Spring Break: Birthday in the Redwoods

We finally made it to that illustrious break that teachers wait for so much more than students, Spring Break. We were sure going to take advantage of it since we had not seen much of Oregon yet. Forget that the weather looked rather miserable and the temperatures were not going to get much above 60 degrees. We were heading out and exploring the country. We had to wait initially for the NCAA Tournament, though as I was not going to miss the opening round weekend. After seeing Gonzaga beat North Dakota State and Iowa, I was ready to head out. We left on Monday morning and our only goal for the day was to get down to Roseburg, only a couple hours away. It was just pouring down rain. This was going to be fine as we were going to spend our time at the Wildlife Safari Park. We had been there once before to the free part and were amazed just how much that you could see in the free part. This time we were going to pay the big bucks and do the drive. It was worth it once as there were many types of animals to see and given that we got to spend the day inside of a car rather than outside in the pouring rain, it worked out. We had a dinner in town and a comfortable night stay at a hotel before heading further south.

We drove down I-5 until we got to Grants Pass, then cut off from there on Highway 199. The goal was to make it down to Northern California and spend the day in the Redwoods. It was actually a fairly pretty drive as much of it was along the Smith River until we were at our goal which was Jedidiah Smith State Park. We drove to where the visitor center was located, but found it not to be open. We hoped to gain some information there. Instead, we wandered down to the Smith River where we ate some lunch and threw some rocks. It was an excellent place to hang out and the kids had a great time.

We needed a trail, though, because we were not going to go all the way to the Redwoods without getting out and doing a hike. So, we found one that was nearby with parking that was actually a loop trail. It did not sound very exciting as the name was the Wellman Trail. It turned out to be exactly what we were looking for. With a 4 and a 2 year old, there was not a lot of distance that we were going to be able to throw down. We built up the hike quite a bit for the kids, so that they were excited to see the big trees. We also could keep them going by playing games with them such as go up ahead and hide to scare people. This trail did have a bit of elevation to it, but also many large amazing trees. The kids really enjoyed the slugs along the trail and I was enjoying the fact that at least it wasn't pouring down rain on us. Jacqueline was enjoying taking lots of pictures while also making the kids hold hands at any possible drop off. Given that this trail was not very steep, that was not very often, so we were able to run free most of the time. The kids did great, but the trail was not very long, so by 2:30 we still had time on our hands.

We drove down to Crescent City which was our goal for the night. We found this amazing playground that was virtually vacant. I guess it helps that the kids in California were still in school. Our kids were able to run around and play for quite a while. The next goal was to find a place to place to stay. Given that it was actually my birthday, Jacqueline convinced me to stay at the place in town that had the best view, The Oceanfront Lodge. It was a bit older but still we had a view of the ocean from our room. We even had a private beach that we were able to go down to in the evening to enjoy. I spent the rest of my birthday hanging out with the family and we had a good dinner. This trip was getting expensive as eating out and hotels were adding up. We needed to spend some time outside camping which would be our next adventure.

Three Generations of Ladies on Castle Rock

My mom and sister were up visiting the kids. Having an afternoon free, I convinced Jacqueline to allow me to take her and my mom up to Castle Rock. This was my go to hike and a rather easy hike to access given the typically good condition of the road and the short trail. I even convinced Jacqueline to let me take Zyla too. Usually I hiked from the trailhead coming off of King Road, but this time we took the gravel road all the way to the trailhead that was only 1 mile away from the top. The Xterra handled the road fine, even though it was starting to be more temperamental at this point.

Honestly, one of us was nearly always holding Zyla's hand on the hike up and the hike back down. Regardless, she did the walking on her own. The trail has some rather large drop offs in some places, but for the most part it is a wide enough trail to not be an issue. There is some uphill, but we were not trying to break any speed records, so we took it nice and slow. We finally topped out after a leisurely hike up and the view was spectacular. The sky was clear and the sisters were coated in white. We took many pictures as I got photos with every generation. First my mom who had been exercising more lately.

Next, my daughter who was nearly five. Looking at the picture afterwards, I could see how somehow this little girl looked a lot like me but is still very pretty. Lastly, I took a picture with my wife with the sisters in the background. We enjoyed our time at the top of the peak, not taking too much freedom to wander around with a 4 year old. From there, we continued back down carefully. This is such a fantastic hike and so close to our home.

Hiking around Clear Lake

After a couple of weekend trips up Castle Rock via the King Castle Trail, I decided to mix it up a bit on this last weekend in February. The King Castle Trail was just too perfect. It was steep enough that the trail was a real workout. The forest was awesome and not much different than all the other forest hikes around. It was long and the trailhead was really easy to access. All of those things added up to a great experience and it was now my go to hike nearly every weekend. This one, though, I switched it up and drove a bit further up the road to Sahalie Falls. I would start my hike here because I wanted to get a good view of the waterfalls.

Hiking on the other side of the falls along the McKenzie River Trail, this was quite a better view. I was surprised just how close I could get to the falls themselves. I was basically standing right on the edge of the falls and there were no railings or paved walks on this side. The falls was cranking as the early season melt was beginning. I enjoyed that beginning to the hike but the ultimate goal was to hike around Clear Lake. Jacqueline and the kids had spent a day with me up at Clear Lake a few weeks prior. We just hung out and spent some time by the lake. This day though I hiked up the McKenzie River Trail until I showed up at the outlet which is the beginning of the McKenzie River coming directly out of Clear Lake.
Clear Lake is this phenomenal lake that has insanely clear water because it is mostly all spring fed. The rocks around it are so porous that the water just flows right out of the mountains and into Clear Lake from a huge underground aquifer. The hike around the lake is pretty, but it is fairly flat. It is a few miles so it takes quite a bit of time and the view does not change much. There is a campground on one side of the lake and by far the most interesting part of the entire hike is coming upon the springs where the water comes in. You can tell why it is called Clear Lake at this point as seeing down to the bottom is easy to do.

The lake was amazingly blue and with the perfect sunny day once I got to the other side of the lake I got a great view of Mt. Washington still covered in snow. Well, not much to do except pass through the resort area and complete the loop to head back to the falls. These weekend hikes had become so valuable to me as a way to clear my head to come up with new ideas. Teaching was turning out to be a difficult job but I was hanging with it. McKenzie was a place where they were letting me try new things and so far I was feeling pretty good about the students that I was lucky enough to teach. These hikes kept my head clear and let me attack another week with a fresh head of steam.