Backpacking Central Oregon

September is by far the best month of the year. The heat of summer lingers, the crisp nights of fall begin to slowly take hold, leaves are changing color, fish are biting, and last but certainly not least it is the month when I celebrate another 365 day journey around the sun (Jess if you haven't caught on by now this is Jake).

 For the past two years I have been wanting to take Kari on her first backpacking trip. But, as life goes other things often took priority and it never aligned. However, with my work schedule cooperating, and deciding to forgo my annual birthday fishing trip, 2012 looked promising. We tentatively blocked out an extended weekend in September before I left for Chile and then let the idea sit idle for the months I was away. The winter of Chile proved to be a great motivator and I returned full of planning vigor and ready to explore Central Oregon's Three Sisters wilderness.

With only a few days to go, I happened to be checking the national wildland fire situation report (old habits are hard to break), when I noticed a large fire reported near where we had planned to go backpacking. Further investigation revealed the Pole Creek fire to be burning very near our intended location and precautionary closures were in effect that prevented us from reaching the trail-head where we had planned to embark on our adventure. I was more than a little bummed to say the least. Enter Google, and within a few hours I had identified a Plan B. Reason #1,576 why Oregon is awesome, Mount Jefferson wilderness and Three Fingered Jack; all was not lost! We ended up hiking in and camping at some meadows near the base of Three Fingered Jack (TFJ) on the first day. The second we based out of our camp and climbed as high onto TJF as you can go without technical gear, then after lunch connected with another trail and checked out some nice lakes in the area. Day three we hiked out, finishing the loop, and headed home.

Below is our trip in pictures. We had a great time, although I might have damaged my chances of getting Kari to do another trip like this. Seems a 20+ miler, with 3 solid days of hiking might have been a little bit too much for a first timer. But, she is a champ and stuck it out even through the off trail scrambles and steep climbs. But now that she has done this one, the next will be that much easier!

Our route, hiked counter-clockwise. We camped near the camera closest to the name Three Fingered Jack.

The first day was a 9+ mile hike mostly through an old burn.

Old burn = great views. TFJ peaking over a ridge.

Old burn = very little shade. Kari taking a break in the shade provided by some skinny snags.

The Pole Creek fire continued to burn, reminding us we made a good decision to not try an alternate route into that area.

On the lower slopes of TFJ. Looking south you can see Mount Jefferson. A small moraine lake is visible below us.

Some of us can't resist going where others will not dare.

Mount Jefferson

TFJ catches the morning light.

Kari kicking ass and taking names as she powers up the slope to the ridge line. Part of the trip involved some off trail trekking to get from the meadows at the base of TFJ to the PCT on the ridge.

From the ridge top, TFJ in all it's glory.

Chile: Part 3

I was a bit disappointed when I went through this last folder of pictures. The area of the island where they were taken is called Plazoleta El Yunque. El Yunque is the name of the highest peak on the island that rises abruptly behind Cumberland Bay where the town is located. The translation then is roughly "small plaza (think town square) of the mountain". Plazoleta is spectacular old growth native forest, latticed with small streams that gently trickle through the ferns and around the giant roots of the ancient trees. This area also houses the highest concentration of hummingbird nesting known on the island. I tried taking pictures of nests and females on the nests, but that really didn't work so well. Turns out tiny birds that nest in the upper canopy are hard to photograph with a point and shoot.

The lighting was horrible the day I was taking pictures and thus washed out the colors. Couple that with a camera lens fogging internally due to passing showers that brought large swings in temperature and humidity, and my pictures just do not do justice. But, I will share nonetheless and at the very least you can get a sense of the uniqueness of the flora and the beauty of this island.

This is the best picture I took of the old growth, just doesn't do it justice though.

To get an idea of the scale of this plant look at the upper left corner for one of our local partners with a red backpack.

When large trees fall and leave openings in the canopy in riparian areas this plant takes off.

Chile: Part 2

As promised, round two of pictures. Some of the pictures below were taken by my coworker, as noted. There apparently will be a round 3 becasue I haven't even got to the folder with the old growth forest pictures yet! Enjoy.

This was the first island I have worked on with a permanent year round community. It was certainly a different experience than being on an unpopulated island, especially given most of our work was being conducted in the small town. The main "industry" there is artisanal lobster fishing, which like other places in the world with commercial fisheries (think AK), leads to a seasonal influx of activity and people during the fishing season. I was there in the off-season, when lobster was closed, so the fisherman that were still around were spending their days repairing boats, building lobster traps, and/or doing odd jobs to get by until the lobster season opened. There is also alot of subsistenance fishing that goes on and I certianly enjoyed the fresh fish and octopus!

I will not go into detail here, but the people there are hardy and have lived through tragedy. The large destructive earthquake that hit Chile in early 2010 created a tsunami that directly impacted the islands, killing many and destroying a large portion of the town. It was certainly moving to hear the locals tell of their experiences. This link is to a short slideshow one of our conservation partners put together shortly after the tsunami to help spread the word about what happened and raise funds for the community, it gives a good overview of the event with before and after pictures as well as some great pics of the boats/lobster traps. I highly recommend taking a look: JF Tsunami

Cumberland Bay today; you can see the on going construction in the foreground.

