Mt. McLoughlin

John has been daydreaming of taking our family to hike Mt. McLoughlin ever since we moved to Medford. When we found our Friday suddenly free, we knew we needed to jump at the opportunity before the weather turned sour for the winter. (Saturday forecasted snow!)

Some basic information about Mt. McLoughlin

• 9,482 ft elevation
• 11.5 miles hiking round trip (with majority of the incline happening in the last two miles.)
• Tallest Volcano between Shasta and Crater Lake, it is believed to have erupted 20,000 years ago.
• You can see the snow capped mountain from almost anywhere in Medford (Cate's middle school is named after it!)

I had heard survival/brag stories from friends who've climbed the summit, (some having climbed multiple times), but I felt confident it couldn't be "that hard." Let's just say I ate a slice of humble pie as I literally found myself crawling, like a baby, over boulders whimpering my way along. I'll try not to get too ahead of myself here.

The night before, we packed up healthy snacks to keep us going and energized, and unhealthy snacks to keep us motivated and happy.  The kids laid out their layers of clothes and fell asleep quickly with a naïveidea how hard the next day's hike would be.

We woke up at five and entered the dark trail head at 7:00 AM, with flashlights in tow. Cate and Johnny told scary stories about the headless horseman, while Wills and Matthew tripped over every stone in the path. Ha! The hike commences on the Pacific Crest Trail, and the old growth interchanging the new was so breathtaking and magical. It was amazing scenery.

The first three miles were challenging, and left us huffing and puffing in sections, but I was pretty proud of the kids for keeping such a good pace and keeping strong. 

The fourth mile, pushed us as it felt we were climbing stairs and zig-zagging past the tree line. 

The last mile and a half were simply put: brutal. There were a lot of boulders we needed to climb over and sliding rocks that made footing tricky. When we got to the first view of the volcanic cone, it was breathtaking and we mistakenly thought we were almost done! We continued on the ridgeline, scaling boulders with shaky legs and scraped hands. The trail was hard to follow, it was marked by white spray painted dots, and sometimes arrows, every twenty feet or so. 

John was the real MVP here. He stayed with Matthew the WHOLE time, holding his hand and convincing him it was a game. Matthew was in the best mood despite being past exhausted and he climbed up the mountain just one step at a time. William loved scaling all the big rocks and he felt like Kion from Lion Gaurd. Caity was tired and sore, but was in good spirits and was up to the task (especially since John's coworker told us there was NO way our kids would be able to finish the hike...she had something to prove!) Johnny kept checking to make sure everyone was doing OK "Mom, is there anything I can do to help you?" He was the most resistant to hiking this, and even though it was hard for him, I was so impressed he didn't complain. None of them did, really.  Meanwhile, I kept thinking "People do this for fun?"  I knew if I didn't make it to the top, the kids wouldn't either, and that is what drove me to keep going. I wanted them to feel that accomplishment. Rosco was past exhausted and limping along, poor guy.

I can hardly capture the elation when we reached the summit. The average adult finishes the ascent in four hours, we did it with little kids in five and half. I felt incredibly proud of those kids. They did it! We signed our names in the book and cheered and looked over the beautiful views almost entirely blocked by smoke, ha! At that point, it didn't matter, because we were so happy to be done climbing.

We began our descent, which turned out to be quite a bit harder for me. My legs were shaking from fatigue, I felt dizzy from the elevation, and the slippery rocks made me so nervous (especially because I was herding four kids through a potentially dangerous terrain.)

Well, in true John and Mary fashion, we lost track of the trail, and exited the ridge too early. We weren't so lost that we weren't in the general direction we needed to be, but lost enough to stop and say a prayer. John brought a GPS that helped us, but it kept glitching which was a little nerve-wracking. For two and half hours we wandered trying to find the trail. We whooped and hollered when we found a while dot on a rock marking we were back on the path! It was another mile and a half of the steep, shifting rock decline, then we finally got to the tree line and I didn't care how steep it was, so long as I didn't get any more ground rock filling my shoes. 

