Hiking Devil's Rest loop

Yesterday's European daytrip to bicycle with overseas friends was reworked into flying down to Hollywood for lunch with one of my best buds.

I didn't lead a hike this weekend, but instead stayed mostly local for what matters most: Spending time with family, ministry grads, and the amazing friends who make life worth living.

The first of the 2015 hikes I led for NW Wilderness was short, sweet, and not too steep.  I didn’t have time that February day for the longer events that I usually lead or get involved with, so I posted an 8-mile quickie to the top of Devil’s Rest.

Here is the link to my NW Wilderness event invitation, including our post-hike comments and additional photos:  http://www.meetup.com/NW-Wilderness/events/220733223/

I’ll dedicate blog posts to our earlier and bigger 2015 hikes, climbs, and scrambles when I get a chance!

Foggy hike I led up to Devil's Rest earlier this year

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Jun 3, 2015 at 12:18pm PDT

Devil’s Rest is what I referred to as the “most effortless” third of our brutal, annual Triple D challenge for NW Wilderness in August: Dog Mountain, Mount Defiance, and Devil’s Rest in one day.

Since I’ve summited Dog Mountain and Mount Defiance countless times since I was a kid, I decided to finally check out this easier segment to complete my familiarity with Triple D.  The actual date of the hike was February 27, 2015.

Wally, Shaun, Garth, Glenn, Francois, and Lou at the Wahkeena Falls trailhead

Clouds and drizzle greeted us at the Wahkeena Falls trailhead.  The weather didn’t brighten up until later on, but our ascent was anything but gloomy.

Wahkeena Falls

Francois makes the creek crossing below

Shaun and Glenn continue up

Cutoff to the Devil's Rest summit

The anticlimactic summit of Devil's Rest

Sadly, the heavy camera gear that poor Francois had schlepped from the trailhead was only brought out once.

In the summit photo above, he is snapping a single picture of... wait, what are you taking a picture of, Francois?

Returning down to the main loop, via the user-maintained Foxglove trail

Back in familiar territory

The sun almost peeked out for our descent as we returned to the Wahkeena Falls trail.  It was the icing on the cake.

Here are our stats (see notes on my event page for explanations of the discrepancies):

Distance: 8+ miles
Total ascent: 2,761 feet
Moving time: 2:14
Avg speed: 2.6 mph
Max speed 10.2 mph (Shaun and I got a little carried away on the descent)

Check back soon for a family update, travel stories, and the types of outdoor adventures that we USUALLY lead!

Just read: Religion & Public Life in the Pacific Northwest

You outdoor adventure and travel readers may only be interested in the closing paragraphs of this book review, but I’m including it here anyway.  It was a pretty interesting book for anyone curious about the religious breakdown of our Pacific Northwest region, and you can buy it from Amazon here or download it for Kindle.

This review will also be posted to my new Goodreads page:

This Pacific Northwest entry in the “Religion by Region” series is subtitled "The None Zone" and was edited by Patricia O’Connell Killen and Mark Silk.  It was required reading for me, and I already submitted my detailed report of this book to my Credentials Advisory Board.  In my report, I noted that this book would be very helpful for someone serving in ministry here in the Pac NW, as well as anyone interested in the history, evolution, and current trends in religious thought here in my neck of the woods.

The authors’ research stresses that people of the Pac NW are spiritually-minded but religiously unaffiliated, overwhelmingly so.  I appreciated that this book lays the groundwork for various religious and non-religious groups of the Pac NW to work together to “address the region’s pressing economic, environmental, and social issues."  And I was thrilled to find familiar references to the Church of God reformation movement, TomFest alternative music festival, Beaverton Foursquare Church, Lois Palau festivals at the Portland waterfront, Powell’s Books, Mazamas, etc..

As an outdoor adventure leader myself, one thing that surprised me was the authors’ take on what they referred to as “Northwest Nature Religion.”  Despite my Wesleyan Holiness leanings, by their definition I seem to be lumped in with nature worshipping religious groups.  I recognize our common passions: outdoor recreation and leadership, concern for the environment, a simple and sustainable lifestyle, and enhancement of faith in God while being out in nature.

Does that mean I worship the creation rather than the Creator?  Nope.  But I sure do enjoy the creation.