After our backpacking trip, Lisa and I spend two days at the coast with Lisa's parents and Noah. While it remained overcast most of the time we were there, we had a nice relaxing time building back our blood reserves (mosquitos) and watching Noah. Pacific City had already done fireworks the previous Saturday, so we headed home a little early and watched the fireworks at Mcminnville. [ Beach Pictures ]

3 days, 14 miles, 2.5 litres of blood. Lisa and I headed up through what was once the second most hiked trail in the Mount Jefferson Area, Eight Lakes Basin. While it still showed many signs of the fire that came through in 2003, it retained much of what made it popular. The first night we ascended 2000 ft, 8 or so miles through a thunderstorm, blackened forests, and mosquitos that were overjoyed to find nice pink bloodbags without all that fur to crawl through. Lisa retreated to the tent while I headed off and caught dinner, a 15 inch rainbow trout. The next day we hid from the mosquitos at nearby Jorn Lakes. I spend that day fishing, helping Lisa build a log raft, swimming, and enjoying the sun. The fishing was not as good as other alpine Lakes I've been to, but what the lake lacked in volume, it made up for in size. I caught 4 12+ inch trout on lures and powerbait over the course of the day. The next day was a hot, but thankfully less buggy, hike back down to the trailhead by way of Marion Falls. On the way home we also had time to take a swim in the Britenbush river. [ Eight Lakes Pictures ] [ Map Trailhead ] [ Map Marion Falls ] [ Map Campsite on Bowerman Lake ]

Who can resist jumping in Punchbowl falls on a 100 degree day? [ Punchbowl ] [ Map It ]

For fathers day, lisa and I spend the weekend with my parents rafting and rock climbing. On Saturday, we took our raft on its maiden voyage on the Maupin run of the Deschutes River. It was quite different being only a few inches off the water instead of a couple feet! Our four man raft is considerably smaller than the eight man rafts we trained in. It was a good run, with great weather and not too many crowds. After we got off the river, we headed down to Smith Rocks and spend that evening and the next morning climbing. All in all, a busy but enjoyable weekend. [ Fathers Day Weekend ]

With Lisa training on the Challenge Course with Reachout, I decided to do a hike that I had been hearing about but had yet to try, Dog Mountain. This was a great hike through terrain I had not experienced for a long while... it reminded me of hiking near my childhood home in Sacramento, CA. Dry, with lots of flowering purple flowers and snakes a plenty. I ended spying out some kind of king / corn snake, a Nothern Ringneck, and almost stepped on a Western Rattlesnake! The trail wound 2000 ft. up through dense forest and broke out onto a huge meadow at the top of the Mountain. I had excellent views west through the Columbia River Gorge and plenty of wildflower photo opportunities. Needless to say, I had plenty of opportunities to use my camera... [ Dog Mountain ] [ Map It ]

Got up early on Saturday and went out to the Willamina Pond with Jared, his brother and nephew. The fishing was rather good since they had just stocked the pond a few days prior. Part of this stock were 25 trophy size trout, one of which was clearly knocked around a little too much. This addled fish decided that it wanted to check out the nice shallow water right along the edge of the pond, the edge where I happened to be fishing. Determined to do my part for natural selection, I proceeded to grab the fish and run up on shore with it. I think the fish was a little shocked since it didn't struggle for at least a few seconds, enough time to get about 10 feet from the edge of the pond. There was a youth fishing derby at the same time, and there were quite a few youngsters wide eyed after watching the man with the long beard hand catch a trout. I think my Idahoan tendencies are coming to the surface... The fish was 19" 4lbs. [ fish ]

A rainy day in the gorge, but since Lisa and I were in the area after meeting my grandparents as they came through to catch a plane, we decided to check out Bridal Veil Falls. Lisa and I have seen most of the falls along the Old Highway, but for some unknown reason never stopped and made the short hike to Bridal Veil falls. It was your typical lush valley with roaring waterfall at the end, very peaceful and green. The wildflowers were also out, giving me a few subjects to test out my new camera. [ Bridal Veil ] [ Map It ]

