The Burning Of the West

Smoke.

It is easy, I think, to forget that the west is burning. It has been for some time now. California never closed last years fire season and Washington has lost more houses and seen more fire, still early in the typical season, than it ever has. Oregon too, is burning. 

But there are barbecues and fireworks and concerts and long lazy days swimming in the now warm waters of our abundant lakes and rivers. It is easy to pay no mind to the helicopters practicing their low passes over the lakes, readying to bring water if the fires get too close. And the sunsets are lovely.

For the first few days, it is easy to relish those sunsets, take pictures, and share a glass of wine with friends. But then the days turn hazy, a false layer of clouds holds the heat into the valley. It is smoke, we are reminded. The cost of those sunsets is the burning of the west.

The Great Wide Open I - Hole In The Ground

Lake.

It has been at least five years since I have been to Crater Lake, and on that occasion I was so out of season that I was the only person at the one open lookout and didn't get to see the lake because of the dense clouds. Not so this weekend. This time, I took the opposite approach and joined the crowds on the park's busiest weekend of the year,the 4th of July. Used to the crush of the more than ten million visitors the Grand Canyon gets annually, I was bracing myself for long lines, tube socks, and RV's trying to see four parks in one week. 

But that wasn't the case. It turns out that due to its remote location Crater Lake only receives about 500,000 visitors a year so even their busiest weekends are mellow in comparison to many of the other National Parks. Sure, the lodge was busy with the usual assortment of tourists, mostly from West Indian,a fact for which I have no explanation, the trails and view points were fairly mellow. 

The odd thing about visiting Crater Lake is how inaccessible the lake itself actually is. The only access to the lake itself is via the Cleetwood trail, which loses more than 700 feet in elevation in just over a mile of trail. It's steep, packed, and on this weekend, stupid hot as well. But the best parts of the park, away from the spectacular blue of the lake, are in side canyons cut through great stacks of volcanic airfall where hoo doos stand as sentries and clear lake water runs its course out to the Klamath Basin. In these parts of the park there is solitude, spectacular views of Oregon country, and a true sense being squarely set in the middle of no where. It is a wonderful reminder of just how big the world really is. So, if you haven't made it out to Crater Lake in a while or ever, put it back on your list.

Picture:

www.RubyGoneWild.com

Fresh Starts

Seeds.

The garden starts are in. Even though the fog still wraps around the house and and the sun is still too low in the sky to quite reach through the trees, what little sun there is, the starts are in the ground. They stand at weary attention in their too-large pots, waiting for the sun, for rain, for the long light of summer days. I too, stand rooted in my pot, waiting to break through.

Do not be fooled by our apparent stillness. From the inside there is great movement occurring, a minute and constant dance. Roots reach, stalks thicken, leaves inexorably unfurl. With time, there will be a bloom and a harvest. Just wait.

And this, from Girl Gone Wild, the proposal for which is going out this week. So please, if you read, share, repost, or retweet. Be a root.

Weight.

It is 6 am and I am sitting on the front stoop of my apartment with my hiking boots on waiting for a a guy I met at a bicycle event in a local brewery two days earlier. I am newly single, in my late twenties, and living in Portland, This means that I am accustomed to brew pubs, bicycle boys, and first dates that involve hiking. The six am is new. But this man seems nice, and has a long history of mountaineering and rock climbing, and wants to get an early start. In my mind I have chalked this up to being “hard core”. I also want to be “hard core” and also prove to my ex that I can still have outdoor adventures without him. Especially with men more hard core than himself. I figured that mountain climber beat kayaker and hiker any day. Besides, its going to be a beautiful sunny Saturday in late summer, the trails will be packed if we don’t get an early start, I quietly reason with myself, he’s just being practical.

