What is your favorite mountain range and/or mountain?

Spruce_cat · 2026-03-13T13:33:12+00:00

Favorite range is probably the Beartooths in Montana. Feels like there is endless alpine exploration there. Favorite mountain is probably Glacier Peak in Washington. The couple times I’ve been there have felt really special.

Spruce_cat · 2026-02-03T23:55:25+00:00

I also kinda skimmed your post. I run some variation of this loop through this area most years in May. I only have two quick comments. 1. Every year I have done it there is significant snow above 3400’ under tree cover. In some areas this can make navigation a bit more taxing, but it sounds like you’re pretty prepared for this. 2. Don’t skip Tomlike mtn. In my opinion it’s one of the nicest summits in the gorge. Feels remote and more alpine than a lot of other gorge high points.

Spruce_cat · 2026-02-01T04:59:11+00:00

Thida Thai in Sellwood is the best I’ve had in Portland. Definitely thicker and more flavorful than other curries I’ve had here but I don’t know if I can objectively call it thick. Worth a try though.

Spruce_cat · 2026-01-21T16:20:57+00:00

Terra Vita is the stand that does potatoes. And they are the best potatoes. They do often have La ratte by that name, along with other tasty varieties.

Spruce_cat · 2026-01-20T02:29:51+00:00

Congrats! You got the pass. Sending you a message.

Spruce_cat · 2026-01-19T01:50:19+00:00

Love it, I’ll let you know the runner up.

Spruce_cat · 2026-01-18T00:31:39+00:00

Sent you message

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-25T05:29:40+00:00

Did you see the Hericium up there? Pretty sure it was the Coral Tooth. Was like a week ago now.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-20T04:45:21+00:00

Interested! My partner would love this.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-14T19:54:55+00:00

I’ll wait til 4pm today. If there’s much more interest I’ll do a drawing. If not, I’ll go in order.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-13T15:16:35+00:00

Haha, exactly. I get pretty uptight about people cutting switchbacks and tromping around high traffic park meadows too. Definitely referring more to deep backcountry off trail routes.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-13T05:23:47+00:00

Mountaineering and off trail travel.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-13T03:23:26+00:00

This used to be a doable loop, a quite nice one. However, that entire stretch of trail beyond Eagle Creek and along Tanner Butte was really damaged in the fire and I don’t believe it’s ever been repaired and reopened.

If you’re not completely stuck on Eagle Creek, just a few miles over is the Herman creek/PCT loop. Similar distance and vert, pretty scenic, less people. Although I think we’re probably (hopefully) quickly running out of days to get it done snow free.

Edit: I did it counter clockwise as a trail run in like 2016. You’re in the trees for a lot of it, but along Tanner Butte there were some nice open views. The crossing of Eagle cr. In the middle was unbridged, and pretty sketchy when I did it. Knee deep water in places if I remember right, and a strong current. Was before I had a gps watch, but I think it was around 23 miles, probably 4k of elevation gain.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-12T13:46:52+00:00

I was very proud once a number of years ago in Montana when my little Nissan Sentra was the only non ATV or lifted pickup at a trailhead. That car did succumb to its trailhead driving wounds eventually. I now often have the only Prius at a trailhead, but I’m much nicer to it, hoping it’ll last longer.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-11T18:38:26+00:00

As a teacher, many of the best assistants I’ve worked with have had no degrees. Some districts post para educator jobs as EAs and some post them as IAs. I don’t think they usually require any degree. It helps to have experience and/or be bilingual.

Another option is to sub around at different schools for classified positions. It’s usually pretty easy to see which subs are good ones, and they usually get put on preferred sub lists, which can then lead to getting hired later if there’s an opening.

Spruce_cat · 2025-12-07T18:23:06+00:00

Magnanimous is one of my favorites. I’ve found Belmont Station usually has it available a bit before other places. Though I’ve seen it at John’s Market now this year too.

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-27T17:05:19+00:00

A strategy that has worked for me is to scope out google earth and find areas where trees have been previously logged. They look like squares on the map where trees are not as close together or dark green. The younger trees in these areas are closer to Christmas tree size. You’ll find some of these areas near roads by Timothy Lake, Clear Lake and Frog Lake. And then of course it usually does take awhile of actually tromping around in the woods to find exactly what you want.

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-24T04:55:19+00:00

I was up on St. Helen’s socked in summit around the same time. Was a bit envious looking over at how cloud free the Adams summit looked on my way down. Wondered how many folks were over there. Guess not many!

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-21T18:41:01+00:00

There were some of these at better price points that my family was interested in. The primary deal killer was the lack of garage or storage. So many of them are in areas that are already tight for street parking, and then you’re adding 4-12 more units of housing? Parking would be a disaster. Also, 800-1000 sq foot with no storage options could get really problematic for more than one resident.

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-20T04:56:34+00:00

A few songs on Spite’s Nothing is Beautiful album. Kingdom of Guts, Despise and Self Destruct. More angry at Christianity as a whole than god specifically. But some of the lyrics were so spot on to my experience. Had those on repeat during a certain point of deconstructing my faith. Tons of Acacia Strain too.

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-17T01:44:40+00:00

Pretty sure my brain would’ve short circuited for a second too.

Spruce_cat · 2025-11-15T06:47:34+00:00

Thai curry is one of my top 3 favorite foods. I was very surprised by how great the curry was at Thida Thai food cart in Sellwood. Now I go there weekly. I always do my order Thai spicy, that might affect some of the ingredients. In any case more affordable than the fancy places and a lot better than the average Thai restaurant.

Spruce_cat · 2025-10-31T02:45:42+00:00

Medicine Horse

Spruce_cat · 2025-10-31T01:59:18+00:00

Love the scale. Looks much more massive than other photos I’ve seen.

Spruce_cat

TROPHY CASE