My parents, Lisa and I backpacked the 17.1 miles between Oil City and Third Beach on the Olympic National Park Coastline. Our third annual trip right around this time, celebrating my birthday ( I even got a cake on the trail!) . We had great weather the first day, and put up with drizzle during the nights and a good rain on the last day. Not bad for being in the Hoh Rain Forest! We hit all the low tides just right for all the troublesome points and made good time on the trail. Of course, there was the small issue of my forgetting the shuttle keys at the bottom of the hike. Three hitchiked rides and an 8 mile walk later, we finally got back to the car. Needless to say, it was a late night getting back home for my parents, who had to drive all the way back to Post Falls that night ... The pictures were taken on my brand new Canon digital Rebel XT camera. Oh the joys of a new camera... [ Oil City to Third Beach ]

Testing out a Canon Rebel XT camera... The women of the family got ahold of the camera, and all of a sudden there were all these pictures of noah! [ Noah ]

Good Friday hike on the coast. We decided to try another approach to cascade head and hiked from the gated road right off the top of the last pass heading into Lincoln City from Pacific City. Quite a long hike, but worth it! [ harts cove ]

This weekend Lisa helped lead a guide training for YD Adventures Oregon. Six of us headed up to Gillete Lake to go through the "Reachout" approved way of things. The hike was short, but the lake was beautifull. It even had two resident beavers that were quite ambitious! [ Gillete Lake ]

Our big trip for the year. We headed down through Lake Tahoe National Forest and spent a week in Yosemite National Park. We Started out with a three day backpacking trip linking Tuolomne Meadow with Clouds Rest, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls and eventually, Yosemite Valley. Next we spent 4 days exploring what we could of the park (seeing pretty much everything we came to see), and headed home via Crater Lake National Park. Now that is cold water! Even so, the swim and small cliffs we jumped off were very memorable. Much more explanation and pictures coming (after I sort through the 2000+ pictures I took!!) Here is a sampling of some of the best pictures I hastily sorted out of the lot [ Yosemite Trip ] [ Lake Tahoe ] [ Yosemite National Park ] [ Crater Lake National Park ]

Summer just isn't summer without a trip to the Columbia River Gorge. I think I'll expand on that and say "Summer isn't summer without swimming in Punchbowl Falls." The water was cold, but it was just warm enough that you could get used to the water without going into hypothermia. Both Oneonta and Punchbowl were crowded, but went late enough in the day that most people were heading out and I got those people-free shots I was looking for. [ Punchbowl Falls ] [ Oneonta Gorge ]

We met Lisa's family at Cultus Lake Resort and spent a weekend Jetskiing on Cultus Lake, a very popular, higher elevation lake. The water was incredibly clear and you could just see the tip of South Sister to the North. We spent the weekend Jetskiing, hiking, fishing (only one bite), and swimming. [ Cultus Lake ]

We headed up to North Idaho to celebrate the wedding of my Grandma to Jim Pokorney. They had previously eloped ( the planned kind ), so we had a reception to honor the event. I got to see several people I haven't seen in a while and enjoyed visiting the old stomping grounds. [ Grandma's Reception ]

I have found that I prefer fishing in lakes that yeild at least one fish every 10-15 minutes.... While I have not found one as of yet, Russell Lake came close. Jared Ocker and I spent a Saturday hiking 5 miles into Russell Lake, one of the many small lakes that sit at the foot of Mount Jefferson in what is known as Jefferson Park. It was a hot day, the water felt great, and the Brook and Rainbow trout were indiscriminate. [ Russell Lake, Jefferson Park ]

This weekend we had an engagement not only on Friday, but Sunday night as well. Therefore, we headed out on a short 4 mile overnight backpacking trip to Santiam Lake. The views were amazing, the fish hungry, and we even saw a Pine Martin! [ Santiam Lake ]

Lisa had to work on Sunday, so we took Saturday and explored the Opal Pool area. We had beautiful weather and the water was much higher than I remember it. I got some great pictures of the pool and we stopped at several other nice spots along the North Fork of the Santiam River. [ Opal Pool ]

Fourth of July on the Oregon Coast. We spend the fourth this year with both sets of parents. We lucked out and had beautiful weather. Saturday we spend a nice relaxing day on the beach just enjoying the sun and the waves. Sunday we went to Devil's Lake in Lincoln City and spend the day jetskiing, and Monday we headed down the Little Nestucca River and went crabbing. [ Fourth of July Weekend, 2005 ]

