Easing back into hiking

In early May, I had to have emergency surgery to remove a very large Ovarian Cyst.  I was unable to work for a month and had a very large incision.  Fortunately, the surgery went well.  I was 21 weeks pregnant at the time and the baby is still growing like a champ!







It was difficult for me to rest at home.  After two weeks of it and weaning off pain meds, I was ready for hiking again!  I decided a good first hike with Amy post surgery would be Powell Butte- in town but quite beautiful. 







The entrance was closed, so we walked up the hill from the main street.  After multiple stops to "tell princess Lilly stories to baby", we made it to the beautiful meadows and the mountain finder.







We enjoyed lunch on a bench but did not see too many mountains on this somewhat cloudy day.







We wandered around the meadow, enjoying the open views.  It felt great to be out and hiking, even in town.







After ample time in the meadow, we headed down into the forest for a bit of a loop through more trees and a creek.







We saw many butterflies.  It turned into a bit longer hike than anticipated so we played the alphabet game and I spy to pass the time.







Amy spotted a little snail on the trail that we would have just walked past.  This is the joy of having someone who notices everything and is a little closer to the ground to see things I might otherwise miss.







After our long urban hike, we found a great cafe with a porch and a swing!  We enjoyed some decaf coffee and a cookie.  They also served ice cream but we were saving room for the four year old birthday party later in the evening.  It was everything we look for in an after hiking treat spot and more!







After picking up our friend Bethany, and having some dinner, we headed home to celebrate Amy's birthday.  After dinner, some friends came over and we went down to the park to crank homemade chocolate ice cream and eat cake.  It was delicious!  I can't believe my little girl is four!  How does this happen.







I felt like I might have pushed myself a little, but felt great about the effort and looked forward to continuing the hiking throughout this pregnancy.  

Tom McCall Point

 This hike is quite a climb for even adults, and especially four year olds, but one of my favorite places in the gorge.







You start East of Hood River winding up the hill from Mosier to Tom McCall Preserve.  The views of the gorge are awesome just from the parking lot.







There is an easier hike down below to enjoy wildflowers and a point on the gorge, but of course I like more of a challenge with my wildflowers :-).







We started up the steep trail toward Tom McCall Point.  It was the first bright, sunny warm day in awhile and we figured we would call snowshoeing a season in search for some wildflowers and beautiful views.






We saw Mt. Adams peaking out at us and continued climbing through paintbrushes and avalanche lilies.  Last summer when I was here we saw a rattlesnake, but today it was just a few lizards.







We continued the steep climb with our four year old bundle of energy who took lots of water and deep breath breaks.







It was a beautiful day to enjoy wildflowers and we continued climbing up and up until we started to have the beautiful views!







We saw the gorge in the distance and Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams looming above us.





Everyone who passed us commented on what an excellent hiker Amy is!  She just kept on climbing.







At the top we enjoyed some sunbathing and a wonderful cooked lunch which a dog attempted to steal some of.  We took our time enjoying the view and each others company before setting out back down the hill.