On Saturday, March 31, the Rogue River was near flood stage. Normal flow at this time of year is 8,000 cubic feet per second. On Saturday it was running more than 30,000 cfs.

At Crater Lake National Park, where snow covers the landscape in pastel shades of white and mountain peaks tower above a deep, cobalt-blue lake, the place is so silent the only sound is your own breath.

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK — The good news came at midnight.

Last Saturday, I ran 31 miles to a party.

I just completed my first 50K. Two minutes earlier and I would have finished in 8 hours and 99 minutes.

Whaleshead Beach, located about eight miles north of Brookings on Highway 101, has been one of my favorite spots on the Oregon Coast for many years. It wasn't until recently, however, that I grasped the full significance of its name.

If the hike up Pearsoll Peak doesn't take your breath away, the view certainly will.

When the weather begins to break in the spring, sunshine finally dominating over gray clouds, I start yearning for Central Oregon, not because of its mountains — it's far too early to hike at elevation — but for its high desert. It's those sagebrush flats and juniper uplands just to the east of the mountains that call.

If Louisville had mountains, I always say, we'd still be there. My wife, Katie, and I left family and a good life in Kentucky a couple of years ago for the elusive draw of the American West. It's more than just mountains, of course, but that's the easiest way to summarize it. However, we wanted more out of life than just the two of us exploring wild places, and we welcomed our little daughter, Cora, last summer.

I live in the suburbs of Medford, and with all the beautiful waterfalls within an hour's drive, I finally decided to make a trek.