Muggy Hiking

It's not usually humid and sticky outside in Oregon, but yesterday afternoon there was a storm front coming in, the weather was dry, warm, humid, and not a breeze was blowing. So of course we decide to go hiking Mt. Pisgah.

I got off work early and picked up my Marathon Packet and Race information and a new jogging outfit from the Marathon vendor fair, then went and got Luke from Grandma Hallock. She recently had shoulder surgery and can't lift the baby, but she still can have her little buddy hang out at her place during the day. Luke loves helping Grandma and playing with his friend Marcos next door.

Then we were off to get Daddy and AnnaMae so we could go hiking.

Whenever I've hiked Mt. Pisgah I usually start on the far trail and go the long way because it's not very steep (Trail 3). Granted, it is a long hike, but from memory it's pretty easy. Brian checked it out online and he wanted to take the shortest path. "Only 1.4 miles each way if we take trail 1!"

Oooooh boy. 1.4 miles of pretty steep trails, with me and the baby back-pack. Granted, I'm doing this as training for the marathon, but I don't want to kill myself before I go on Sunday. Let's just say that I got my workout. Luke says he prefers Spencer's Butte since it's easier. Here are the two resting on a bench just above the 1 mile mark. Luke thought he was so cool to take off his shirt. AnnaMae was just happy to be alive the whole time. She got tired of the carrier about 2/3 of the way up and just wanted to run from there, or have Daddy carry her (which was fine by me).

Anyways, we had a great time, the top has a better view than Spencer's, and it's been years since we hiked it. The trip down was greusome on my knees, but we all made it intact, little-boy potty breaks and all. AnnaMae insisted on running for about half a mile up and half a mile down. At the top she just kept running in circles. She had a blast! This was the first time she's done one of the local hills with us, and I think she wants to do it again.

If anyone wants to do the hike, they recently added gravel to long stretches of it, so it won't be too muddy. Just be aware that you DO NOT step off that path. The poison Oak is everywhere. We warned Luke and he got the gist. He was so good about not leaving the path for an instant. Here he is trying to keep AnnaMae from eating the new rocks. Why she wanted to eat them is beyond me.

It would have been nice to walk down around the Arboretum as well, but by the time we were done we needed to get dinner. It's been years since we did the lower garden walk. It looked like most weekends they have bir-watching hikes, mushroom hikes, and all sorts of neat guided events.

Then we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Walker's house where the boys hit the hot tub and we girls hung out with the grandparents. They recently had a plumbing nightmare at their house. The upshot is that they got a new kitchen floor and will be getting all-new carpet. The downside is that their home has been a wreck for at least a month. They were pretty happy that we stopped in, though.

Finally we headed home. AnnaMae was asleep before we passed downtown, and Luke was pretty tired too. It was a great hike and we definitely want to do it again, though next time, I think we'll try Trail 3.