Shellburg Falls 24 August 2015

All the travelling this summer has filled my hiking and exploring tank to the max.  I did not hike last Friday and, though I wanted to do something, I didn't want to go very far from home for a  hike today.  However, once I was there, I was very glad I went because it feels so good to walk and see God's beautiful creation.  I went to Shellburg Falls, partly because it was only 30 mi from home and partly because I have never been.  It is a pretty place, lots of well maintained trails, but no crowds.  The parking lot was full when I returned to the car, but I was the first one there at 9:45a.  It is a short 5.6 mile loop with 1100 ft gain.  Parts of the trail are on roads, forest roads, and dirt paths. Two waterfalls, a creek, drop offs, and campgrounds too.

map

the trail starts out through cow country

thistle

a trickle at Shellburg Falls

part of the August Mtn Trail was through an old clear cut

end of the fireweed

only a trickle at Stassel Falls - you could look down to the canyon 200 ft below

back on the road

resting cows

Missionary Hospital Loma de Luz, El Camino School Honduras 8 Aug-15 Aug 2015

Three Rockford, IL friends and I traveled to Honduras to serve as needed with Cornerstone Ministry.  Primarily this is a hospital ministry but over the last few years a school for the local children has been established.  We spent the bulk of our time there, helping monitor recess, organize the book database, reading with  kids, and doing reading assessments.  The time flew by, we were quite busy.  The people were kind and generous and always friendly.  We were in the countryside, about 90 min from a major city, but we never felt concerned for our safety in the most violent country on the planet.  You would never have suspected this to be true.
As the missionaries and support staff share the gospel and love the people of Honduras, they also provide practical health care and education. You can tell everyone appreciates them by the smiles you get as you travel in the area.
Map with lots of way points
Mission website
Here are some photos:

leaving Roatan after an all night flight

wreck in the harbor

so coca cola doesn't stop at 2L for a dollar - here it is 3L for about a dollar

the veranda at the Faul House where we stayed

OR at the hospital

heading to lunch at the hospital comidor

walking on the beach nearest the hospita

pelicans

looking towards the mountains

trees at the beach

palm nuts

a cluster of palm nuts...they grow them on the property as income

where I did my assessments

baleadas for lunch (a flour tortialla folded over with red beans, egg, cheese, and rice)

leaf but

a shop in Lucita

school in Lucita

El Camino school (part of the mission complex)

crossing a river on the way to the waterfall

cow parting

a lot of homes have regular tile roofs but some are thatched

Linda jumps

I did not jump but hiked down river

Steve took us across a very sketchy suspension bridge

to see a pretty view

my friends rode on top the vehicle the entire way to and from the waterfall

one evening we discovered the cows were going to evening kindergarten

heading home we hit a traffic jam on the bridge

the little red car is a taxi

PCT to Three Fingered Jack 4 August 2015

Bethany and I set out to hike from the hwy to the viewpoint on the PCT for Three Fingered Jack.  It is about a 10ish mile hike through the 2003 burn.  The flowers were mostly finished, though the pearly everlasting and yellow bracken fern made the under-story colorful.  We made good time to the viewpoint and as we were arriving at that spot we met some guys aiming to summit the peak.  They told us about the climber's trail so we decided to check it out.  We saw that we could get up to the ridge with some perseverance in the loose sand, so we went for it.  They guys had headed straight up on the most obvious trail but we took the one to the right (on their advice- they shouted to us as they were struggling up).  It took 35 min to reach the ridge, about 0.3 mi and 800 to 1000 ft up. We took the route around the back of the first two rocks on the peak and perched just below one of the fingers.  Didn't have 360 views because the rest of the peak obstructed that, but we could look down to Duffy and across to the ridge that is accessible from Canyon Creek Meadows. It was breezy and the exposure was extreme so we didn't move around too much.  The way down was aided by loose sand and gravity.
PCT through hikers were out in force as well.  We met 4 southbound hikers and many more northbound hikers.  Most of them were willing to stop and share about their journey. We talked to some guys from Dallas who traveled 30-35 miles per day and others who kept it to 17 or so.  Most were solo, a few in pairs.  All men, young and old.

It was a beautiful day and thanks to Bethany for being willing to go up the hill!

map
11.7 miles 2468 ft gain

the hike has views because of the 2003 burn

only one pond this dry year

fireweed

pearly everlasting

the viewpoint for Three Fingered Jack (the steep climbing trail is not the one we took)

these guys took the steep trail

we stayed to the right.  Duffy right, Crescent Mtn is in the middle behind Santiam Lake

at this point we wavered but decided to go for it

below one of Jack's fingers

the ridge accessible from Canyon Creek Meadows

looking down at the sketchy trail