Trails for Two

Okay, I just found this chart that correlates PM 2.5 concentrations with AQI levels.

Hold on to your hat.



So if 22 μg/m3 is one cigarette, the minimum level of "hazardous" is 11.38 cigarettes, and the top of "hazardous" is 22.72 cigarettes.

And we topped out (as far as I could find) at a PM 2.5 AQI of 635... which is technically "off the charts" ... so, how many smokes?

I don't even want to think about it. (It's 28.86.)

We're at 379 right now, but a storm system is supposed to arrive this evening and start scouring things out. Crossing everything.

Mark B wrote:Okay, I just found this chart that correlates PM 2.5 concentrations with AQI levels.

Hold on to your hat.



So if 22 μg/m3 is one cigarette, the minimum level of "hazardous" is 11.38 cigarettes, and the top of "hazardous" is 22.72 cigarettes.

And we topped out (as far as I could find) at a PM 2.5 AQI of 635... which is technically "off the charts" ... so, how many smokes?

I don't even want to think about it. (It's 28.86.)

We're at 379 right now, but a storm system is supposed to arrive this evening and start scouring things out. Crossing everything.

Kind of scary isn't it...especially after all we do to try and stay healthy!

We're in a very similar situation here.  I believe our highest number was also 635.  Yesterday we were in the mid 200s most of the day but things moved in overnight and we were well over 400 this morning.  It seems to be clearing a bit but not a lot.  I'm having trouble getting an updated number.  The site says 328 in one section but when I scroll down it says 430.  It seems more like 430 to me.  It's not nice at all.  I'm glad I did my outside work yesterday and can stay in today!  We were able to secure some N95 masks yesterday.  They made them available for our farm workers.  We are only doing the things that we absolutely have to do.

Katie offered to wash her car...I think we all should!!  Here's hoping!

That car wash must have helped. Our AQI levels are down to 111 now - which is still unhealthy for sensitive people but is WAAAAAAAAY more habitable than when we were over 600, officially "off the scale" beyond hazardous.

Things started to improve a little last night but really got going overnight as a weather system moved in. 

We're almost but not quite ready to throw open the windows to get some fresh air in. It's not quite fresh yet. But it's much better.

Hope it'll get better for you soon!

So we are down to 35 AQI now, and I saw blue sky. A very nice thing. I never thought I’d be so happy to see rain.

A thunderstorm blew through yesterday.  We didn't get rain but areas to the west got dumped on.  It did clear the air.  

So the air finally cleared, and that was a very good thing. That was awful.

I've walked Alita to work a couple of times since but did not jog back. The smoke did a number on my lungs. It's better now, but I'm still getting some residual reaction to stuff getting kicked up into the air, even though our air quality is good, not hazardous. 

It's been a crazy few weeks what with the smoke and all, we followed that up with a major bridge construction project that had me doing early morning traffic updates for the web (it was air quality updates the week before) and monitoring news until late into the evening. Also, the people who are normally around to help were off, so there's that. At least it wasn't boring. But it didn't get me much downtime.

My hope is that I'll soon be able to get back to walking to and from work, in addition to walking Alita to school. I could use the exercise, not to mention the meditative benefits of moving.

Good to hear from you Mark.  Sorry to hear that the smoke has affected your lungs.  How is Alita feeling?  Any COVID related issues lingering?

I heard that they were shutting down the bridge in one direction.  That will be a mess!

Enjoy your walks...

nkrichards wrote:Good to hear from you Mark.  Sorry to hear that the smoke has affected your lungs.  How is Alita feeling?  Any COVID related issues lingering?

I heard that they were shutting down the bridge in one direction.  That will be a mess!

Enjoy your walks...

Thanks! Actually, that bridge project is done. People manage to handle the situation without too much difficulty, so that’s nice.

Checking in... still alive!

We had a nice short hike in that forest that was close to where we used to live. We have to drive farther to get there now, but it's worth it.

We're getting by. Alita is back at school and so is her student - a couple of days a week, at least - so she can do her job. Alec is doing well with remote learning but itching to get back to Pullman, which is understandable. We won't know for another week if that's going to happen. Infections are surging and deaths are on the upswing in the rural county where the university is located, so that's a complicating factor.

