Matt - Matthew Singer

Stevens Lakes

July 14, 2011 Matt Hikes

[caption width="640" caption="Lower Stevens Lake"][/caption] The hike to Stevens Lakes itsn't particularly hard, but it's no walk in the park either. It's about 2.5 miles and 1700 feet of vertical gain to the upper lake on a well-used and well-mantained trail. It starts off relatively steep and continues to climb steadily for the next mile before levelling out…

4th of July

July 5, 2011 Matt Hikes

The celebration of our nation's independence is a custom dating back all the way to the day the Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence. The use of fireworks to celebrate the momentous and historic occasion also dates back to that time. As John Adams wrote to his wife: "The second day of July, 1776, will be the…

Shoot for the Stars

July 2, 2011July 2, 2011 Matt Photo Blog

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="The night sky from my yard."][/caption] Last night, I had some folks over from the photo club for a little get together and fun. We grilled burgers, sat around the fire, and played with our cameras. We were mostly interested in shooting the night sky. I've shot the stars before, but last night might be my…

Upper Basin Trail

June 26, 2011June 26, 2011 Matt Hikes

View Upper Basin Trail in a larger map The Upper Basin Trail is a 5 mile loop in the upper basin of Elk Creek just north of Elk River The trail is near the giant western red cedar, thought to be the largest tree in the U.S. east of the Sierra-Cascade crest. The loop is also near the Morris Cedar…

Bad Ass Sunset

June 23, 2011 Matt Personal Updates

[caption width="640" caption="Fire in the Sky"][/caption] Last night was full of bad-assery. Yeah, that's right, it was so bad-ass that I made up a word to describe it. After a cold spell, temperatures quickly rose into the 80's yesterday making for a hot and somewhat muggy day. The conditions were ripe for evening thunderstorms. As I arrived home, I heard…

Kamiak Butte

June 21, 2011June 9, 2018 Matt All Things Moscow, Photo Blog

The Palouse, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. The Palouse is made up of rolling hills covered in wheat and barley fields. This area was historically a prairie, so there were few trees to begin with. A few of these hills rise up well above the rest, remnants of a time when the region was more active volcanically. Kamiak Butte is…

Hells Canyon

June 14, 2011June 14, 2011 Matt Hikes

Panoramic View from our vantage point, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This story begins with Luke and I itching to get out into the backcountry. Although it's the middle of June, the combination of an unusually cold and wet Spring with the very productive winter has left many of the high country destinations (above 5000 ft.) still buried under 100+…

Personal Updates

June 7, 2011 Matt Personal Updates

It's been an eventful week, and I should have posted more often, but I've been busy and tired and uninspired to write. So I'll give you the update on the past week, and then some. Last Monday was our actual anniversary, and even though we celebrated the week before with a getaway to Oregon, we still wanted to make the…

Weekend Getaway, Part III

May 28, 2011May 28, 2011 Matt Travel Stories

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="View of the Imnaha River Canyon from 5-Mile Point"][/caption] Day 3: Canyons [caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Storms over the Wallowas"][/caption] It's a week later and I'm only now getting to the end of our romantic weekend away to celebrate our anniversary. Saturday was our third and final full day in Oregon. Thursday we had a…

Our Weekend Away, part II

May 27, 2011May 27, 2011 Matt Travel Stories

Sacajawea, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Day 2 Friday morning, I woke up in time to catch the sun rising over the Seven Devils. I went outside with the camera to catch the morning glow on the snow-capped peaks of the Wallowas as the sun rose in the sky. It was a beautiful morning, and quite warm, even at 6:00.…