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.