Perseverance - WE GOT IT!!

per·se·ver·ance

   /ˌpɜrsəˈvɪərəns/ Show Spelled[pur-suh-veer-uhns] Show IPA

noun

1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

 

 

Ok for those of you that are close to me know that when something really bothers me I have to vent it and then I can let it go.  I have said that my blog is going to be about my hiking adventures and this rant is about something that happens to Laina and I on the trail and it really bothers me so I am going to put it out there and hope that it might touch one person to make a difference.

 

The very first trail that Laina and I hiked outside of our local lake was the Rock of Ages trail, everyone we passed on that trail was very encouraging and told us we were doing a good job and to keep going.  We did not find out until later that the Rock of Ages trail was a double black diamond and one of the hardest trails in our area.  Once we found that out we knew that although it took us a long time to climb that trail that WE DID IT - it took perseverance and together we climbed that hill.  There are many people that would have looked at it and said no way it's too hard but we didn't do that we stuck it out. 

 

When Laina and I hiked at Cascade Head I blogged that it was the first time that we were looked at and spoken too like the trail was too tough for us.  We have had similar experiences on other trails since.  When we hiked up Angels Rest there was a foursome of fairly fit looking hikers and the double takes of the men in the group was annoying.  This last weekend when we hiked up Mt. Hood again some men made a comment to us not to forget we would have to go back up the hill.  I was of course mad because I am not an idiot if you go down a hill you usually have to go back up if you are returning on the same trail.  Each time this happens, Laina handles herself with grace and politeness that is true to her character, me I wait until we are passed the people and then I have to vent about it.  Each time I wonder how can someone judge us when they don't know where we have been.  I don't know if people judge us because we are two women out in the middle of the woods by ourselves or if it is because we are over weight but in any case we have something that most people don't have - we have PERSEVERANCE.  Following are a few quotes about perseverance that strike home with me:

 

 

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.
Marie Curie

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
Samuel Johnson

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.
John D. Rockefeller
 

Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.
Scott Hamilton

Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.
Gillian Anderson

 

This new journey that Laina and I are on is hard, there is not one thing about it that's easy, but we work at it - everyday.  Our goal is to be an example to others of what can be done when you set your mind to it.  Together we are on a journey to lose about the same amount of weight as 3 people, this will take time, it will take work and it will take perseverance. 

 

I pledge to be positive and to encourage others to be the best that they can be and I hope that in this rant people can learn from our experiences:

 

1. Don't judge others by your abilities.

2. Don't judge people by your struggles.

3. Don't judge people by how they look.

4. Know that other people are facing the same struggles as you.

5. Know there is no mountain too high or trail/trial too hard if you take your time

and work at it.

6. Know that with hard work and perseverance you can accomplish your goals.

PERSEVERANCE - WE GOT IT - DO YOU?

Race for the Cure

 

On Sunday September 16th, I dressed up in my finest pink fashion and headed to Portland to walk in the Race for the Cure.  This is the second year that the company I work for has sponsored a team to walk in the race and that I have partipated.  Last year being my first year, I had no idea that people would be dressing up, it looked like a lot of fun so all year me and my friend Kim have been planning what we wanted to wear for this years event.  Kim came up with the idea of making tutu's so we made them and then bought boa's and beads.  Again Karcher was generous enough to not only pay our enrollment fee into the race but they also had shirts made with our team name so we could show a united front. 

 

Many of us employees invited friends and family to walk with us.  This year I invited Laina to walk with us.  It was her first time and she too was shocked by the number of people and the "fashion" of the event.

 

This is my second event to raise money in the fight against cancer this year and I hope to do many more events in the future in hopes that this disease will be cured.  I have lost many family members to cancer, and I hope that I don't lose anymore before a cure is found. 

 

I this is a great event and it is amazing that over 25,000 people all come together to either walk or run the streets of Portland to raise money to fight a disease that has effected most our families. I love the fact that not only am I helping to raise money for the cause that I am getting some excerise too. 

 

I plan on being there in 2013 and would love for all my readers to join me in this fun event.

 

 

 

   Laina and I on display before the race.

 

   Kim and I in showing off our fancy tutu's and boa's

 



  Most of the employees, friends and family that joined the Karcher Kruisers walking in the Race this year.

Cape Horn a trail that views other trails

 

 



On Saturday September 15th Laina and I decided to head out to what we thought would be an easy hike since on Sunday the 16th we would be walking in the Race for the Cure early in the morning.   I am not sure why we thought this hike would be easy but we did, it could be that it was supposed to be shorter and at a lower elevation than the other hikes we have done or it could have been pure oblivion.  In any case we put on our packs and headed on out to the trail.

