McMinnville head coach Jeff Kearin speaks to his players during a timeout in the first quarter of the Grizzlies' season opener at Barlow Sept. 3 in Gresham, Ore. The Grizzlies, who were fortunate to have enough eligible players to take the field Friday night, were blown out by Barlow, 41-6. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

For the McMinnville Grizzlies, the highlight of Friday night’s season opener was just taking the field against Barlow two weeks after a mysterious ailment struck more than half of the team during training camp. There was little to rejoice in after that point as the Grizzlies were outmatched by the home side in nearly every measure, most importantly 41-6 in “points scored.”

Two dozen McMinnville players were hospitalized after suffering triceps compartment syndrome and/or rhabdomyolysis following an intense workout Aug. 15. Three of the players required surgery to relieve the pressure in their triceps.

The unusual outbreak interrupted the Grizzlies’ training camp, and kept several players off the field for key practice sessions. Because OSAA regulations require players to meet minimum training days before playing in a game, at one point it was uncertain whether McMinnville would have enough eligible players to take the field for their match against the Bruins.

McMinnville was able to dress 33 players for the game, but things went downhill for them from there.

Barlow scored on their first possession, less than two minutes into the game, and led 28-0 at halftime. Meanwhile, McMinnville had managed just one first down, and a total of 10 yards offense.

Barlow extended the lead to 41-0 in the third quarter. McMinnville finally broke onto the scoreboard with a touchdown late in the fourth.

Birders on safari Aug. 21 at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Wash. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

About a 18 months ago, Perrie and I visited the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge for the first time. Located on the Columbia River, the refuge preserves about 5,300 acres of marsh, grasslands and woodlands as natural habitat for birds, fish, and other wildlife, and is largely off-limits to the public.

Our first visit was to the northern ‘Carty’ unit of the refuge (map); this time we visited the central ‘S’ unit. (The Bachelor Island, Roth, and Ridgeport Dairy units are closed to the public.)

The distinctive feature of the ‘S’ unit is its 4.2-mile auto tour route. We thought that seemed silly, so we walked along the gravel road. But there were plenty of people on safari. We also walked the 1.5-mile Kiwa trail that loops off the auto route at about the halfway mark.

Not surprisingly, there was plenty of wildlife to see: turtles, frogs, and a water snake in one swamp. A great blue heron on the hunt, scattering the frogs in another. American coots, mallards, and other ducks. Egrets, green heron, sandpipers, killdeer, a hermit warbler, and more. And in every marsh, beaver-like rodents known as nutria (or coypu).

(Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

We haven’t played the “What in the world?” game for a while. Can you identify the subject in the photo? Leave your guesses in the comments.

Francisco Espinoza and Bertha Carranza (left) and three other couples kiss after being married in a communal wedding ceremony July 24 at Ascension Catholic Church in Portland. (Photo © 2010 Matthew Ginn for el Centinela)

Photographing a wedding is hard work. Working alone with several pounds of gear on your shoulders, you have to cover a lot of ground to be in all the right places at the right times, get your lighting and exposure just right in less-than-ideal conditions, and do it all without drawing attention to yourself.

Covering four weddings at once in a second-language, foreign culture setting takes the challenge to a whole new level.

It sounds strange, but that is exactly what I found myself doing a few weeks ago at Ascension Catholic Church in SE Portland as four Hispanic couples were married in a Spanish-language Mass that I covered for el Centinela.

Admittedly, as a newspaper reporter, I didn’t have to get every shot for each of the four couples. But I did have to contend with the photographer and/or videographer that each couple did have.

In the end, it went very well and was an unforgettable experience. My photos are published as a two-page spread in the current edition of el Centinela along with a short story (in the original Spanish here; poorly translated here).

Only one of the photos is online; here is my take, including some of the unpublished photos.

The couples married included Francisco Javier Espinoza and Bertha Porfirio Carranza; Francisco Gómez and Celestina Carrada; Marcos Hernández and Yolanda Cruz; and Maximino Vargas and Rosalinda Sánchez. The officiants included Deacon José Luis Nerio (wedding) and Fr. Guillermo Minkel (Mass).

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile sits parked beside a convenience store in Northwest Portland Monday evening. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

Something I stumbled upon the other day. I came across it in Portland once before, not too far from here.

Friday evening, as I drove home from a photo shoot near downtown Portland, Perrie called to let me know that the power was out. As I drove north along I-5 I could see  more and more smoke in the air, and put two and two together. The closer I got to home, the denser the smoke became. So I made a slight detour and found the source, the Shamrock Minimart just six blocks from our place.

Scores of neighborhood residents and live crews from all four local TV stations watched as dozens of firefighters battled the blaze. I first approached from a downwind (and down-sun) position, then circled around to get a better view.

The firefighters had the blaze basically under control by the time I arrived, but were unable to save the building. It was still burning quite strongly, though, and I was able to make some decent pictures. I later learned that Portland General Electric had cut power to more than 5700 customers (including me) because the fire threatened the overhead power lines that run right past the building. After shooting as much as I needed, I returned home to a dark house. Perrie and I went out for a spontaneous dinner date in St. Johns, and returned home about ten minutes after the power was restored.

