Mary's Peak...now with humongous pictures!
This weekend was kind of up in the air for awhile. We debated about going to Crater Lake, but then decided we weren't prepared properly (which was true...our tent wasn't even here in time, let alone us having proper bear defense mechanisms). We ended up going to Mary's Peak for a Saturday afternoon hike and Saturday night camp. Mary's Peak is the tallest peak in this part of Oregon at about 4,100 feet and is only about a half hour away by car. It was an excellent decision if I do say so myself...it was really fun. We got to sleep in a bit and lazily get our stuff together Saturday morning and still have time for a good hike and campfire, complete with marshmallows. I shall now entertain you with pictures and narrative.
Our trip begins at the Mary's Peak parking lot outside the campground. We drove a few miles up the mountain to the tiny campground, which had 6 spots and an honor system pay box. Although we had the place to ourself at first, later our only neighbor was a guy in a trailer, who had a really cute dog and a spread of food and drink that was pretty enviable. We had a pack of hot dogs, buns, and some smore stuff. What more really do you need? But more on that later.
We didn't unpack our tent right away, though. When we first got there we didn't want to leave our nice tent and sleeping bags out unsupervised (since no one else was there) even though it probably would have been ok...I just got a brand new beautiful sleeping bag and I wasn't going to leave it be, no sir. Also, we wanted to get in some backpacking training, so we strapped everything on our packs and tramped about the woods. Above, Aaron pauses to take in the beautiful old growth trees.
After hiking for a few miles up the back side of the mountain through meadows and forests, we reached the open hill of the summit. There were few bugs, and it was actually quite cool as we hiked through the forest. Once we got to the top, it was fairly warm and windy.
Looking west off of the top of Mary's Peak, you'd see this mountain range - the Coastal Range - and beyond it the Pacific Ocean. We could also see the Cascade Range to the east, which was pretty sweet. There were some families up there with us, along with a guy flying a remote control balsa wood plane. That was cool. They walked up from the parking lot, which we would do later that night for the sunset.
Here we are at the top of the mountain, self-portrait style.
Our hike down was uneventful, except when I hugged this tree (it was satisfying), and when we got back we set up the tent.
Aaron demonstrates how big our tent is - not very big. It was tight quarters, but that is an amazingly light tent, and really easy to set up, and I don't mind Aaron that much so it works out. :)
We then scouted around the campsite and road for firewood. Although it hasn't rained in Corvallis for more than 15 minutes since we've been here, it definitely had rained recently on the mountain. Everything was green and lush...and the wood on the ground was soaking wet. But we eventually found enough dry stuff to start a fire and got it roaring enough to make some delicious hot dogs.
After dinner we realized it was almost time for the sunset and rushed back up the mountain, this time taking the car to the parking lot farther up. We raced up the gravel road to the summit on foot just in time to catch the last bit of sunset over the western mountains.
We sat up there for awhile, watching the sky grow dark and the stars come out. I was getting a bit chilly, but it was worth it when we saw the largest, orangest full moon I have ever seen come rising over the Cascade Range to the east. Once the sky was dark and the moon was out, the lights of the cities below came twinkling up to us. We could see Corvallis, Philomath, Salem, Eugene, Monroe, and Lebanon from up on Mary's Peak. This picture doesn't really capture how awesome it was, but you can imagine.
We then went back to our campsite, got the fire going again in the dark (it was pitch black except for our maglite) and had a marshmallow snack before crawling into our tents and sleeping bags. I had a great time and I was really sad to leave the next morning. Here we are, the morning after, looking exceedingly attractive:
And with that, I leave you. If this trip sounds romantic and cute, it's because it was pretty darn romantic and cute. And although we don't need a reason to be so sickeningly cute, we do have a reason this time: we are celebrating our fourth year of dating today, September 11th. (Freshman year I dragged him to a 9/11/2001 vigil and the rest is history.)
You'll see the rest of our adventure when Aaron posts...stay tuned...
****
P.S. It's been a weird day today talking about what I was doing five years ago when I learned of the WTC disaster. For those of you who were at MGSH with me, it's weird that that was five years ago. I remember vividly how I felt and how it was both a sad and wonderful time as America went through a transformation of self. (As an American Culture major, I love thinking about things like this.) But I also remember how scared I was that we were going to war, that my friends would be drafted or enlist, and be killed. Even then I suspected that our reaction would be militaristic and un-thoughtout, and I know many of you were and are with me on this. As I remember the important and tragic events of today, it makes me angrier still that we are to this day sullying the memory of those innocents who lost their lives in the WTC by killing innocent Iraqis and turning young men and women my age into killers.
