Today seemed like a great day to revive my old blog. Not a special day by any means, but a good day for reflection and to edit a lot of my former posts (HOLY DRAMA, BATMAN. Those entries had to change). Four days ago, something that I never thought that I could: I hiked 30 miles in ONE day. Well 30.2 plus maybe another quarter mile to check out a viewpoint. But Ill get to that.
What a year it has been with Who knew that I would be sent home from work in March and told to telework until further notice. Who knew that social distancing would the norm, and facial coverings would be mandatory whenever leaving the house. Who knew that life would change on a global scale over such a short period of time due to a viral outbreak that originated over 6000 miles away.
I definitely wasnt prepared, but I also didnt know a year ago that my life would be what it is today. Im 32 now, and live in a beautiful house in the Heights that we are renting from a couple that owns a
Occupying the house with me/putting up with my nonstop talks about hiking is my 911 dispatcher girlfriend, Crisa who also has a love of travel. Her tastes are quite a bit more refined than mine as she prefers plush feather blankets and boutique airBNBs to camp fires and sleeping on the ground, but we find a nice balance. She has this amazing ability to walk into a room and strike up a conversation with anyone which my appreciates on an almost daily basis.
We spend quite a bit of our home life catering to our two fur children that are both named after beer. Obie/Oberon/Monster is still my favorite trail partner as hes a total goofball and ready at a moments notice to go anywhere. When that out, he heads to the door and sits, waiting eagerly for the much come on when Im about to walk out the door. At 7, he has already hit his grumpy old man years often grumbling at us when we interrupt his sleep or ignoring other dogs like he cant be bothered by their presence. His furry snoot has grayed considerably in the past year,
but Im hoping we still have lots of miles together. Our big guy, Guinness just turned 6 and has some hip trouble that limits his adventuring, but doesnt limit his constant outpouring of affection. He is quick to offer emotional support before we even realize that we need it, and is one heck of a dock diver and swimmer. The boys have a sibling type relationship where they dont want us to know they love each other yet they nap and play together, and every now and then we catch them licking each others ears. Its pretty cute.
Since Crisa and I started dating last fall, weve had a lot of great experiences together including recently running off to Wyoming one weekend to look for animals around the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. What an experience! But coronavirus has definitely impacted our plans and our daily lives. While Crisa is deemed essential and can still go to her office every week, Ive been confined to our home office, spending most of my day talking to the pups and drinking endless amounts of coffee. To stay sane, Ive spent a lot of my free time in the woods, doing
Prepping for an backpacking trip is what led to the idea about hiking the Wildwood. The Wildwood is the longest natural woodland trail located in a city park in the United States at 30.2 miles. It begins at the Oregon Zoo in Portland and winds north through the Hoyt Arboretum, past Pittock Mansion, weaving through Forest Park all the way to NW Newberry Road. Its not necessarily a difficult trail with mostly soft ground and less than 3000 feet total elevation gain, but the challenge is finishing all 30 miles in one day.
Some friends of mine the entire trail before, but I had never even thought about attempting it until Crisa mentioned that it would be good training for my backpacking trip. She said I could do it. I had doubts, but also love a challenge so of course I was onboard.
