First Mountain Bike Outing of 2008! 2/23/2008

In typical Oregon fashion, we have had a bit of a dry, sunny spell in February, which made the Syncline trail in WA the perfect destination for Saturday. This little gem sits on the opposite side of the river of Hood River a bit more east. The beauty of this area is that it is totally exposed to the sun and Saturday it was in great conditions. Sure, there were patches of snow up high, but it was the best mountain bike riding I have done this year. It felt so good with temperatures in the 50's. We were climbing in short sleeves. It was awesome. We managed to keep busy for over 3 hours and climb 4500+ feet. Not a bad start. It was so much fun, but of course it couldn't last. Sunday we were back to gray skies and a little bit of rain. We opted for riding on the road, but still on knobby tires. We spent almost 4 hours riding our cross bikes on the roads east of Hood River and with the 'bonus loop', as Tim called it, we climbed over 5000 feet. I think he is trying to kill me (or help me loose the weight I gained in Europe.) It's good to be back on the bike and it was a great weekend at the cabin, even though we didn't play in the snow...

Getting closer to the top.

The last of the steep, long climb. Whew! I made it...
This was where we finally turned around. Mt. Adams in the clouds.
Tim post holing. We got snowed out.
Getting the snow out of his shoes.

The views never disappoint.
Tim taking it all in.
And coming back...
I love riding my mountain bike.

Annual Wallowas Trip: February 14 -18th, 2008

Our 6th year heading to the Wallowas, but this year we changed it up a bit. Instead of our usual January trip, it was switched to February, b/c someone had to go to cx worlds. And this year would be our first ski touring in the Norway Basin, but still with Wallowa Alpine Huts (check it out at www.wallowahuts.com). Well, that all changed with a phone call on Tuesday, the day before 8 of us would depart. The yurt had been destroyed by all of the snowfall. Quickly we changed our focus to day trips out of Joseph. I rented a cabin for the 8 of us up by Wallowa Lake and spent Wednesday a.m. grocery shopping for 8 people for 5 days. YIKES!
With such a great group, how could we not have fun? And with such great terrain and snow and guides to take us to the goods, it was a smashing success. Not quite yurt living, but we had a blast. We spent 4 days climbing and skiing and then headed back to Mt. Hood for one night at the cabin and a tour on Mt. Hood. Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend:

The crew: Dr. Andy, Tim, Sue Justin hiding in back, Erin in front, Rollie, Aaron & Nick

Day one was a tour of Wing Ridge. A burn went through 20 years ago.
The terrain out of Wing Ridge.
Love to ski.
Day 2: hiking up 'the gut'.

Never a dull moment in this group. Aaron at his best.

A little boot packing...

It was quite steep. Erin O'Connell aka: O'Malley.
The ski down was quite amazing.

Erin admiring our turns.

Not quite yurt living.

I got a little knitting in.
Mt. Joseph awaited us.

The skinning was a bit precarious.

It quickly became a boot pack.

And then a scary steep section that was less than ideal.

We all enjoyed beers at Mo Jenks' afterwards.
And a little alpenglow on the way home.

Wallowa LakeRollie pointing out where we skied the day prior.

Glen points out our destination for day 4. Ruby peak.

Day 4 skinning in the sunshine.

The girls: me & O'malley

Tim giving us a big smile.

Soaking up the rays.

Getting ready for the last ski down.

Oops! Nick missed the guides instructions to stay right. Dead end at the waterfall.
We skied that line!!!

Day 5: back to Mt. Hood.

Spectacular views of the volcanoes!

Last stop: stone shelter.

Another weekend of snow... sort of.

There was still definitely a lot of snow, but no new snow. We actually saw rain at the cabin and a lot of melting with temperatures into the 40's. I guess that is more typical than last weekend at the elevation of the cabin. Despite the lack of fresh new snow, lots of fun was had.
Saturday Tim went and enjoyed the sunshine biking in Hood River with his buddy Tre. I hung out with Kris Schamp and his daughter Maia. We did a neighborhood loop when Tim was back to entertain Maia. Sunday, we woke up to pouring rain on Sunday, but went XC skiing once it cleared off and the sun came out. Sunday afternoon we entertained our host from our Kentucky cross race who spent the night out there with friends. A fun weekend...

Tim on his way to the pot of gold.

After the rain had blasted us for a bit.

One of my favorite views of Mt. Hood.

Tim, Wendy & Emily.

HOLY SNOW!!! First weekend of February!

It was an amazing weekend, my first weekend back. I have never seen so much snow at the cabin! I actually extended my weekend to almost 5 days in the snow. I am the luckiest girl in the world! A little backcountry skiing on Saturday, XC on Sunday/Monday (plus a nap for me) and then Tuesday downhill skiing with the River City Bicycles crew. Check the snow out...

We had to dig our way to the lower level doors.

The guys got after the snow on the deck.

The view from the back deck.

Tim & I together again in the snow.
I love a fresh skin track! So much snow.
Tilly Jane Cabin practically buried!
The neighborhood XC ski loop.

The second half had no tracks but mine.