I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. I drive back up the 101 to the north into Redwood National Park. Low clouds roll in from the Pacific over the first hills. I leave the motorway at the first opportunity and head along gravel tracks right next to the coastal cliffs. Signs warn of “sneaker waves”, unexpected and unrhythmic breakers on the beach that sweep away and drown a person every year.

The redwoods only occur in isolated places in the park. I don’t think the largest concentration was in the National Park, but 50 miles north near Crescent City in the State Park directly on Highway 101. The real 2000-year-old giants are hiding here. You have to ask and look. (more…)

In the morning, the wind is already picking up right outside the school on the edge of the valley. I’m not going to miss anything today. Over to Hood River, buy a bus ticket and off to Pasco, Washington. I arrive there around 14:30, half an hour late. On to the airport. My new car is waiting. Another seven days without lugging equipment and travelling for miles. I drive back west along the Columbia River.

On the journey, it becomes clear why it’s such a drag. Here in the east, Oregon is a real desert steppe. It’s over 30 degrees and very dry. Not a cloud in sight. All the hills are golden. And if they are green, then only in circles. (more…)

Glück|see|lig|kite [f] means: the right wind in the right place with the right kite.

Only after a few hours of lying around in a weak wind around 25km/h does the wind finally pick up in the early afternoon at Hood River. I’m out immediately and do a few laps. Strange: the wind is fairly constant on the ground, but quite rough at kite height. After just 20 minutes I have the feeling that the wind is getting stronger, much stronger. Fully depowered, I can barely keep contact with the ground. The feeling is not deceptive. A gust pulls me out of the water and hurls me right in front of a small kite school group. (more…)

Grue|some|kite [f] gruesome kite refers to adverse conditions that prevent you from kiting. The heightened form of gruesome kite is usually seen at perfect kite locations in the form of unsuitable material after dragging across entire continents. A special form of gruesome kite is the sudden change from several completely wind-free weeks to unkiteable choppy winds. The feeling of happiness is similarly high: Shooting wasabi peas out of your nose and biting your own arse. (more…)

I hung some things up to dry during the night. That was a mistake. They are even wetter in the morning. With an extra 5kg of weight, I travel back to Portland by bus and then further up the Columbia River. Basalts, twisted at an angle next to the road. Wide river, but little space: high mountains on both sides. On the Oregon side, low clouds cling to the mountains. On the Washington side, it is increasingly clearing up.

An hour upstream, the sun finally comes out. In its rays I see wonderful trees: all the branches are pointing upstream. Now that’s something. After a bend in the river, the bus suddenly starts to rock. White whitecaps in the middle of the river. At last! (more…)