2012 Edition
You must have javascript enabled to see the above contact information
All rights reserved - may not be copied without permission
This was yet another "take no prisoners" Mazama led hike. As usual, it was all
about maximum distance in the shortest period of time. I "get it" that these are
conditioning hikes (although EVERY Mazama hike I've been on, conditioning or not
has been a largely unpleasant experience)..... Having fun, enjoying the experience
and/or not dropping dead or getting injured does not seem to even be on the radar
for these guys. Here's an example: on one of our rare, brief stops, we were at a
viewpoint overlooking the Columbia River. Two *HUGE* bald eagles soared right in front
of us, in formation, passing within just a few feet of our location. I watched in
awe...exclaiming something like, "Wow!"... after the eagles flew out of sight I looked
around and not one single Mazombie even noticed them. And *I'M* the guy who spent
a large portion of my life neglecting to smell the roses, so to speak.
I'm sure that these people truly enjoy this sort of experience but honestly... I
cannot comprehend what part of traveling balls-out for 8 straight hours is "fun".
On the up side, there was some excellent trail navigation going on... the Rudolph Spur
hike is pretty much exclusively traveled by Mazamas so a lot of the trail is fairly
faint. Several of the instructors did an excellent job of route-finding... and I
picked up a few useful tips as a result.
Not to be unreasonable, but Julie and I could have done this hike in a much more
enjoyable way. Stopping once in a while to catch your breath, drink some water,
take a few pictures and to just generally enjoy the experience would only add 15-30
minutes to a 17 1/2 mile hike.... if I tried to force Julie to go as fast as we did
today, she'd never hike with me again. And rightly so! For us, it's about enjoying
our time outdoors. Racking up miles and elevation is a distant second as far as
priorities go.
To be clear: I signed up for this course knowing that it would be a difficult
undertaking. Me not being able to keep up is totally, 100% my problem and my
fault, no anyone else's. My complaint is only that I just don't get what's fun
about being in a 3 MPH conga line where the trail boss seems to be in a big hurry
to get some place in the shortest amount of time possible.
It was supposed to be warm and sunny today but it didn't warm up until 16:00 or so.
It was downright chilly in the morning and not much fun when we were just standing
around. This hike is also seriously lacking in scenery... at around 2,400' we
popped out on this knoll which I think is close to the Manzanita knoll. We took a
refreshing ten second break here and then resumed the cario workout.
That's the Bridge of the Gods with the town of Cascade Locks in the lower right.
There was a pretty good view of Mount Adams coming back on the Ruckel Creek Trail.
Table Mountain (left) and Greenleaf Mountain (right).
And a last look at Cascade Locks before we go back into the forest. Rudolph Spur
is an interesting hike but there really isn't much visual reward for the extreme effort
invested. However, if you don't want to see people, this one might be a good choice.
One of my primary objectives for doing this BCEP thing was to become a MUCH better
navigator. These instructors did an amazing job and I did keep my eyes open, trying
to see and understand the steps they took to get us back on trail. Hopefully, most
of what was done was due to skill, experience and knowledge rather than instinct.
DeLorme GPS TPX track file.
Garmin GPS TPX track file.
The Original Easyrider®
Motorcycle Touring Forum
HOME
These pages were designed for high resolution, wide screen monitors
on computers with a high speed Internet connection
Copyright 1990-2012 Easyrider LAN Pro
All rights reserved - may not be copied without permission