Merry Christmas to all and I wish you all a happy and safe holidays.

B. Dorr’s Blog now available for mobile!

B. Dorr’s Blog is now available for mobile applications. Unlike the graphic laden standard site, the mobile application is a no-frills, plain-text version of this blog.

The mobile application was installed today in addition to the WordPress version update.

Mt. Adams from Sherrard Point.

The weather seemed nice today for a “last call” trip to Sherrard Point to snap some photos. The sun was out today, but as I arrived at the top, high clouds out to the west filtered the sun, resulting in a subdued alpenglow reflecting off Mt. Hood.

The gusty trademark east wind made it bone-chilling cold at the 4,056-foot summit. Both my Labs were eager to get back into the warm car.

Why am I calling this the “last call” trip? Multnomah County will be installing the road gate on Larch Mountain Road at milepost 10 on Friday, November 28 at noon. There are a half dozen signs warning motorists that the gates are in place, which the signage had already been deployed as I headed up there.

Even though the road is closed, you can still hike to the summit, either by road or Larch Mountain Trail. The bridge at Triple Falls on Oneonta Trail may be out for replacement and crossing the creek just two hundred feet above the falls is ill-advised.

And please don’t call me “The Gatekeeper” because of this, this and this.

Last week the Oregon Department of Transportation announced in a press release that Oregon’s Sno-Park permits take effect on November 1, beginning this year.

The announcement, however, has been lacking transparency to the general public.

I first learned about the change on Monday when I noticed several signs posted had the November 1 date posted, instead of the November 15 date.

The Oregon Department of Transportation press released was buried deep in their website. In fact, you had to hunt it down in the press release for ODOT’s Highway Region 1. Aside from the press release on ODOT website, Tripcheck.com (part of ODOT) has the updated effective dates, also buried deep within the Tripcheck.com website.

The media apparently is quiet on this subject, especially since recreationalists may head for the Sno-Park areas this coming weekend and the announcement came with such short notice.

Sno-Park does not mean there needs to be snow at a ski resort, but Sno-Park also includes some all-season hiking trails.

At other government agency websites and other third-party websites, the new effective dates are not updated. Several ski resorts still show the permit effective date as November 15.

Several U. S. National Forests locations in Oregon, such as Mt. Hood, Deschutes, Ochoco, Umatilla, and Willamette national forests also indicate the permit effective date as November 15 on their websites.

Surprisingly, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, which is part of ODOT, did not update their website with the new effective date, but continue to show the old permit effective date as November 15.

Two question: how many unsuspecting outdoor enthusiasts will receive a $30 fine for not having a Sno-Park permit displayed on their windshield, and how many people are aware of the new permit season date (before reading this post or the one I posted yesterday)?

The fine for not having a permit is $30. I bought my permit today.

Chair lift.

If you though the time for purchasing an Oregon Sno-Park permit is coming up in a couple of weeks, November 15, guess again.

The Sno-Park season begins two weeks earlier, thanks to a change in the law. The official start date is November 1, 2008. The end date, April 30, has not changed.

Annual passes are $20, three consecutive day pass, $7, one day pass is $3. All passes have a small fee if purchased at a commercial retailer (no fee if purchased from the DMV).

Parking in a Sno-Park area without a permit may result in a $30 fine.

Read the Oregon Department of Transportation Press Release, October 24, 2008

Austin Hot Springs reaches 156.4 degrees.

I (safely) found out how hot the Austin Hot Springs can get. Even though I didn’t manage to get across the river, one of the spring pool sin the Clackamas River did reach 156.4 degrees Fahrenheit. I was curious to find out how hot the springs were after hearing a report that three people were seriously burned by the springs.

Editor’s Note: Shortly after writing this post and a related YouNewsTV on Monday, I learned the springs is located on a private property. The property is not clearly marked with “no trespassing” signs and property ownership, which may have been removed by unauthorized persons. The property owners and U. S. Forest Service officials are asking people to stay out of the springs and the property. Unlike the nearby Bagby Hot Springs where cool water is mixed to control the water temperature, the water temperature at Austin can fluctuate unpredictably to levels where it may cause serious burns.

Paul Bausch, ORblogs.com’s (www.orblogs.com) administrator announced today that his website that feeds updates from blogs located within the state of Oregon, has closed. The sudden announcement was a surprise for me, but I understand his reasoning that the task of once being a hobby has now become a full time job. ORBlogs was not just a place for me to automatically announce my website updates, but it was also a place to preview what other people are saying on their blogs.

Bausch also said on his website that the current ORblog members list will remain available for thirty days, so anyone who wishes to gather last minute RSS feed or blog address can do so at www.orblogs.com. Orblogs started operations in March, 2003.

Although I don’t know Mr. Bausch personally, but I just want to say thank you, Mr. Bausch, for your dedicated service for all the bloggers. You will be missed.

B. Dorr’s Blog usually updates to Google’s search engines fairly quickly.