Hiking

For someone who is not very physically active normally, I outdid myself two weeks ago. I think I am finally able to move again without feeling all the aches and pains that showed up when I forced my body to do something it rebelled against. I have to admit I surprised myself as well as those who were with me that I actually completed both hikes.

On the "celebrated" Memorial Day holiday of May 25th we went hiking with two of our children and their families. The weather was perfect. We packed a yummy lunch and met everyone at the South Falls park of Silver Falls State Park. We had a total of 6 adults and 7 kids ranging in age from 2 to 60. I was closer to the 60 year old.

We headed right out and took the nearly 5 mile hike slow and steady. The scenes were absolutely beautiful. The kids had fun running behind the waterfall or up the bank of the hills. It took all six of the adults to keep an eye on our adventursome 5 year old Erik. He wanted desperately to slid down the "hills" that ended in a long drop right into the river. Somehow the end of the slide never seemed to register.

We stopped a few times along the way to rest and snack. One place had a hallowed out tree stump that was about 16 feet tall. The boys, both young and old, had fun climbing in and on it.

The "end" of our trail before we turned around was a very long staircase leading to a beautiful spot where you could look back the way you came and see the beautiful falls. Grandma and Grandpa opted to wait at the top until the family came back. Grandma did venture down to the first landing where I could see a pretty good view of the falls, but that was as far as I was willing to go. Climbing back up was difficult to say the least. I never would have made it back up if I had gone to the bottom.

The trip back was just as beautiful, but hotter as the sun got higher in the sky. We finally reached the last leg. Unfortunately for me it was a very steep assend to the top of the trail. I know we didn't come down that way. The two year old had a nice cushy ride on Daddy's back the whole hike until we got to the last leg. Mommy decided she could walk for a bit. So there I was, watching a two year old walk up the steep path. If she could do it then I could do it. Besides I didn't really have a choice. I started up the path, huffing and puffing all the way. I stopped a few times to catch my breath, but eventually I made it to the top.

We headed to a nice grassey area for lunch and to let the kids play in the river to cool down. A fun time was had by all.

I could hardly walk on Tuesday, but by Wednesday I was doing my normal lunch time walk at work. I didn't walk as far, but I did go for a walk on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'm so glad I did, because that helped me prepare for the hike on Saturday.


We took our Young Women to Silver Falls State Park for a 5 mile hike for camp certification. This time we hiked the North Falls. The hike ended up being closer to 7 miles and the pace was a bit faster. We saw 6 different falls and seemed to run to the next one. This time we brought two grand daughters with us. Alyson is 7 and Laila is 10. Laila stayed right with us and would stop to smell the flowers and take pictures with Grandpa. Alyson wanted to be in the lead. I told her she had to keep me in sight, but that didn't last long. Grandma was one of the last ones and she wanted to be one of the first. Thankfully the Young Women girls decided to keep an eye on her for me. They even had a hard time keeping up with her.

Again, after the long hike we headed to the grassy area by the South Falls and had a picnic lunch and let the girls play in the water.

Amazingly enough I didn't feel nearly as stiff after the second hike and was able to walk "normal" when I went to Church on Sunday. However, I was depressed that the scales didn't reflect a single pound drop off after both hikes.