We have chosen a hike called Angels Rest, aptly named for the spectacular view of the Columbia River Gorge from the rocky crag at the top of the trail. It is a moderate day hike, five miles with a steep climb over the loose rock of a crumbling basalt flow. When we arrive at the trail head we grab our mostly empty backpacks, containing little more than water and a light lunch and head out of the parking area. At the trail head he stops saying, “Hold on, I need to grab some weight.” And he reaches down and starts loading softball sized chunks of basalt into his pack. “I really want to stay in shape for my next ascent.” He says, barely looking up as he continues to shove rocks into his pack. Great, I think. This guy is nuts.

Less Than A Foot II

Priorities.

This week a town hall meeting in Ashland, Oregon was packed to standing room only capacity, and no wonder, one might think, their Mt. Ashland Ski Resort announced the first cancelled ski season in their fifty year history and impending bankruptcy. The loss of the ski area will have a huge impact on the local economy which thrives on tourism and access to outdoor activities. But no. The whole town did not show up in support of their local business or to discuss the growth of their economy, they showed up in protest of a local ordinance proposing placing a ban on carrying loaded firearms in public. Many people attended the meeting wearing their side arms.  And...scene.

Less Than A Foot

Snow.

The Mt. Ashland ski area in Southern Oregon , in spite of it's plans to celebrate their 50th year anniversary, has canceled the entire 2013-2014 ski season for the very first time. They made this decision after arriving to mid-March with less than a foot of snow on their usually busy slopes. No one really knows what the economic impacts of this will be. But it can't be good. Worse than that, everyone is trying not to think about what happens if there is no snow next year. Is this climate change? An aberration? Normal fluctuation? If you own a small business or depend on the ski resort for your income it probably doesn't really matter. Change is coming, one way or another. How will it come to you?

The Beginnings Of A Bat Thing- An Excerpt From Girl Gone Wild

Wings.

We spent the evening watching the sun go down behind the high rocks on the far side of the lake. As dusk sank in around us swarms of bugs appeared above the water, and then, bats. Bats are a threshold animal, somewhere between something harmless like a chipmunk or a bird, but just creepy enough and with enough pop-culture stigma to make us skittish. Bats are mammals; like us, they are warm blooded and have hair, but they also have featherless, skin-covered wings and are mostly blind, instead using echo-location to navigate and hunt. There are thousands of species of bats, and it is estimated that bats make up one-quarter of all mammal species in the world. In the evening, if you see something flying, especially if it seems extra maneuverable or is near open water or a field, it is usually a bat. Bats love insects, and they are a social animal, often living in giant colonies that go out to hunt together in the evenings. On this evening, is seemed we were being visited by a large colony. Far from being scary or gross, these bats were magnificent. They were about the size of a swallow, fast, and fearless. They zipped past our heads diving low to skim across the surface of the water. They twisted and cavorted midair to snatch up dinner and avoid running into one another at the same time. They were acrobatic and mesmerizing and they entirely released me from my worry over sleeping out.

Water Works

Wet.

The City of Portland is debating what, if anything, to do about their already high and rising public water water supply costs. While it is true that Portlanders pay more for their water than most major cities, even Phoenix, Arizona, that proponents of cost reductions use this as evidence in favor of making water more affordable only shows their lack of understanding of the issue. Portland water is more expensive than Phoenix because of bad water policy in Phoenix, not exorbitant prices in Portland. Arizona has a long history of devaluing water even as it becomes more and more scarce. Arizonans use water that is shuttled through the desert for hundreds of miles in open-air aqueducts that allow more than fifty percent of the water to evaporate before reaching its destination. Once it arrives in Phoenix it is used in misters, to water lawns that should never live in the desert, and to wash cars, but not for drinking. Arizona, like much of the rest of the country has terrible tasting drinking water.

Portland is different. Even though we live in one of the few areas of the world that has a water surplus (in non-drought years) Oregonians have implemented good policies around water quality. We have a pristine and well protected natural water source, and we just pent over a billion dollars for a much needed upgrade to our sewage system that will prevent raw sewage from leaking into the Willamette river every time it rains. The tap water in Portland tastes great.

