Hiking And Swimming

We got up early and drove south to the lighthouse hike.

Awesome short very uphill hike.

This photo above is looking downwards.

Apparently, this is a local mommy & stroller walk. We saw one mommy running her stroller up this 'mountain'. She stopped for a gulp of water and her toddler was all like, "Mommeeee, why are we stopping?" She shouts, "Mommies tired".
And off she goes, pushing that stroller uphill.


About a quarter of the way up, I discovered I'd left my phone (camera) in the car.

I sent the son back down as we were all envisioning a 'Smash & Grab' happening to our car. I knew I'd never make it back up again (steep!).

I'm pretty sure this is why I had kids. Lol.

Smash & Grabs happen a lot at Oahu parking areas and by the time he 'trotted' down, the lot was filled with police cars and two cars got broken into with glass everywhere.

Thankfully, not our rental car.


We continued up to the top and, boy howdy, is it hot to be climbing this steep hill at 8am.

We could see the lighthouse but the approaches were under construction.
DD managed it though.

We decided not to clamber down (easy) to the tidepools because it was obvious you'd have to clamber back up (we are not mtn goats).



Then we drove to the beach at the foot of lighthouse hill and discovered a 'locals' beach. Awesome snorkeling and people watching.





This green leaved plant helps to keep your mask clear & unfoggy




Found some sea glass and tiny puka shells.


We ate lunch at Zippy's in Kailua. Local Hawaiian chain with good local food.

We finished out our day at Kailua Beach which has shade (me!) .

Family beach. Floating in the water, not flashing too many people with our ghostly limbs.


There was a photographer doing a shoot with a Japanese Bride.






And, finally, dinner at the local spot Keneke's. Kalua shredded pork wrapped in poi leaves.


***no sunburn yet.

Salmon River Secret

 

 

My son went on a hike this week. So did I, but his photos are way cooler than mine. Beautiful fall weekend with the temperatures long gone from those 100 degree days of summer.

He had heard about these falls up the Salmon River and went to great lengths to find out how to find them.
They are gorgeous.
They definitely fall under the "Great Secrets of Oregon" file.

Outdoor activities seem to be mandatory here as we live in one of the most beautiful states in the union. Oregon has the Pacific Ocean on one side with high desert on the other. And a big space in-between filled with waterfalls, lakes and rivers.

While in Redmond this weekend, we went to see Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods".  The movie was so-so, the music was outstanding. Walking the Appalachian Trail is very appealing, and might have gone down on my Things to Do Before I Die list.

Crown Point and Multnomah Falls

Vista House -- Crown Point

Multnomah Falls

 Sis from Minnesota is here for her annual visit home. Today we took her boys and grandma & grandpa up the Old Highway.

Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls. I stayed with my dad who can't walk far and the others hiked down to see these beautiful waterfalls.

Second stop was Crown Point where you can see up and down the mighty Columbia river.

Gorgeous day. Not too hot. Lots of tourists. I picked up some postcards for my friend in Japan who not only collects them but sometimes uses them when she does Postcrossing.

 Looking upriver - eastwards.

Looking downriver - towards Portland

Squirrely nephews

 It's been a very dry year and there are sandbars in the river we've never seen.
Multnomah Falls is running light too.
 If you want to see some spectacular photos of these two landmarks,  my blog friend, Teresa Kasner,  volunteers up here and takes delicious photos of both of these beautiful Oregon places.
She has a much better camera.

 We hiked nearly to the upper falls but the narrow trail, the fact we were wearing flip flops and the throngs of tourists -- we turned back before reaching the upper viewpoint.

Lots of selfie sticks in evidence.
Japanese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, Korean, Aussies, Europeans.  Many different accents.

 

 Our last stop was Horseshoe Falls. Very cold water; the boys enjoyed every minute of it.

Munra Point

Dear son, who has less than 25 days left of school for the rest of his life, decided to find Munra Point instead of studying on sunny Sunday.

Just east of Oneonta Falls, which is just past Multnomah Falls, is a very steep 6 mile round trip hike, bringing you out on top of the world Columbia Gorge.
{He did manage to throw some words together Sunday night to get a paper in for a grade.}

Oneonta Falls

We met up with my sis at Multnomah Falls.
Our plan was to have lunch here and then hike Oneonta Falls.

Don't go this way. You can -- but don't say I didn't warn you.


Staircase down to the creek. We hiked up Oneonta Gorge -- up the creek.
Literally.

This is the Best Hike Ever.
It's short (1.8 miles), level, easy but it has a few obstacles.
The first one is a giant logjam at the beginning.

Looking back - you're gonna come back to this one.


The gorge walls close you in - much cooler than the 92' out there.
There was very little dry land.

Wall-to-wall water.




The second obstacle? 3 feet of water to wade through.
HaHaHa!
It was more like 4 feet - nearly up to my neck.
Got your ziploc for your camera?

My turn.

And here we are a short time later.

The best hike ever.







This was the first photo I took at Multnomah Falls which I had assumed was a dud - glaring sunlight and all that.
When I got home - I decided it was pretty cool.

Lookout Mountain Hike

My friend and I hiked up Lookout Mountain, again.
Such a nice, easy hike.
This is the Mother Lode  Mine.

A stunning 360-degree panaramic view awaits you at the top.
Notice those july dogtail widlflowers at the bottom of the photo.

There are several ways to get to the summit.
We circled up from the east of the mine buildings around to the west.
More info on the Mother Lode Mine is here.

Horses earlier in the spring.
Very dry this year. 
Parts of the western trail were very dusty.


Favorite Columbine.
More Wildflowers.

Trail meandering towards the summit amidst stunning sage.

We still don't know what these pods are.
They seem to be attached to the sedum (stonecrop).

Mama & Puppies were bouncing up & around, back & forth, & off-trail all the way up.
By the time we reached the summit, they were knackered.
Bella (mama) in front. Osso (brown) in middle and
Daisydoodle collapsed in the tiny bit of shade.

Scarlett Gilia (Skyrocket)


Puppies, Daisy & Osso

Lilies near the bottom of the trail - near mine buildings on west side.
Summit looking north.



A lovely jumble of widlflowers.

Auger near west trail.

Mushrooms growing from log.

Lovely woodland vista.


Mother Lode Mine Building near west trailhead.

South of the mine buildings, still heading down.

Western Monkshood.



Perry's Larkspur


Towards the summit - all sage and balsam.

Looking west. Three Sisters directly ahead and to the south. Mt. Jefferson to the right (north), Mt. Hood to the far north & Mt. Adams (washington state) even further north. Those dratted blues & greys. Can't make out the snowy mtns. from the camera.

No wildfires.
Yet.
Although while we were eating lunch, one sprang up near the Warm Springs reservation.

Indian Paintbrush

links:
Wildflowers:
Mother Lode Mine.
Lookout Mountain - East of Prineville - ochocos.