December 28, 2011 - Hike 35

Hoyt Arboretum - Spruce, Wildwood, and Fir Trails - 2.1 miles

Rainy, windy day in the Portland area. Time for a hike anyway, so where to go? Thank goodness for Washington Park. We started out at the Hoyt Arboretum and decided to take whichever trail looked inviting. Mostly we were looking for the least muddy trail. It is nice to get out and hike even if the weather is not ideal.

Soggy Ken

Having a great winter break so far. We were in California for the first week and then came home for Christmas. Now we are spending time enjoying the company of each other as well as Lindsey and Brian. Lindsey will be home until the middle of January. Around the 7th a friend of Lindsey's (Carl) will be staying with us until the dorms open at Reed.

Trying not to think of school too much, but I spent most of the day on Tuesday grading papers. Those dreaded International Baccalaureate Internal Assessment papers (about 75 this year) take about 15 minutes each to grade. I have about 30 left to grade. I have piled them into three piles of 10 to make it more manageable. Well I should attack one pile now! Take care.

December 22, 2011 - Hike 34

Ventura Beach Hike - 3 miles

Our last day in California we headed off to Ventura Beach. Ken and I wanted to do a hike along the California coast. One thing I definately LOVE about Oregon is that all the beaches are public. It seems almost criminal that there are private beaches in California. I am truly appreciative of Tom McCall who was able to help pass the Oregon Beach Bill. The beach bill declares that all "wet sand" within 16 feet of the vertical tide belongs to the State of Oregon. It also entails public easements of all beach areas up to the line of vegetation. The public has "free and uninterupted" use of the public beaches!  YEA Oregon! 

Ventura beach was occuppied by quite a few surf boarders. After our hike, we walked along the Ventura Boardwalk. The culture was very distinct. I certainly felt a strong vibe of "Bob Marley". There were many smells of certain herbs that kept drifting my way during the walk.

There were many vendors along the sides of the walk, lots of incense, sage, and t-shirts. There were also many talented artists and some not-so-talented or actually, not to my taste, artists. Enjoyable hike along the beach and walk on the boardwalk, but not a place I would seek out again.



December 21, 2011 - Hike 33

Santa Ana River Trail - 3.2 miles

We spent our morning at Disneyland with the kids. After lunch, as they were napping, can you believe it they still take naps, Ken and I escaped for a local hike in Santa Ana. We had no idea what to expect from the Yorba Park other than it followed the Santa Ana River. When we arrived there, we realized that they had completely cemented in the river. Not as natural as we had expected.

The hike was not going to be the quiet-natural escape we had envisioned but we decided to enjoy ourselves anyway. We dug out the GPS and found several geocaches alon the trail. This made the 3.2 miles rather entertaining. One particular person had hid several micro caches along the trail. They were quite challenging and engaging as well. Ken and I were able to get some sun, exercise and enjoyment from each other's company.

After the hike, we headed back for an evening at Disneyland with the Kids. 



December 20, 2011 - Hike 32B

Castaic Lake Recreation Area - California

1.2 Miles
DOES NOT COUNT AS ONE OF MY 50 HIKES - DIDN'T QUITE MAKE THE REQUIRED 2 MILES




After a break for a late lunch, Ken and I headed out for a 2nd hike at Castaic Lake. This time, the trail started high on a bluff above the lake. It decended very steeply to the lake. It was a beautiful hike but we knew we would have to do an upper trail to make my required minimum 2 miles in order to count as one of my 50. Unfortunately, the hike back up was so steep it took longer than expected and the kids called and wanted to be picked up early so I had to abandon the plan of hiking the upper trail.

Still, it was a beautiful hike and I wanted to add it to my blog.....so it is officially hike 32B. At the bottom of the trail near the lake we were able to log a geocache. The terrain was very steep but the cache was easy to find. Yea!

As you can see from the picute above, I was really enjoying the fact that I had to wear sun glasses. Ken too! (See below) The view was very nice from lake level.

December 20, 2011 - Hike 32

Castaic Lake State Recreation Area - California

5.0 Miles













2011 Christmas present for the family was a trip to California. For the kids, well actually adults now, the highlight was Disneyland. We spent December 18th, and 19th at Disneyland. We have not been since Lindsey was 12 and Brian 15. Now they are 18 and 21. We love Disneyland, but after two days, I was definately ready for a hike. Since the kids wanted to ride the extreme roller coasters at Six Flags, I felt it was a perfect day for Ken and I to get our hike on!