For those of you live in the NW know that this year our September has been absolutely beautiful weather wise and as you can tell by my smile in the following picture I am excited to be out in the woods again. 

 

 

This hike started out through the woods and pretty much up hill for about 1600 ft in elevation.  Once we got to the top we broke out to view the hills in the back and overlooking houses on farm land.



I have lived in WA my whole life and I have also traveled around the US quite alot and to be honest I don't think that there is a more beautiful place than the Columbia River Gorge.  I am so thankful that I live here and that this area is mine and Laina's new playground to explore and discover.   Whenever someone new comes to visit us in WA one of the first places that I take them is up the gorge and we stop at the Cape Horn lookout - the following picture shows Cape Horn bridge from a different perspective and not one that I would take someone to see unless they are up to a sweaty adventure.

 

 

There have been a lot of forest fires in the eastern parts of WA and OR and as you will see in some of the pictures the smoke was rolling down the gorge.

 Aview of the gorge looking east

  A view of the river looking straight across

  A view of the gorge looking west from where we were

  Here I am at one of the viewpoints with the smokey gorge in the back ground.

A few blogs ago I told you that I wanted to start looking more at the details on my hikes and to be honest I have been doing just that, I have started taking pictures of when I say "oh what is that" or "oh look at that" then the camera goes snap, snap, snap.  With this new committment I have really been learning to relax and ENJOY all the incredible things around me.

  A huge tree with the center of it rotted out but it was still growing strong.

  According to Laina this is bear poop I am glad we only saw the poop and not the bear....lol

  Berries changing colors

  

  Flowers starting to bloom

  Foliage taking over a fence post

  On the top of the hill there is a new lookout that is a great place to stop enjoy the view and have a little snack.

  From this lookout we could see both the tops of Hamiliton Mountain and the top of Angels Rest - both hikes that I have blogged about in the past.

  Here I am without all the packs - I realized that in most full body pictures I either have on a huge shirt or packs - this picture is for future refrence for me to see how far I have come in my weight loss journey.

  A view looking east from the lookout

  As we continued down the trail we came across this cool old shed or shack or something and I don't know why but I think it looks cool so here it is.

   Layered rock covered foliage

  A tunnel just built in 2011 to help the hikers go under the highway - it is so beautifully constructed.

  White flowers just barely budding out

 

 

As we walked through the woods we came across a bridge with this marker in the middle.  I have to say I appreciate any work that James Proctor did on this trail because it is a beauty....may he rest in peace.  As I have had time to reflect on the quote below his title it makes me think about some of the fog in my life.  Not only is there the fog that comes in nature but in life we have things that get in our head or make us doubt that we can do it or that we are good enough.  This weight loss journey is hard and there are things in my past that have fogged my thinking, but as the quote says "Onward, through the fog!"  I am determined to blow the fog out of my mind and to get this job done in order to have a healthy way of life.

 

 





  Another view up the river from a pop out in the trail

 

 

In the last blog (Angels Rest) I said to take note of the rock in the middle of the river, In this picture you can see the rock again and the hillside in the back ground is the hill that we climbed to Angels Rest - if the day would have been clearer you might have been able to see the rock on the ledge that we had our lunch on.

  At one point we stopped so Laina could tie her shoelace and as we were standing there I heard this rustle in the grass between us.  I hate snakes and mice and when I heard this noise that was the first thing I thought it would be but instead it was a baby bunny.  He blends in to the brown grass but can you see him?  He sat there perfectly still while we took pictures of him.

 

 

 

 

So at the bottom part of the trail after you pass through the tunnel we started going down hill more and we got to this nice rock wall (said with tongue in cheek) this part of the trail switchbacks down the hill to the bottom and not too much fun.

 

 

  A view of the rock hillside that we had just came down.

 

  On the backside of the hill this cool column rock

 

 

As we rounded the corner we saw this waterfall and this gave us a time to cool off and enjoy the rainbow.

 

  Ahh it felt so good!!!

 

  Can you see the rainbow?

 



 

 

So in all the times that I have taken people to the overlook I always wondered how you got down to the house and meadow down below - well now I know you either hike or there is a road.  The end of this trail was the worst part for me because we had to walk about a 1/3rd of a mile up hill on the road.  But I have to say when we popped out on the road and we looked back up at the bridge and could see the people looking down at the river I thought it was so cool, because in all the times I have stood on that over look I never looked for hikers, well that changes for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the hike when we got to the car both Laina and I were tired and when we looked at our final stats it was about 9.5 miles 142 flights of stairs - I have to admit that it was not a  easy hike but it was a worthwhile hike that I am glad we took on the challenge.



