Long haul through tall trees

I've always wanted to visit the Redwood forests in California. When I planned the swing through the West, I knew I'd stop there.

I didn't know I'd bite off an 11.6-mile hike through them. That's a long distance to hike by yourself, but I'm very glad I did it.

Many experts note that the Miner's Ridge-James Irvin Trail hike is the most essential in the Redwoods. It starts at the Prairie Creek Redwood State Park south of Klamath, Calif., stretches about 5 miles to the Pacific Ocean along Miner's Trail. It then jogs along the ocean for 2 miles before cutting through a dense fern growth -- Fern Canyon -- and heading back to the visitor center along the Irvin trail for about 4.6 miles.

The hike isn't too bad in terms of difficulty. It's fairly level with only a few steep parts. But over nearly 12 miles, those steep parts add up.

What it lacks in technical difficulty, the trail makes up for in diverse scenery. The beginning features towering, old-growth Redwoods. The ocean offers exactly what you'd expect from the Northern California coast -- violent waves smashing into gnarly rocks. The Irvine Trail is all about ferns. They cling to walls, fill every valley and grow almost waist high.

I didn't start to get tired until the last three miles or so. But the key is to keep the feet moving.

With the beautiful scenery, that's not too hard to do. I just worry I'll wreck my neck staring up at those 300-foot trees.


The details:
Trail name: Miner's Ridge Trail and James Irvine Trail
Location: Prairie Creek Redwood State Park, 15 miles south of Klamath, Calif.
Length: 11.6 miles
Beginning elevation: 100 feet
Peak elevation: 750 feet
Difficulty (out of 5): 2

Some like it sour

A general rule: If anyone offers you a beer brewed by Russian River, you drink it.

That said, Supplication is a shocker if you don't know what's coming. I recently had it at a wonderful Seattle bar, The Dray. My friend and I each ordered Supplication. The bartender insisted we sample it first, just so we knew what we were getting into.

The simple explanation: It's sour as hell. It's brewed with sour cherries, and you can sure taste it. It's a surprising and -- let's face it -- off-putting taste at first. For most beer drinkers -- even those enlightened enough to enjoy intense imperial stouts and uber-bitter IPAs -- lip-puckering sour flavors seem foreign in beers.

And I get it. I want to like sours. The most refined beer-drinkers do. But it's hard for me. It took me about an hour to sip through the Supplication. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. It's a beautiful golden-brown ale, almost like a Saison, with a sharp sour bite. I appreciate it, but at this point I can't say I love it. A few more sours, and maybe I'll enjoy the Supplications of the world a bit more.


The details:
Name: Supplication
Brewer: Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 14
Style: American wild ale (sour)
Alcohol: 7 percent
Cost: $8.50 for a 12-ounce pour
My Grade: C+ (for my taste, though in the style it's definitely an A)
Skinny: A sour golden ale that smacks of the oak barrels it's aged in. As far as sours go, it's a great one. But my problem is, I don't really like sours. I'm trying. Honestly.

Hiking in the dark

The description of Ape Cave had me seriously interested: The 1.3-mile lava tube on the flanks of Mount St. Helens is completely dark, full of huge boulder stacks and remains a constant 42 degrees year-round.

In short, it sounded like an odd, scary, exciting experience. It didn't disappoint.

The drive to St. Helens was incredible. The road hugged a variety of reservoirs that glowed emerald on a rare clear February day. Gaps in the trees revealed sweeping views of St. Helens. It was easy to see how its peak had been blown off by its eruption 30 years ago. Still, it's a commanding, dominating presence, dwarfed only by the ghost-like peaks of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams on the horizon.

The entrance to the cave is just a big hole in the lava-rock ground. A staircase descends in the darkness. The Forest Service recommends bringing three sources of light -- standard headlamps, a strong flashlight and a gas lantern. Between my friend Chuck and I, we brought two headlamps and one weakish flashlight. Probably not the smartest approach, but we got by OK.

Initially, though, the darkness was unsettling. The headlamps certainly didn't light up the large dark cave. In some spots the cave was 80 feet wide and 20 feet high. In other spots it was 4 feet wide and 6 feet high.

The trail -- uneven from the spiky lava -- regularly ran into stacks of boulders. The hardened lava stacks stretched 10 to 12 feet in the air and required some pretty careful climbing. Dripping water didn't help footing much either. At one point, we had to scale an 8-foot, sheer lava wall. There were plenty of handholds, though, and it wasn't too bad.

The trail revealed one skylight, that made for a welcomed reprieve from the darkness. The trail emerged at another large hole in the lava rock. A 12-foot ladder led to the light.

A beautiful 1.3 mile, above-ground return trip featured views of St. Helens, large fields of lava boulders and a trail of gray ash. All in all, it was an unusual and memorable hike.