We were in good spirits as we put wagers in as to when we would arrive back to the van. I felt so much joy when we finally rejoined the Pacific Crest Trail, and we had more ups and downs (instead of just "downs"), and we even experienced some flat terrain. We walked until the sunset and William and I were last to exit the forest in the dark of night, which may I add, terrified us! We took a total of twelve hours to complete the hike. Despite the decline typically being an hour shorter, ours was an hour and half longer because of our little detour. 

We collapsed into our car seats, and groaned in painful delight. We did it. Our entire bodies ached, but we did it. The soles of our feet felt tender, and we all stunk. One by one, kids fell asleep, dreaming of getting home their own beds. 

 

At home I took a long bath in Epsom salts, and it felt so good to be clean, warm, and not-walking. John and I ended the night on a date of Taco Bell and The Office before we crashed in bed. As we fell asleep we kept cracking up at all the cute things the kids were saying while we hiked. It was such a fun moment to share with him. William, Johnny and I played "Would You Rather..." and their silly, sometimes gross scenarios were so funny. "Would you rather drink pee or the sweat drained from my socks?" Boys. Ew. We also laughed about how once we got to the 3.3 mile marker on our descent, Cate took off her shoes and hiked the remaining distance barefoot. Then Matthew's commentary was something else. "Mom, I need to hold your hand, because you're not good at hiking, like me, right mom? Don't worry, I'll help you, I can do complicated  things. (Compwicated fings)" John and I were joking that John would have a hump back from all the times he had to one arm lift Matthew, because he couldn't take three steps without slipping. At one point Matthew told John, "I'm so glad you and mom are married, because you both are so nice and so fun." That just warmed my heart. (I'm glad we're married too.)

I know this much: I wouldn't have enjoyed the experience with anyone else! What an adventure for a Friday off school. I will cherish so many memories (I am sure even more when my body forgets all its aches and pains!) I also am so grateful for the beautiful and diverse Earth created by God. I feel closer to him in nature and at home among the trees.

The Last Day of Summer

Today was the perfect day to end a sweet summer. 

Last night we had our Fourth Annual Back to School Celebration. We decorated our dining room, divided our meal into three courses, and used my wedding china as we honored Cate, Johnny, William, and Matthew. We toasted to the end of a glorious summer that filled our memory buckets overflowing. We welcomed in a new school year with an excited anxiety, for lack of a better emotion. John and I introduced our 2020/21 school year theme, "By small and simple things, are great things brought to pass." Despite the hurdles and the unknown this year, if we just focus on doing small and simple acts with faith, be it acts of kindness, courage, service, order, gratitude, learning, forgiveness...whatever it may be...when done in faith, we can be assured that the Lord will bring about great things, even mighty things, and we will be witnesses of His love, mercy, and power. We gifted each child a watch so they would remember to "make time for the small and simple things." (You know I love a good pun.) John gave each of us a father's blessing, and I felt so grateful for this family of mine. We have a lot of growth ahead, but what a tender mercy that we get to do it together!

Our theme hanging on the fridge.

Here's the remnants of our decorations after we cleaned up the fancy table. I love, love, love back to school everything.

Knowing today was our last day of summer freedom, we decided to make the most of it and float the Rogue River. So after spending the morning giving our house a good school-prep cleaning, we loaded kids into the van, the raft into the truck, and tried to out drive the 100 degree weather.

It was the perfect day. The Cummings were also rafting, and floating with good friends made it all more celebratory. There were water fights, kids jumping ship, dance contests over the Rapids, and raft-ramming. The breeze kept us cool as we meandered with the current through layers of green trees. This float has such magnificent views! For a few hours we collectively felt a little more present, and grateful for our opportunity to live so fully. It was such a reset for me. 

So right before this picture, John did a back flip into the water. Right after this picture, William just up and did a front flip into the water! Crazy boys.

I had a van full of sleepy kids as I tailed behind John in his truck. I kept the old-school country music blaring as I took in the scenery of home. It was beautiful farms cuddling the evergreen hills I love, "Peaches for Sale" stands, and Hemp swaying in the wind. I felt content and full on life.