This 27 mile loop was filled with great views from mountain ridges and passes as well as from valley bottoms and meadows. Overall, we gained and lost about 16000 ft of elevation, with our high point being 6,600 ft and the low being 2,300 (and plenty of up and down in between!). [ Grand Valley Loop ]

I attended a class at Sungard Bi-Tech, our Administrative Software Vendor at George Fox University, and had a chance to drive by my childhood home in Orangevale, CA. A few trees have been removed, but it looks well kept. [ Beachwood Dr, Orangevale, CA ]

This is our third trip on this stretch of beach and definitely not our last. This 17 mile stretch of coastline is rugged, remote, and full of photogenic stretches of beach. We were lucky enough not to get rained on and got to see the Toleak Point tidepools with a -1 tide! [Oil City to Third Beach]

Nick and my sister came to visit us and we headed over to the beach cabin on the coastline. Weather wasn't ideal but we managed to get some good sun in between the rainbursts. [ Oregon Coast, April 2005 ]

After a business trip to Las Vegas, NV, my wife and I got to join my parents for a weeking to explore Zion National Park [Angels Landing, Canyon Overlook, Hidden Canyon, Riverside Walk, Valley] and Bryce Canyon National Park.

Welcome to version 4 of ryanbackman.net. I've switched over to using a new "corner-rounding" technique and restructured and rewrote much of the content and design of the site. Feel free to any comments and/or criticism. I'm still playing around with the colors and some of the album functionality, so don't be surprised if this breaks and or changes at random intervals.

Just a quick jaunt down to Arnie's state to say hi to Mickey Mouse. [DisneyLand]

Dunes, Four Wheelers, and a nice dry trailer. [Honeyman State Park Wheeler Trip]

Here's an interesting poem a co-worker shared with me. [The Bridge Builder]

Marion Lake has a quite impressive waterfall on its outlet stream. My Family, Lisa and I stopped by on our way to Bend for a reception. The day after the reception, Lisa and I headed out on Cascade Lakes highway and hiked to some waterfalls on the Soda Springs Trail on the way to Green Lakes. [Marion Lake Outlet Waterfall] [Soda Springs Trail]

Our First Anniversary was on the Oregon Coast. The first night was spent at a lodge at Oregon Caves National Monument. The second day we headed into Redwoods National Park in California and the rest of the time was spent driving up through Oregon, paying special attention to lighthouses, tidepools, vistas, whale watching, and occasionally sampling cheese. [Oregon Caves National Monument, Redwood National Park] [Southern Oregon Coast] [Central Oregon Coast] [Northern Oregon Coast]

A role-model in my own life has died in a paragliding accident. My uncle John Willis was one of the most selfless people I knew. He left behind a wife and two children, Hannah and Nick. Please pray for the family left behind. [Newspaper article] [John's webpage] [Obituary]

My Labor Day was spent in the San Juan Islands. My family, Lisa, and I spent Saturday through Monday exploring and relaxing on Orcas Island. While we didn't see any orcas, we did see plenty of wildlife.

This weekend was spent backpacking up to Pamelia Lake with Shane and Carrie Nelson. The weather was perfect and we spend the days fishing and hiking up to Hunt's cove for some great views of Mt. Jefferson and for ripe huckleberries.

Who would have thought it would rain the weekend of August 21rst? Welcome to Oregon. Our church almost had a Sunday through Wednesday trip, but cut it short after the first night... Not much time to get pictures, but I did get one of section of Detroit Lake we camped on. On our way up to the Lake, Lisa and I stopped (in the pouring rain) and hiked to a few of the falls in Silver Falls State Park, namely, South Falls, North Falls and Little North Falls.

Tom and I backpacked into the Sisters Wilderness in order to summit South Sister this weekend. Specifically, we stayed at a little lake called Moraine Lake and headed to the summit Saturday Morning. It was a good 4,000+ feet of elevation gained in about 4-4 1/2 miles, but it was well worth the views. We could see from Mt. Adams in washington clear down to Mt. Shasta in California!

