Iron Mountain

February 05, 2018 in Photography, Adventure, Hike

A few years ago, before we got more into adventuring and photography, my friends and I decided to go out for a photo excursion to Iron Mountain. It was Jon, Jesse, and I. I'll do a retrospective write up on the trip at some point, but to say the least we failed and it was probably a good thing as we were greatly unprepared. Fast forward a few years and coming back to this mountain sounds like a fun weekend to reattempt this mountain.

The forecast was for an overcast day, so I didn't bother leaving too early for a sunrise, but halfway up to the trailhead I could see the sun poking through for a beautiful sunrise. Moments like these I almost don't know what to do. I start stressing out that I was missing out, but I kept reminding myself that it was a beautiful moment to experience and that it was out of my control.

In my planning for the hike, I noticed a forest service road that if taken, could save nearly half the distance on the hike. I had in mind that there would probably be snow as well, but thought my 4x4 could handle it. Also in this planning (looking at google maps) I thought it would be fun to also hike Black Butte afterwards, but more on that later. I made it to the service road, put the truck in 4 wheel drive and started my way up. Not more than a hundred yards up my rig stopped and I was completely out of traction. Turns out that the snow I was dealing with had a layer of ice under it. I decided it wasn't worth trying to traverse and I don't have much experience with ice, so I turned around and headed to eh trail head.

I didn't initially plan to hike the whole trail, but I was out there early enough it wouldn't mess up my plans, and I wasn't going to lose to this mountain again. There was snow on 98% of the time, but it wasn't a problem as the trail was visible, until 1/3 of the way up, the trail completely disappeared. I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I needed to go up and thought I would eventually find the trail again. After a bit of trailblazing and a fair share of post holing to my knees, I made it to the top portion of the mountain that was primarily exposed rock. I knew I was still off the trail and didn't want to come back down this route, but thought I could find it from the top.

While I was on the rocks, I took the opportunity to make a few pictures sneaking close to the edge to gain the best view. Though I was thoroughly safe, the thoughts of how alone I was out there started to sneak in, so I quickly made my way back to the accent.

Once on top, I was blown away by the expanse of the view. I had never been to a pinnacle point such as this with 360 views from such a small footprint. I began to think about the morning sunrise and how beautiful it would have been up here but also realizing how impossible it would have been for me to make it up the trail in the dark. I will need to come back.

After soaking up the view and taking as many pictures I could think of, I began my descent. I found the trailhead from the top that leads me around the opposite side from my accent. The snow drifts filled the trail, and I was up to my waist in no time. Soon I made it out of the waist-deep snow back to the familiar knee deep with soaking jeans; I was not prepared for that. I was able to make it down much faster following my footprints.

After getting back the truck and loading up my gear, I headed off to my next hike, Black Butte.

Black Butte

February 05, 2018 in Hike, Adventure, Photography

Once getting to the trailhead after what seemed like an endless amount of washboard roads, I realized what I was in for. It's not like the trail was going to be too strenuous, but after hiking Iron mountain and not being in the shape I preferred, I was in for a treat. When I initially decided to do this second hike, it was half a plan B and halfway a fun addition. I didn't look at the elevation gain or the mileage, I just saw the trail from a map and a few images of the old Cupolas at the top, and I needed o see it.

The trailhead was warm and sunny and I almost left my gear in the truck, but had a suspicion that it might be windy so I brought it anyway. Once I was too the top I was incredibly grateful for the decision, I estimate the wind was over 40 mph. Many times I nearly blew down when I lost my footing on the rocks. The top off the bute was engulfed in fog and was topped with a layer of ice and slick snow (genuinely wish I brought my crampons). Not too many people were at the top as the "Big Game" was playing, so I had the place to myself. Since one of the main reasons I was up there was to photograph the watchtower and old cupolas, the fog didn't bother me, but I would like to get back on a fog-free day.

As I made my way around the top to the northern side, I came to a small ridge that the central cupola would be just behind. I knew it was there from all the photos I've seen, google satellite imagery, and a 360 VR I looked at the previous night. But to my disappointment, it was gone, nothing but a charred outline of where it used to be. At some point, it had burnt down, and nothing remained but its footprint. I tried to make the best of the situation and photographed the ruble, but I was pretty bummed.

After spending way too long deciding if I would climb the 80-foot watchtower, which I didn't, I headed back down the trail towards the truck. I stopped at a viewpoint along the pass and grabbed a few snaps of the butte before heading back home.

