It was a sunny warm fall October day. Everything in me needed to get to the woods. I invited our International Student Celebrity to head out on her first real hike in Oregon!
We headed toward Mt. Hood and up the Mirror Lake trailhead. Getting to Mirror Lake is a treat and I thought we might get all the way to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain for a wonderful view. I only had one child for this adventure, baby Analise, now one year old.
When I don't have Amy I look for a challenge that I could not do as easily with her. Climbing with 45 lbs on my back is hard as well especially if the load is grumpy! However, it is often easier than motivating a five year old who is tired.
We made good time up to the lake. When we got there, Celebrity practiced skipping rocks and baby Analise played in the rocks and dirt and practiced her walking.
We decided we had plenty of energy for continuing up to the top. Celebrity did great. Analise complained bitterly about getting back in the backpack and would have preferred to wiggle at the lake.
We climbed the 1.5 more miles up to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain and were rewarded with an incredible view!
Mt. Hood was very close but we could also see Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Jefferson.
Celebrity did a great job with the climb. It was a great start to much more hiking together to come. I don't think I scared her off as I have with many first timers with my overly ambitious hiking plans.
We enjoyed playing with rocks on the top and soaking in the amazing sun and mountain views! The season for getting up to high places is close to over, so I was so happy to have this chance to get to a new high destination!
We saw the lake below and eventually left being "on top of the world" back down to the trailhead. Very soon we will be snowshoeing near and on these mountains.
No comments:
Post a Comment