I've been walking Alita to school 2-3 days a week lately, though if the weather is bad or if she had things she needs to take to school, I end up driving her and letting her walk back home. We're slowly starting to realize that maybe we don't need two cars anymore. It's too soon to take any action in that area, but it's interesting.

The walk to school is nice. It works out to just about 3 miles total. The school is on a bluff above us, so we head uphill on the way there and I get to cruise downhill on the way back. I tried jogging back a while ago and ended up with a few annoying niggles, so I'm keeping it to walking right now. 

My plan is to eventually walk Alita to work (3 miles) and then walk to my work and back (about 3.7 miles round trip) as often as possible, but that hasn't been possible lately with all the news going on. COVID-19, elections, mayhem, etc. Bah. That's also keeping me from going out for a walk at lunch, since I'm writing up a short story at about noon every weekday with our latest pandemic numbers and trends. It needs to be done, but it ends up eating into my lunch hour. 

Hope it's going well for you, and that you're staying healthy.

Good to hear you're alive and well!  ...and walking!

Stay well and keep on walking.  I won't be surprised if you report that you've started sneaking in a jog now and then sooner rather than later.

I would see if the HOA agreement has any cures for niggles or if they have an anti-niggle zone.

Just be consistent. 

I'll wager young Master Alec will still be at home, come Spring semester.

Mark you seem to be good at suggesting places to run/hike so I'm going to ask...again.  Katie and I are going to spend a couple days with Mom on a houseboat on the Willamette River near Oregon City while Marty is gone elk hunting.  We plan to spend one night at Carson Hot Springs before heading home and returning to our working lives.  Katie recently had knee surgery for a severely torn meniscus.  She is recovering well and starting to do a bit of hiking on easy trails.  Any suggestions for the Carson area...I know that's a fair ways from home but I remember you mentioning some awesome hikes in the gorge.  We'd love to find an easy trail into a waterfall if we can.

Weather is much nicer here today.  

nkrichards wrote:Mark you seem to be good at suggesting places to run/hike so I'm going to ask...again.  Katie and I are going to spend a couple days with Mom on a houseboat on the Willamette River near Oregon City while Marty is gone elk hunting.  We plan to spend one night at Carson Hot Springs before heading home and returning to our working lives.  Katie recently had knee surgery for a severely torn meniscus.  She is recovering well and starting to do a bit of hiking on easy trails.  Any suggestions for the Carson area...I know that's a fair ways from home but I remember you mentioning some awesome hikes in the gorge.  We'd love to find an easy trail into a waterfall if we can.

Weather is much nicer here today.  

Yes, MUCH nicer!

I don't know that part of the Gorge, but I do know of a very cool website that has a searchable database of hikes. 

It's called Oregon Hikers, but it also offers information about hikes in Southwest Washington and both sides of the Columbia River Gorge.

Go to the site and click on the Find A Hike! link. You can search by area, difficulty, and trail characteristics.

I looked for easy hikes of less than two miles in the Columbia River Gorge with waterfalls, less than 500 foot elevation gain, and this is what I found.


[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Bridal Veil Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Elowah Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	280 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Ponytail Falls Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	320 feet
Punchbowl Falls Park Hike	Easy	1.5 miles	190 feet
Shepperds Dell Hike	Easy	0.2 miles	45 feet

When I searched for Soutwest Washington under the same parameters, this is what I got.












[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Big Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	180 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Curly Creek Falls Hike	Easy	0.4 miles	10 feet
Langfield Falls Hike	Easy	0.5 miles	80 feet
Lower Marble Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	70 feet
Lucia Falls Loop Hike	Easy	1.1 miles	20 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Panther Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1 miles	200 feet
Round Lake Loop Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	140 feet
Yacolt Falls Hike	Easy	0.6 miles	30 feet

ounce wrote:I would see if the HOA agreement has any cures for niggles or if they have an anti-niggle zone.

Just be consistent. 

I'll wager young Master Alec will still be at home, come Spring semester.

