Beacon Rock

My friend, Jessica, posted on facebook that she wanted to go to a hike. I asked where and when and we decided to hike Beacon Rock in the Columbia Gorge. Funny thing is, both of us have never hiked Beacon Rock! One of those things that you think, "oh, I can go there anytime!" and then you never do. We met in the morning, hiked on up and up and up the .9 mile trail. Lots and lots of switchbacks take you up the west side of the rock. Once you get closer to the top you finally get to swing around to the east side of the big rock. The top doesn't have a lot of room to roam about but it feels good to finally get up there! We took some pictures, read the plaque, drank some water then headed back down. Once at the bottom we decided that wasn't enough so we headed across the river and hiked Wahclella falls too!

A little warning before starting up the switchback trail.

I just thought this was a cool rock whatever you call it.

The view from the trail on our way to the top. This is looking across to the Oregon side and slightly west.

The view looking west.

The view looking east.

The crazy switchback trail, walk too fast and you get dizzy with all the back and forth.

Another shot of the trail, just looking down this time.

The final climb to the top!

View to the east from the top.

View to the west from the top. To be honest, the view, in my humble opinion, was better from the trail.

Heading back down, the sun was really starting to burn off the mist that was lingering in the gorge.

My hiking partner, Jessica!

Firsts!

Today was a big day...BOTH boys started school. Okay, technically, school started last Wednesday but we were on our annual family camping trip. Anyway, Noah started 5th, yes 5th if you can believe that? And Oliver, he started Kindergarten today. The time really has flown by! Oliver was so excited this morning he could barely sit or stand still. It's a first for me too, I have no kiddos at home and I am wondering how I am going to handle that. So far I've dropped off a huge bag of school supplies, stopped for a coffee, ran to Target and am now working on this here blog post. So far, so good! Oh, if you'd like to see a ton of pictures from our camping trip, check out my facebook page by clicking here or here, that will take you to the two albums I created. Report back later for a recap of their first day!

Good morning boys!!

Speaking of firsts, this boy lost his first tooth last night. It's a big week for this guy! He asked the tooth fairy for $33 or a nickel. Nickel it is!!

Love that he is looking up to his big brother!

Can't stand still, so excited and wants to know, "Where is that bus!?!"

Not quite as excited as his little brother. He is really looking grown up to me these days.

Nope, still not standing still.

"YEAH!!!! The bus is here!!"

On goes my Noah

And there goes my Ollie-Al

There they go...now what do I do?