shwoods

Finally got hooked up with my very own Shwoods. A lot of my lovely friends started this company and currently work for them. They're totally the shit right now.. so be the shit and get your own! Check em out and buy yourself a pair of supa sweet sunglasses made from wood!

Climbing outside: a check off the bucket list

Carly texted me with the most glorious text last week. "Lorena invited us to go climbing at Smith Rock on Saturday, wanna come?" Ummmm DUH. I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and stoked it finally came through. Smith is world renowned for not only climbing, but hiking and simply a beautifully placed rock canyon, complete with a river.

Climbing outside was everything I hoped and dreamed. No tape, no man made holds, just nature. I'm not afraid of heights at all, but a sense of "oh shit" settled with me a few times while 100's of feet above ground, only having the support of a rope. It was more of the idea that the rope was only there for safety and the idea is to actually climb the rock. 

This year is on a roll when it comes to checks off the bucket list. I love 24. Best age thus far. Not awkward, not young, not old, just right.

blood, sweat and tears of joy

A friendship camping trip was thrown into a conversation about a month ago. Taylor being activities coordinator, demanded it be a hiking// camping trip, where climbing things and packing in our own food would overrule any potential extremities of pansy-like camping. Being that I love activities, especially those of the outdoor category, I was totally in.
Taylor picked "Hood River Meadows Loop Hike"which offered waterfalls, views, rivers, meadows and "plenty of flowers you girls can put in your hair". So, Saturday morning we got ourselves to the trailhead by 10am and all 10 of us started our venture.

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, mid 60's and not a cloud in the sky. After the first two miles of our hike we stopped for snack time at Umbrella Falls. Two miles with big packs on, means multiple snack times. Snack time with friends and a waterfall was even better. 

We started to lose our trail around mile 3 due to the large amount of snow that was still chillin (pun definitely intended). We reached the top of a hill and next thing I know we are standing in front of Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort. When I skimmed over the description of our hike online I did see the word "meadows" a number of times, making me think I was going to be in Bambi central not hiking around one of my favorite places in the world, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

We continued on our hike and encountered a few hilarities. Our first being an unopened can of the finest beer in the land, Pabst Blue Ribbon. It presented itself so beautifully in the snow that Adam and Rena had no problem drinking this mystery beer. It's as though the mountain was saying "Oh hello there fearless travelers, heres a frosty beverage for your efforts in climbing me."

After a few hours of hiking some pretty tereterous upward terrain, we finally rediscovered the trail at the top of Daisy lift, of course only to lose it again shortly after.  So we opted on another snack break and consultation of to the map that Grady was brilliant to bring along.

Using my familiarity with Meadows, Taylor's logic and Grady's map we decided to trek on and keep looking for the trail. After some handfuls of trail mix, a few bernie dances and a group photo assemble we continued on. We were only 100 feet from our pervious resting spot when I heard a loud boom come from the lift station. Rena and Adam had climbed the side of the station to free the sled for ski patrol. Brilliant, simply brilliant. They causally positioned themselves and zoomed past the rest of us eliminating a few hundred feet of walking in the snow.

We took turns using the sled until we finally found the trail after 6 hours of searching. We followed it until we got to Heather Canyon where we discovered (shockingly HAH) that there was about 4 feet of snow that covered the southern side of the canyon. During the season Heather Canyon is a double black diamond run, giving you an idea of steepness and sketchiness on foot. Perfect for Oregon's wintery pleasures via the snow sport of choice, not so much for a pair of nikes and a top heavy pack.

We re-routed to follow the canyon down the mountain to see if there was a more realistic spot to get down the canyon and back to our cars. We reached the bottom of the "Shooting Star Lift" which is the lowest lift at this part of the mountain meaning that we would no longer be able to follow ski runs. We were limited on daylight so we voted on camping at this spot which turned out to be an incredible decision. Lift chairs offered comfortable sheltered couches. The near by creek acted as a sink for teeth brushing, washing dishes and filtering mountain fresh water. The ground was still soft from a whole 10 months of standing snow. A think patch of trees slightly above the camp sight, made a perfect bathroom with privacy and lastly, the unexpected snow that surrounding us was the best camping fridge we could ask for. Tim, Rena and I bought white wine on purpose, thinking that we could handle drinking it luke warm, but with an abundance of local snow our wine was suddenly more than drinkable. We then arranged our tents quite adorably and searched for fire wood for our equally adorable fire pit. 

A massage train was very necessary after hiking a mountain whilst carrying a 25 pound pack and also another excuse to love on one another. Our dinner was tacos complete with avocado followed by dessert which was obviously smores. After eating about 4 perfectly toasted marshmallows, I found myself falling asleep on Lacey's shoulder and decided I needed to go snuggle with Big Toe (find out his purpose and meet his one of his relatives here). The previous week I worked my first 40 hour week in forever, still managed to party with my out of town bestie and THEN climb a mountain. So, I didn't fight the inevitable exhaustion.

 After sleeping almost 10 hours I woke up to Adam singing happy birthday to  Rachelle. I smiled and stretched simultaneously, paused for a moment and quietly thanked God. I then proceeded to join in song. Breakfast was bacon, eggs and left over marshmallows. Breakfast of champions indeed.

The map team consulted our resource and planned a route back to reality. We hiked for 20 minutes down the mountain and reached a straight up cliff at least 500 feet above flat ground. The creek we had been following turned into a waterfall to confirm our "oh shit" reaction. Yet again we sought a more realistic route and found a part of the cliff that had some gradual effect to it as opposed to a straight drop. We pretended deer trails down the canyon made sense and used any technique possible to not slip, fall or add to the hundreds of wounds we had already accumulated. 

Getting down took about an hour even though the distance was maybe a half mile. Using conveniently placed roots, trees and deer trails we made in down in one piece. We were rewarded for our efforts with waterfalls, beautiful meadows and rivers at the bottom of the canyon. I love nature.

Our journey back was only the beginning, the rest of the day consisted of crossing the river back and forth 5 different times, numerous causalities to getting shoes wet, sun burns and hunger. Somehow we all managed to keep smiling and love every second of it. We found our car about 5 hours after we made it down the canyon and rejoiced. Celebratory beers at Skyway was an obvious ending to it all. 

These 36 hours were some of the best ever. I'm incredibly grateful to have friends that love to experience life in every way possible, love genuinely and push me to be great. The fact that my very best friend Ms Rena Murray was able to be a part of this adventure made it even better. 

In summation:

-The NW is better than anywhere else in the whole world during the summer

-Reaffirmed for the 30583 time that mountains make me smile so big it hurts

-I hiked 9 miles round trip, got lost, wet, cold, hot, hungry, tired and cut up and loved every second of it

-Rock climbing technique was usually in getting down canyons 

-Friendship club should open a marshmallow food cart

-Kait McNally is a gem that is treasured from so many people from a far that it makes me inspired to impact people that same way

-I'm blessed