That a city that prides itself on it's environmental image does not understand that good clean water is both important and expensive bewilders me. We chose to upgrade our sewer system, and now we have to pay for it, which we should, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves how very important this resource is. Call or email a Portland City Council member or County Commissioner or the Mayor today and tell them that the best things in life are never free. Good water is worth it.

Picture
www.filmforager.com

When Ninkasi Rules The World

Domination.

Since 2006 a little upstart brewery in Eugene, Oregon has been leading a quiet revolution. Ninkasi Brewing led the charge of locally owned and sourced breweries in the Pacific Northwest and has proven that community-minded business can flourish even in hard times. They emerged out the the cacophony of the craft beer bubble, more than 75 craft breweries have opened in Oregon in the last half-decade, and most are struggling to find a piece of the market. In contrast, Ninkasi is brewing more than 95,000 barrels of beer each year and is a recognizable fixture in bars and restaurants throughout the western United States. They are the champions, and through no small effort. Jamie, the distribution guru is everywhere. You go to the tasting room in Eugene on a Friday night, he's there, go to the Country Fair, he's sitting outside your tent with friends, head up to Bellingham for a show, there he is again, working his own event, but with time to stop by and catch the gig. Nikos, though a little less visible, has shown himself to be a savvy and ambitious businessman, figuring out how to grow a business in one of the toughest economies in the nation. And, they have also been at the forefront of revitalizing the ailing Whiteaker neighborhood they call home, providing local jobs and supporting local events. They are consistent supporters of local charitable events and their tasting room and promotional concerts serve as needed and welcome opportunity for local musicians, performers, and visual artists. And Nikos and Jamie, the owners of Ninkasi, are exactly the kind of guys you want to see succeed. They are friendly and easy going and genuinely care about the community in which they live. It gives me hope for the rise of the of the American small business. And, they brew some freaking good beer. Cheers, guys.

Ninkasi:

http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/

Picture:

http://grizzlygrowler.com/2010/04/21/craft-beer-as-art-a-visual-thirst-maker-from-ninkasi-brewing-company/

Agate Beach

Tsunami.

One of my favorite places to go as a child was Agate Beach.  Decades ago it was a blink or you'll miss it wayside, though now it is a thriving vacation community.  It is still a secluded and lovely stretch of Oregon's all-public shoreline.  I remember long walks with my sister and Mom along the beach, wading in the tidal lagoon, and beach combing for hours.  Agate Beach was named for the spectacular abundance of agates, colorful pieces of quartz washed and polished by the ocean until they shine and transmit light.  A single walk could garner handfuls of agates, to be taken home and used in planters or as make-shift jacks.  It was common to find beachcombers hauling buckets of agates up to their cars.  Something about the shape of the beach, the nature of the source rock, and the particulars of the ocean currents has always funneled shells and stones to this tiny Oregon beach.

Yesterday we walked the length of the entire beach, and found not one.  Now the only thing that washes up on Agate Beach is remnants from the Japanese Tsunami covered with exotic and invasive species, and shards of plastic.  People still walk the beach with buckets in hand, but they are largely picking up trash.  And the public notices sign in the parking lot discourages swimming or water contact of any kind due to high bacteria count.

This makes me sad.  It serves as proof, in my own lifetime, of the damage we have done to the environment, and the consequences of our greed.  Agate Beach is gone forever.

Take nothing but pictures.  Leave nothing but footprints.  

To Volunteer or Contribute to SOLV, Oregon"s Beach Cleanup Non-Profit:

http://www.solv.org/

The Oregon Coast Management Program:

http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/OCMP/pages/ocmp_intro.aspx 

Photograph of Tsunami Debris on Agate Beach Courtesy of:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/07/massive-fishing-dock-washes-ashore-in-oregon-15-months-after-japanese-tsunami/