Wyoming and back to Colorado

After soaking in some hot springs, I dipped into Utah and spent 2 days in Ogden, Utah. Went on a great trail run and did some bouldering before heading into WY.


Drove by this campground and spent the night.


It turned out to be a mecca for climbing. (Notice the climber in the right side of the photo.)


My buddy, Kevin, is traveling around the US as well. We finally crossed paths in the Boulder, CO area. Here he is with Taytem.


Sara and Taytem got to picked something out of Kevin's Traveling Free Box.


Taytem and her brother, Boone, had fun playing in the van with Pirate.


Skated the new skate park in Lafayette, one of my favorite parks of the trip.


The pool was going off. Chris Sessions backside air.


This photo is for Matt C. Evil Jay was close to 15 feet over the coping by the end of the night.


Nine holes of disc golf with Kevin and his funny hat.


Lunch at VG Burgers in Boulder. All vegan and all delicious. Kevin got the Teriyaki Bowl, and I went with the Spicy Black Bean burger.


Boulder Falls was flowing strong.


Pirate was staring at this gal . . . . .


Her mom was there taking tons of photos. Maybe this was her prom dress.


While walking through the park, we came across some L.A.R.P.ers (Live Action Role Playing). This photo goes out to Dan S. I hope this brings back some childhood memories for ya, Dan.


Notice the one old dude on the left ready to battle.


Went to the Boulder Farmer's Market for dinner.


Kevin and I got each got a papusa. Stuffed with black beans, this corn cake was fried and topped with guacamole, a spicy sauce and cole slaw.


A few of Kevin's friends meet up with us, and we played Farkle. www.pocketfarkle.com


HK made a surprise appearance and played 3 songs.

Idaho aka Hot Spring Heaven

I'm ashamed to admit that it has been a few years since I was able to soak in a natural hot spring. This trip was my chance to right that wrong and Idaho was going to help me along the way. I borrowed a hot springs book from Brian while in Portland and picked out just a few from the hundred or more hot springs in the southern part of the state. North of Boise in the Garden Valley area seemed to be the easiest place to get to with the highest concentration of hot springs. My goal was to soak in 4 hot springs in a 24 hour period. Piece of cake.

Hot Spring #1

I arrived in the Garden Valley area around 7:00pm and went straight to this amazing spring called Skinny Dippers Hot Spring. A half a mile hike up the side of the mountain brought you to 3 separate pools (hot, hotter, hottest) that were each large enough for a basketball team to soak in. This is the lowest and coolest of the 3 pools.


There was a pretty elaborate system of pipes that channeled hot water into the 3 pools. You could adjust the amount of hot water by adjusting valves on the pipes. I soaked till about 8:30pm and then turned in for the night.

Hot Spring #2

This little guy was easy to find first thing in the morning. I got to Hot Spring campground around 7am and joined two other soakers in this gem by the river.


Saw this fun car on my way to the campground. I drew a different angle of it later that week in my art journal and it came out really well.

Hot Spring #3

This one is called Pine Flats Hot Spring and while it was really pretty to look at it was my least favorite because it was so hot.
This is one of the soaking pools in the middle of the photo. The book said the best soaking pool was down by the river near that gravel island. Unfortunately, the river was running really high due to snow melt so that pool was under water.


I scrambled around on the slippery rocks looking for a better pool and found this shower and pool. It was still pretty hot so it was a short soak. No other soakers at this spring so it was nice and peaceful.

Hot Spring #4

Just 10 miles down the road was this beauty called Kirkham Hot Springs. Once again the high river water covered up the best soaking pools but their were plenty others to choose from. I had this place all to myself too.


I was able to make this pool cooler by removing a few rocks behind me which let in some cold river water.


One my way back to my car I saw these 3 pools right in the middle of the campsite. I can't believe I didn't see them the first time around.


After all that relaxing I had to do something active. Poor Pirate spent most of the day in the car while I was soaking so we went on a long hike.


We gained lots of elevation so she was pretty tuckered out by the end.

Portland Part 2

Brian and I drove east for the long weekend looking to get away from cold and rainy Portland. We opted for the Deschutes River area about 90 miles east along the Washington/Oregon border.


Found a perfect trail for a short backpacking trip along the river. The weather hinted at rain but it was dry the whole time. (A bit cloudy and windy however.)


There were a few old homesteads along the trail with rusty machinery left behind.


Pirate spotted this campsite for us along the river. Train tracks on the other side were actually cool to look at.




I only remember one or two trains going by that night but there could have been more.


Not too sure if this is Brian's evening drink of wine or his early morning cup of tea. Either way, Pirate was le tired.


While hiking the next day we came upon this guy which would make a great shelter from a rain storm.


Tried to get the a shot of the river through the door but it came out a bit hazy.


Besides the numerous species of birds we saw a doe with it's fawn (not pictured). The fawn was so young that it still had all of it's spots.


Then is was off to the Mount Hood National Forest to see this waterfall which I have forgotten the name of (Tamanawas maybe?).


Last Super in Portland with Brian and Catherine at the Hungry Tiger Too in Portland. Great vegan menu!


I had the Chiken and Waffles (soooo good!) while Brian opted for the Chiken and Fries. Catherine had a breakfast burrito and I ate most of her home fries.

Portland Part 1

Drove north from Chico to Portland, OR to spend some time with...


Brian, one of my best buds since age 12 and...


Catherine, a good friend from NC who just moved back to Oregon a few weeks ago.


My first night in town Catherine scored tickets to see the Portland Timbers (Major League Soccer) play. The crowd was crazy and the game was a ton of fun.


This is the Timbers' first year in the MLS and every game is sold out for the entire season! These people love their soccer.


Catherine and her friends had all the right gear and our seats were right on the field.


The Timbers beat the Columbus Crew 1-0.


The sporty weekend continued when I got to play on Brian's softball team the next day. Brian was beast, hitting a homer and a triple on the way to a 19-12 victory.


Ate at Cafe Vita. Brian got chiken & gravy while I tried the vegan fish & chips. No veggies allowed!


The grey and wet weather forced us to climb inside. While taking a break I tried some headstands. This is a big step for me since I feel really uncomfortable being upside down.


Catherine working on her slack lining skills.


Day hike along the Columbus River with some views.


This outcropping is called Angel's Rest.


The last time I was in Portland I ate at the downtown Voodoo Doughnuts location. Catherine lives 10 blocks away from the east side shop. Here is one of their vehicles used to transport doughnuts all around the city. Yeah, that is a doughnut topped with bacon.


This day I got a chocolate cake doughnut with Chick-O-Stick topping.


I also got this guy called the McMinnville, a raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream and topped with maple frosting. So good! I went every other day to get doughnuts.

Part 2 coming soon.