Moskowitz Adventures 2015: First Week on the Road

Monday, August 24

Wanting us to have a smooth transition into life on the road, Steven (Brad's brother) booked us a night at the Sheraton Hotel in Portland so we could reunite as a family in a bit of luxury before hitting our new reality. Monday morning we woke up and met an old student of Brad's at the Voodoo Doughnut Shop. The boys had a good laugh at me because just about every doughnut there was loaded with candy or died colored stuff with loads of frosting.

Onenota Gorge

On our first day in Oregon we met up with Kristen and Hannah Burdick (former Vermonters) for a hike through Oneonta Gorge. We had to hike through a river from Mt. Hood. The hike started off easy, walking in shallow water and river rocks, but then you had to climb over a “trap.” What happened was a rock fell down from the top of the tall mossy canyon walls and made a dam in the river, so a bunch of logs floated down and got stuck on the rock, which created the “trap.” There were also a lot of people so we had to wait to get over the dam. After we managed to scramble over the dam, we had to walk through knee deep freezing water. The reason the water was so cold was because all of the water in the river was straight from Mt. Hood's melting glacier. Even though walking through knee deep water was terribly cold it was nothing compared to what was up next. We had to walk through the super freezing water and now it was waist deep. I practically ran trough the water thinking that I would get hypothermia the whole time. After we got through all of the tough parts, we got to the end of the gorge. There was a beautiful waterfall tumbling down the mossy rocks and splashing into the river. At that point I thought that the hike had not been so bad and that we were finally out of the freezing cold water, I was ready to go back to the hotel we stayed at for the night and jump in the hot tub. I was all pretty happy until I realized that we had to go back through the freezing cold waist deep water and back over the “trap” before we got to change into warm clothes. :(

- Asa

"Trap"

A beautiful waterfall at the end of the gorge.

A hike with Kristen and Hannah Burdick.

The famous Burnside Skate Park under the bridge in Portland, OR.

Touring ON3P Skis

When we where in Portland I really wanted to go and visit ON3P skis. It was later in the day and we were supposed to be headed to the Burdick's house but because our phones said it was only 15 minutes from our hotel to the shop we decided to go. After a little over a half hour of sitting in traffic, we arrived at a street that was just concrete warehouses. As we drove down the street, we saw signs for printing places and warehouses for online shops. Right when we thought we might be in the wrong place we saw a car that was covered in ON3P ski stickers. We pulled around the corner and saw a door, the bottom half was covered in random stickers and the top half said “ON3P Skis Handmade in Portland, OR.” When we went in I was expecting a little shop with some clothing and skis on display, but when we walked in there was a small room with a couch and to the right there was an office where the founder/owner of the company worked. We were greeted by one of the workers there and we said we were from out of town and just wanted to check out where the skis were made. I didn’t know what to expect but I was not expecting a big tour of the factory. Thats what we got and it was awesome! We walked through all off the stations which were set up in a horseshoe around the shop. We saw all of the steps it took to produce a pair of skis. It started in a room where they cut the bamboo for the core of the ski, from there the cores are sorted into cubbies. There is a cubby for each size and model of ski. The next room is where they cut the top sheet and base material for the ski. After these are cut, they bend the edge for the ski and attached the edge to the sidewall. Then the ski gets layered from base to top sheet with multiple layers of fiberglass and carbon fiber before going into the press. After the ski comes out of the press, it has to sit for 8 hours to let the poxy cure. When it is cured the ski is cut out. The ski then has to be grinded so there is a pattern on the base. The pattern helps the moisture from the snow run off of the base easier. Then the ski is cleaned and waxed. Finally the pair of skis gets wrapped in plastic and put in storage unit it gets shipped out to shops. I was hoping to get a pair of skis, but dad said there was not enough room in the car.

Tuesday, August 25th

Hanging out while Asa checks out the skate park near the Burdick's house.

We pulled into Windells on the way up to Mt. Hood to check it out.

Asa could hardly contain himself... the park was closed so he could not skate!

The skate park extended around the whole grounds.

Mount Hood

Wednesday, August 26th
On our way to Bend... fires were definitely present. There had been a fire a few days earlier. The was very smoky.

The right side of the road

The left side of the road

Warm Springs Museum

Thursday, August 27th- Monday, August 31st

Brad and I started the day with a ride in the desert. Some awesome riding!

Smith Rock

Smith Rock is an area near Bend, OR that encompasses 651acres in the high desert plateau. It rises up about
3000 feet in elevation. There are two different volcanic rock that makes up the area. The major rock faces on the right are composed of welded
tuff (compressed volcanic ash) reaching a height of up to 550 feet. The Left side where the picnic and campground areas sit are on top of the rimrock, which is made up of columnar basalt.

Brad spent the day climbing with an old student of his Mike Rougeux.