jloomis's blog

After a fun day climbing on Saturday, I dedicated much of Sunday to fishing for shad (great crab bait) on the Willamette River with a couple of friends. We took my boat, launching from Meldrum Bar around 6:30 AM. The weather was calm with mostly cloudy skies and a temperature in the low 50's F. The river was extremely high, making launching the boat more challenging than usual. The upper part of the ramp was covered in water, making the dock inaccessible.

My buddy John went out salmon fishing a couple times last week and caught fish, so we decided to brave the crowds and fish on Saturday morning. We launched at the Swan Island ramp on the Willamette River near downtown Portland. We were at the ramp just after 5 AM (running on only an hour or two of sleep) and there were already a couple dozen trailers in the parking lot. The three of us (John, Andy, and I) set off in John's North River boat hoping for a successful day of Spring Chinook fishing. The weather was overcast and calm with a temperature in the upper 40's F.

While camping at Fort Stevens Sate Park, we fished nearby Coffenbury Lake a couple times for trout. This 50 acre lake is stocked with legal size trout and a few excess steelhead. There is a boat ramp and two picnic facilities with fishing docks. Even though this is a small lake, motorized boats are permitted with a 10 mph speed limit at all times. Even though I had my boat, we decided to fish from shore. We were camped in the O loop, so our sites were very close to the lake.

Last weekend was our annual spring camping trip to Fort Stevens State Park for the Astoria Crab, Seafood, and Wine Festival. It has become a kickoff to our summer camping season. This year we were able to take Friday off, along with some of our friends. Another plus is the weather forecast was mostly sunny (compared to rain as we have had the past two years). We got an early start and left Portland with two of our friends at just after 6 AM. I pulled our tent trailer while my friend John was gracious enough to tow my boat so we could go crabbing that morning.

After getting settled in our camping spots at Fort Stevens State Park (near Astoria, Oregon) on Friday morning, we headed across the Columbia River into Washington to go crabbing. We launched my 16' Klamath Alaskan aluminum boat at the Port of Chinook around 10:30 AM. High tide was predicted at around 11:45 AM, so we only planned to be out a couple hours during the slack tide. Katie didn't have a license, so we only took six pots with us (the regulations are three pots per license holder).

Finally, the long-anticipated nice weather came to Mount Hood on Friday morning. My friends Matt, Al, and I were able to get the day off to climb the mountain. This was Al and my first summit attempt of Mount Hood (I had previously been as high as the hogsback earlier this year). Matt is veteran mountaineer with six or seven successful Mount Hood climbs under his belt. We all met in Portland around 11:30 PM Thursday night to carpool to Timberline Lodge. We were going to climb the popular South route through the old chute to the summit.

On Saturday, Matt, his friend Al, and I went on a climb (non-technical) to Lookout Mountain. At 6,525 feet, Lookout Mountain is second in elevation only to Mount Hood within the Mt. Hood National Forest. The trailhead is about 4.5 miles Northeast of the Mount Hood Meadows turnoff on Hwy 35. The weather forecast was a mixed bag with rain showers predicted and a freezing level of around 6,000 feet. As it was still early spring, our 7.4 mile round-trip route was different from the normal trail due to the amount of snow above 4,500 feet elevation.

The Columbia River opened back up for spring chinook fishing, so my friend John and I decided to try the Willamette River on Saturday to avoid the crowds. We launched John's North River at the Swan Island boat ramp shortly after 7 AM. The weather was overcast with occasional sun breaks and light wind. The water temperature was about 48° and still pretty turbid. The ramp was not crowded, nor was the river.

I was able to go into work early on Wednesday in order to get off at 3 PM to drive to Neels Gap where the Southern Appalachian Trail crosses US Highway 19/129. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Chatsworth, Georgia. Neels Gap is about 13 miles South of Blairsville. My plan was to park in the Walasi-Yi parking lot (with permission) and hike 2 steep miles along the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Blood Mountain and back. The 4 mile round-trip gains 1,400 feet of elevation on the way to the summit at 4,458 feet.

My job took me to Georgia this week where our carpet fabrication facility is. On Tuesday evening after work, I was able to drive up to Fort Mountain State Park for a short hike. The park is only about a 20 minute drive East of Chatsworth. The road quickly winds up into the mountains leaving the city far below. I went on a short easy mile loop hike to the summit of Fort Mountain and back. The conditions were calm with overcast skies and a temperature around 50°F.

After a fun night snow camping at Devils Half Acre Meadow, Matt and I took off on snowshoes for Barlow Butte. Since we were camped at the base of the butte on the Western side, we chose to go almost straight up from there. Our route was about 0.6 miles each way. The temperature was in the mid 20s F with no wind and mostly sunny skies. This was one of those times I regretted not bringing my sunglasses.

On Friday night, my friend John and I headed off with fully loaded pulk sleds to snow camp at Devils Half Acre Meadow. We left my house at about 2:30 PM and set out from the Barlow Pass SnoPark at around 4 PM. Another friend, Matt, planned to meet us there just after dark. It's an easy 1.2 mile hike downhill to the campground, which was our destination. The campground sits right at the base of Barlow Butte. The weather was a comfortable 29°F with moderate to heavy snow fall.

I have been eager to get back out in the snow since returning from vacation in Kauai. The tropical climate was nice and we had an amazing trip, but I love the snow and mountains of the Pacific Northwest. My friend Tyler and his friend Holli joined Katie and I on a non-technical climb Saturday to Eureka Peak. The route ( 5 mile round-trip) we took begins at the Trillium Lake SnoPark off hwy 26 about 3 miles Southeast of Government Camp.

The weather changed for the worse on Thursday after our mostly sunny hike to Hanakapi'ai Falls on Tuesday. We decided to go ziplining anyway. We drove to the Kauai Backcountry Adventures headquarters off hwy 56 in Hanamaulu (SE part of island). At the warehouse we geared up in full body harnesses and climbing helmets. As we waited to leave, we could hear the rain pounding the metal roof. It was really coming down and sounded as though we were under a waterfall.

On Tuesday the sun was shining and we were up early (5 AM) securing hiking permits for our June Half Dome hike in Yosemite. This was our second day on vacation with my parents and grandpa. Since we had an early start, we decided it would be a great day to hike to Hanakapi'ai Falls on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai. The 8-mile round-trip hike starts at the end of highway 560 on the Northern part of Kauai. The trail becomes dangerous and nearly impassable during heavy rains, so the sunny weather worked in our favor.