The Adventure Begins…
It’s not our first hike together. It’s not our first year hiking together either. That said, one must begin somewhere and without a lengthy history up front, this is a good place to begin.
History? Yes, we’ll get to that soon enough, as needed. But introductions, yes, introduction should come first. I am Face Plant and my best friend, husband and hiking partner is Munch Mix. For better or worse, our hiking names are well earned. We live in NW Oregon within an hour or two of day hikes in the Coast Range and along the Columbia River Gorge; another hour or two finds us on great hikes in Central Oregon.
It’s spring now and that means many things: REIs dividend and member coupon release, blooming flowers and hoards of flower hunters on popular trails, spring break and even more folks on popular trails, and teaser days of sun between the rains that will soon yield entirely to summer in Oregon. The ticks along the trails are waking up now too.
In a couple short weeks we’re off to our Official Honeymoon, backpacking in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. For now, we get out and stretch our legs a bit in preparation. Two weekends ago we hiked Silver Falls State Park. Last weekend we hiked several shorter trails along the Oregon side of the Gorge–Mosier and The Dalles. From where we stood we could see cars stacked up at the Catherine Creek trailhead on the Washington side. Now is the time to hike there if you seek wildflowers or love people watching. If you’re like us, now is the time to seek obscure trails to enjoy the first sun of spring in solitude.
