Let’s start at the end: while exploring one of my favorite caves in the area, we discovered a new, unexplored section. The size of the cave section was not immediately apparent as entering the area require ropes. Upon returning, we discovered that it was a single 20’x20′ room. Still, it was cool to be the […]

The need You may have noticed that I am a bit obsessed with hops. Currently, I am running three small yards for our experimental hop breeding program. Hops are wonderful to grow, but can be a real pain to pick. Hand picking takes about 1 hour per plant – meanwhile, picking machines cost hundreds-of-thousands of […]

We just completed a modest basalt wall in our back yard. Over the course of the build, we learned many, many things. I wanted to take some quick notes for the next time we tackle a project like this. The rock Real basalt is a beautiful and extremely strong volcanic stone. It is also much, […]

Spent the weekend in the off-limits area of the Columbia River burn. I was with other members of the Oregon Trails Club doing repairs and maintenance on the Nesika lodge site. Two of the three buildings were lost in the fire, but the main lodge amazingly remained undamaged. We spent most of the weekend clearing […]

In early march, my buddy and I decided to take a quick trip up hood. The conditions sounded optimal, but there was bad weather on the horizon. After waiting a few days for the thunderstorms to clear, we found ourselves signing in at the climbing register late one night. Cold temps kept the snow firm […]

As you may have noticed, I am a bit … obsessed … about hops. So, I was stoked when Michael contacted me in the comments about some seedling that his garden club students were growing: My students (high school garden club) collected seeds from the hills west of Pueblo, Colorado, and have been successful in germinating a few seeds. […]

The 2017 solar eclipse has come, and gone – but it left a strong impression. So much so, that I am already considering how to travel to the next one in the US: 2024. We viewed it from my brothers property just south of Philomath, OR. The hour leading up to totality was interesting enough, […]

Last week, I climbed Mt. Hood. Today, we went up Mt. Saint Helens. Going up Sam snagged some last minute permits and we drove out to the Worm Flows parking lot. This is the winter route. It adds an extra few miles and 1000 extra feet of elevation, but is was well worth it. After […]

I set off alone on Friday night toward Mt. Hood. Sam and I were hoping to climb on Thursday, but the weather did not cooperate. This was my first attempt to climb the mountain since June 2008. The ascent Timberline parking lot was filled with people – a strange sight in the middle of the […]

You may want to start by reading: Growing hops from seed, Hop Breeding, Hop Results 2014… We started by germinating over 500 crosses. In 2016, this was culled down to 42 vigorous, female varieties that were grown side-by-side for comparison. After data collection and taste tests, we have limited the number further for 2017. Full […]