Category: nature

>Tam McArthur Rim and our resonance with Nature

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Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.

~ John Muir

There is a stunning geologic formation within the Three Sisters Wilderness known as the Tam McArthur Rim. I took my daughter Lily on her first backpacking trip there this past weekend. Although Lily had some small trouble getting used to the pack (as do most kids) she was a real trooper and had loads of energy, plus she had a lot of fun. I am so proud of her hanging in there and then finding real joy in the experience. Kids, I have learned, are made for the outdoors.

The rim is a fault scarp that produces cliffs over five hundred feet high and views of the mountains and valleys that are virtually unparalleled. The whole area is mostly the creation of volcanic activity, which give it a special quality. We hiked up through the alpine forest onto the upper plateau, then on to the major viewpoint, then beyond to a fairly secluded spot for our camp. Because it is a designated wilderness no mechanical vehicles are allowed, including mountain bikes.

I don’t think there was any part of the trip that wasn’t, in some way, stunning. The views are magnificent from the rim, the alpine setting is gorgeous and so different from our valley, the air is thin and clear, and the ground is at times almost a moonscape with its volcanic history. There are unique alpine flowers and plants everywhere. The trees are twisted and gnarled from the harsh conditions.

Our hike began roughly as the trail immediately went uphill and Lily’s pack, which is brand new to her, was bothering her greatly. We slogged slowly up the path, frequently letting day hikers pass us, until we arrived at a spot overlooking Three Creeks Lake, a popular car camping destination. We decided that Lily could wear her pack without the waste belt, which isn’t as efficient, but doesn’t bother her as much. We also transfered a number of items from her pack to mine – something I anticipated doing. After seeing the view of the lake, and a better view of our destination, and then stopping in the woods to look at the lupine, we were more energized and moving better up the path. We also stopped for a lunch/snack at another viewpoint from where we called home and Lily played on a patch of snow. After that we hiked on to the major viewpoint.

The highest point on Tam McArthur Rim is 7730 feet in elevation. That’s higher than many mountains in Oregon, or the U.S. for that matter. From the car that also represents an elevation gain of 1180 feet and about 2.5 miles of hiking. This can be quite a hike for an 8 year old, but Lily was a trooper, and as long as she was having fun (read exploring or sliding on snow) she didn’t even notice the effort it took. The view is amazing, and the experience is well worth the effort it takes to gets there. Words, and even pictures, don’t capture the true nature of the place.

Our humble camp was along the rim, not far from the cliff’s edge. We could see several mountains from our camp (Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Jefferson, Hood, the top of North Sister, and Broken Top). We could also see the valley floor with its lakes and rollings hills. In the clear morning we could see smoke from camp fires near the lakes below. Our plan was to sleep out under the stars, but by 6 PM the winds were picking up and it didn’t seem appropriate to be outside the tent. A couple of times I went outside to either tighten the guidelines on the tent or bring items inside so they wouldn’t blow away. By two in the morning the winds had died down. The morning was calm and clear. The sun came in through out tent door and warmed us.

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!

~ John Muir

The Three Sisters Wilderness was established by the U.S. Congress in 1964. It is part of both the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests. The designated wilderness comprises 286,708 acres. Its most noticeable features are the mountains, which I have climbed years ago, but it has a lot more to see. I started visiting the place when I was a kid. My favorite location then was Sunshine and Obsidian Falls on the west side of the North Sister.

Although I am familiar with the Three Sisters Wilderness, I had never been to the Tam McArthur Rim area (that I can remember), so this was an adventure for both me and Lily. To get there one drives about 18 miles south of the town of Sisters to Three Creeks Lake. The trail head is well marked. We saw a lot of day hikers on the trail. It is a popular hike. We only saw one other couple with backpacks though. We also saw them on their way out on Sunday.

By the end of Saturday I noticed we were getting low on water. There are no lakes or streams on top of the rim, so we began rationing. I wanted to make sure we had enough water for Lily and for hot chocolate the next morning. This meant that be the time we got back to the car on Sunday I was rather dehydrated. For dinner we tried freeze dried meals, which were fair. Most of the time we ate trail mix and cliff bars. I have determined that the next trip we will camp near a stream or lake. I don’t like running out of water, or carrying a lot of water.

