A Walk in the Woods

I have a feeling that this could be the title of many posts in the future of this blog... and I'm ok with that!  One of the things that Jesse and I love to do together is to GET OUTSIDE!  We love to find fun things to do outside of our apartment and go explore new places. We love to get out in nature any chance that we can.  Last weekend was our first full weekend here together and we knew we wanted to start checking some hikes off of our list.  Since I am pregnant, we know that over our time here the length and intensity of our hikes will be limited, so we are trying to knock out some of the harder trails early and save some of the easier ones for later.

We woke up Saturday morning, cooked breakfast, got all packed up, and headed out the door.
(Sidenote: from the moment we pulled the pack out of the closet, Turner was going crazy trying to get in it.  He loves that thing and was so excited to go for a ride, which in baby-terms means he was incredibly whiny the whole time that we were getting ready to leave because he wanted to be in pack RIGHT NOW.  From now on, we will wait until we are about to walk out the door to get it out.)  We made a stop at a Crema, a yummy coffee shop in the area, got two honey vanilla lattes, then we were on our way!

All I knew was that we were going to see some waterfalls, but that was about it. Jesse had planned this excursion and Turner, Maggie, and I were along for the ride.  The hike was supposed to be about 5 miles and we would see 10 waterfalls along the trail.  It pretty much started out on an incline and followed lots of creeks and waterfalls. It was BEAUTIFUL.  I know I said this in my last post that everything here is so GREEN.  Well, this hike was no exception.  Beautiful tall trees, everything covered in moss, rocky creeks with crystal clear water.. the colors were so intense that it looked like an over saturated photograph. Many, many, many, many switchbacks later, we made it up to Wahkenna Springs where we stopped for lunch.  We snacked on peanut butter and honey tortillas along with carrots, while Maggie played in the springs.

We got back on the trail, only to make a wrong turn onto a different tail and found ourselves 1.5 miles back where we had already been.  We contemplated going on back down and saving the rest for another time, but we decided to turn around, do that extra mile and a half again, and get back on track for the rest of the hike.  So, in the end we added 3 miles to the original 5, but we totally made the right decision! Once we got back on track, the rest of the hike was (mostly) downhill and was gorgeous.  The views of the waterfalls were amazing.  I felt a little like Pocahontas looking over the edge of a waterfall from above to the tumbling water below.

The end of the hike brought us to one of the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen - Multnomah Falls.  I posted a picture online Saturday of it and was surprised how many people knew of it because I had never heard of it before!  http://www.oregon.com/attractions/multnomah_falls

You can get to this waterfall without doing the entire hike... many people just walk right now from the parking lot (which is right off the interstate).  You can walk up just a little ways to stand on the bridge that you see in these pictures, which is pretty amazing! If you are feeling up to it, you can walk a little farther and get to an overlook at the top of the waterfall, but it's pretty steep.

Overall, we had a great time doing this hike and were incredibly sore the next few days afterward... Maggie included.  I can't believe that there are amazing things like this so close to the city.  A short, 30 minute drive from Portland and we were somewhere that many people have on their list of "must-sees."  Pretty cool.

As far as how things are going here in Portland, my first week here was kinda hard and lonely. It was mostly overcast and rainy and Turner was a fussy pants adjusting to everything. I am very much a people person, so it can be hard for me to adjust to being somewhere where I don't know anyone. I've made it a point to get out more during the day this past week and it has made all the difference - along with the SUNSHINE and 70 degree weather and a kid who loves being outside. I've even met a few moms at a nearby playground, so that's good.  I know that these things come with time.  I'm really excited to explore more and get to know the area better as well as the people who live here!  Stay tuned for more of our Pacific Northwest adventures!

-AC