running down that hill

There’s nothing like waking up to the view of an awe-inspiring mountain and a beautiful blue sky. On Sunday, I crawled out of the tent, faced the mountain, stretched, took three good breaths and I was healed. Wishing works because I was ready to go again. I washed up in the creek, we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs with bits of bread mixed into it and packed up our things to head back.

The hike back up the ridge was difficult but I made it through. My legs began to ache slightly but nowhere near as bad as the day before. The view from the peak of the ridge is simply amazing. Mt Jefferson is the mountain in the above picture and the ridge is in front of it. From the top of the ridge, I could see Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson (obviously), smoke from a forest fire in the hills to the left of the mountain and more mountains than I could fathom beyond that. Since my legs didn’t ache as much, I was able to enjoy the scenery that much more.

Plus, the majority of the hike back was DOWNHILL! YAY!! I did a LOT better going back, barely needing a break at all. Arturo’s neck was bothering him though so we did take a break of two but we made it back in great time. When we got back to the car, we had to drive down through the river bed that passes for a road. I got out of the car several times to move large rocks out of the way.

When we made it down the road, we had to go towards Salem instead of Estacada/Portland because there was a gas station closer by the Salem way. I saw Detroit, Oregon for the first time. It seemed like a seasonal town in it’s peak right now due to the hikers and the river rats. After we filled up, we headed to Salem and then finally to Portland. We got stuck in a long traffic jam outside Woodburn. I hate I-5. We finally arrived in Portland around 7 pm. I ate something quick, showered and had the best sleep I’ve had for quite a while.

It was an adventure. I don't know how soon I'll be up for repeating it but I know I won't be forgetting it any time soon.