McNeil Point....

was a vista, for sure.

It also offered a couple of unusual sights to photograph.

This towering chunk of Lava makes one stop and think about the tremendous power required to lift molten earth more than 10 miles straight up!



Equally powerful is how some of it cooled around what appears to have been a misplaced Arkansas Razorback!


I'm only guessing,
but judge for yourself!



Now, looking through an age old hole in the tree..... one can see through to the other side!

I suspect this might have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Life is hard in the high mountains!






On the way to McNeil Point, we came across this unusual fungus,.... or bear puke,....or elk slobber, ....or whatever it is enveloping this bear grass! I've never seen anything like it!

Heading back down you can see McNeil Shelter.

I find that in hiking the mountains there is always something to see!

It's no Bed & Breakfast
but you can have it for a song!

It's no Hilton
but the price is right!

It's not much,
but in a WHITE-OUT
it would be a good friend!

HAPPY TRAILS!

Mt Hood
at
McNeil
Point

A new discovery this summer was McNeil Point on Mt Hood.

Here is a 360 view.

CODGER WANNABEES



You gotta love ‘em!

Sneakers we call

Codger Wannabees,












Scruitinizin'

Takin' notes





Mimicking,

Waiting for their chance


Their time



When they, too

Become

The Revered Codger!

C A U T I O N

CODGERS

on the Trail

Wikipedia defines Codgers as "the plural of Codger".

I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT!!

But Wiki also defines the Codge as "An amusingly eccentric or grumpy and usually elderly man".

Then it delves deeper into the word itself and concludes that it's, "Possible abbreviation of coffin dodger, though likely to be a folk etymology."


I neither consider myself as eccentric or elderly. I do sometimes fall into the "grumpy" catagory when I don't get my way or someone steps on my selfish side! But "coffin dodger"??? I don't think I'm there yet! Sometimes I FEEL like one, but I don't make it a habit to dodge coffins just to avoid the inevitable!

I do believe that some of us are beginning to step into the role of "codger". We're the old guys huffing and puffing up the trail with our tongues hanging out like an old dog tired of running! I try to keep mine in my mouth as I have been known to step on it while "sailing" up some of the high mountain switchbacks!

Some of us codgers love the mountains. We try to impress ourselves by taking backpacking trips and getting our heart rate up into dangerous levels. The younger bucks on the trail aren't sure what to think about us.

When they see us gasping for air (not because we're TIRED, mind you, but because the air is much thinner in higher elevations), they appear confused and uncertain (not because we're showing them how REAL MEN hike, but because they're wondering where they can get phone service to dial 911).

So when you see us on the trail,

MOVE OVER AND LET US PASS!

Don't hold us up!

We don't have that much time left!!

The Call of the Wild

The soft forest trail, carpeted with years of falling needles and leaves was behind us, giving way to fewer trees and open vistas. The dusty, rock strewn trail wound its way higher and higher. Patches of late summer snow hugged the bare mountain slopes in nooks and gullies as if trying to hide from the hot August sun.

As the trail zigzagged up the mountainside, drawing us ever closer to the top, each switchback offered increasingly awesome vistas of higher peaks and endless mountain ranges. Words like breathtaking, awesome, beautiful, amazing and spectacular never seemed to really capture the essence of such an experience! Photographs paled beside the movie held captive in my mind, captured by the brain and human eye.

The lure of the mountains is a strong force. It is energy, relentlessly drawing my very soul to bask in the solitude found only in the high country. Every mountain offers a unique portrait of its Creator. Geologically, only in my imagination, in my mind’s eye, can I get a picture of the tremendous forces that gave birth to the mountains. What unimaginable power it must have taken to begin in the bowels of the earth and push once layered rock to create peaks of great heights. Such is the trail upon which I walk in the high country.

Spectacular vistas are nothing, however, without color and light. From the quiet of an early morning sunrise watching the illumination of high peaks and valley fog to the evening sunset dancing ever changing color upon evening clouds, each day never repeating itself.

What satisfaction there must be in the Creator Who made all things and said, “It was very good”. Indeed it was!
I was not always enthusiastic about strapping on a heavy backpack and hiking into the mountains. It was not until the Fall of my life did I really begin to appreciate the high vistas.

Now, as I struggle to find the physical stamina needed for high country adventures, I am filled with an insatiable desire for more. Is there no end?

Gnarly Old Men of the Mountains

Ancient Sages of the Forest

Guardians of the High Country

Sentinels of time

Pose with Gnarly

Old Men of the city.

Stalwart; Tenacious; Vigilant; A testimony of determination.

