Monday, August 26, 2013

Spinning

The ongoing saga of my shoulder troubles is heading towards a climax with arthroscopic surgery next month. In the meantime, I've been getting sadly out of shape, as capoeira and yoga are both off-limits to me: While there are individual moves I can do, I can't participate in a class. Hiking is still possible, but being a weekend warrior isn't enough.

I don't want to commit to joining a gym, since I have no intention of staying for a year, and taking up a new activity involves a steep learning curve and not enough vigorous exercise. I've been walking some, but that's low-key compared to two hours of capoeira, as is Pilates.

I finally found an activity I can do that burns a lot of calories, keeps muscles strong, and doesn't involve my shoulder - spin class. Never mind that I don't really like it. (After all, people are perfectly capable of riding an exercise bike on their own; it's just too damn boring to do it unless someone is threatening you.) I can do it until my arm is sufficiently recovered to take on more interesting exercise, and at least that way I won't be coming back from zero.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Pacific City Dune

Pacific City Dune by TheTurducken
Pacific City Dune, a photo by TheTurducken on Flickr.
While in Oregon, I was supposed to meet up with the Campfire Girls and camp at Crater Lake. Unfortunately, nasty fires in Southern Oregon made that a wretched idea: The Crater Lake webcam was so smoky at one point that you could barely make out Wizard Island. We changed our plans and headed for the coast, instead.

We spent two nights in Pacific CIty in a cabin by the beach. My favorite thing about the Oregon coast? The entire thing is public land, so you can walk from Washington to California if you wish - although most Oregonians recommend heading away from California whenever possible.

The revised trip didn't involve as much hiking as our original version, but we did walk along the beach to Haystack Rock. (There is another Haystack Rock further north - more on that later.) In addition to the rock, there is this magnificent dune. It's a stiff climb up, but then you can run and leap back down.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Spencer Butte hike

Spencer Butte by TheTurducken
Spencer Butte, a photo by TheTurducken on Flickr.
On my trip to Oregon, I found myself unexpectedly in Eugene, so I decided to do a small hike. I was conveniently close to Spencer Butte, so I opted to hike up the shortest route, a mere .6 miles to the top. Although short, it is steep, with over 700 feet of elevation gain.

Even that trail is well-used, thanks to the butte's location close to the city. The route was mostly easy to follow, although there were a lot of shortcuts carved out by impatient hikers.

The view from the top was nice in all directions. I wouldn't travel cross-country just to get here, but many other cities don't have a "local" hike as nice as this.