Multnomah Falls

Last Saturday we ventured out into the wilderness...or to a popular tourist park- for some beautiful hiking. We thought it would be a perfect day to hike and apparently the whole valley thought so too...it was busy, but we delved right into the forest and began our trek. It was a pleasing hike through the flora and fauna, even though we were on completely paved trails, we were in Nature...(it's why I come up here.) The first mile was as if we were doing thigh master for 30 minutes at a 15% incline- straight up the mountain...it was awesome. Embarking near the top of the trail, we stopped to take a swig of our water....which we forgot. Lucky for us we saw an episode of "Man vs. Wild" and we learned that we CAN drink our own pee to stay hydrated. So we did it...Psych! I'm personally bringing that 90's word back into circulation. No, we just secretly swore at ourselves for being slightly dull-witted and hoped that by chewing our gum harder and faster we might produce more saliva to wetten the cotton mouth we had produced.
So in no time we arrived at our goal and it was breath taking. Being at the top of the falls was a small but rewarding accomplishment. However, as I neared the side of the wooden railing to look down on the lowly people in the parking lots, I about lost it. Visions of belly flopping off "Blowout Bridge" raced into view. I gripped the railing so hard my knuckles were turning white and legs became immovable sacks of bricks. I couldn't move for a minute, and even when we asked a couple to take a photo, Russell could bearly get me to move or let go of the side. Bridges or heights over looking massive drop-offs...not my favorite thing. So we headed back down the mountain after exploring up the river a bit.
Now as a disclaimer, I will inform you that the next few paragraphs are just mearly observations, though they come across clearly as judgements :) We noticed on our way down there were several people still coming up and we realized we could categorize these people into about 6 different groups.
We passed two girls that were a little out of shape and asked us, "Are we almost there?" We said they were close and they exclaimed with little breath, "Finally, I am so tired!" This is the group that we call, "Angry to be alive." They just didn't want to be there. The next set was the "Von Trapp Family". We saw a line of people varying in size coming upon us so we scooted to the side...10 minutes later the last of their group passed us. No doubt all related somehow...we waited to see if they'd break into a rendition of "Doe a Deer," but sadly they didn't. Now this next couple we saw made Russell and I flat out upset. This couple seemed to be holding something small in a blanket. My first thought was that they were carrying a baby, weird, but okay. However, as we got closer, they were "Coddling a baby rat or a baby chiuacha"...and as we passed them another couple stopped and ogled at the dog. Mad- Then there were the "New Yorkers"-People who were fully dressed and had a Starbucks in their hand as they hiked. "15 Yr old Smokers" who were coughing and breathing so hard as they continued to pull even harder on their cigarettes. Lastly, there were the "Weekend Warriors." People who came out of their "own" worlds for the weekend to try and renew themselves through natures offerings. I think we fit in this category because it was a blessing to be outside in the sunny weather enjoying the beauties of the earth....Hiking, isn't it about time?