The next morning we went back for the follow-up. A couple of firetrucks, including the mobile command center, were still on the scene. A number of inspectors were examining the site, and firefighters were still dealing with hot spots. A crew from a restoration company were also on hand; I’m no expert, but I don’t think there will be much to restore—or even salvage—from this fire.

Here are a few pictures, followed by a longer slide show on the Trillium Media Services website.

Shamrock Minimart Fire – Images by Matthew Ginn

The chamber of commerce in Yachats, Ore., takes a distinctly different approach to marketing than most others. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

For the final post from our camping trip, some pictures of our side trip into Yachats (the ‘c’ is silent: “yah-hots”).

Yachats is a small seaside town just a couple miles north of Cape Perpetua. While much of the main drag is the standard gas station-restaurant-video store type of thing you’d find in any small highway town, there are some really cool sites just off the beaten path.

Like the Little Log Church and Museum, for example. It was built in 1930, and became a museum in 1970 after the congregation outgrew it (I think it would be uncomfortably packed with even three dozen people). The museum has a random collection of items with some connection to Yachats, including a 1920s permanent wave machine (scary) and a local’s collection of seashells from all over the world. The sanctuary part is gorgeous and quaint, and is still used for weddings and such, including one that started right after we left.

Yachats also has some beautiful houses with stunning flower gardens, and numerous summer homes along the coastline.

The thing I don’t understand are the decorative banners hung on the telephone poles around town. You know what I’m talking about: the colorful pieces of cloth that chambers of commerce use to spruce up the place, saying things like “The town of friendly people” or “Pickle capital of America” and the like.

Yachats has the same kind of thing, but takes a distinctly different tack in their marketing plan. Their slogan? “La de da. Yachats.”

Now, I did a little research and discovered that “La de da” is the name of the town’s annual festival which strives to be anything but frou-frou. (“Open to all ages. Except 39.”) Well that’s great, but most people that drive through the town won’t go out of their way to do the research. What exactly are they going to think about the place? Yachats, whoop-de-do?

The Giant Spruce at Cape Perpetua Campground stands nearly 200 feet tall. Over its lifetime, it has survived numerous storms, fires, earthquakes and tsunamis. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

Today’s post focuses on the Cape Perpetua Campground, where Perrie and I stayed for two nights last weekend.

The campground has 38 sites (plus a group site), running water and flush toilets (but no showers). We weren’t able to reserve the same site for both nights, so we had to move on Saturday morning. That worked out well, though, because we got to experience both types of sites in the campground.

Our first site (no. 8 ) was fairly open, which meant that it was relatively bug-free but wet in the morning with the marine fog/dew/drizzle. (This is a rain forest, after all.) The ground was very uneven thanks to the work of some kind of burrowing rodent, but it backed onto a babbling brook (Cape Creek) that gave a nice ambiance to the place.

Thankfully, Friday’s occupants of site 39 left early Saturday morning so we were able to move right after breakfast and didn’t have to interrupt our activities later on. We had to walk up about 9 steps to access the site, which was tucked very privately into the forest above the road. In contrast to our first site, it was quite dry in spite of the morning fog, but also quite infested with mosquitoes. We quickly learned to shower in bug dope before entering the site.

On Sunday morning we made the short walk—half a mile or so—from our campsite through the old-growth forest to the Giant Spruce. In an area known for tall trees, this 500-year-old Sitka Spruce is big. And, they say, it lost its top 35 feet in a windstorm in 1962. Even so, it stands nearly 200 feet tall. You could probably lean about 20 bicycles around its base without double-parking. It’s big.

Visitors admire the view from Cape Perpetua, the highest point on the Oregon Coast. "It's amazing," gushed one, "You can see for inches!" (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2010)

This set of images deals with some of the hikes Perrie and I did at Cape Perpetua last weekend. Neither was particularly long, although the St. Perpetua trail was pretty challenging thanks to the 750-foot gain in elevation over slightly more than a mile. Yes, that’s an average of about 13%. Some of it was flat.

Right after breakfast Saturday morning we packed sandwiches and trail mix into our backpack and headed out to tackle the St. Perpetua trail. The trail guide said the view from the top was well worth the climb. I can categorically say that it was not. At least not the day we were there.

Frankly, it was virtually identical to what you might see at Mt. St. Helens. As one visitor gushed, “It’s amazing! You can see for inches!”

But that’s not to say that the hike wasn’t enjoyable. In addition to the workout (which you can avoid by driving up to the top), we were witness to the up-close natural beauty of the area (which you can also avoid by driving up to the top). Squirrels and chipmunks munching on pine cones, snails blazing trails through the forest, and a stunning bouquet of blooming wildflowers all made the hike a worthwhile endeavor.

Part two of the slide show below includes photos from our Sunday afternoon walk up to the Heceta Head lighthouse near Florence. Though we had a few minutes of sunshine on the beach earlier that day, the fog was pretty thick again by the time we reached the lighthouse. Thankfully, with the aid of binoculars, we could see the couple hundred yards to a guano-covered rock populated by guillemots, murres, and two types of cormorants, which you can see—but thankfully not smell—in the photos below.