today alone. Not that I'll lose sight of where I'm going or the trail I'm on, but just focus on the next step in front of me. For anyone else reading that may feel the same way sometimes, I hope this is an encouraging thought. We're not going to get to our destinations overnight, as I may have used to think, but its all about each and every day. It's all about putting one step in front of the other. And then you get to this...

After Hood, Thomas proposed the idea of going to Mt. Rainier in Washington. I had not even thought about it, but it looked pretty nice. It's a national park I've never been to, and its only bigger and snowier than Hood. So Wednesday morning we set off for Mt. Rainier National Park. We got one of the coolest campsites I've ever stayed on. The firepit and table were on one side of the lot, and then there was a small wooden bridge that led to the tent spot. Very unique and fun to call home for 2 nights.

But who cares about the campsite, the scenery was amazing!

Wednesday night we were pretty tired and took a short hike from one of the main park centers. We stood right under the south face of Rainier, which looked like this...

Then looking away from the mountain, you could see everything. You could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens all from where we stood.

Adams in the background on the left and St. Helens in the background to the right

Mt. St. Helens

Clouds settling into the nearby area

St. Helens zoomed in

Mt. Adams zoomed in

On Thursday we decided we had rested enough and wanted to try a long trail. We regretted it. We both agreed it was probably about the worst hike we've ever done. We calculated it out to be roughly 9000-10,000 feet in elevation change and 13 miles. It would've actually been about 15 miles, but we happened to catch a young park ranger driving down a service road. We hitch-hiked back to the trail head and thanked him over and over. I had run out of water with about 6 miles left, so I was dreading every passing step. We were almost so miserable that we couldn't even really enjoy the views.

We actually bushwhacked a trail up a river bed for a mile or so before finding the real trail. Thankfully...

The trail actually took us over a swinging suspension bridge. It was kind of nerve wracking walking a few hundred feet over a rushing river on a swaying bridge.

View from Emerald Ridge, our destination. This was the west face of the mountain.

By the time we got done with these hikes, we had absolutely no desire to do anything. So naturally, we drove back into the tiny town right outside the park and found some pizza and beer. Although exhausted, Mt. Rainier would be a cool place to visit again. There is a trail that goes all the way around the mountain, called the Wonderland Trail, which we met several people doing along our hikes. They all said it was amazing, but took 6-8 days. One day in the future...

Friday, from Rainier we drove all the way down to southern Oregon to Crater Lake. Between the traffic all along I-5, losing the last campsite right on a lakefront to the car RIGHT in front of us, and, and the worst mosquitoes I've ever experienced, we had a rough Friday. After our tent was finally set up at 9:30, we decided to drive into the park to watch the stars over the lake. 

As soon as we got up there, we were both enthralled with the lake. 

Although it was almost 11, we decided we'd go ahead and wake up at 4:45 to catch the sunrise over the lake.

After less than 5 hours of sleep, we went back for a nap before tackling the park that day. Good thing we did, because we dominated Crater Lake all day long. Our favorite part was hiking to the bottom and cliff-jumping into the FREEZING lake. It was a really hot day, so the cold water felt great. And all the bystanders would cheer you on as you jumped. And there was this hippy, but super friendly dude playing a horn for each person that jumped. It was a funny scene.

The "choffer" as they called the horn.

I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for Crater Lake. It's almost a magical place. The water is the bluest water I've ever seen in my life. The island in the middle of the caldera is called "Wizard Island". The sunset from Watchman Tower was amazing (we realized we pulled off the trifecta - moonlit lake, sunrise over lake, sunset over lake).

Almost full moon over the lake

I wish I could go into more description of each of these places and some of the funny stories from each. Ultimately, I was thankful to have Thomas around to share these experiences. It was nice to have company, but it was even nicer to have my brother with whom we can recount these stories for the rest of our lives. We had some classic good campfire man talk, but also made fun of stupid things. I hate to admit my lack of planning prevented from making his flight out of San Francisco on time (sorry bro!), but he got home alright and didn't seem to want to kill me for it. What a guy.

As it relate to nature though, my lasting impression from this week is the POWER of God. He created all these things, and they are mighty. The Pacific Ocean crashing into the Oregon coast sounded like enough to break the rocks. The wind howled unlike anything I've ever heard. We stood on Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier and listened to glaciers cracking and falling down the mountainside. We swam in Crater Lake and saw Mt. St. Helens, both of which are erupted volcanoes. All these things are such powerful forces of nature, yet all so different. God just keeps us guessing and keeps us in awe, doesn't He?

So where am I now? I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Monterrey, CA trying to figure out where to spend the night. Looks like it will be camping tonight, but hopefully I get to catch up on the blog tomorrow night as I stay in a hotel near Santa Barbara. Should be a full and fun day of exploring the coast, although I'm looking forward to having company again in San Diego. Thomas spoiled me by having someone to talk to. Now its back to my own thoughts for a few days. Keep checking Instagram...