TagHiking

Walk in the Woods

washington-state-olympic-national-parkAfter moving to Washington my husband was deployed and I was left to explore by myself. I started searching the area around our house for green spots that could lead to a hiking trail or a park. I found a very awesome gem with a GREAT view of the Olympic National park. It was a short 1 mile hike all the way down to the beach and a slightly up hill 1 mile hike back up to the parking lot.

I have not done much hiking in my life … I guess that’s what happens when you live on a 2×4 island for almost 4 years. I am excited to explore my new home and get to see how the other half lives. It might not be all palm trees and sunshine up here but at least there is a good view. I also think I am going to be getting better at my photography skills.

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Multnomah Falls – Portland, Oregon

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Hiking Multnomah Falls in Portland, Oregon –

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Lets start of by saying that I did not know what I was getting myself into when I said SURE! I will hike to the top. 1 1/4 miles later I was thinking this was a bad idea.

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Well at that point I had made it to the top and couldn’t argue with the beautiful view. Mind you this was after we took a red eye flight from Key West to Atlanta then to Portland. We arrived at our hotel at about 2am washed all the plane scum off and then slept for a few hours. I was very proud of myself that I was able to make it to the top. I know to normal people this might not have been such a big deal but for myself it was. Over 600 feet up is a long way when you have never been there and don’t quite know what to expect.

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It was an absolutely stunning view that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Life is all about what you experience. If I could have I would have stayed at the top for awhile and just read a book. The very peaceful stream that feeds the falls would be fun to dip your toe in and relax for a few hours.

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Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon. It is credited by a sign at the site of the falls, and by the United States Forest Service, as the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States. However, there is some skepticism surrounding this distinction, as Multnomah Falls is listed as the 137th tallest waterfall in the United States by the World Waterfall Database (this site does not distinguish between seasonal and year-round waterfalls).

To read more click here: Multnomah Falls

#ANCA Trip Part 3

Wednesday was the first official day of the #ANCA Summit being held at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. We spent most of the morning driving around Cades Cove (hot spot for Bears). And man did the bears come out that day! We saw 7 of them! A Mom and her 3 Cubs, 2 more Cubs (Mom was already up the hill) and a Male just taking a stroll down the hillside. From what I was told we were very lucky to see that many in one day. Later in the week we took 3 more drives around Cades Cove and no more bears were spotted. It was a great week to spend out in the Mountains, The weather was perfect and we even had a few thunderstorms to enjoy! There were lots of Campfire and Singing, I learned the words to more songs than I even thought was possible.