bad moon rising

casey on the summit of triangulation peak

Triangulation Peak has been on my list of places to get to for some time now.  It's decently close to Corvallis (about 1.5 hours), offers unbeatable views of Mt. Jefferson and has a cave nearby...what's not to like.  To take advantage of the full moon we had this week, Casey and I jetted off to Triangulation Peak right after work to get there in time for duet of the sunset and moonrise.

The road to get there was rougher and took longer than anticipated so we found ourselves a bit pressed for daylight once we started hiking.  Keeping a fast pace on the trail and the fact that there weren't too many lookouts during the hike helped get us there just in the nick of time!  As we rounded the last of the trees that prevented our up close and personal view of Mt Jefferson, we found ourselves at peak sunset!

sunset

 more sunset

 keeps getting better...

Once the colorful display from the sunset started to subside, we waited out the intermission for the rising of the moon.  A thick haze to the South made us question if it would even be possible to see the moonrise and we were soon about to head back down the trail. Taking one last photo of Jefferson, we started to notice a slight glow behind the mountain.  Could that possibly be the moon??  Yes!  I couldn't believe our luck!  The moon was rising directly behind Mt. Jefferson!  

It was an absolutely spectacular view, but only lasted several minutes. Before we knew it the moon was out in all it's glory and wasn't slowing down for me to take any decent photos (hence the lack of actual moon pictures).

is that a glow behind jefferson?

could it be the moon rising...

spectacular.

return to the jungle...

Well...it's the time again...time for surf zone zippin', crab pot line dodgin', and motion sickness pill poppin'. Yep, it's time for nearshore surveys.  This week, we headed up to Long Beach, WA to tackle 1 of 5 surveys we'll complete to track the movement of sand, which Army Corps is dredging up from the Columbia River and piling onto Benson Beach as an experiment to combat erosion.

guns and roses awaiting the day

benson beach

north head lighthouse

the crew sets up

setting up the computers

teamwork to measure the echosounder arm

heather and me ready to rumble

But it wasn't all work...during down time we got to check out some hiking trails in the North Head area. 

 heather near north head

 north head lighthouse

Next up...Reedsport. We left mid-week from Long Beach and drove ~7 hours to Southern Oregon to conduct our second year effort of surveys at the proposed location of Oregon's first wave energy buoys.  Unfortunately, the waves and wind were up and the Coast Guard closed the mouth of the Umpqua River to all non-commercial vessels.  No problem...we'll just launch from the beach.  With a little help from some quad runners more than anxious to tow jet skis through the dunes we were able to get the work done. Never a dull moment.

being towed

we made it!

after getting to the open beach, we took it to the water

launch of guns...

 salt water to the face. yum.

...and he's off

  launch of roses

yikes

no easy task.

We also got to check out the freakin' awesome sand dunes in Southern Oregon.  We went from lush forest to desert-like scenery in a  matter of seconds. Amazing.

sand dunes

 dune!

jeremy and heather

Because the job of supporting the jet-skiers can get a little slow, I brought along bocce to pass the hours...

bocce!

 heather tries from the truck

eyeballing the shot

jeff's a natural

happy birthday, 'merica

Complete with good food, great people, bocce ball, and a decent Corvallis fireworks show, July 4th was celebrated in style.

chip ross park--viewpoint of the fireworks

   

traveling the pacific northwest with mama tierney

Trading in corn fields for mountainous vistas, Casey's mama made the long trek for a visit to Pacific Northwest this week.  For part of her adventure, I tagged along, seeing some areas that I hadn't even experienced yet--starting with Seattle, Washington. Here we strolled along the water front watching gigantic cargo ships cruise in to be unloaded at the ports, walked through the famous Pike's Marketplace tasting some of the most amazing cookies ever, and spent the night at Casey's aunt Kim's place with a fantastic view of the Sound.

seattle's skyline

ports in seattle

cargo ship being guided in

casey getting tired of being photographed...

Next, we headed back towards Corvallis stopping off at Mt. St. Helens.  Thankfully, the morning clouds burned off and we had outstanding views of the crater. Beautiful.

mt st helens

mt st helens

my, what a big crater you have...

cathy and me

casey and cathy

The next day, we headed down and east for a trip to Bend, Oregon and the Newberry Volcano. Unfortunately, late snows spoiled our plans of going up to Paulina Peak where we could get great views of the surrounding mountains, but we were still able to enjoy some sunshine, lava flows, waterfalls and good times by East Lake. For dinner we headed to the Deschutes Brewery in Bend where they were celebrating their 22nd birthday and to our surprise ran into our friends, Dale and Cerese, who were also camping in the area. Because the campgrounds were full for the night, they graciously offered to allow us to squeeze in with them for the evening.  Bright and early the next morning, the sprinklers kicked on and soaked us and our camping stuff...not fun. Seriously, who has a sprinkler system at a campsite...IN THE HIGH DESERT?

lunch and sunshine at the east lake of newberry

what blog is complete without a cute rodent...

can you find casey and his mom in the obsidian flow?

camping with dale and cerese

the knight in shining marmot gear saves us from the sprinklers

yummy breakfast

One of the last stops on the whirlwind tour was Crater Lake--a place that never that fails to amaze.  No matter how long you look into the mesmerizing blue waters, the scene never looks real. The day was complete with camping next to Salt River and Yahtzee. Perfection.

The next morning, the situation of sprinklers blasting us at our campsite that we experienced near Bend met its match...a rooster. Seriously...what's the one thing you should not bring with you to a campground...um...maybe a ROOSTER?! Yep, someone decided to bring this guy and let him roam the area for the night. He made his way into our campsite and started crowing at 6am! Not cool. We were pretty annoyed at the time (in both situations), but it was pretty amusing nonetheless.

wizard island

awww!

so blue....

cathy dominating casey in yahtzee 

Next up, a night out on the town--pizza and drinks at American Dream and a river walk along the Willamette. 

downtown corvallis

along the willamette

 isn't he handsome?

To make sure Cathy had a good last impression of Oregon, we spent her final day at the coast. Greeted by clear, blue skies and sunshine we had a great time checking out the view from Cape Perpetua as well as the beaches lying below. We attempted to make it back in time for sunset on Mary's Peak, and while it wasn't the greatest, the sky still treated us to some wisps of color and made for a pleasant evening. 

 cathy's toes discover the pacific

 view from cape perpetua

cape perpetua

mary's peak sunset