I don't think I'll take that bet, though I know he really, really REALLY wants to go back.

We should have a better sense after Monday.

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Mark you seem to be good at suggesting places to run/hike so I'm going to ask...again.  Katie and I are going to spend a couple days with Mom on a houseboat on the Willamette River near Oregon City while Marty is gone elk hunting.  We plan to spend one night at Carson Hot Springs before heading home and returning to our working lives.  Katie recently had knee surgery for a severely torn meniscus.  She is recovering well and starting to do a bit of hiking on easy trails.  Any suggestions for the Carson area...I know that's a fair ways from home but I remember you mentioning some awesome hikes in the gorge.  We'd love to find an easy trail into a waterfall if we can.

Weather is much nicer here today.  

Yes, MUCH nicer!

I don't know that part of the Gorge, but I do know of a very cool website that has a searchable database of hikes. 

It's called Oregon Hikers, but it also offers information about hikes in Southwest Washington and both sides of the Columbia River Gorge.

Go to the site and click on the Find A Hike! link. You can search by area, difficulty, and trail characteristics.

I looked for easy hikes of less than two miles in the Columbia River Gorge with waterfalls, less than 500 foot elevation gain, and this is what I found.












[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Bridal Veil Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Elowah Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	280 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Ponytail Falls Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	320 feet
Punchbowl Falls Park Hike	Easy	1.5 miles	190 feet
Shepperds Dell Hike	Easy	0.2 miles	45 feet

When I searched for Soutwest Washington under the same parameters, this is what I got.























[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Big Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	180 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Curly Creek Falls Hike	Easy	0.4 miles	10 feet
Langfield Falls Hike	Easy	0.5 miles	80 feet
Lower Marble Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	70 feet
Lucia Falls Loop Hike	Easy	1.1 miles	20 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Panther Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1 miles	200 feet
Round Lake Loop Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	140 feet
Yacolt Falls Hike	Easy	0.6 miles	30 feet

Thanks for the link Mark.  It seems much more user friendly than the info I've been finding online.  I think I'll pass it on to Katie and make her pick one...or two.

Hey, I saw on FB where there was a walk (mildly put) through a Couv neighborhood, last night, by people.  Looked like condos, so I thought you got out and sat in a chair while they were touring? 

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Mark you seem to be good at suggesting places to run/hike so I'm going to ask...again.  Katie and I are going to spend a couple days with Mom on a houseboat on the Willamette River near Oregon City while Marty is gone elk hunting.  We plan to spend one night at Carson Hot Springs before heading home and returning to our working lives.  Katie recently had knee surgery for a severely torn meniscus.  She is recovering well and starting to do a bit of hiking on easy trails.  Any suggestions for the Carson area...I know that's a fair ways from home but I remember you mentioning some awesome hikes in the gorge.  We'd love to find an easy trail into a waterfall if we can.

Weather is much nicer here today.  

Yes, MUCH nicer!

I don't know that part of the Gorge, but I do know of a very cool website that has a searchable database of hikes. 

It's called Oregon Hikers, but it also offers information about hikes in Southwest Washington and both sides of the Columbia River Gorge.

Go to the site and click on the Find A Hike! link. You can search by area, difficulty, and trail characteristics.

I looked for easy hikes of less than two miles in the Columbia River Gorge with waterfalls, less than 500 foot elevation gain, and this is what I found.






















[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Bridal Veil Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Bridal veil falls hike	Easy	1.4 miles	205 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Elowah Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	280 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Ponytail Falls Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	320 feet
Punchbowl Falls Park Hike	Easy	1.5 miles	190 feet
Shepperds Dell Hike	Easy	0.2 miles	45 feet

When I searched for Soutwest Washington under the same parameters, this is what I got.


































