Livin' on the Edge

I've got a little tip for those of you who share my dislike of heights...find out BEFORE you go hiking that the hike is UP A MOUNTAIN!!!

A few days ago, Alison asked me if we would be interested in going on a hike this weekend. Since getting outside & being more active was on our list of "Things to do once we live in Oregon", I enthusiastically agreed for the both of us. It's exciting when new friends invite you to do stuff with them! So, we got up early this morning to make a quick trip to Target for a few hiking essentials...granola bars, bottled water & a knapsack. John, ever the army soldier, also bought a keychain with a built-in compass. I should have realized at this time, although I'm totally blaming the lack of rational thought on my lingering cold, that a huge necessity for hiking is some type of hiking shoe or boot. But I digress...

Alison & Dave came to pick us up at 11:00 a.m. & soon we were on the road, heading towards the coast. It took a little less than an hour to reach our destination, which was Saddle Mountain State Park. The roller-coaster road into the park to the start of the hiking trail was the roller-coasteriest one I've ever been on! I'm just happy I didn't throw up...wouldn't THAT have been so embarrassing?!

When we got started on the trail, which, hello, went up right off the bat, Alison pointed to some mountainous peaks in the distance & said, "That's where we're going". When she said that, the first things that went through my mind were, "But that looks really high up & it's all rocky. How can people even walk on that?", but I didn't say anything. Maybe the information didn't fully sink in, or I thought she was kidding. But, we had seen a little girl with her parents in the parking lot, so my next thought was, "Well, it can't be that hard if that girl's going to do it.". The sign at the beginning of the trail said that it was 3 miles to the top but that part didn't scare me b/c I like to think I'm somewhat in shape (although I haven't done a workout since we packed up the house in Orlando...I should really get on that).

Although the first part of the hike left us rather breathless right away, Alison said it was normal. She & I were up front talking non-stop (in between gasping for air) while the boys were behind us, carrying on their own conversation. John had the joy of carrying our new knapsack, which was full of pb&j sandwiches, water, ice packs, granola bars & chocolate-chip cookies. I felt sorry for him to have the extra weight of the sack, so I offered to carry it. Thank god he said no b/c I'm not sure how far I would have made it with the additional stuff on my back.

While we were on the well-marked path, it was beautiful to peek out from amongst the trees to take in the view being created below. Each twist & turn of the trail brought new things to see & it was only when we were on an edge of the trail, without any trees in front of us, that I realized a) it's pretty scary to be so close to the edge where one false step could mean a nasty fall & a high probability of death; and b) we really ARE going to the top of the mountain where it's high up & all rocky.

And that's when the vertigo set in.

For those of you who have heard the word 'vertigo', but aren't 100% sure of the definition, here it is: "a subjective sensation of dizziness in which an individual feels that he, or his surrounding, is whirling about sickeningly". Well if that doesn't hit the nail square on the head, I don't know what does. Oh. My. God. What an awful feeling. No wonder Hitchcock made a movie about...it truly is a scary thing. When you're looking over the edge of a mountain, the words 'dizziness', 'whirling' and 'sickeningly' are the last things you want to know about. At this point, I decided that voicing my fears rather than remaining silent might be a better way to go, so I said, "Whoa, this is freaking me out. I think I need to get back into the treed part.", so I walked forward a few steps to where I felt more enclosed & safe. As more of these open spaces came along during our ascent, I learned that if I just looked at Alison's feet as she stepped, rather than looking out at the majesty before me, it wasn't so scary. Of course, I was missing most of the point of the hike, which was to actually see the views, but in this case, "views schmiews", I was going for personal preservation!

My new technique of following in Alison's footsteps got me quite far...especially considering the fact I was wearing "Simple" tennis shoes. Comfortable? Yes. Cute looking? Yes. Suitable for scaling rocky terrain? Not so much. The tread on them was pretty good b/c I never really slid or lost my footing, but there were times I was cursing myself for being so unprepared! My fourth-grade Brownie leader would not have been impressed. I guess that's what you get when you join Brownies b/c you think you actually get to make brownies.

