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.

Pacific City Dune

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.

Spencer Butte hike

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.

Bad views

Bad views, a photo by TheTurducken on Flickr.

I'd wanted to hike Eight Dollar Mountain since I last visited Oregon in the summer four years ago - based almost entirely on its name, although the hill is supposedly a cornucopia of biological diversity - and was looking forward to doing so on this trip. However, southern Oregon is beset by severe wildfires, and Eight Dollar is far too close to them. Luckily, there are lots of other hikes in the area, so I decided to go to Soda Mountain.

The hike starts off with a mile on the Pacific Crest Trail before turning off to head up Soda Mountain, a wilderness area in the national forest. The path connects to a service road, which you follow for a mile to the top.

At the top there is a fire tower and, under normal circumstances, spectacular views. While the views were obscured by the smoke, the trail itself was pretty enough to make it a worthwhile hike.

Home again

Back to New York, back to reality!

I've started going to capoeira class again, although I'm doing nothing at all on my left arm, and I realize even three weeks off leaves me out of shape. Also, it's hot in there, even with the a/c on. Everything about being back in New York is great, except for the heat wave we are in!

I'm gearing up for the school year, but unfortunately I'm missing a few important events. I fully intended to go to LIM's convocation - then I got a jury duty summons for that same day. And I'll miss Baruch's adjunct orientation because it's the day I come back from Oregon.

That's right - in less than a week I have to leave for Oregon for a family event. Hello New York, goodbye New York.