Two Kid Schoolhouse
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Aug. 13, 2006
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Our hike up Saddle Mountain
Yesterday we had a wonderful, total-fun day, something we haven't done in a long time. And we all feel a great sense of accomplishment from it. (Well, right now only I do; everyone else is still sleeping.)
We hiked up Saddle Mountain here in the Coast Range of Oregon. I'd never even heard of it. But we wanted something exciting and new to do, and C found this hike. Since the kids are going away to camp next week, it seemed like a good idea to break in their hiking boots and get them ready for hiking.
They won't be doing anything like this! This was a 2 mile ascent up the mountain, 1630 (another place said 1603) foot elevation gain. And there was no helcopter at the top to bring us back down...
There were times it was a hard hike; there were times it was a bit dangerous (slippery rocks on the trail and a dropoff edge...). When we were almost to the top E just about gave up. She was so tired! But after our lunch break (and extra chocolate rations) she rallied and made it to the summit. We are all so excited!
The best moment: J giving E a big hug and saying "I'm so proud of you! This was hardest for you!" I started crying behind my sunglasses...
After photos we started down. This is where it got scary a few times as it was so easy to skid on the rocks. If I'd known about this ahead of time I would probably not have come. But we had to get down, and by going carefully (and holding on to rocks, trees, and the occasional cable installed by the State Park) we made it with only a couple of minor falls.
Everyone felt so good when we got to the bottom. We had planned to go to the beach after, but we hadn't counted on the round trip taking 5 hours! A great restaurant nearby was calling our names... and we were hungry. So we stopped at Camp 18 for dinner and... dessert. If you click on that link and scroll down a bit, you will see the cinnamon bun and C and I ate almost doublehandedly. (The kids had some samples.) To our credit, we did not add butter! Normally we order one dessert for the 4 of us but we couldn't agree, and it seemed the kids "deserved" their own dessert last night. E had peppermint ice cream and J some marionberry cobbler. I didn't taste theirs but they appeared to be delicious...
E wanted desperately to go to the beach (we had talked about going after dinner); it was only about 15 miles. But Camp 18 includes a gift shop, logging museum, and a creek. And then we found some horses to feed and pet... we never made it back to the beach. E bought herself a souvenir spoon and we found a Christmas gift to stash away for Grandma (assuming I don't lose it by Christmas). I also bought one of the same item - a cute little wall-hanging thing with a cardinal and flower and the saying "you are special to me" - as a secret for E. She'll get that at Christmas too.
I am stiff and sore this morning. I'm sure everyone else will be too, when they finally get up. It's almost time to rise and shine for church... bet E has a tough time staying awake...
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Musings of a slacker homeschool Mom
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