We stopped for a lunch break fairly close to the top of Saddle Mountain & it was at this point that I truly understood how Maria felt in "The Sound of Music" (I know I've joked about it before but this time I mean it). And, I've come to the conclusion that she must have felt like crapping in her Von Trappe curtain dirndl skirt. When I was sitting down, eating my sandwich, I tentatively looked around at the wide-openness. It really felt like we were in the middle of thin air. And it was very scary to me. Mind you, this was just after we had been through a particularly difficult part of the trail that involved chain-link fencing over loose gravel (so you could have some type of footing on the rock), so my heartrate was already on the stressed side anyway.

I could appreciate the awesomeness of being up so high, & it's not like we were the only ones doing the hike, lots of other people were in various stages of coming or going (all extremely friendly...I'll have to do a separate post about the Portland friendliness soon), but all of a sudden, it occurred to me that we weren't even finished going up yet & I was already concerned with getting back down. I felt trapped. That last part was really scary in my Simple shoes...how could I do it again going the other way?!

It was then that I stood up, looked ahead to the next part of the trail, & became paralyzed with fear. I can't remember ever being THAT scared in my whole life. Click on this link (http://www.nwhiker.com/SaddleMtHikes.html), point to the little camera one down from the very top & you'll see why. Or, maybe that will look fun to you. I wish it looked that way to me. Somehow, I managed to make my legs work a little more to get through that part of the climb, but after that, I lost any feelings of bravery I might have had left. I just knew deep inside that I couldn't go up any more. It was making me too uncomfortable. And to top it all off, I was also worried that John was going to fall any minute, so my whole nervous system went into overdrive. I had to stop & stop I did.

We weren't too far from the summit, but I told the others to go ahead & enjoy it. I'm glad they did. Dave found a nice grassy patch for me to sit in while I waited for them to come back. During that time, I tried to regroup, breathe deeply & calm down! It was chillier at the top & I was happy for my fuzzy zip-up jacket...especially when a cloud rolled in, right over me! I touched a cloud! That part was cool.

You may be wondering if I was feeling discouraged about coming so close to the top, but not quite reaching it. The answer is no. I had already walked beyond my point of comfort & as I sat up there I realized it's just as important to know when you've reached your limits as it is to know when you can reach past them. I did the best I could do today. Maybe we'll do this hike another day & maybe I'll go a few steps further next time. Or maybe not. Either way, John said he was proud of me & I think I'm a little proud of myself too.

As is often the case, the trip back down went much faster than the trip up. Once we were past the sheer rock & treeless parts, I felt much better. Alison & Dave are great b/c they didn't once make me feel like a loser or push me to go further. I think my favorite part of the descent is when Alison suddenly started singing, "Let's Go to the Movies". Could it be true?! Did she really just sing a song from the movie "Annie"?! My most beloved musical from the age of 10?! Yes she did! And that's not even one of the main songs from "Annie" that most people would know like "Tomorrow" or "It's a Hard-Knock Life"! I think I may have found a kindred spirit.

Once we were safely back in the parking lot, we cracked open a few beers & man, did mine ever taste good!

Rather than drive back home right away, we continued west towards Cannon Beach which is right on the coast. On the way, we stopped off to see the largest Sitka spruce tree in the U.S., which is, conveniently, right on the highway we were on (U.S. 26). It's 56 feet around. Around!! It's huge! It's so tall, when you stand underneath & look up, you can't even see the top!

Driving into Cannon Beach felt like another honeymoon time-warp. Even though we hadn't been there in 5 years, it still had that familiar feeling. We drove around the area, saw Haystack Rock, then parked on the main street to go to Bill's Tavern & Brewhouse for dinner. I was totally shocked to see that it was only 6:00 p.m. when we sat down at our table. We packed so much into the afternoon that it seemed like it should be 10:00 at night!

After a great dinner of burgers & beer (I think I'm turning into an alcoholic already), we got some ice cream & went for a quick walk on the beach. It was a beautiful evening, sunny & not too windy for being right on the ocean. It's still hard to believe that we actually live here now - that we can go back to Cannon Beach next weekend if we want to. We don't have to cram everything into a week-long vacation & that's nice. Because there sure is a lot to see & do!

Later,
PortlandGirl