Freezing Fog

After waiting patiently for the past month and a half for the weather to improve we finally had a good forecast for Smith Rocks this past weekend. The sun had finally come out in Portland and all the weather channels were predicting 55 and sunny for Smith all weekend. Yes! The time had come for some serious rock grappling on the volcanic tuff of central Oregon. Don't forget to pack the sunscreen! The God's were not with us on this one though. We awoke on Saturday to a blanket of thick fog and 25 degree air. Can you say "Pea soup?" Needless to say the conditions for climbing weren't exactly prime. We ended up going on a nice hike up to the Monkey Face via Misery Ridge. The freezing fog caused some amazing ice crystals to form on all the brush and trees. Unfortunately I had not had time to charge my camera battery so I only was able to take one picture before it died. It doesn't really do justice to the whole scene but it's all I got. (Elisa had her camera with her so maybe she'll be kind enough to donate to the cause ;) )

Angel's Rest

Just after new years me and Elisa went to check out Angel's Rest down on the Columbia. Things had been drying out since the big cold snap in December so we decided a nice hike migt be in order. It's quite an amazing view from the top, especially for being such a short hike (3 miles round-trip?). We even got to check out our new Yak Traks on some of the more extreme sections of the trail.

Looking back towards Portland and Vancouver.


Across to Washington.


mmm... apples...


Beautiful view.


Nice lighting over on the Washington side.