What I find so interesting in getting away from the comforts of home is how it changes my perspective. I learn about doing without, about how much I take for granted, about who I am and what I truly need, and I learn about the real value of things.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

~ John Muir

On Sunday the we packed up and hiked back to a viewpoint we had not seen before. There we had our hot chocolate and called home. From there we decided (Lily’s idea) to go off the beaten path and descend to the lake cross country. The going was more difficult than we anticipated. I love that she prefers to go cross country rather than follow the path. She is a real adventurer. For parts of our descent I carried Lily’s pack as well as my own because it was so steep going down the rock slides and snow. But then we got to the lake. There we found a little stream and water falls. Lily loved it and played for a while. About 15 minutes later we were back at the car. We stopped a the Snow Cap burger joint in Sisters and then drove the two hours home. Lily slept in the car.

Why is it that we seek out places like the mountains or the sea? I suppose that answer is unique to each of us. But I also suppose there is something universal in that desire. We are all wanderers of one sort or another. Some of my most vivid memories come from my youth when I camped in the mountains. I remember sleeping under the stars and waking in the middle of the night to the most glorious of star-filled skies. I remember hiking into Chambers Lakes in the Three Sisters Wilderness with my parents, my cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandparents. I remember these places and experiences because they touched something deep within me.

I recently realized most of my poetry is rooted in a sense of place, and most of those places are in nature. I love vast and awesome areas. If nature is a direct expression of God, then nature is profound.

Even the most mundane aspects of nature speak to us. Some days just leaving an air-conditioned building and feeling the fresh breeze on my face reaches my soul.

Lily loves being out of doors. What a great expression, “out of doors.” What does that say? A door is a point of separation, a threshold from one world to another.

I am learning more and more that kids need nature. Lily loves nature. She comes alive in the woods or near a stream. She exclaimed many times how she loved the view from the rim. She could complain one moment about her pack and then be running for a patch of snow or stop to pick up some lichen to show her mama. I believe there is a connection between the way humans are designed and the way nature is designed. I believe that connection explains, in part, the deep resonance one can experience in the face of nature.

There is a fit, a connection, going on at some deep level between humans and the rest of God’s creation. I realize now that I’ve got to get my family outside a lot more, especially into wilderness. No amount of Discovery channel programs can replace breathing mountain air, seeing the sun rise over a valley, or cooking over a butane stove. No amount of nature books (though I do love them) can stand in for walking up a volcanic slope, picking up obsidian along a path, or seeing wind ripples on a lake far below. Nature, in all its beauty and fierceness, in all its rugged danger and sublime honesty, is a gift.

Even though we were absolutely exhausted when we arrived home, we were already thinking of our next trip. Lily said she wants to go back to the same place, but I know there are other places she will love. Maybe we’ll go to Green Lakes or Chambers Lakes (both by the South Sister), or maybe we’ll hike into the Jefferson Wilderness. What I can say is that we need to get out more than we have.

The mountains are calling and I must go.
~ John Muir

>…if the ocean was your pond

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Thoreau was not a surfer.

Recently I’ve started re-reading Thoreau’s seminal and quintessential American polemic, Walden. This has coincided with an emerging desire within me to get my kids (and myself) out into nature more, especially into awe-inspiring nature. I am coming more and more to the conclusion that nature is designed to fit with our psyches and vice versa. It seems that one of the advantages of so-called progress is that our lives are contrived such that nature can be experienced as an end in itself, that is, as a ground for unfettered experience, as it were, rather than merely the context of labor. In other words, nature can be both a source of pleasure and offer some deeper connection to our souls.

Sometimes I think it makes sense to pull my family out of society and go deep into nature – permanently. But then I wise up. For all that I love nature, I also love the city. Still nature has its call, which can be powerful. And this makes me think of the Paskowitz family.


Doc Paskowitz, modern Thoreau
or eccentric despot?

Living a life unfettered from society, close to nature, and not far from a kind of animal existence, living in cramped quarters, constantly on the go, and surfing all the time, sounds like the perfect existence for the young surf bum. For a family of eleven (9 kids) it sounds crazy, but that’s what the Paskowitz family did. Here’s a sampling from the recent documentary Surfwise (2007):

There is something in there that I love and long for. There is also something there that I fear. I want my kids to grow up immersed in nature, I want them to run around like beautiful beasts, to live fully and wild. I also don’t want that. They should also be educated, well mannered, savvy, and have the groundwork laid for future opportunities. Balance is key.

