It’s halfway through my summer in Corvallis, with less than 35 days until I fly to the Great Land of Wales. This summer has been spent working as a slave in the Corporate system, doing Electrical Engineering work for Hollingsworth & Vose, 7:30-3:30 every weekday as my soul slowly gets devoured by Big Business. When I can, though, I get out and spend time with my good friends by backpacking, biking, brewing, and more.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Noah and I took to the hills on a three day backpacking trip up to Goat Rocks in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington. The hiking was beautiful, deep fir forests span far over the land, with great rocky ledges soaring to the heavens along Goat Ridge. Surrounding us were snow covered ridges and mountains, with Mt. Adams and Mt. Ranier towering above all else. We met up with another group of people, and joined in with their 3+ person troop. They were all great fun, and helped make that trip especially grand. Since this was a much lighter trip than our previous, I packed out a watermelon and a pizza to feast on that first day. The first day was spent hiking up to our basecamp, a small dirt patch shouldering a snow bank and a sheer drop into rocky marmot country, with a large fire pit set on an opening to view the immense Mt. Adams. Day two was the summit journey up Old Snowy, a 7,880′ windy-as-hell peak with a sun scramble to get up to an amazing view of the Goat Rocks area. On the last day we packed up camp, and finished the snowy, post-holing, hike up to Goat Lake and back down to the car. It was an incredible trip, one that I would highly recommend to any person looking for a fun two or three day trip.
When home, I’ve been getting interested in the great art of brewing, with the help of my good friend Jennifer. With supplies graciously donated by Sally & Rufus, we have created 10 gallons of cider, a five gallon batch of fall spiced cider, and currant cider of the same amount, as well as two gallons of mead, one ginger and one blackberry pumpkin. They bubble happily in the dining room, a steady state of *bloop bloop bloop* to annoy the deepest of sleepers. Those shall be enjoyed with the help of my/our friends at my going away party on September 3rd, because getting your friends drunk is the best goodbye present.
Since I see the lack of it in my future, I have been mountain biking a fair amount and getting much more comfortable on my bike. Since removing the clips I am learning handling, speed control, and weight distribution, as well as feeling much more safe on my bike. When not mountain biking, I’ve been training up for the hellacious hills that will be my life in Cardiff, by doing hill circuits and longer climbs, and working them into my rides more frequently. Guess it’s time for me to learn to love hills!
It’s time for me to start really preparing for being abroad, ie figuring out my phone, money, and legal stuff (starting with the Visa misprint fiasco). It’s only when preparing for leaving that I realize just how deeply rooted my love for Corvallis and the PNW is, holy god I’m going to miss it here.
And that’s all for now… I’m still not used to typing out my life, but hopefully you’ll get used to reading my ramblings! 