From an Angel to a Devil all in one trip

September started out with a bang, Laina and I headed up the gorge again on the 1st to hike up Angels Rest and then continue on to Devils Rest.   This whole hike is supposed to be about 11 miles and 2770 ft in elevation.  As we approached the trail head the parking lot was packed so we parked in the overflow lot and got our new packs on to head on up the trail. We made the decision that if we were going to continue with this hiking thing we needed to make things a bit easier so we each bought backpacks that can hold a water bladder with a tube we can drink from and this would allow us to free up our hands.  So needless to say with any new toy we were excited to try them out.  Off we go up the hill....

Although the day was cloudy when we started we were hopeful that by the time we got to the top that things would clear up.  This first part of the hike was supposed to be about 2.4 miles and about 1450 ft in elevation gain.  As with any hike we do in the gorge the view is always wonderful and I personally never get tired of looking at it.

 And with the beauty of the Northwest there were many things for us to admire along the way:

  A cool hole in a tree it was just above our head height and I wondered what could be hiding in the hole.

Bridges across the stream

  Fungus growing on the trees

And as we popped out we could see Cape Horn on the WA side of the river (keep this in mind as it will be important in a future blog to come)

As we continue on up the hill the we catch glimpses of where we are headed:

  Yep you guessed it we are headed to the that rock  note the shape it will hep you identify where we are headed

As the clouds are beginning to part we are getting more excited and noticing all the details of our journey

Red berries

  A small wholly bear in the middle of the trail - no we didn't step on him we took pictures and kept on hiking.

  I know this rock doesn't look like much but it was so tall it came up to about my chest level

We continued to get glimpses of the river and road below. 

We turn the corner and see the stair steps of rocks we think this must be it.

  Wow who knew we were going to have to scramble across the rocks.  Do you see the trail?  That's the way we have to go.

Wow what a view - then Laina tells me I don't think this is it....lol

  Here I am at what I thought was the top..lol  but nope.

  Check out my new water tube on my backpack so I can drink easier.

  A cool little fort someone made out of the rocks, some people have a lot of time

More berries

Oh this is where we are supposed to go - do you see the people out there?

  How about now?

  Layered rock that we pass on our way out to the point

  Yep the trail keeps going out over the gorge

Hey does this rock look familiar????  Yep you guessed it just from the other side and from the top instead of the bottom this time.

A 180 degree view of the gorge

A view looking up the hill -- because as you know use by now you know we go higher

A view of me at Angels Rest and yes that is sweat on my shoulders

 We decided that this would be a perfect place to sit and eat our lunch and refuel before we head up the trail to Devils Rest.  As I was sitting here eating a I see something out of the corner of my eye and I let out a scream as a chipmunk comes from the edge of the rocks and runs over to a tree...I was so shocked I am surprised I didn't fall when I screamed and jumped.  Can you see him in the picture below?

I am always in awe when I look up the gorge and see the pure beauty and watch the barges and trailing on the river.  I felt like we were in heaven which is probably how this rest stop got it's name.

After a little rest and our lunch we continue on up the trail to see if we can find Devils Rest it is supposed to be  about another 2 miles and about 1300 ft in elevation increase.

When we get to the fork in the trail we head left - this might be where we went wrong. 





We kept walking and walking and walking. 











 


Finally we came upon some other hikers and we asked did you come from Devil's Rest and they said they couldn't find it.  They told us that they had turned around because of time and then they found a sign high up on a tree designating where they should go.  They also said there was something on the trail ahead that they couldn't identify so we should be careful.  This is when we got the bells and whistles out just in case.

 Again we keep looking at the details for the forest.

  Pretty red leaves on some ferns in the woods

  This tree does not look like it in this picture but it was huge so I thought it was a prefect time for a picture with the tree.

And a quick picture of my new backpack - which by this point in the hike I am really loving.

Finally we too come upon the sign on the tree - thank goodness they told us to look up for it because we would have missed it too.

 And then the trail gets worse not due to rocks but just the amount of foliage over the trail.

And I know that going underneath limbs in the trail doesn't seem like much but about 6 miles in and after climbing about 2000 ft in elevation it was just enough to get the giggles going.

Another water way to cross and as you can see no bridges this time...where they heck are we headed.

Another sign up in the trees and as you can see not too easy to read - I certainly can see why it's called Devil's Rest because no Angel would want to go up there....lol

Finally we come across a gnome in the middle of the trail and we decide that it is time to turn around we are close to 6 miles into the hike and it is getting late in the afternoon so we decide to turn around...I guess after seeing the heavenly sights at Angels Rest we don't need to see the Devil that day.