So I am both in awe of the Paskowitz clan and I shake my head. What a great life on the one hand, and a limited life on the other. If I could I would do something like they did for a summer, but not a lifetime. Remember, Thoreau lived at Walden pond for only two years.

Of course, I have yet to try surfing.

>some summits (and nearly so)

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Doubly happy, however, is the man to whom lofty mountain-tops are within reach.

~ John Muir

In this post I reminisce.

When I was much younger I got the idea in my head that I would climb a mountain. The idea was planted by my reading the book Everest Diary based on the personal diary of Luther “Lute” Jerstad, one of the first Americans to climb Mount Everest. I loved the book, still do. I quickly became an armchair mountaineer, which I still am. I read many climbing books, especially ones about climbing Everest (a.k.a Chomolungma). In college, however, I decided to embrace my dreaming and actually climb a mountain.

Given that I am a “book person” I learned how to climb mountains first by reading books on the topic. I learned how to use crampons and an ice ax. I learned to use a rope and belay another climber. But no amount of book reading compares with putting on your boots and trying to scale a mountain. So eventually I had to do it. I have to say, though, that I am not mountaineer, just an enthusiast, and mostly still from the armchair.

The following are the mountains I have summited, or nearly summited. All are in Oregon except Longs Peak, which is in Colorado. All these were climbed by me more than 15 years ago.

North Sister (10,085 feet, 3074 meters)

The North Sister is a beautiful peak and one of a group of three dormant volcanoes called The Three Sisters. Of the three it is the most rugged, the oldest, and the most difficult to climb. I have summited it twice. The first time I climbed with a friend – both of us were essentially novices and we traversed an exposed slope near the top without a rope. I vowed never to do that again. The next time I climbed with the local Mountain Rescue team – plenty of ropes this time! I held my own, but was in so much pain getting back to the car that I vowed never to climb another mountain unless I was in sufficient physical shape.

Middle Sister (10,047 feet, 3062 meters)

I climbed the Middle Sister with my dad. I felt strong and the weather was beautiful. For my dad it was his first mountain climb. The Middle Sister is not a technical climb from the North, which is the way we went. The North East face, however, is a good training ground for steep snow climbing.

South Sister (10,358 feet, 3157 meters)

The South Sister is the third highest peak in Oregon. I have summited the South Sister twice and it was my first mountain summit. The climb is essentially non-technical climb. It is therefore is a popular climb for many first-time climbers. It is one of the most climbed mountains in Oregon. Mostly it is just a long 5.5 mile hike uphill from the trailhead (or an 11 mile round trip from the car with a mountain in the middle). On any weekend in August one might find 10 to 50 people on the summit. On its summit is a small lake (when not frozen over) called teardrop pool. It is the highest lake in Oregon.

Mount Thielsen (9,182 feet2,799 meters)

Mt. Thielsen is called the lighting rod of the Cascades because of its spire-like summit. This is an old volcano. Most of the mountain has fallen away and what remains is the inner plug. Most of the climb is easy, but the last 50 feet is a rocky scramble to a small pinnacle that can hold about three people. Many climbers rope up at that point, but I didn’t, and didn’t feel the need to.

Mount McLaughlin (9495 feet, 2894 meters)

The day before climbing Mt. Thielsen I climbed Mt. McLaughlin. The trip went something like this: Saturday drive five hours to Mt. McLaughlin, climb it, then drive to Mt. Thielsen trailhead, sleep on the ground under the stars, Sunday morning climb Thielsen, then drive three hours home, sleep in comfy bed for ten hours. It was a long weekend, but was also a lot of fun. Climbing Mt. McLaughlin is as technically easy as the South Sister, but not as long.

