August 27, 2011 - Hike 3

Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls - Approximately 5.0 mile loop.

What a beautiful day to go for a hike in the gorge. The temperature was in the upper 80's to about 90 degrees in Beaverton so we decided to escape and head to the gorge. The Wahkeena Falls trail offered a nice cool breeze when hiking near the water but it was still muggy when the trail went away from the water area.

This trail is rated moderate in some books and challenging in others. It does climb approximately 1500' in about 2 miles. That being said, the first 2 to 2-1/2 miles of the trail is completely up hill and offers a good work out. The trail passes Wahkeena Falls early on and then you will pass Fairy Falls at about 1.2 miles. Fairy Falls is very pretty, almost dainty looking with wispy trails of water. About 1/2 mile past Fairy Falls the trail approaches Wahkeena Springs. Just a little more up hill and then there was a good stretch of forested trail that was relatively flat. After that we began to descend towards Multnomah Falls. On the way there were many other falls that I am not sure if they are named. This is a beautiful hike.

On our hike this day there were several families and couples hiking the first 3/4 mile and then the trail was very quiet and we were alone for a couple of miles. When we neared Multnomah Falls, the trail again became very populated. At the top of Multnomah Falls  and on down to the lower falls, the trail was like one long Disney line. It was wonderful to see the diversity of people hiking to the top of the falls. There were moms carrying babies, old people, teenagers, small people, big people, etc. I loved looking at all the babies and young children on the trail.

I feel very fortunate that my husband loves to hike and be in nature as much as I. Below is is photo of the two of us taken on the trail.

On another note, I did get my daughter off to college. She is having a wonderful time. I am trying really hard not to pick up the phone and call her too often. Hiking and getting ready for school makes it a little easier.

August 20, 2011 - Hike 2

Wildwood Trail, Washington Park - Burnside to Cornell Road - Approximately 4 miles round trip

If you have never hiked the Wildwood Trail in Washington Park you should give it a try. The Wildwood is 30 miles of beautiful trail. There are many places you can start on the trail and I am sure I will probably hike the entire 30 miles before this quest is over. On this day, we started at a little parking area on Burnside just down from the turn-off to Pittock Mansion. There is room for about a dozen cars to park. Once parked, we crossed Burnside to head up the hill through a shady canopy to Pittock Mansion. I would say it is about 1/2 mile to the mansion. The first part of the trail you can hear the traffic from Burnside but you quickly get into the forest and the city sounds fade away. About a 1/4 mile into the trail we heard a loud sound coming from high in a tree. It was a beautiful woodpecker, probably 12 inches tall with a nice red head. It looked like the picture below so I believe it was a Pileated Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker). They sure can make a racket and bark was flying down from where he was pecking the tree.

After watching the bird for a while, we continued on to the Pittock Mansion. The grounds of the mansion are so pretty that it is worth walking around a bit before you carry on with the trail. The trail continues on the north side of the Pittock parking lot. From the mansion is is mostly downhill until you get to Macleay Park which is on Cornell. At this point we turned around to head back to the car.

It is a nice work out climbing the hill back to the mansion.

On the way back to the mansion, we ran into several Southridge High students who were training for cross country track. One of the students was Patrick Nikong, a brilliant student. I am his advisor for his extended essay but he has been fortunate to have worked with an environmental scientist from PSU over the summer. The work he did with the professor may be published, in which case Patrick would be a second author of the paper. That would be quite a feather in his cap. Wonderful kid - it is great that he is training his body as well as his mind.

Well that is the second hike of 50, 48 remaining.

August 17th, 2011 - Hike 1

Ecola State Park to Indian Beach - 3 miles round trip.

Ever since I turned 49 1/2, I have been thinking about what it would be like to be 50 years old. Now don't get me wrong, I usually do not worry about age. It is not something that I want to spend my time doing. But, and this is a big but (not a big butt, mind you), I am also facing an empty nest. My daughter just turned 18 and will be leaving for college in a weeks time. So here I am, about to be half a century old, and the job (motherhood) I have been really good at for 21 years is about to go part-time. So, I have been pondering what I am going to do with all this spare time.

What spare time you might ask. That is unless you are a mother, then of course you know what I mean. Below is a list of some of the things I will not be doing, or at least not doing as much, that will give me the extra spare time.

• Coercing a sleepy teenager out of bed before noon.
• Waiting patiently for 10-20 minutes while my child takes that extra "second" to go get something before we leave the house.
• Helping look for lost items in a room that is 2 feet deep in debris (clean clothes, dirty clothes, blankets, books, etc).
• Nagging my teenager to clean the room that is 2 feet deep in debris.
• Explaining to said teenager that I would not have to nag if she would just do what I ask.

Well, you get the point. I will undoubtedly have more spare time this coming year. That is, after I stop all of the crying from missing her so much. I am so totally going to miss everything about being a full-time mom. It really has been the best job ever. So, to keep my self busy and to celebrate 50 years, I have decided to do 50 hikes. As with everything, there has to be rules. RULE 1 - Each hike must be unique. I can not count a hike that I do again if I have already counted it. RULE 2 - The hike must be a minimum of 2 miles to count. RULE 3 - I must have fun and enjoy the people with me.

Now about my inaugural hike: On Wednesday, my husband, daughter and I went to Cannon Beach for the day. It was a gorgeous day. You gotta just love the Oregon Coast in August. We spent some time going around to the shops in town. My daughter found a great pair of pants at Signature Imports. They are kind of like "I Dream of Jeannie" pants in a nice rust color. They will be perfect for the Liberal Arts College she will be attending.

After that we spent some time on the beach. My husband and I played Frisbee while my daughter read "The Odyssey". Then we headed off to Ecola State Park for the first of many great hikes. Ecola State Park is just North of Cannon Beach. There are fantastic views to be seen even from the parking lot. The entrance to the trail to Indian Beach is just to left of the seaward side of the parking lot. It is well marked with a distance of 1.5 miles to Indian Beach. The trail had many cliffside viewpoints above the Pacific Ocean with beautiful seascapes below. About half-way to Indian Beach there is a slight detour off the main trail to a giant Spruce that has a large hollow tree hole big enough for me to climb from back to front of the tree. Other than getting sap on my hands, it was quite fantastic.

After snapping pictures, we went on to Indian Beach. Indian beach is a beautiful cozy cove that is great for surfing. It has a nice cobble upper beach with a very fine sand lower beach. There were many families as well as surfers on the beach this day. After a short stop at the beach, we headed back to Ecola State Park for a total trip of 3 miles. Overall, a great hike on a beautiful day.