Thursday, December 24, 2009

Oregon Odyssey #2: Balmy and Zero Degrees

Well, after an unexpected delay, I'm back with the next photos from my Oregon trip. Being that much of the country is going to have a very, very white Christmas, I thought it'd be a good time to break out these two photos.

These were taken in the Three Sisters Wilderness in central Oregon. I did several new things here. First, I'd never been to this place before. Second, I'd never been show shoeing before. Third, I'd never backpacked in snowshoes before. And, last, but certainly not least, I'd never camped in zero-degree weather before. I did all these things in the same night, and let me tell you, it was exhilarating!

Remember my broken, dislocated hip from last March? (Yeah, so do I.) Anyway, when you factor that in, I was actually pretty proud that I was able to do this. I carried a 55 pound pack 1.5 miles up a mountain, through a forest, wearing snowshoes, in three feet of snow, in some very cold weather. Now, for a guy like Marc, that's nothing, but for me, it was an accomplishment. I'm going to continue to heal, and by next year, I'll be ready to go further.

The next morning, we rose before sunrise, and trekked the last half mile to the top of the pass. From there, I captured the photo you see below. I call it Three Sisters Sunrise, and I hope you enjoy it. The other photo is of yours truly, and is just for laughs. Which is usually what people do when viewing photos of me anyhow.

I'll have more photos from the trip soon. 'Till then, take care. And, maybe go buy some snowshoes -- looks like many of you are gonna need 'em. ^_^


Three Sisters Sunrise

Look, Ma! I can't feel my face!