All I did was look at a map, found Six Flags and then picked the closest natural area to go hiking. It was a perfect day for a hike, probably about 67 degrees outside. That temperature is way too cold to be outside for most Californians so we nearly had the park to ourselves. We only ran into one other person on the trail and he was dirt biking. The trail was fairly steep so I started to work up quite a sweat and was able to pull off my over hiking shirt leaving me with a tank top. I am sure my skin just soaked up the vitamin D. It felt glorious to say the least. I think I even got a little pink on my cheeks and nose from the sun.

At one point, Ken and I found a nice spot to sit and absorb the sun, relax and just be with nature.  After hiking high above the lake, the trail dropped us down to the lakeside. It was beautiful. On the lower part of the trail, we did run into a couple of people fishing but the trail was otherwise devoid of people. Our round trip hike put us at a little over 5 miles. Not a bad start to the day.

December 10th, 2011 - Hike 31

Forest Park - Wildwood

About 5 miles on a cold frosty day.


At the top of the hill, all the trees were covered in white frost. It was very lovely and peaceful. Only the very hardiest of joggers and hikers were out this morning so it was a wonderful hike.


Ken and I had a great chat about the class for At-Risk students that we will be co-teaching at SRHS this spring. He will be offering a 4 credit graduate level course at PSU for teachers, science and math majors who would like to explore teaching applied math and science to students who are at-risk of not graduating due to failing math or science courses. I will be teaching, along with a math teacher, a credit recovery course afterschool for juniors or seniors who need science and math credits. The graduate students will act and co-teachers and mentors to the at-risk students.

Anyway, hiking along the quiet trails of forest park offered a very nice way to discuss and think about the details of the course. It is interesting that the idea for this class was conceived during a hike at Eagle Creek this summer. I find the mind works amazingly well when out in nature.

December 3, 2011 - Hike 30

Wilsonville Memorial Park - Wilsonville, OR

About 3.5 miles with another .5 miles of geocaching wandering around in the woods.


We had to go down to Corvallis to transfer keys to our new tenants on Saturday. On our way back we looked at the navigation system map to find a nice park to go for a hike. We found this park that is just minutes off of I-5 in Wilsonville.

It was a wonderful find. It is an amazing park along the Willamette river. It had the most exciting play area for kids that I have seen in a long time. There was a giant rubberized mountain with a slide on one side. See the picture below. I can imagine all of the hours of "King of the Mountain" that have been played here.  I also loved the geodesic dome climbing structure. Ken enjoyed climbing to the top.

After playing for a while, we started on our actual hike. There were miles of hiking trails in the park and along the river. It was nearing dusk but we were able to get some really nice pictures of the river. The green sign on the post in the bottom picture indicated the level the river reached during the 1996 flood. Can you imagine that!

Near the end of our hike, we did a couple of geocaches. We found one of the best geocaches I have ever searched for. It was titled "A Bear ate my lunch" . We found the bear geocache in a hollowed out tree. It was so cute that I had to take a photo.

Isn't he adorable. He was tucked away in the tree hollow.

November 27, 2011 - Hike 29

Cook Park - Tigard Oregon

3.5 miles round trip




Thanksgiving weekend - second hike. Another cold day, but the sky was clear and the air was crisp.

Cook Park is located on the banks of the Tualatin River. It is a 79 acre park in Tigard Oregon. The park's river access is great for canoeing and kayaking. Ken and I have put in our canoe at this park many times for great paddles up and down the river. This was the first time we have taken the time to hike around the park.

The river offers access to some beautiful wildlife. If you look closely at the center of the above photo you may recognize a great blue heron. There are also many river otters along the river. The park has a couple of miles of paved and and some unpaved trails. We had a pleasant hike along the river and into the nearby wetland.

November 26, 2011 - Hike 28

Washington Park - Fire Lane 10

Approximately 3 miles



Cold day during the peak of Fall. We started this hike at Germantown Road parking lot. It is a nice wide trail that was covered in fall leaves. The hike started out as a gradual decline and then quickly became increasingly steep. Once down in the canyon, it is beautiful and quiet. We were shielded from the wind while in the canyon.

Ken and I decided to do a little geocaching and what was supposed to be a quick hour long hike turned into at least 2 1/2 hours. The geocaches were rated as difficult and I certainly found out why. One of the geocaches was found up a steep wooded hillside. We had a great time but found only three out of the five geocaches we attempted. Even though we were disappointed on a few searches, we were rewarded with muddy clothes and hands. I felt just like a little kid when we returned to the car. I think I even had mud on my face. One of the things we took away from this adventure was that geocaching at the time of year when big wet leaves covered most of the ground is indeed challenging.

We were exhausted and the climb out of the canyon was a challenge. Once at the car we could not wait to turn the heat up full blast and look forward to a hot shower at home.