Longs Peak (14,259 feet, 4,346 meters)

In the Spring of 1984 I and a group of fellow students tried to climb Longs Peak. We got up to 13,200 feet elevation, about 1000 feet below the summit at a place know as the keyhole. We had to turn back because of a storm that had blown in. Climbers were coming off the top and telling us that it was getting dangerous above. The wind where we were was very strong coming through the keyhole. There is a stone climbers hut near the keyhole where we met a bunch other folks. The heavy wooden door to the hut had been blown off its hinges and was no longer to be seen. To make up for the disappointment of not summiting several of us decided to race each other back to the cars. We ran in heavy hiking boots and carrying daypacks about 6 or 7 miles downhill. Needless to say I wish I could do that today, but my knees won’t let me and my lungs thank my knees.

Mount Hood (11,249 feet, 3,429 meters)

Mount Hood is the tallest mountain in Oregon and one of the most climbed mountains in the world. I and two friends attempted to climb it in the early 1990s. We started from Timberline Lodge at around 1:00 AM. The day was stunningly beautiful. We could see all the way South to Mount Shasta in California! We got very near the summit, but then one of my friends got sick and couldn’t go any further. We decided to head down, ascribing to the philosophy that we would be back soon enough. I have not been back. But I still plan on climbing it someday.

Many people believe that climbing mountains is something they could never do. Climbing mountains is very near lunacy they assume. Why would anyone want to do such a thing, they ask. Maybe they are right, but I have to say that there is nothing quite like the experience. Many peaks are technically easy to climb, most are just an uphill trail to the top. Standing on top of a mountain is glorious. The exercise is tremendous. I say pick one and go! Of course, do your homework and be prepared.

Go West Trapper Nelson

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Good weather is here at last and I have hiking/camping/climbing on the brain.

When I was a youth I started hiking and camping with my parents in Oregon. Usually we hiked to our camp sites, sometimes we rode horses. Once in a while we did car camping. Some of the best times I remember were sleeping under the stars in the high Cascades, then waking in the middle of the night and staring in awe at a sky of stars like one never sees in the city.

Oregon is a beautiful state and this time every year I start dreaming of getting immersed in the outdoors. Now that I have kids I want to get them outdoors too.

I reminisce…
As a young camper I often had hand-me-downs. My first pack was one my dad used when he was a boy scout. The pack was known as a Trapper Nelson. By today’s standards a Trapper Nelson pack is a kind of torture device. However, when it was invented 80 years ago it was better than anything else on the market. By the time I began carrying one the design was very outmoded, but the pack was free.

The Trapper Nelson pack consisted of two wooden planks with canvas stretched between them, thin canvas shoulder straps, and a canvas bag on the back. The color was classic drab. Fortunately, kids tend to be resilient. I survived and had many happy camping trips.

Why is it that we like to go camping? Often I struggle to get motivated and out the door to commune with nature. But once I am outside I love it. Each time I have gone camping (except for once or twice) I think to myself I should do this more often. There is something about getting away from the city, from civilization, and into the wilderness that feeds a deep part of the soul. It’s almost as though we are made to be close to nature, and that the walls with which we surround ourselves offer false comfort and place a damper on something that could be thriving. This week I started riding my bike to work. It’s not easy to ride in the cold morning so early, but I love it. The simple act of feeling the air on my face is enough to remind me of how good it is to be outside and alive.

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Related…
My wife and I have decided we will try to climb a mountain later this summer. We have picked the South Sister in the Cascade Range. I have climbed it twice, but that was more than twenty years ago. It’s not a technical climb, but it does take a lot of stamina. We’ll see how it goes. At least it’s motivating me to get in better shape.


The South Sister’s snow capped peak looms majestically
over the Oregon countryside.

>snow this morning

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I know for some of you this is no big deal. You already have snow and probably want it to finally go away. But for us, this is an event.

>gone skiing

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>On Tuesday I took my daughter downhill skiing for her first time. I grew up skiing and spent many years as an avid skier. But I have not been for years and my daughter had never been, so I figured it was about time to go.

She did great! If we can afford it I see her doing a lot of skiing in the future


Lily the skier

The skiing was excellent. It snowed the night before, stayed cold during the day, and we had some sun at times. Plus, Tuesdays are great days to go because prices are cheaper and there are no lift lines.

I think it has been around 20 years since I skied last. I was surprised by how I was able to pick it back up without any problems. But, boy am I out of shape! My legs were burning when tried to ski some of the harder runs.

As we left the ski area we had a beautiful view of this Cascade peak glowing in the sunset.


Three Fingered Jack, late afternoon