Thursday, November 12, 2009

Eagle Creek for Veterans Day


It was a great day, and after wishing all those vets and their families and the civilians that work for and with them a happy veterans day, I set out with a group of friends to hike Eagle Creek Trail. It was all very last minuet, when Tuesday night you realize that all your regular jobs are canceled tomorrow due to a federal holiday, what do you do? Why sleep in of course, and then pack up the dog and a day pack and take off for the Gorge. Yes it was raining, but I had wool socks and my ski pants and a NOLS fleece to keep me warm and dry. Cindy, Austin and Lola went with me. We drove out to exit 41, parked and headed up the trail. It was fun just walking and talking or rather signing till we got to the cliff part, okay so that was most of it, it's just a scary trail to be signing on but we all lived through it. The trail hugs basalt cliffs warn away by the mighty Eagle Creek. Since it had been raining the water was just pouring off the cliffs and onto the trail, one part was literally a waterfall you had to walk behind. We arrived at punch bowl and the river was so high you couldn't actually see the falls. We all sat down to have a picnic lunch and I kicked off my shoes and socks, rolled up the pants and waded out into the rushing river to some logs stuck in the middle. Climbing out I took some quick pictures with my phone then contemplated the return forge. I waited for the feeling and color to return to my feet before jumping back in and making my way back to the shore. It was such a nice day for the hike. I had been on this trail before in summer, 90 degrees, barely a trickle in the river, after 30 miles of hiking, we by-passed punch bowl, heads down one foot in front of the other just trying to get out and back home...nice to have finally arrived :)

4 comments:

  1. Glad you're safe and had fun. We took the kids and the dog hiking on that trail once- in late Feb. It was scary! When a tree snapped above us and nearly fell on top of us,we decided it was time to turn around and head home. You've inspired me to try again... when it's not so dangerous.

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  2. Hey Lizy!

    Always good to hear from you! This is definitely a trail I would do with kids and a dog but it's very popular and I wouldn't go on a weekend or holiday! Too many people. Besides the rain made it interesting but I can see how that would be scary with kids...do it in the summer time or fall after school starts but before the rain :)

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  3. Jen: Did Buddy go with? Great shot of the trail. Looks a little scarey to me. Hey we were on a road exactly like a Provence hill road the other day. I yelled at Gary "This is it. Just like France" Barbie

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  4. Awesome! Even though the road was scary I would totally go back! Yes Buddy and another dog Milsa went with us, I should post more pics, they are all posted on facebook, but I'll see what I can do. There are a couple of scary parts to the trail but they have guide wires you can hold onto and I just put Buddy on a leash, the pictures are more scary than the real thing. It was pretty awesome though and a very easy trail.

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