Around Mt. Hood-CHECK

The past 2 summers Brian has hiked around Mt. Hood. I call him crazy because every time he comes back he is blistered, sore, and swears off hiking forever. Then a few weeks later, once he is healed, he starts talking about it again and soon he is planning yet another trip. 

Somehow he roped me into doing it this year with him. I enjoy hiking and enjoy my husband so it sounded like a win win. Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I didn't want to let my hubby down and I didn't want to die. Ya know?

Weeks leading up to it we finalized our packs and had everything we needed. The night before we excitedly packed our bags and got all ready for our big adventure.

We parked at the bottom of Cloud Cap and met up with Craig and Jessica. Craig is Brian's friend of like 15 years and we love him like family. Jessica and him have been dating for a few years, this was our first time meeting her. 

The day started out with 3 miles up hill and just got better from there ;)

I won't go into every single detail, partly because I can't remember every single detail but also that might get boring. So I will do highlights of the trip.

1. Elliott Glacier-

    It's washed out and there was even a sign saying, DO NOT DO IT. But we don't like rules so we did it anyway.

It was tough, and I slid multiple times

Jessica and me breaking the rules

We all survived the big wash out and believe it or not, even though it was tough I kind of enjoyed it. We had to be creative and use teamwork which is kind of fun.

The fire that happened two years ago destroyed a huge part of the forest

Gorgeous views!

Star flowers! Had to take a picture for the girls :)

The first day, around 5 pm or so I hit my wall. Meaning, I was convinced I couldn't do it. I was in so much pain and mentally I felt defeated. We had passed our original campsite an hour or so before thinking we were rock stars and would go to the next one. Well, the next one was quite a bit further than we had thought. So I just wanted to cry. Brian carried my pack and told me stories about our girls' births and it helped a lot. We eventually ended up camping at a little spot we found and Craig ran and got water for all of us. On the mountain you use a water filter and pump water at creeks you come up to. As soon as we started getting our tent set up the thunder, lightning and rain hit. And because Brian we wanted to save weight in our packs, he we didn't bring our rainfly. 

We got soaked. It was like sleeping in a waterbed...without the bed. It was miserable. And in the morning we had to shove all our wet stuff back into our pack. It wasn't very cool.

Later that day Brian hit his wall and I'm positive the rain contributed to his mental defeat.

2. Devil's Punch Bowl aka Toilet Bowl
   Insane. It is sooo steep I couldn't believe it. You would literally free fall to your death if you stepped off of it.

Craig clearly has no fear of heights

Pictures just don't do it justice, it's crazy high.

Fortunately you don't have to go out on the ledge, like Craig did. We just kind of looked at the view from the safety of the secured trail. We camped at Paradise park (more info below) and in the morning Brian was passed his wall and ready to go on.

Another great view

3. Paradise Park
    Apparently this is a gorgeous view of the mountain and down below it...I say apparently because the day we climbed it, it was insanely foggy. You couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. So I feel a little jipped.

Crazy awesome waterfall

4. Timberline Lodge
   Around lunch time on the 3rd day we got to Timberline Lodge and had a real meal. It was fabulous and filling. We also got to call and check on the girls and touch base with friends. Due to the severe thunderstorms and missing hiker (his name was Ian and we actually passed him on the trail, fortunately it ended happily as he was found alive and well!) we let everyone know we were okay and kicking.

5. Newton Creek
    We got a little ahead of ourselves. We planned to camp at Newton Creek and the guys assured us, it was just around the bend. So we went around the bend and down and it was not Newton Creek. It was the creek before the big huge ass climb, around the bend. I almost hit another wall at this point. I was tired, ready to take my shoes off and not only were we not at our camp spot but we had quite a hike to go.

But we made it. And that last night was the best night ever. No rain, very little wind, best camping spot, and Craig even built a fire. It was glorious.
Plus, we saw a little Fairy house!

Clearly women had built this, it was complete with flowers and every detail was thought of.

I had to take a picture for Bria, I knew she would love it!

Our set up

Sittin' by the fire

We popped some pain pills after a fabulous campfire and went off to dreamland. This is the night that made me want to go on tons of hikes!