Glacier fed streams, Liquid Crystal

create clear lakes

with names like

MIRROR

.........Moccasin,

and Glacier,

coexisting with flower-filled meadows.

A time

to rest a

weary frame.

Good friends to share Nature’s abundance and God’s glory.

Beside warm fires and high mountains

Filling mind and soul in meditation;

Giving honor and homage to God,
our creator.

Only in the Mountains can one find peace like no other.

MIRROR LAKE

EAGLE CAP WILDERNESS

OREGON

August 2008

An early morning hush falls over this small lake below the 9,527 foot Eagle Cap, allowing the first rays of sunshine to reflect a sight to behold.

It isn't always easy to come here.

Time constraints...

A long drive....

A long hike....

A heavy load.....

But well worth the effort!

This is only a small piece of the beauty to be found in the solitude of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

There are only two ways to come to this place......on horseback.....or walk.

Whichever you chose, it's well worth the effort!!

It’s about time…..

I introduced my Great-Granddaughter.

She was born on March 12.

Not a lot of time has passed by since then, but she has changed a lot in such a short time.

She smiles a lot….
She’s a ham in front of a camera…..unless her diaper is soiled, or she’s hungry, or tired or otherwise cranky.

Her name is Melody Rose.

These are her Uncles, Evan and Aaron.

Being a Great-Grandfather has been great!

Just Wondering....

I was just sitting here wondering what are the most important issues about our day and time that we want to see our new President focus on? While all the talk is about Iraq and "change" (whatever that means), I was wondering what a candidate's platform would be like if he focused on those things that the American people want the most.

People say that people say McCain wants more war and that, with him, we will have 4 more years of "Bush". Other people say that people say that Obama wants change, including beefing up our troops in Afghanistan and doing more war. Hillary, on the other hand, wants Health Care changes......I kind of like that! Now that I'm getting older; drifting closer to retirement; health care is an issue for me! A decent health care plan can cost me $600-$900/month ....just ME!

So I was wondering.....

What kind of things do YOU want to see? What do YOU think our country needs?

I have recently heard advertisements by T. Boone Pickens, paid for by T. Boone Pickens, talking about alternative energy for our country; how we could harness wind power to produce electricity which would free up 20% of our Natural Gas resources, which could then be used to power a lot of vehicles, reducing our dependance on foreign oil.

I'm sure there are a lot of things to consider when venturing into this untouched world and that details would have to be worked out, and all. But this sounds REALLY GOOD to me! I could buy into that with no problem! I would love to see us develope Nuclear Power and be able to harness it to run our homes and cars! I would love nothing more than to see our dependance upon foreign oil, diminish completely!

So here are some of my things....

Develope alternative energy for cars.
Vacate our troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Lower the high cost of health care; make it available for everyone.
Shore up our economy.
Drill and bring up oil from within our own borders.
Restrict overseas "bail-outs" to countries who simply "use us".
Buy back our country from foreign interests; our land belongs to US.
Tighten our borders from illegals and terrorists.
Show little mercy to countries who send terrorists into ours.
Create jobs.
Get serious about the drug war; harsh sentences to those who manufacture, smuggle, and sell drugs in our country.
No more "Hilton" prisons! Turn off the air conditioning; soup and bread meals...three times a day; no smoking; no TV; no Gyms; hard work for hard time! Keep it simple...make it unfun!

Well......dreaming is fun. Do you have any ideas??

When Pigs Fly....

Obama’s platform of promising “change” has been rhetorical, at best. Thus far, we have learned little about these Obama "Pie in the sky” changes. Hopefully, more details will follow and the pie in the sky will change to meat on the table.

Politicians always promise something, but seldom follow through with their promises. We never know any of that until after the election; naturally it’s, then, too late for us to change our vote.

Wouldn’t it be nice that instead of giving us empty promises, perhaps we could get a “plan in the hand” instead!? For instance, tell us exactly what you mean, "change"! The word “change” can mean a lot of things, like…

Changing our Heritage?
Changing our Religion?
Our diet?
Diapers?
Spare Change?
Changing our minds?
Our socks?
Our take home pay?
Tax level?
Rhetoric?
TV Channels?
Or changing tactics, like, taking the focus off an empty promise by attacking your opponent?

Meanwhile, our boys are dying in foreign wars while people are hungry and homeless right here in our own neighborhoods and millions of dollars are wasted on cheap talk, empty promises and character assignations. How many mouths would that amount feed? While we spend billions on a stupid war, to rescue a people who sit on multi-trillions worth of oil, yet not offer to reimburse us our investment into freeing them is unacceptable. It’s time to bring our boys home and take care of our own people in need.

It’s time we rescued our own country and stop trying to be World Police!

----Your Friendly Registered Independent