August 8, 2011 = 2nd Anniversary: Hike #5 - El Faro - Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

I still did my regular Tuesday hike this last week while on vacation with family in Mazatlan. (P.S. Don't believe the rumors... you are perfectly fine to travel there.) Aaron and I spent the morning of our anniversary hiking to the top of the highest natural lighthouse in the world (the lighthouse isn't tall, the location of it is just high). We walked 1.4 miles to get to the start of the trail up to the lighthouse.

You can make out the lighthouse at the top of the peak in the background.

I spotted a couple hermit crabs on our walk.

Ready to start our ascent. Until Aaron was distracted by work...

Right next to the trail was what appears to be part of the city water system. Aaron has been working on a water system in Oregon so he was intrigued and already wondering whether he could involve himself in this project : )

We met a lot of animal friends on this hike. This is an Iguana. After talking to some locals we learned that the brightly colored green iguanas like this one are not native to the area, but have resulted from escaped pets. 

We hiked on the gravel path and then reached a set of stairs with 300 steps. 

It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't too bad. The heat and humidity were the hardest to deal with.

(...even Aaron made it up!)

We were rewarded with a stunning view of the city and ocean below.

The lighthouse

We almost came home with a pet... until he made a yucky sound like he was about to puke and hopped up on Aaron to try and get a nibble of his shorts. (We assume this little guy belongs to the lighthouse keeper.) Aaron has dubbed him "Mexican Rudy."

After a break we made our way back down. We saw more people heading up and more animals taking in the views and the heat.

This iguana is native to the area and one of the bigger ones we saw.

Watch out for the spiders!

...and feral cats! For those of you that don't know me well... I'm not really a pet person. Growing up the only pets we were allowed were fish. (Although, Jazmin and Danny snuck a few cats and dogs in a time or two.) For some odd reason they are attracted to me; especially cats! Aaron just laughed as this guy followed me down a couple switchbacks.

Afterward we walked back to the house and relaxed in the pool. Later that night we celebrated out anniversary by taking a walk on the "Malecón" (boardwalk) and having dinner at an Italian restaurant in Plaza Machado. The two years has flown by! I'm so lucky to get to share my life with you babycake : )

Multnomah-Wahkeena Falls Loop (Hike #4)

The "Hiking Club" went on another great hike today. I've been to Multnomah Falls many times, but had never hiked this loop before. It was well worth it!! Attendance for today's hike: Kari, Debbie and her son Dutch, and Kellie and her daughter Erin. Here are some shots...

Wahkeena Falls



The view from Lemmon's Viewpoint. Lemmon's was a firefighter who gave his life protecting the natural beauty of Oregon.

Making our way up...

Back at the bottom of the Multnomah Falls Trail. When we started hiking at around 9AM the parking lot was empty. By noon the parking lot was full and tourists were all over, but not many venture further than the 1 mile up to the top of the falls. Our hike was about 5.5 miles. I would highly recommend this hike!

The Hard Life

Aaron has been working pretty hard on the water treatment system for the City of Detroit, OR.  Detroit is right on Detroit Lake. I went down with him for a couple days last week. Aaron spend the time busy at work and I found a nice spot at one of his job sites to read, sun, and enjoy the lake. Here are some shots...


Aaron's Office

The View from the Office



Hard at work



The Lake (my office)



Hiking Club! (Hike #3)

Aaron is soooo jealous that I have summer break and leading up to it he kept asking, " What are you going to do with all that time off?!" I have been keeping busy and doing things I was too busy and overwhealmed to do during the school year. One of the activities I am doing is a weekly "hiking club" - I invited my co-workers and other friends to join me for a weekly hike. This last week we hiked the Trail of 10 Falls at Silver Falls State Park near Silverton, OR. It is one of my favorite hikes and I was lucky enough to have Jill and Kellie join me on the 8.5 mile loop. Here are some shots Jill took...

185 Steps...count 'em!

Summer so far: Rafting - Girls Weekend

This last weekend I went on my first ever rafting trip on the Deschutes River near Maupin, OR. The weather was nuts the whole weekend. It rained the Friday we arrived and some more the next day. The weather seemed to clear when we were ready to get on the river. We navigated successfully though our first set of rapids called Wapinitia.

We weren't so successful on the next set called Boxcar. A rush of water swooped me out of the raft and I went for a thrilling ride down the river. Notice I started out wearing a hat and sunglasses...

After all the excitment we stopped off for lunch. Just as we were finishing our meal it started to downpour. We huddled under a bridge to wait it out. After walking over to the bathrooms in the park (and enjoying having warm water) we headed back to the raft to get ready to take off further down the river. Just as we were getting ready another downpour including hail came down. Remember we were under a bridge... the nasty water that had been on the road above dripped gushed down on a couple of the girls. Yuck!! At about this point I started not feeling so well. My vision was blurred and my stomach unsettled. Rather than risk navigating the river in poor weather and with the strange symptoms I was having we decided to call it a day and one of the girls hiked up to the road to hitchhike to get the vehicle we left at the end spot. I came back home that night nursing a headache. (I rarely ever have a headache!) After calling the nurse's line at the doctor's office for advice they told me just to keep an eye on it and have Aaron wake me during the night as there was a chance I had a mild concussion after being tossed around in the water. It took a couple days to feel "normal" again, but I did have a good time on the trip!