6. The Climb
    The last day was straight up, UP. 7,100 feet elevation and crazy views of Mt. Hood. Brian and I had a BLAST. We were taking pictures, dancing, singing, and being straight up goofy kids. My favorite day. Who needs couples therapy? Just go for a 47 mile hike together!

Hiking up...

...and up...

Glorious

...still more up.

Well, hello! We did all that!

My best friend in the whole world. 

Craig

Just adjusting my poles, don't mind me :)

Criag being Craig:

Last 2 1/2 miles down Tilly Jane to our cars, fabulous!!!

Glacier water is the bomb

So we made it. We survived. We have some blisters, a little sore for a few days. But overall we feel awesome and I'm looking forward to the next hike. A different one this time, I feel I already conquered this one so I'm ready for the next. I will say I enjoyed the change of scenery on this hike. Everyday we were in different terrain and I really liked that. I loved all the creek crossings, they took some team work and the guys were always helping us across. I'm so happy we did it and did it safely!

*This hike was made possible by very special people whom we love to the moon and back: Grammy, Heather, Tracy, Amy, and Kayla. Without these ladies we couldn't have done it and we are forever in their debt! Thank you thank you!

Will return momentarily...

Brian and I went on a 47 mile hike around Mt. Hood last weekend. We are recovering well, just tired and sore. I'm looking forward to doing a whole blog post about it but I'm slacking a little so until then, please enjoy random pictures of our cuties :)

Swimming at our friends' house

Painting boxes and rocks

Beach and family, doesn't get much better

My cousin, Tasha, and her family live in Boise and drove over to visit the Oregon coast and us :) We were thrilled to spend time with them, Payton and Bria are just a few months apart and are so sweet together. 

Reese playing with the big girls

The condo they let us crash at with them

Aspen and Reese, adorable babies!!

We did the Evergreen Waterpark on Saturday and then Sunday we did the outlets (back to school shopping, wahoo!) and the beach.

Eating her feet to keep herself entertained

 We walked down Depoe Bay and had a bite to eat at a little local dive.

LOVE

Saturday night after the kids went to bed we thoroughly enjoyed adult conversations until way too late. We knew we were tired when the conversation drifted to nose hair, so we decided to call it a night at that point.

 The 3 older kids (CJ, Payton, and Bria) slept on the hide-a-bed in the living room and it was so stinkin' cute. They all came in our room at 7:30 am and asked if they could get up, haha.

 Sunday it was cloudy and cold at the beach, exactly what I picture the Oregon coast to be like. The funny thing was that we drove about 36 seconds north and it was blue sky and gorgeous. Gotta love Oregon!!

 We are so grateful to be able to spend time with family and create memories for our kids that I had as a child. Lanie and Tasha and I have so many wonderful memories as kids and now our girls can have them too!

The upside to living next to an airport

Is that we have front row seats for the airshow.
Every year I am amazed when I watch the planes fly sideways, upside down, straight up, straight down, you name it.
This year our friends, Nate, Roxie and Gracie joined us. They were our neighbors when we lived down in Albany and they moved to Nevada a few years ago then just moved to Portland! Small world :)

Love Gracie's photobomb, classic!

These girls had a blast together

Gracie is 6 and even though she's older than Bria, she is so sweet and patient with her, and Reese too.

Our neighbors joined our little airshow tailgate :)

The kiddos

Good times

Locked out

This little contraption is courtesy of my smart self...because I locked myself out of the house after taking the girls to the park.
Brian was on a business trip (he didn't have his house key either anyway) and we haven't been smart enough to give an extra key to Heather or hide one around our house.
And of course, as luck would have it, the only unlocked window was on the second floor.
I actually consider myself lucky that a window was unlocked, that is very rare in our house. Our ladder was not tall enough (my 5 '3 status didn't help) even when I put it on top of the chairs. So I put the chairs on the step, and that was better.
I handed Bria my phone and told her to call 911 if I fell.
I made it in.
Brian wasn't sure whether to be proud or mad at me.