Rooster Rock

So tired and frustrated from the night before, I set out with my Dad, his wife Laura, and Conrad for a hike up to Rooster Rock. I was tired and frustrated because I was supposed to be running the marathon in Eugene this morning, but given the current state of my knee, I was not going to be doing that. So after months of training, I was stuck just hiking on this day rather than running 26.2 miles. I was glad that a couple of people wanted to spend the day hiking with me. I kept my eyes closed almost all the way out to the trailhead that was a little over an hour from our house. For one, I was sitting in the back where I get car sick. For another, I did not sleep well. When we got to the trailhead, though, I was happy to be there. The trail started innocent enough.

It was fairly flat, but went through some thick forest. Laura was with us for this part. After a while, though, she let the three of us go up ahead. We moved pretty good, but I was not trying to go fast. The knee was definitely hurting, but uphill was not a big deal. My dad was hanging with us. I could tell after a while that even though he said that we could go up ahead, he was trying to keep up with us. Conrad could have destroyed me, but I wanted him to stay with me. After a while, though, I asked Popo if he wanted to go first. That worked a lot better because the three of us were able to hike together. The trail was really steep. In just a few miles we were gaining over 2000 feet. It was about 4.5 miles roundtrip with 2100 feet of elevation, so the trail was pretty steady. The forest was typical northwest forest, but there were also lots of madrone trees. I don't know what it is about madrone trees but they have such a unique look. After a while, we made it up to a junction. The other trail that comes in from another direction meets up here. It is a little less steep, but much longer. From here, we split up. Conrad went up ahead, I was in the middle, and Popo last. There was not a very long distance until we made it to Rooster Rock. I was expecting the trail to end here, but it kept going from there.

On this day, even though I was curious to see where the rest of the trail went, I was happy with ending it here. The knee was definitely feeling it. We ate a bit of food here and admired how steep the rock was. Climbing it seemed like such a difficult proposition given how janky my knee was feeling. From here we went back down. This was the hardest part and definitely walked with a limp. After we passed the junction, we saw Momo (Laura) coming up. Here my dad split off and spent the rest of the hike with Laura. Conrad and I went down as I limped my way down the steep trail. I took most of the force on my right leg to keep my left knee from taking the brunt of it. It would still be sore for a couple of days after the hike, though, because this was probably too steep of a hike for the knee. We made it back to the trailhead. Conrad and I entertained ourselves playing Euchre on my phone. We definitely dominated our competition. It seemed like no time at all before Momo and Popo were back. I got to relax a little bit and I realized how much I missed hiking. Running is important, but hiking is where it is at. We got to see some things and the next day, we were not too exhausted. I would definitely have to visit Rooster Rock again and try the other trail to see where the rest of the route goes.