Tag Archives: Exploring

Mar11

Snowshoeing up the White River Glacier

Posted on March 11, 2023 by perfectusvarrus

Saturday, 26-Feb-2023

It’s been a while since I’ve done a friend-hike up the White River Glacier… I think this is becoming a lovely tradition for my friend Ben and I, though. Even if it’s not super frequent, it’s lovely and a great chance to get out of town for a short adventure.

See, we work together. More accurately, we work in the same building but in different groups. Same department… but we don’t have any regular overlap. So we don’t get to chat in the office that often, and stories and ideas and thoughts always build up.

By the time we finally get a hike in, we basically just talk for seven hours straight about almost literally everything. Like, I legitimately have a whole page of notes about work ideas we had… and we didn’t talk about work the whole time (thankfully!). It’s lovely to decompress, and get to blather with someone else who understands on multiple levels.

So… yeah.

Breakfast at Best Baguette (yep, it’s accurate. They’re that good).
Then a drive to Mt. Hood through the snowbound Portland (you thought Wilsonville was hit by the storm?)
A hike up the glacier, to the lovely little spot that I camp (for lunch, don’t’cha’know)
And finally, a gloriously relaxed and well-tired drive back into town.

A good day, by any and every metric.

Mar8

A snowy day in Wilsonville

Posted on March 8, 2023 by perfectusvarrus

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Thursday, 23-Feb-2023

Wilsonville doesn’t get much snow.

I mean, we get at least a dusting every year. But that doesn’t count, you know? It’s not SNOW, it doesn’t blockade the roads and keep you warm and cozy inside by the fire, with a mug of cocoa on the end table as you stretch out and read a book in your warm slippers.

We got that this week, though.

I don’t really watch the weather very often, except to check for details on a hike or trip I’m going on. And I don’t partake in as much chatting around the office as I could… so when I woke up on Thursday and saw snow outside, I was psyched!

Surprise snow! Yay!

Of course, I was also greeted by a text message, and phone call, clamoring for my attention, “The office is open today! Come in if you feel safe!”. Darn. No snow day, huh?

I survived, though. Cleared off the car and drove in, power-sliding through every turn I could and enjoying every second of the snowy drive of course. We even got catered lunch at the office, since only a handful of folks made it in, and none of those folks worked in the lunch room, hah!

I loved it. A nice walk around the park after work, stopping on the side of the road to take pictures… Yeah. This New Englander loves his snow.

Mar2

A visit from back home – A last hurrah at Wahclella falls, White River Sno Park, and Timberline Lodge!

Posted on March 2, 2023 by perfectusvarrus

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Monday, 06-Feb-2023

My Mom and Steve came to visit!!

It’s been a hot minute since they’ve both been here to visit, explore, and catch up… 2019, if I’m remembering right, from when we went out to Seattle? Yeah… that sounds right, and sounds like long enough that we’ve got some adventuring to catch up on!

With all the beauty that I experience here in Oregon, I’d have been remiss to not take my Mom and Steve out into the wilderness!

The goal was clean – we’d do a lovely loop around Mt. Hood, starting in Portland having breakfast with Bri, and then we’d loop around the mountain clockwise, doing a short hike in the gorge and then having dinner at the Timberline Lodge!

It was lovely, if I may say so myself, and I’m definitely happy that we got the chance to get out into the mountain air!

Out breakfast spot was a lovely location in Ladd’s Addition, called Upper Left roasters… logically named, since it’s at the upper left side of Ladd’s! We ate, we chatted, and my Mom and Steve finally got to meet the legendary Bri from all my climbing and adventure stories. Nicely fed, we packed into the car, and headed into the Gorge!

Our target was Wahclella Falls, a lovely hike in the gorge that end at, unsurprisingly, a nice little pocket waterfall. We arrived, headed in, and made our way into the gulley that lead to the falls. It was short, but surprisingly rough, hiking… and Steve ended up making the safe call and heading back to the car a bit earlier than the rest of us – but we pressed on for the waterfall, enjoying a quick view before heading back and making our way toward the rest of the adventure!

From Wahclella falls, we made a quick stop at the White River Glacier, since I’ve posted so many stories and photos from that one spot. I had to show it off, right?

This time we didn’t go in far – just deep enough onto the snow to explore an amazing (multi room!) igloo that someone had made previously… and get a bit of chill into our bones so that we’d be able to adequately appreciate the warmth and light of our next stop – the Timberline Lodge!

The snowbound Timberline Lodge was, as always, absolutely gorgeous.

We shook off the cold, had an amazing dinner… watched the sunset over Mt. Hood. We actually got a perfect table, too! One of only two or three times that I’ve actually gotten that table!

You know, there’s advantaged to bringing the whole crew, I guess!