The details:
Trail name: Ape Cave
Location: 12 miles northeast of Cougar, Wash., in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Length: 2.6 mile roundtrip (1.3 underground, 1.3 above. Shorter routes are available.)
Beginning elevation: 2,115 feet
Peak elevation: 2,115 feet
Difficulty (out of 5): 2

A beer and a boy

My son's name is Rye. People always ask where we came up with the name.

JD Salinger's "A Catcher in the Rye" is the usual first guess. Don McLean's "American Pie" is another quick reference. (You know, "The good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye.")

The real reason: My then-pregnant, then-wife and I were driving from Nebraska to Colorado, trying to think of a boy's name. We were listening to Modest Mouse's "Black Cadillacs," which includes the lyric, "And it's true we named our children after towns that we've never been to."

That made me think that we should consider towns for our coming son's name. We thought about London, Bristol and a few others we'd visited while studying abroad. Eventually, we opened the Colorado map. We noticed a town in south-central Colorado called Rye. It stuck. And it's true we've never been there.

That's a long intro into a beer review. But Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic Brewing Co. had me the second I noticed its name on Beer Advocate's top 100 list. It's not easy to find. I scored a four-pack at Seattle's Bottleworks, which is an incredible beer store.

Hop Rod Rye is a hoppy India Pale Ale, but it gets its last name because it's brewed with 18 percent rye malt. The rye makes it an interesting drink. There's another taste layer going on. While the IPA is pretty hoppy, it boasts considerable maltiness on the back-end. I assume the rye has something to do with it.

And it's safe to assume that my son had something to do with me enjoying the beer so much.


Postscript: Here's a picture of the boy wearing a shirt that I picked up at Bear Republic on my roadie.














The details:
Name: Hop Rod Rye
Brewer: Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 63
Style: American IPA
Alcohol: 8 percent
Cost: $7.99 for a four-pack
My Grade: B+
Skinny: A complex beer with big hops upfront with an interesting malt finish, thanks at least in part to the rye.

Mt. Zion

On a rare clear February day in Washington, I climbed Mt. Zion. It's worth the steep climb, as long as you have a stomach for sheer drop-offs.


The details:
Trail name: Mt. Zion
Location: 8 miles northwest of Quilcene, Wash., in the Olympic National Forest
Length: 4.6 mile roundtrip (including exploration of the rocky ridge just beyond the true summit)
Beginning elevation: 2,974 feet
Peak elevation: 4,274 feet
Difficulty (out of 5): 2

Chasing No. 1

So I'm on a road trip of the West. There are many reasons for it: Seeing friends, hiking, experiencing new places, mending from my failed marriage.

But another quest has developed out of the trip: Trying to drink as many of the top 100 beers in the world, according to Beer Advocate.

I bagged a big one last night: Pliny the Younger by Russian River Brewing Co. For the past week, Pliny the Younger has been in a battle for the top spot on Beer Advocate's list with an obscure Belgian beer. So, naturally, I had to taste it.

When I got to Seattle about a month ago, I began calling area distributors to see when they'd get it. Turns out the greater Seattle area only got 13 small kegs for all their customers. I tracked down a bar -- Naked City Brewery -- that was tapping Pliny the Younger on Fat Tuesday. I got up there an hour early and fought for a seat at the bar. They tapped the keg at 5 p.m. sharp and ran out of the beer at 5:06. Luckily, I got glass.

So how'd it taste? Like sucking on a hop cone. For someone who likes hoppy beers a whole lot, that was pretty sweet. Pliny the Younger is a triple India Pale Ale and it's a descendant of the double IPA Pliny the Elder. The Elder has a nice hop bite, but is highly drinkable. The Younger is a whole different animal -- every taste is heightened, exaggerated. It's very piny up front and very sweet on the back end -- almost like a very hoppy barley wine.

It was good, for sure. Having a successful hunt for it made it all the better.

Post script: A day later I went to another Seattle bar I heard was cool, Uber. I was the only person in there around 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I was talking with the bartender. I asked about Pliny the Younger. He said they'd be tapping theirs later, on the downlow. I ordered a Colorado beer I like -- Avery's The Beast, a very big beer -- and drank it. When I finished it, the bartender grabbed the glass and filled it up. He slid it to me and winked.

As I brought the glass to my mouth, a sharp pine aroma hit my nose. I smiled at the bartender. He'd tapped Pliny the Younger on the downlow for sure. He'd tapped it right in front of me and silently poured me one. It was even better the second time.

So I had the No. 1 beer in the world on back-to-back days. Not too shabby.


The details:
Name: Pliny the Younger
Brewer: Russian River Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 1
Style: Triple IPA
Alcohol: 11 percent
Cost: $5.50 for a 12-ounce glass
My Grade: A+
Skinny: It's considered the best for a reason. The piny aroma and the incredible hoppy bite makes the biggest first impression I can remember from a beer. The back end is incredibly rich, making this one ridiculously indulgent beer.