We anxiously watched a veil of rain move toward and then over us as we cranked our loaded touring bicycles along a two-lane road in Eastern Oregon. My cycling partner, Donnie Kolb, and I still had ten miles to go before we reached Big Bend campsite along the John Day River. We knew that if we wanted to make it before dark, we needed to keep pedaling, even if it meant getting completely drenched.
In most parts of the civilized world, it’s probably unusual to use your four-wheel drive option on the way to the golf course. Of course, this isn’t anywhere in the world. This is Oregon, where there is no off-season on the golf course. No matter what the weather, somewhere, someone in Oregon is playing golf. To emphasize that point, I packed my clubs and headed out on an odyssey to play through what could have been challenging March conditions, but ended up perfectly playable.
A 24-year-old robert burns grabs his backpack and snowboard and throws it in the back of his truck. Ten inches of fresh powder. Hood River is at its best in March and again in summer, when he rips up the Gorge on his windsurfer. He tears a new strip of duct tape and mended the pants he’s had on life support for the past six years. A two-shot Americano at Ground Coffee will get him to the first chair at Mt. Hood for a few runs. Forty days on the mountain and, likely, a little late for work, again. Well. In a couple more years, he’ll get a real job, new board pants and maybe even a Dakine Builder’s Pack with a chainsaw pocket for trail work on Whoopdee. No hurry though, as Burns is merely a fictional character representing a key demographic of Dakine, a Hood River-based outdoor gear…
Lucie Gouin examines seeds from a friend’s tomato plant that she says tasted particularly good. On a plate at her kitchen table and labeled “9/23/13,” the heirloom seeds are among hundreds meticulously plucked, dried and saved for possible cultivation for the farm’s community-supported agriculture members. These luscious, thin-skinned heirlooms at the farmers’ market come at a price–and not just to the consumer. photo by Andrea Lonas They also sell at farmers’ markets, including the Saturday market near Portland State University. Poulos harvests vegetables Friday night. Gouin washes them into the wee hours, then he loads them and departs around 4:30 a.m. They joke that, by September, Poulos resembles a zombie. Heirloom tomato production begins the previous season, by picking and saving seeds from the best plants. “Harvesting and saving heirloom tomato seed is like collecting dying wishes,” quips Gouin. “It is practically an obligation and comes with the promise…
The ancient Latin phrase in vino veritas, “in wine there is truth,” is particularly relevant for the wine experience in Oregon. Do the North Willamette Wine Trail, take in stellar views of Mt. Hood while sipping internationally recognized, award-winning wines, and discover why this is truly one of the best experiences Oregon offers. photo by Paul Loofburrow It all awaits on the way to the coast or as a destination in itself. The North Willamette Wine Trail Weekend (April 13-14) is but one high point in a place that epitomizes the good life in Oregon, and it reaches the height of popularity in spring and summer. It’s all laid out on the Vineyard and Valley Scenic Tour Route, a 60-mile drive along winding country roads through the lush Tualatin Valley from Sherwood to Swiss-settled Helvetia. photo by Allison George This Oregon Scenic Byway showcases Washington County’s embarrassment of…
Between the white knuckle rides down Oakridge’s old growth lined trails, trekking around the forested flanks of Mt. Hood, or zipping along Bend’s groomed singletrack, Oregon is a mountain biker’s playground. The state boasts hundreds of miles of dirt trails. Some of these a bit more arduous than others.
Whether you’re a foodie, a dune rider or a tide-pool explorer, these coastal lighthouses will guide you toward your own discoveries along the Central Oregon Coast.
It’s nature’s other champagne, springing from the earth, from the depths of its lava-heated heart, summoned to the surface, where we (made of ninety-eight-point-six-degree water) sense the greater warmth, the minerals, the solace, the comfort, and immerse …
Stephanie Howe photo by Jeff Kennedy SPORT Ultra Running HOMETOWN Bend AGE 30 TEAM The North Face Ultramarathon Team Schedule Chuckanut 50k, March 15 Lake Sonoma 50 miler, April 12 Western States 100, June 28 The North Face 50 mile Endurance Championship, December 6 Other possibilities (depending on how I recover from my 100 miler): Squamish 50 mile August 15, and Run the Rut 50k September 13. When did you start running ultramarathons? In 2011, I signed up for the Flagline 50k in Bend on a whim the night before the race. I was illprepared, suffered greatly through the race, and finished as the USATF 50k national champion runner-up. I was hooked. What is the most demanding aspect of running ultras? The races are so long and really take a toll on the body. The recovery period following an ultra is much longer than a shorter race. I don’t…
