Our 15th anniversary dawned with mostly clear skies and an expected high temperature of 77F in Salem. The night before we had planned a hike into Crown Lake, which from terrain view in Google Maps, looks to be in a glacially carved basin located in the High Cascades.
Google Maps Terrain View Screen Shot.
Here is the Google Earth file for the trip with the old glacial headwall annotated: KMZ File
It had rained in the preceding days, so we were hoping to get some clear views of Mount Jefferson. We hadn’t been this far into this area before, but we were in an adventuring mood, as we often are when we get some free time together. 😉
To get there we took Hwy 22 east out of Salem, then followed NF46 east to its junction with NF4685, which is the only road to NF330. The trail head is at the end of NF330.
Trailhead Sign
There was enough parking for about 4 cars, but luckily there was only one other car there when we arrived! And the view from the “parking lot” was such a nice tease!!
The hike itself was mostly uphill on the way in, but the gradient wasn’t too bad for someone who hates to hike uphill! 😀
Here’s the topographic map of the trail:
Screenshot of Google Earth with USGS Topographic Map Overlay
I outlined the old glacial headwall in blue.
The area around the trail was well vegetated, so it was difficult to get a sense of the geology or topography we were hiking through. Thankfully there are topographic and geologic maps to help us visualize the geology around us!
When we arrived at the lake, an older couple were enjoying the main viewing spot at the end of the trail, so we hiked around the west side to find a more private spot to enjoy lunch.
Our First Good View of Crown Lake.
Our Lunch Spot.
After lunch we headed back to the trail and found that the other couple had left, so we took in that view too.
Crown Lake with Mount Jefferson in the Background.
The hike out is much easier than the hike in since the gradient is more downhill. 😀
There was no way to know this driving in, but the views of Mount Jefferson heading back on NF4685 were outstanding!
Mount Jefferson
Mout Jefferson is a High Cascades stratovolcano and in the image above you can clearly see several glaciers and glacial features. In case you can’t, I labeled them for you!
What a Geomorphologist Sees.
Here is the topographic map of Mount Jefferson:
Screen Shot of Google Earth with USGS Topographic Map Overlay
It was a lovely day and a great hike with fantastic views!
And to top it off, I managed not to end up in the ER like our 14th anniversary. But that is another story… 😉
When I was a little girl looking up at my beloved, but very racist (and sexist) Grandfather, I prayed that those attitudes, that I found so flawed at my tender age, would die out with his generation. After he died I wrote these words about him in my journal to express my conflicting feelings for this man I did love.
He loved rocks and god.
He took care of his family.
Gave freely to needy strangers.
Outside looking in.
Upstanding citizen.
So why does he hate you so?
The color of your skin, the length of your hair?
Weren’t you born of the same god as he, as me?
Reach out my hand now, his face is so cold, pale, and dead.
No lies to tell about you.
Look at me, I see you.
Different eyes, why?
What did he see?
I hope I never see!
His Jesus had long hair?
Why don’t I see?
As he saw.
Just the color of your skin,
The length of your hair?
Do you see me?
Did he?
– Journal entry from January 24, 2000
~~~~~
Even though I loved my grandfather very much, sadly he was my first experience with racism and sexism. I also credit him with my first experiences of a loving (albeit dysfunctional) family and introducing me to a love of rocks and minerals, which I carry with me to this day. In many ways he was everything you think a grandfather should be; he loved us, taught us lots of stuff, and best of all (if you are a kid) he took us to do many fun things, including many rock and mineral hunting trips. It’s safe to say that I pretty much idolized this man when I was a child. But he also left me traumatized in many ways, and his constant hatred of “others” was one of them.
Grandpa used to read the paper every night and was very vocal about how he felt about the n*$$ers, immigrants, and long hairs. I remember questioning him about the long hair thing, “but Grandpa, Jesus had long hair,” which was really all I had any evidence for back then, well before the internet as we know it today. He would explain that Jesus grew up in a time before scissors and barber shops. I was younger than 10 at the time, so he won that round and I don’t recall ever challenging him again.
Over the years, as many teenagers and their grandparents do, we grew apart and when I did see him, I still didn’t feel enough personal power to “rock the boat.”
Sadly he died before I ever got to tell him where he could shove his racist and sexist ideology.
Sometimes we’re around folks so that we get clear examples of who we never want to become.
I remember asking my Grandma how she could be married to a man like him, again when I was a preteen, and she said I would understand when I grew up.
No Grandma, I still don’t understand and I hope I never will!!!
As I look around at the world today I am aghast to see that these same racist (and sexist) attitudes that I abhorred as a child, are still just as prevalent as Grandpa ranting over the nightly paper about how it was all “their” fault, meaning either black, brown, hippie, or pretty much anyone he considered to be “other.” From my Facebook* feed alone, much of which stems from the same area my grandfather lived in and I grew up in, I now know there is much work yet to be done in changing these antiquated and uneducated beliefs.
Thankfully I am no longer that confused, scared little girl who couldn’t wrap her mind around hating others because of their skin color, outer appearance, and/or gender. In her place is a grown woman, who has found her voice, and isn’t afraid to use it to call out such bigoted, sexist behavior!
