Holiday Bike Drive

Since the beginning of September I have been volunteering at the Community Cycling Center. They have been gearing up for their annual Holiday Bike Drive. This is a huge event where they provide over 500 children with their first bike, a bike helmet, and basic safety instruction. It is designed to benefit ages 3 - 8 from low income families. Children are referred to the Holiday Bike Drive by a school, church, or social service agency.

For the most part I was helping refurbish donated bikes. Often I would take the bikes apart and repack the bearings. It was challenging to develop a feeling if a part was not too tight or loose, but just right. The biggest thrill was disassembling a coaster brake, lubing it up, and then putting it back together. I am grateful to those who taught me these skills and encouraged me along the way.

Approaching the sight of the Holiday Bike Drive it was very special to see a kid, helmet on, wheeling their new bike to car. I had not even stepped in the door, but I had already seen how my contribution had made a difference. Inside I found an organized flow of volunteers, parents, and children and all of the bikes lined up. Outside I saw volunteers braving the cold to teach some basic biking skills. I was tasked with fitting kids with a bike helmet. All of them were very patient with me as I adjusted and readjusted the straps of their helmets. Those kids were not the only ones who benefited as I went home and corrected the adjustment of my own helmet.

Cape Horn

Rarely when one goes on a major hike in the Columbia River Gorge do they hike between the freeway and the river. Today I did just that as I led an Adventurous Young Mazamas hike on the Cape Horn trail. This was my third attempt in the past 12 months to led this hike. High winds and snow foiled my plans the last two times. But today the weather was cooperative and we were able to enjoy the sweeping views of the gorge that this trail offers.

I should note there is much more to this hike than views and waterfalls. I was fortunate to have Mazamas Hike Leader Cathy Oswald along on this hike, as she knows this trail like the back of her hand. She shared what she knew about this trail with us and helped me lead the group.

The Friends of the Columbia Gorge have played a major role in protecting the area from development. They have worked with various individuals and land trusts to acquire properties to protect this stunning view of the gorge. Their video for their Campaign for Cape Horn on YouTube gives some insights of their role.

Currently the Forest Service is working on a Environment Assessment for the Cape Horn Trail Recreation Plan that considers the route of the trail. You can view the Environmental Assessment here. There was some discussion on our hike of the possible alternatives that the Forest Service is considering for this trail.

Rudolph Spur

Even thought the weather report did not look encouraging, I ventured into the Columbia River Gorge for a hike up Rudolph Spur. This is an unmaintained trail that starts out at Cascade Locks on the Oregon side of the gorge and ascends to the Benson Plateau.


This is a trail that climbs up a forested ridge, which I find very enjoyable. Even though not one among us had set foot here before, most of the time we did not have any route finding problems. We were quite fortunate with the weather since it was dry as we hiked up the steep portions of the trail. It was not until we started to reach the Benson Plateau that it started to snow.


Our descend was via the Ruckle Creek Trail. At we lost altitude the snow turned into pouring rain. The trail was steep and slippery, so I took care to place my feet well. At one point I heard a thunderous snap to the left of me. As I looked in that direction I saw the upper trunk of a dead tree tumble down to the ground. Glad to be a at safe distance, I continued my way to the trailhead and the dry cars.

Halloween 2009

Although I am well beyond my trick or treating days, I celebrated Halloween this year at a variety of venues this year. It started last weekend when Deborah and I checked out the Field of Screams on Sauvie Island. We thought this haunted corn field was more effective than a haunted house. It seemed that the thick corn stalks gave the various monsters better hiding places than the restrictive walls found in a building.

On Friday I left my tie at home and at work as I dressed up as a Lumberjack. I could not help to whistle the tune to Monty Python's Lumberjack song as I shouldered my axe. In my mind's eye I imagined myself leaping from tree to tree as they floated down the mighty rivers of British Columbia.

On Halloween itself we toured the Lone Fir Cemetery in Southeast Portland. As we were led around the cemetery we 'met' several of the inhabitants of this graveyard, who shared with us their stories. This included a woman caught up in a love triangle/double-murder suicide, a business man who shanghaied his own son and a prostitute whose gravestone was paid for by her clients. My neighbor Michael, who helped organize the event, later told me that 2400 people took this tour that evening.

To top it off we watched the film Shaun of the Dead, which was quite amusing. If zombies invade my hometown, I hope I would not be as oblivious to them as the movie's hero. I will confess that I covered my eyes during the really gory part.

Day Hiking in the Olympic Peninsula

Most Wednesday evenings October to April the Mazamas presents Evening Travel Programs, which are open to the public. These are usually presentations along hiking, climbing, and travel themes. From time to time I've found they are a good way to spend an rainy Wednesday evening.


This evening Craig Romano was plugging his book Day Hiking Washington's Olympic Peninsula. While it was nostalgic to see slides of familiar places such as Wagonwheel Lake, Shi Shi Beach, and Ozette Lake, I appreciated the chance to learn about lesser know places. Going to this lecture broadened my knowledge of the South Flank of the Olympic Mountains. Also, my friend Scott would have been pleased that the author had photo slides of the Piper's Bellflower, which is endemic to the Olympic Peninsula.

The author defines the Olympic Peninsula as everything from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Columbia River. So he also presented a handful of lesser know hikes in Washington State Parks at Long Beach and Ocean Shores.

I asked the author if he thought the National Forest Service would reopen the road along the Dosewallips River. His perception was that the Forest Service wanted to do so and would start once they had cleared any legal challenges.

Central Oregon Trip

My brother Scott was in Portland for a business trip the past week. At the end of the week we took a trip to Central Oregon, which turned out to be a good diversion from rainy Willamette Valley weather.

We covered a lot of territory on this trip. We hiked up Misery Ridge at Smith Rock State Park and watched climbers on Monkey Face. In Bend we caught up with Jen Floyd, who we worked with at Camp Parsons. We also checked out Cline Falls State Park, home of an unsolved attempted axe murder. On the way home we stopped at Silver Falls State Park to relive some childhood memories.

The big surprise of the trip was the hike along Tumalo Creek. I had heard about this area, but it was my first visit there. Tumalo Falls is located within tripping distance from the parking lot, but this is one of those hikes where continuing down the trail is well worth the extra effort.

Tumalo Falls

Upper Tier of Middle Tumalo Falls

Upper Tumalo Falls

Robert Marx Memorial Service

This weekend I traveled to Springfield, VA for the memorial service for Bob Marx, my father's cousin. Even though his family lived on the East coast, we saw him a handful of times during my youth. I always liked seeing cousin Bob. His easy going demeanor had an encouraging and supportive tone.

I knew that he had a long career at the Census Bureau, but until today I did not know the extent of his professional contribution. He was the architect of the Census Bureau's TIGER Format, which was used to improve the Census Bureau's process of taking the Decennial Census. In fact, Bob was the one who coined the acronym TIGER, which stands for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing. If you are interested about TIGER, you can read more about it here on Wikipedia.

But this gathering was about much more than Bob's professional achievements. His 4 year old grandson got up in front of the audience to say how he wished that his grandfather would return to to play in his sandbox. I doubt at that moment there was a dry eye in the sanctuary. For me, I grieved that my father had lost his surrogate brother and childhood friend. The occasion also provided the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the Marx side of our family. I also got to meet many relatives that I had never met before.