[th] [/th][th]Difficulty[/th][th]Distance[/th][th]Elevation gain[/th]

Big Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	180 feet
Catherine Creek Universal Access Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	90 feet
Curly Creek Falls Hike	Easy	0.4 miles	10 feet
Langfield Falls Hike	Easy	0.5 miles	80 feet
Lower Marble Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1.2 miles	70 feet
Lucia Falls Loop Hike	Easy	1.1 miles	20 feet
Nellie Corser Loop Hike	Easy	0.8 miles	275 feet
Panther Creek Falls Hike	Easy	1 miles	200 feet
Round Lake Loop Hike	Easy	1.4 miles	140 feet
Yacolt Falls Hike	Easy	0.6 miles	30 feet

Thanks for the link Mark.  It seems much more user friendly than the info I've been finding online.  I think I'll pass it on to Katie and make her pick one...or two.

Yay!

I really like that website. If you browse the trail reports, you can see some wonderful photos and hear some pretty amusing tales of wilderness misadventures.

ounce wrote:Hey, I saw on FB where there was a walk (mildly put) through a Couv neighborhood, last night, by people.  Looked like condos, so I thought you got out and sat in a chair while they were touring? 

Yeah, we have a situation on our hands. Most people arrested while getting into mischief while touring were from places other than Our Fair City, and our local NAACP chapter let it be known in no uncertain terms that the sort of "help" some of those folks were offering was *not* helpful or welcome.

Things were a bit less tense the next night and less so the night after that. We'll see what happens.

It was a different part of town from where we live, but it was very close to the newspaper office. Needless to say, it's been keeping us busy.

Got a treat this morning when the sun came up...



Working a night shift tonight for the election. 

Be sure to get out and vote if you haven't already! You wouldn't want somebody like me to have more influence on the process, would you? 

The water almost looks like sand.

ounce wrote:The water almost looks like sand.

It does, doesn't it? It's accurate to what it looked like. Colors not manipulated at all. It was jaw dropping.

It was also raining a couple of hours later, but it was totally worth it.

Awesome photo!

Looks like you're going to have a very busy/stressful workplace for a few more days.  I just hope that no matter the outcome our country can survive this without to much violence.  

Stay safe and well.

nkrichards wrote:Awesome photo!

Looks like you're going to have a very busy/stressful workplace for a few more days.  I just hope that no matter the outcome our country can survive this without to much violence.  

Stay safe and well.

Thanks! It might have been a "red sky in morning, sailors take warning" sort of sight, but it was still gorgeous.

Yup. Worked late last night, up early this morning. We'll keep our fingers crossed that people behave. We did see folks walk by our building last night carrying firearms, but they apparently were heading over to a testosterone festival a few blocks away.

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Awesome photo!

Looks like you're going to have a very busy/stressful workplace for a few more days.  I just hope that no matter the outcome our country can survive this without to much violence.  

Stay safe and well.

Thanks! It might have been a "red sky in morning, sailors take warning" sort of sight, but it was still gorgeous.

Yup. Worked late last night, up early this morning. We'll keep our fingers crossed that people behave. We did see folks walk by our building last night carrying firearms, but they apparently were heading over to a testosterone festival a few blocks away.

I heard there were some riots/protests in NY, Denver and Portland last night.  Didn't hear if they were related to the election or just what has now become normal old riots...

I'm not surprised that people on both sides are frustrated.  It's not going to be resolved any time soon.  I can't see either side giving up easily.  

I'm just pleased that there is still going to be some balance of power no matter what the presidential outcome is.  I keep reminding others not to forget that no matter what their views are half the people in the country disagree...strongly.

Work and rain may both contribute to keeping you inside and inactive for the next few days...
Stay well.

Nancy, you were definitely right that work and weather was going to keep us inactive for a while.

I've been driving Alita to school in the morning. She walks home, so at least she's getting a bit of exercise. I'm driving to work because of weather and because there's so much going on right now. COVID-19 cases are exploding right now and that's having ripple effects on just about everything... yes, including TP supplies. People. Ugh.

As far as the "riots" go, they're pretty tame. It seems like there's a core group of people who just want to fight and/or make mischief, and they're taking advantage of the situation. I think that'll eventually peter out rather than reach some climax, but we'll see.

Stay safe, all! Coronary events may or may not be considered an underlying condition, so all my friends out there who know the names of cardiologists ought to be extra careful for the next few months until a vaccine finally reaches us.