We joined our local conservation partners for some outreach at the 'Dia de los ninos' event. These girls were adorable, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch the better angle showing the dog under the table eating the crayons they were dropping.

Chileans love to BBQ. (Photo: Erin Hagen)

What is the best appetizer at a BBQ....why Chori-pan of course! (Photo: Erin Hagen)

Even though it wasn't lobster season, they decided I couldn't visit without having some. Although it wasn't fresh, it was certainly delicious. (Photo: Erin Hagen)

Locs.  (Photo: Erin Hagen)

The dogs there made me smile. They came in all shapes and sizes and seemingly infinite combinations. This little guy looked to be golden retriever and corgi. He liked to follow me around and chase off any other dogs that came by.

Chile: Part 1

Two months in Chile...time sure does fly. They say pictures speak louder than words, so here are a few cliff notes and the first round of pictures from my trip. I will do another post with more of my favorites and will also add others to the slideshow.

I left in June for Chile, spent two months on an island 300+ miles offshore. It was winter, so it rained a lot and was cold. The island is incredibly beautiful and rugged. The native wildlife were breathtaking. The locals were welcoming and tried to be patient while I stumbled through my Spanish. Our project had some struggles, but overall was a success. Enjoy the pics:

On approach. 

The runway literally ends...

The Critically Endangered Juan Fernandez Firecrown, the only island endemic hummingbird in the world.

Adventures in AK

I finally made it up to Alaska to see my sister! She has lived there for two years now and I am sad it took me this long to make the trip. It was so much fun and it made me wish even more that she lived closer so we could hang out more. I was just going for a weekend visit, so we packed in as many fun things as we could, but also enjoyed just hanging around and being our weird selves.

Highlights of the trip:
- Walking on a glacier!!! (in the rain)
- Petting a moose at the preserve. Sadly I didn't get to see one in her backyard.
- Almost seeing the Air Show.
- Having a kid actually prefer me over Jess. This NEVER happens!
- Watching some Olympic action. Who cares about going to the bar, the opening ceremony is on!
- Me giving permission to someone to dig a fairly sizable hole in their backyard while Jess was in the shower and no one else was home. (this was within the first 6 hours of me being in town)
- Jess not being allowed to buy wine at the grocery store because I did not have my ID.
- Celebrating Ted Stevens Day, twice!
- The fact that it was sunny and almost 70 most of the time I was in town.
- Not being able to tell what time it was by looking outside. "Hmmm it's 9:30. I guess we should eat dinner."
- Seeing Jess's office. Weird that my baby sister has a real grown-up job.
- Cursing Ted Stevens airport for not allowing me to leave, and being thankful that Jess lives so close to the airport for the 3 trips back and forth in one day. (the joys of flying standby)
- Finally getting out of Anchorage, only to end up wandering around the Minneapolis airport for 6 hours.

All in all it was a great trip. I miss my sister and will continue my recruiting efforts to get her down here to PDX.

Enjoying the AK sun!

Awkward Family Photo style.

Looking out to where the glacier was. Not looking too promising.

At the start of the "hike" to the glacier.

 

 

 

 

I'm on a glacier!

Soaked by the rain, but well worth it.

The moose that I pet.

Did you know porcupines have orange teeth?

Actual reindeer!

Beautiful downtown Anchorage.

Chile, where it's chilly.

Soon I will be off to South America for another work adventure. This time I am heading to a group of islands 380 miles offshore of Chile in the South Pacific. The Juan Fernandez archipelago is a very interesting and unique place, with many rare and endemic species (found only on these islands) including the Juan Fernandez Fire Crown, which is the only endemic hummingbird species in the world. Additionally, the novel Robinson Crusoe is thought to be partially based on the account of Alexander Selkirk who was marooned for four years in the Juan Fernandez islands. So in addition to the awesome wildlife and amazing views, there is some interesting history to explore as well. I am leaving the quickly approaching t-shirt and shorts weather of summer in the Pacific Northwest for the dead of winter down south...bummer. But Kari reminds me that I can't really complain since I traded the wet and cold of February and March in Portland, for the tropic like climate of the Caribbean. I suppose that is fair enough.

Given that I have never been to Chile, I am excited to see a new region and island ecosystem, as well as learn more about the Chilean culture. I will spend two months...yep you read right two months, out on island doing research to inform our project planning process for future restoration activities in the Juan Fernandez.
Upon return I will certainly share my experiences and pictures with you all. In the mean time, call/email/come visit my loving and extremely understanding better half.

Costa Rica - Part One

We have been back from vacation for almost two weeks now and finally getting settled back into real life. The trip was wonderful. I was more than ready for a vacation and Jake was looking forward to being someplace tropical and not working!

Each day we enjoyed pretty much the same routine:
- Short walk before breakfast
- Longer hike between breakfast and lunch
- Siesta
- Another hike before dinner
- Happy hour at the tiki bar
- Dinner
- Bed

The food was fantastic. The people were so kind. The landscape was beautiful. I could not have asked for more.

First sight of the lodge.

The front porch of the first cabina we stayed in.

View from the second cabina.

Spider Monkey

Scarlet Macaw

  

Tree Frog

Capuchin Monkey with baby

Poison Dart Frog

Coati

Tamandua (Anteater)

Aguti