This weekend we explored a little more North on the Oregon Coast than we usually do. Lisa had a Staff Retreat, so we enjoyed hanging out with her staff and then on Saturday headed over to Cape Meares and Oceanside. We saw all kinds of wildlife and enjoyed great views of the Oregon Coastline. All in all, a great area, although as far as beaches go, Pacific City still scores slightly higher than oceanside (that was for you, Steve!).

This Sunday we headed out into the Columbia Gorge and bushwacked up to a set of falls called Kahonee falls and Wahe falls. The first was easy enough to get to since a number of people have discovered it through a geocache that is located there. The second one was a pain to get to. It required ropes, lots of technu (anti-poison oak) soap, and a sure foot on the trail.

Nothing like a weekend at the beach.... even if things don't always go as planned! Besides plugging the boat motor with sand, this was a nice relaxing weekend at the beach. It was nice and hot, and there was plenty to see at the beach with Dory Days going on. At least, there were plenty of Dories to see.

Fourth of July Weekend was spent at Priest Lake with our families. It was a long drive and was rewarded with several opportunities to jet ski between rain-bursts. What can you expect of weather around Priest Lake! All in all, a fun and satisfying trip.

Lake Chelan Backpacking Trip. Of course I wait until after I've moved down to Oregon to discover this amazing area! My family, Lisa, and I took the Lady of the Lake ferry up to Lucerne and then a 10 mile bus trip up to Holden Village, a christian Retreat Center. From there we hiked into the Many Glacier Wilderness up to Hart Lake at 3.5 miles in. We had amazing views and plenty of snowfields and waterfalls to hike to. Oh, and this trip put my car over the 200,000 mile mark.... only 200,000 more till its time for a replacement ...

Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend was a busy one! First of all, I left early from work on Thursday and spent that night through Saturday afternoon in the Eagle Creek Gorge. Saturday evening was spent with Lisa and her family getting ready for the Triathalon of the Gods, a triathalon held on the Columbia River at Cascade Locks. Coming home on Sunday, we took a detour and saw Waclella Falls, along with a few other highlights along the Old Scenic Highway.

The big 25 Year Anniversary for my Parents. Lisa and I drove up and surprised them at their surprise Anniversary Pary. I'm feeling old.... no offense Mom and Dad.

Mother's Day at the Rose Garden with Lisa's family. I can only imagine what this garden will look like in June when all the rose's bloom!

Tom, Lisa and I spend a suprisingly dry weekend on the Washington Coast in Olympic National Park along the Oil City to Third Beach Trail. This is listed as one of the wettest places in America and we managed to get two beautiful and clear days on the coast.

Summer already? Can't complain about the 80 degree weather at Smith Rocks with your family, especially when you whole family climbs! After a day hitting some of the classic climbs on the east side of the rock, My Dad, Crystal, Andy, and myself headed to the West side and climbed Monkey's Face. Very Exposed, Very Fun.

Cascade Head. A hike I heard about from several people, which was as good a view as everyone said. We took the longer Nature Conservancy Trail. We stayed at Pacific City and enjoyed the beach the following day.

This weekend Lisa and I got to get out and throw some sand around at Honeyman State Park. Friday we rode in hail and rain, Saturday was partially cloudy, and Sunday couldn't have been clearer. All around a much needed, relaxing time at the dunes.

Nothing like staying at Timberline Lodge with a snowstorm blazing around you, especially with the outdoor spa and pool (both heated of course). Conditions weren't too great for skiing so we went snowshoeing both days. The first day was Clear Lake, and the second was White River.

Valentines Day Weekend, a weekend to spend at the beach if there ever was one. One day was spent inside while it poured outside and the second was almost a summer day! Nothing like Oregon weather.

Lisa and I went Snowshoeing this weekend with Lisa's family to celbrate her mother's bday. We had great weather and enjoyed the sunny day at Pocket Creek.

This Saturday, the Portland area received a much needed break in the clouds. What better way to enjoy clear skies than Snowshoeing at Barlow Pass?

Ice Anyone? The Portland Area has been the recepient of some good old fashioned freezing rain. Half the work force at my company is now scared of the roads! I guess I did have to wear chains to drive on 99w... Luckily for me, Lisa and I were out in the woods staying at MountainView Shelter when the storm was supposed to hit. We got back in time to enjoy the weather from town instead of in the woods!