Cascade Head

On Sunday of our beach trip three weeks ago, June 30th, we took a family hike up to Cascade Head. We left soon after breakfast and packed a picnic to eat on the hike. Eleanor is such a great hiker. We have only had a few bad experiences with taking her hiking. Most of the time, she is just a trooper, walking along with us the whole way without complaining. This was one of those times; Eleanor walked the whole way up, setting the pace for the rest of us. When we got to the lower view point, she was the one who wanted us to keep on going up to the top.

I didn’t take pictures until we got to the top because Phaedra was not such a trooper. I couldn’t blame her; it was her naptime. The hard part was that she did NOT want her daddy. I carried her most of the way. I gave Grant one turn to ease my burden for a bit, but since Phaedra screamed and clambered for me the entire time she was with him, I figured we were all much less miserable if I slowed up the group by carrying her myself. So, I didn’t try to carry her and get the camera out.

Did I mention that Eleanor was pretending to be a dog the whole time? She wasn’t Eleanor; she was Bolt. We convinced her to walk on her “hind paws,” but she had her hands crooked like paws the entire time. She amazes me with her dedication in pretending.

Phaedra fell asleep on me somewhere around the lower view point, so I got to carry her as dead weight the rest of the way (not that she was much help before). Even though I was exhausted and really laboring to make that final climb while carrying her, it was such a good feeling. There’s such a flattering feeling of trust and comfort when a little one falls asleep on you. When we set up for lunch, I almost didn’t want to put her down, but my hunger took control.

She still looked so sweet on the blanket next to me.

Here we all are at the top. Good thing we packed the tripod the whole way, right? I don’t know if Grant thought it was worth it. Phaedra slept the whole time we were eating, only waking up as we were shifting jackets for the walk back down. Since she had slept through lunch, she was really hungry, and we handed her food as we walked down. The weather was perfect. It stayed cloudy the whole time, and it was just cool enough that it was just right once we were warm from walking. It started to sprinkle on us just slightly at the top when we were leaving, but then it stopped. We did get our first sunburn of the season that day, in spite of the clouds. I don’t think we burned except when we were at the very top. Grant and I were fairly red, while Phaedra was only pink on the one side of her face that was uncovered while she slept. Eleanor, who amazingly has more olive-toned skin, only had a small pink patch on the back of her neck.

The view was gorgeous! This is facing south, and the green jutting out to the ocean is the other side of what we call “the point” on the beach where we stay in Lincoln City. We couldn’t see much to the north since we didn’t go to the very highest point. We were really dragging toward the end (probably me the most), and it might have been cooler up at the top with more of a breeze. We were relatively at the top, you might say. I’m not sure that there is much you can see to the north, but I’ll have to go back and find out someday. On one side, you have the gorgeous ocean, and to the left, you see the Salmon River meeting up with it.

The Salmon River going back into the valley.

After our rest, Eleanor must have realized how tired she was. She wasn’t as cooperative when we were ready to go down. I was surprised she hadn’t worn out earlier; it had been quite a workout climbing up that hillside. Daddy carried her for a little bit, but she started throwing a conniption to be with me. I couldn’t carry her because I was holding Phaedra and by that point, I was too weak to try to manage Eleanor’s weight anyway. Finally, she came crying to me, and I told her I could hold her hand. That was good enough. She immediately snapped out of it. I love/hate when she does this. I love it because the drama is done and gone without a trace. I hate it because it seems like if it was that easy to get over, why did she have to get so upset in the first place? I walked, holding her hand for a while before she was completely herself (Bolt) again and decided she didn’t need to hold my hand. We were going downhill, and it was pretty steep. I was really nervous she would tumble and keep on rolling down, so I walked in front of her (thinking I could catch her if she fell toward me). I kept offering her a hand, but she would say, “No. I don’t need it. I’ve done this before,” as if going up gave her all the experience she could possibly need.

We stopped at the lower view point for a breather and to let Phaedra get some more food.

 When I finally had my hands free, I decided to record what my view looked like on the trail.

Eventually, Phaedra decided to get down and walk with us. It slowed our progress considerably, but it was fun to see her feeling like such a big kid. The whole way up, she would beg to get down to walk when we crossed a bridge (and there were quite a few small ones). She liked stomping across; then she immediately wanted carried again. She got mixed up about what to call the bridges, so each time we came to one, she would say, “Bench! Bench!”

Eleanor became a “true hiker” on the way back because she had to go potty in the bushes. I made Grant hold her because he’s always telling me how he can’t stand to take her into a public restroom, but when it comes time for her to go in the woods, he’ll hold her up while she goes and make sure she doesn’t get her pants wet. I finally got to cash in on that promise, and it was oh so nice.

Out on the road back to where our car was parked. Phaedra loved picking things up as she walked along.  

 

There was this pretty little field by the parking lot.

The girls played in the flowers while Grant talked with one of the other hikers.

      I love this one.

I actually wanted to get them standing side-by-side to get their muddy pant legs. While trying to help me, Grant played around with them to keep them happy. Their happy faces were much more interesting than their pant legs.

I did make another attempt at getting their muddy pants, but most of them were out of focus. Blurg!

This one is in better focus, but I like the front shot better. Oh well.

It was a wonderful hike. Not too difficult but still a challenge. Eleanor walked the whole way down after that short time being carried by her daddy. They both slept in the car on the way home. That’s one hike I’ll certainly like to do again.