16+ Miles and A Marriage (Part One)

I can't begin to relate how incredibly beautiful the McKenzie River Trail is.  We hiked over 16 miles through an old growth forest of Douglas Fir and Cedar, over a 1500 year old lava bed, beside rainbow lit waterfalls.  Wild rhododendrons bloomed and littered the path with pink petal confetti.  Small succulents clung to lava rocks speckling the scene with bits of white or purple or yellow flowers.  Mushrooms popped up, hidden on the forest floor amidst decomposing branches.

 All along the way the powerful waters of the McKenzie River flowed beside (and sometimes beneath) us.  We were amazed by an incredible three waterfalls which had formed long ago when the river was forced to traverse its way around the ancient lava flow.

The river flows underground for quite a few miles until it emerges at a point called the Blue Hole.  The water is an insanely rich electric turquoise.

We hiked about 8 miles each day, stopping for snacks and to filter water from the river for us and the dog.  By the time we reached camp, we were ready for good food and a game of cribbage.

Throughout our trip, Matt and I enjoyed our alone time, without work, kids, day to day stress...it was just the two of us...the dog, the trees, the river, and our packs.  We love getting out of town like this where there is nothing to worry about but simply living and enjoying each other's familiar company.

This trip was planned as part of our elopement, the plan was to get married the day we returned home!  (You may remember our engagement.)  As I post this, listening to the Indigo Girls, and sipping black coffee, I am happily married...

Walk With Me

Discovered an amazing park down the street today, full of the quiet and serenity that you can only find in a grove of cedars.  Spring Trillium blooms dotted the path, losing their last petals.  Nettles pricked my ankles,  reminding me of days I collected the plant for drying and later tea brewing.  The sun glinted down through cedar bows, speckling me with odd shadows.  The path embraced my every step.

Ferns coiled toward the sunlight, and cedar trunks hung with jagged bark and towered over everything.  A giant Indian totem pole with carved and hooked nose looked knowingly across the way.

May Day and Spring Wildflowers

Wildflowers in the Southwest

Happy May Day!  No May pole in my day today, but...I was looking through some old photos and found these lovely wildflower pictures I took during a romp around the American Southwest a few years ago with my sister.  Spring there was lovely and subtle...big skies and tiny drought tolerant little blooms that thrive in all that desert heat...so resilient and pretty.

Another thing, less pretty but just as common to the Southwest as wildflowers, are rattlesnakes.  I was down there with my sister, naively taking these great pics, when somewhere in Nevada, we had quite a fright!  We stopped the car to photograph the cactus growing everywhere, and in flip-flops began tromping into the sagebrush covered desert.  You'd think we would have been wiser, but growing up in Idaho, sagebrush was no stranger to us, and we felt right at home.  Not ten seconds into it, I heard my sister scream bloody murder as she jumped five feet in the air and yelled, "SNAKE"!!!  I'm not exaggerating when I say that this rattlesnake was as thick as a fire hose...and who knows how long.  We took a while to recover but I now have a lot more respect for the necessity of the cowboy boot in desert country.