Poor Planning for Blue Pool

January 22, 2018 in Photography, Adventure, Hike

Last weekend I started feeling under the weather. I had the bright idea that all I needed was to get out into nature and breath deep breaths of wild air. I made a plan to go to a place up the Mckenzie River called Blue Pool. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect. So I made a plan to go and thought I would make the best of it.

I left nice and early to ensure I would be the first person up there, which I happily was. The only thing I forgot to do was check the weather report, snow and rain... three things I didn't plan on when I was figuring how I was going to cure my cold.

The hike up was enjoyable. It was quiet and peaceful; the only noise around was the river beside me as I hiked up the trail. The rain continued strong as I hiked and I slowly remembered that I still needed to rainproof my jacket from my last hike. I remained convinced this was the healing my body needed. Though my body disagreed with my decision, my mind was quite happy with the solitude.

The trail was wet and muddy, but not difficult. There were many beautiful lookouts along the way that gave great views of the river. By the time I made it up the two miles to my destination, my coat was starting to soak through.

Blue Pool is a beautiful place; it's a pool where the Mckenzie River resurfaces from underground. It is a lovely shade of blue surrounded by rock walls and evergreens. Despite my poor planning in winter clothing and not the best conditions for photographing, I did my best to enjoy my hike and the beauty before me before heading back.

To be honest, I was feeling a bit defeated. After getting back to my truck nearly soaked to the bone and freezing, I quickly realized the mistake in "trying to cure" my cold, I was also disappointed about not getting the shot I was hoping to get. So I began my journey back with the heater at full blast and a fresh hot cup of coffee from my thermos.

Thirty minutes later I decided I wasn't ready to head home quite yet and made my way out to Cougar Reservoir... I'm glad I did that! I drove up into a valley where the fog clung near and low to the trees and mountainsides. The calm yet excitement emotions that came over me at the same time are quite tricky to explain, but It seems never to fail me, the more I let go when I go out into the wild, the more I end up seeing.

Little Adventures : A Place in the Woods

January 10, 2018 in Photography, Video, Little Adventures

A ghost town is a wrong word to describe it because there isn't much left, but it's a special place in the woods. In the late 19th and early 20th century, there was a little logging town in the Mohawk Valley called Wendling. It no longer exists, the cost of logging became too high, so the company moved out taking the town with them. Before that, my great grandparents lived there raising their family; where my grandfather and his siblings grew up. My grandfather started his life here and is now the final place where he and his wife.

Recently I went up to Wendling with my Son. Not long before that I went up with my video camera to make a tribute video and discovered a vast amount of structures I wasn't aware were there. With this new knowledge, I let my son "lead" our exploration of the area. We spent the morning looking at all the different remains of the once thriving tow.

A Wet Lunch in Enright

December 24, 2017 in Adventure, Photography, Hike

I don't know if we started a new tradition or not, but my brother Hayden and I went for a cold and rainy hike Christmas eve. We headed up the night before and stayed in the small beach town of Rockaway. We let ourselves sleep in a little bit as sunrise wasn't until 7:30 and hiking through the cloudy river valley in the dark would give us no benefit. Our goal for the day was to hike as far as we could up the abandoned rail line along the Salmonberry River.

Being Christmas eve and the fact that hiking here was technically trespassing, we had the whole river to ourselves. The rail line was abandoned in 2007 after a historically massive storm caused damage too expensive to repair. As we hiked, the destruction of this storm was still evident to see on this nearly 100-year-old line. What we were surprised continuously by though, was how quickly the wild had come back to reclaim what was its own.

There were whole areas where the ground was washed out from beneath, creating floating tracks, a sight that neither of us has seen before. There were mudslides over the railway so massive that there was no physical path to get around them but to go over. We saw evidence of massive floods that washed giant trees down the river slamming them into steel bridges bending the gigantic beams like they were plastic. One of the most impressive things we regularly came across was nature reclaiming its land and the new growth of plants and trees filling in the space where the railway once was.

After five or more miles of soaking up rain in our coats, we came across an old water tower for filling up steam trains. We decided this would be as good as place as any to stop for our lunch. Luckily for us, the tower had yet rusted through and proved to be an excellent cover to escape the rain. We found enough dry wood to start a small fire and enjoyed our lunch in warmth. At the time, we were unaware that we were having lunch under one of the few remains of the old logging town of Enright.

After filling our bellies, warming our bones, and drying out as much as we could, we turned around and started our way back home. We were a little disappointed about not coming across an old tunnel we heard about, but we later felt better when we learned it was another three miles out rather than just around the corner.

Iron Mountain

Black Butte

Poor Planning for Blue Pool

Little Adventures : A Place in the Woods

A Wet Lunch in Enright

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