After we hauled our tired, slightly sunburned crew home, and had a barbecue. Everyone finished their food in record time. All the kids bathed and laid out their first-day-of-school outfits. We made lunches, and organized our "school areas." John took the kids for a ride on the four-wheelers, because he's the fun parent, and I made the kids finish up some last minute cleaning because I'm also the fun parent, haha. I feel like for the first time possibly ever, we finished everything according to the neurotic schedule I keep in my brain. Per my negotiations with Johnny,the kids then watched a couple episodes of Recess to wind down before bed.  

While the boys were occupied, Cate (no longer Caity, starting tomorrow) asked me to straighten her hair for the first day. We were able to talk through a lot of her worries and anxieties starting into a new school year. I felt so grateful to have this time with her. I was able to testify of God's awareness and love for her. I shared all the ways I had seen His hand in her life recently. So many of the little elements I felt inspired to prepare for this school year were direct answers to Cate's concerns, providing her peace. We read a book that made me cry, and I held my preteen trying to recapture how it felt when she fit in the crook of my arm. We said a prayer together and felt such peace and love from Heavenly Father. We prayed that she would be filled with memories of everyone who loves her and times she had overcome difficult things. We also prayed that the clouds of doubt, fear, and insecurity could be lifted for a time so Cate could more clearly feel God's love for her. It was a sacred moment I will always treasure with my sweet girl that is growing more independent every day. 

Everyone was in bed and asleep before 9:00 pm, which is amazing after this 6 month summer. John and I walked the dog, watched a show, and fell asleep satisfied we squeezed every drop from this summer we could. 

Now...ready or not...tomorrow commences the 2020/21 school year! At this point, I'm feeling delusionally optimistic. It's going to be a good year, or a least a year of growth, that's for sure!

(I mean, it's completely normal to wake up at 1:00 am for a quick blog session, right??)

Fiesta and Spiderman

This weekend was one for the books!

Friday night John and I went on a little date. We’re still new to Medford, and for dinner, we felt like something predictable. However, after finding out it was an hour wait for Olive Garden we said, “Aw heck with it, let’s try something new.” So we drove around Medford, and landed on Fiesta Mexico. We let the waiter choose for us, and it was seriously delicious. I crave Friday night dates all week, and by Friday afternoon, you can’t wipe the smile off my face.  As always, it was just nice to reconnect and laugh, and dissect topics together. It’s cheesy, it’s cliché- but seriously, John is my very best friend. I really enjoy his company.  We got home and put kids to bed and ate Johnny’s leftover birthday cake. Just a great Friday night.

Saturday John took the reigns and we headed to Emigrant Lake to go rock climbing! I don’t think we have gone since we left Rexburg, Idaho. We were all a little rusty. The views were beautiful. The kids explored and conquered a new-to-them world. On the other side of the cliff were rolling hills of pasture fields with cows grazing. The air, the moo’s in the background, the light breeze, the sun reflecting on the water? Just what the doctor ordered.

William went first, and then my phone died, so he is the only one we have pictures of. :) 

 It was pretty tricky teaching them to trust John, who was belaying, and to lean completely back to repel back down the boulder. They were terrified. We kept saying, "Be like spider-man!" At one point William said, "I don't even like Spiderman!" We would promise them they wouldn’t get hurt, and then somehow every single one of them did, haha! Not terrible, just enough that I may win the “We should have them wear helmets” argument next time, haha. We made a lot of progress and it was a great family outing. I got to lay up top and the kids would make eye contact with me while they repelled down the rock. It was really sweet looking at their faces as they overcame their fears.

You can't tell that he's standing on a ledge, it was actually quite a ways up for his little five year old body!

Now- in true transparency I was tiiiired on this trip. I don’t know what was up, but as soon as I got to the place we were climbing, I laid down and totally fell asleep. Ha! But so you all don’t think I’m too pathetic here, John taught be how to belay myself, which I did somewhat decently, may I add. We got to the car just in time to head home before dark. Everyone was starving and suddenly the bananas everyone thought was disgusting on our way out, looked mighty appetizing after hours of play. We stopped by Costco on the way home for a pizza, and called it a night.

Sunday was church with all its goodness (including a double meltdown on the way to primary class, whoohoo!) Then it was spending the day together. Just an overall, grateful to be alive kind of weekend.