Phew. You can go look at the pictures again and be happy. :) I am :)
Our trip begins at the Mary's Peak parking lot outside the campground. We drove a few miles up the mountain to the tiny campground, which had 6 spots and an honor system pay box. Although we had the place to ourself at first, later our only neighbor was a guy in a trailer, who had a really cute dog and a spread of food and drink that was pretty enviable. We had a pack of hot dogs, buns, and some smore stuff. What more really do you need? But more on that later.
We didn't unpack our tent right away, though. When we first got there we didn't want to leave our nice tent and sleeping bags out unsupervised (since no one else was there) even though it probably would have been ok...I just got a brand new beautiful sleeping bag and I wasn't going to leave it be, no sir. Also, we wanted to get in some backpacking training, so we strapped everything on our packs and tramped about the woods. Above, Aaron pauses to take in the beautiful old growth trees.
After hiking for a few miles up the back side of the mountain through meadows and forests, we reached the open hill of the summit. There were few bugs, and it was actually quite cool as we hiked through the forest. Once we got to the top, it was fairly warm and windy.
Looking west off of the top of Mary's Peak, you'd see this mountain range - the Coastal Range - and beyond it the Pacific Ocean. We could also see the Cascade Range to the east, which was pretty sweet. There were some families up there with us, along with a guy flying a remote control balsa wood plane. That was cool. They walked up from the parking lot, which we would do later that night for the sunset.
Here we are at the top of the mountain, self-portrait style.
Our hike down was uneventful, except when I hugged this tree (it was satisfying), and when we got back we set up the tent.
Aaron demonstrates how big our tent is - not very big. It was tight quarters, but that is an amazingly light tent, and really easy to set up, and I don't mind Aaron that much so it works out. :)
We then scouted around the campsite and road for firewood. Although it hasn't rained in Corvallis for more than 15 minutes since we've been here, it definitely had rained recently on the mountain. Everything was green and lush...and the wood on the ground was soaking wet. But we eventually found enough dry stuff to start a fire and got it roaring enough to make some delicious hot dogs.
After dinner we realized it was almost time for the sunset and rushed back up the mountain, this time taking the car to the parking lot farther up. We raced up the gravel road to the summit on foot just in time to catch the last bit of sunset over the western mountains.
We sat up there for awhile, watching the sky grow dark and the stars come out. I was getting a bit chilly, but it was worth it when we saw the largest, orangest full moon I have ever seen come rising over the Cascade Range to the east. Once the sky was dark and the moon was out, the lights of the cities below came twinkling up to us. We could see Corvallis, Philomath, Salem, Eugene, Monroe, and Lebanon from up on Mary's Peak. This picture doesn't really capture how awesome it was, but you can imagine.
We then went back to our campsite, got the fire going again in the dark (it was pitch black except for our maglite) and had a marshmallow snack before crawling into our tents and sleeping bags. I had a great time and I was really sad to leave the next morning. Here we are, the morning after, looking exceedingly attractive:
And with that, I leave you. If this trip sounds romantic and cute, it's because it was pretty darn romantic and cute. And although we don't need a reason to be so sickeningly cute, we do have a reason this time: we are celebrating our fourth year of dating today, September 11th. (Freshman year I dragged him to a 9/11/2001 vigil and the rest is history.)
You'll see the rest of our adventure when Aaron posts...stay tuned...
****
P.S. It's been a weird day today talking about what I was doing five years ago when I learned of the WTC disaster. For those of you who were at MGSH with me, it's weird that that was five years ago. I remember vividly how I felt and how it was both a sad and wonderful time as America went through a transformation of self. (As an American Culture major, I love thinking about things like this.) But I also remember how scared I was that we were going to war, that my friends would be drafted or enlist, and be killed. Even then I suspected that our reaction would be militaristic and un-thoughtout, and I know many of you were and are with me on this. As I remember the important and tragic events of today, it makes me angrier still that we are to this day sullying the memory of those innocents who lost their lives in the WTC by killing innocent Iraqis and turning young men and women my age into killers.
Phew. You can go look at the pictures again and be happy. :) I am :)
posted by Allison at 11:50 PM
2 Comments:
Awesome pictures!!!
I remember MGSH that day, it was weird and frightening. I was incredibly scared for Mom (flying to Washington, DC!) and Dad and Ann (stuck in France!) and our family in New Jersey (Uncle Mike working in New York!). I didn't really get to the bigger picture until later.
Those are some fantastic pictures. There's a part of me that wishes Karina and I did that kinda stuff. But we're sort of city mice, for the most part. Kabetogama is as close to camping as I like to be. And 4 years?! That just can't be. It's odd how many ways you can change your perspective on time.
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