*If you are currently friends with me on FaceBook and we grew up together, then count yourself among the lucky few who have managed to not piss me off with racist and/or sexist attitudes!! Thank you!
I am so tired of everyone having an opinion of those who choose to maintain a gluten-free diet!
Do you know why we might do it?
For me the reasons are really simple. I feel so much better when I don’t eat it.
Have I been tested?
Well…other than having an acupuncturist, who worked with me on my allergy issues for well over a year, tell me my muscles get weaker when exposed to wheat, among other things…then no.
How did I come to be gluten-free?
I did some online research about the effects of gluten on the bodies of those that are sensitive or allergic on the advice of my husband. What I discovered was that I showed enough signs that it was logical to try a gluten-free diet, and see if my body felt any different. Being a scientist, this seemed like a no-brainer, I would test out my hypothesis on myself and draw my own conclusion as to whether I should avoid gluten or not.
Was it hard to go gluten-free?
Going gluten-free was actually really easy for me, I eat healthy anyway and don’t eat a lot of bread or pasta on a regular basis.
The hardest thing for me to give up was Dave’s Killer Bread, the one in the green package with all the seeds. Food of the Gods I swear!! 🙁
Of course, I slipped up a few times with soy sauce, and other things that weirdly have gluten added to them even though they don’t naturally contain it (who does that?!?!). Then a year ago Memorial Day weekend, we were staying with family and I had the smallest bite of a soft pretzel. I paid for it for two days with intense gastrointestinal pain and distress, which needless to say, made our get together less than fun for me. We figured out after the fact, that I had been gluten-free for 6 weeks at the time.
So for me the experiment seems clear, and I am frankly not willing to risk trying it again just to “see”. I’d rather continue enjoy a whole bunch of other foods I never explored before. Beans are simply amazing, and different squashes make better noodles than pasta in my opinion, so don’t worry yourself that I am missing out by not eating gluten. I am totally not!
I have one food I miss. But someday, someone will make a gluten-free bread that is just as amazing as Dave’s Green Label, and I am totally fine to wait for that day!
Until then, I will revel in my gluten-free diet, happy with the fact that I feel better and am healthier than I have been in over 20 years.
So you all with your opinions on who can or can’t eat gluten, can shove it!
It took me about 1.5 hours and this includes; harvesting radishes from the garden, washing and preparing all the veggies and black beans, doing all the dishes, and cleaning up the kitchen after!
I also might have eaten lunch (a salad I prepared 4 days ago!! ) and looked at the internet a time or two. Hey I like to multi-task like that. 😀
This image depicts several days worth of lunches for the hubs and I, plus healthy fixings for turkey tacos (dinner tonight), along with snacks and future salad fixings.
I plan to blog about the yummy chopped salads soon. Everybody who eats one asks what is in it…and it is so easy you are going to love it! 😉
Many of you already know that I have chosen to take a leadership role at Justice Together with the goal of moving Oregon forward with respect to how the police and the community, they are sworn to serve and protect, interact. I truly believe that there is solution to ending police brutality in America.
All of you probably know by now that I spend a lot of time keeping up on current events on our planet. Over the past years or so, especially since the deaths of Eric Garner and Mike Brown, I have watched and read about incident after incident of police abusing their power and getting away with it.
During that same time period, I became aware that even in academic circles, which I had considered to be educated and enlightened on diversity issues, there is still a ton of racial bias, and an almost kneejerk reactive support for police in cases that I clearly saw as police brutality.
Then I started having hard conversations with friends and family and it became clear to me that in many of the police brutality cases, the letter of the law was on the side of the police, regardless of whether their actions were reasonable or just. What is equally clear is that nothing is going to change unless white people stand up and force change.
I’ve read about too many cases of police abusing their power over innocent people, people who look like my students, my son’s friends, my friends, and (if I were of color) even me. I see myself in the words and actions of Sandra Bland as captured in her arrest video, an arrest that never should have occurred.
Watch it; then ask yourself why she spent 3 days in jail, and how she “killed herself” with something that should not even be in a jail cell. Keep in mind this all happened because of a minor traffic infraction, which by Sandra Bland’s own words, was instigated by the officers own driving behavior.
What I see here is racist cop who got butthurt because Sandra “dared” to be irritated with him and to also not comply with his UNLAWFUL order to put out her cigarette. Is this really okay in our country in two-thousand-fucking-fifteen?!?
I think not!!!
It breaks my heart to think we likely will never know what really happened to Sandra Bland, and to too many others liker her.
I believe that our justice system needs to be overhauled or rebuilt from the ground up, and I plan to help lead the team to that end in Oregon. We at Justice Together believe that Oregon is a state that can help to “set the tone” for the entire nation on the issue of police brutality, as we are known for on other national issues.
One of the leaders of this movement, and our fearless leader, Shaun King, whom I have a ton of respect for, has said that this is the civil rights movement of our generation…and I agree.
If you ever wondered what you would do if you lived in the era of the of the Civil Rights Movement, now is the time to find out. We’re here
