ScenicBoys

Mount Adams

We have five active Volcanos in Washington State. This week marks the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens, and is a reminder of how powerful these giants can be; and she wasn't even the largest. At 12,281 feet, Mount Adams is the second highest peak in our state and has produced some very cool geologic features.

As with most of our adventures, we left Friday after work and drove until just before sunset. The first camp was at the southern end of St Helens, on the banks of the Swift River. This past winter was extremely mild for us, leaving all of the rivers and reservoirs well below normal levels. Swift River looks more like little Swift Creek! Continuing east the next morning, we had some bad luck with the snow on backcountry forest roads, forcing us to rethink the route to Mt Adams. 

ScenicBoys: Mount Adams from scenicboys on Vimeo.

By mid afternoon we made it to the forests to the southwest of the mountain, and began to explore the many wonders in volcano country. First was the White Salmon Wild & Scenic River canyon. This area is used by kayakers because of its swift currents and challenging rapids. The vine maples and sward ferns were in full bloom, making the day feel like mid summer.

The Ice Caves were particularly cool. I mean caves are exciting to explore in general, but instead of stalactites made of minerals, they were made of ice. The footing was a bit treacherous inside and the air was shockingly frigid, but wandering though ancient lava tubes is always pretty amazing.

Using our trusty road atlas, we found a promising camp spot deep in the wilds of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. A reclaimed clear-cut area was our camp for the night, with a great view of Mt Adams and a variety of young, sub alpine trees.  This was perfect for a private weekend get-away. After only a few minutes of exploring our vicinity we found a beautiful waterfall deep in a basalt canyon. 

With careful feet and sturdy hands we climbed down a 150 foot rock wall to a large boulder in fount of the falls. It was obvious that not many people had ever been here, or even knew of this hidden beauty, and we felt very lucky to feel the mist on our naked skin.

Next weekend is Gay Spring Break at Vantage, WA. :)  Looks like it's going to be an epic year! Hope you all are enjoying Springtime and the outdoors!

The Wonderful Matthew Brown

We are very fortunate to have such a talented friend like Matthew Brown and even luckier when he joins us on an adventure. Although he has yet to do a ScenicBoy shot, he does produce beautiful short films about his camping experiences. He created Tides when we took him to one of our favorite places in the world, Shi Shi Beach.  Matthew also filmed the widely popular Gay = Sin during last years Beltane celebration. This year he did it again and put together a gorgeous video for Beltane 2010.

Right Before World War Three from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

Beltane!

The arrival of May is a very exciting time for us. The wildflowers are starting to bloom, the song birds have made their return and the Springtime tradition of Beltane calls for us to get naked and celebrate!! 

The weekend before our big adventure, Garet and I took a mini road trip through our state checking snow levels and searching for the best place to take our friends camping. We found two really great spots that were in different regions and elevations. One was on a hilltop looking over a small village and the other had a beautiful natural spring close by. But by the day of our departure, both Plan A and Plan B had disagreeable weather. The ScenicBoys are masters of on-the-spot plan changes, so we lead the caravan 150 miles east to a trusted campsite at Steamboat Rock State Park. 

We reached the park well after dark on Friday night. Having already eaten we were eager to crack open some Rainier beers and light the fire. None of the boys had any idea how beautiful the area was, all we could see after we arrived was a few Ponderosa Pines and some very large boulders. Garet and I were very pleased the next morning when every one of the boys said something about how amazingly spectacular the terrain was. 

ScenicBoys: Beltane Celebration from scenicboys on Vimeo.

Our camp was at the base of the park's namesake, an 800 foot basalt butte on the shores Banks Lake. This area is in the Grand Coulee regain of Washington State, an Ice Age flood plain that is now dotted with deep lakes, steep cliffs and wide flat gorges. With it's dramatic view, easy solitude and the abundance of wildflowers, this was a fantastic location to celebrate our Beltane traditions.

For those who don't know, Beltane is the day on the Wheel of the Year when the fertile Mother Earth and the young Green Man come together for the benefit of all living things. From their Union, new plant and animal life begins and the landscape becomes rich with color and joy.

It has become our tradition to celebrate this ancient sabot by cooking up fajitas, stripping naked and lighting the sacred Beltane fire. It is a very special holiday for us and the secrets of our holy fire ceremony will remain undocumented. But lets just say, "as above, so below."

This weekend was full of reasons to celebrate! Not only was it Beltane and the first ScenicBoy camping trip of 2010, but it was also Garet, John and (our newest ScenicBoy) Jason's birthday! Needless to say we had plenty reason to have a fantastic adventure with very dear friends.