Brent has been asking (well begging) me to drop him off at the top of Larch Mountain so that he can run 7 miles down the trail, through the forest, and down to the bottom of Multnomah Falls. At first we just planned on leaving the kids with my sister and doing the run together. But then I got pregnant. Twice. And then Brent decided he would go it alone. But after Elsa died I had a really hard time letting him out of my sight. Seeing him off for work was hard enough. But running down a mountain by himself (albeit only 7 miles) where there are wild animals, or he could run too fast and skid off a cliff, or some crazy person could attack him...those images just didn't work for me.
But then I told Brent that I wanted a new stroller for Oliver. And BAM! Guess what he pulled on me? "You can get the stroller if you'll drop me off at the top of Larch Mountain tomorrow." So...
...we took a sweet 2 week, 5 day old chubby cheeked baby and drove on up to Larch Mountain...
(a place where, it seems we went quite often during Ollie's pregnancy)
And Brent consented to hiking up to the top of the mountain with us first...I want to get back in shape, ya know! (Hiking to the top of the mountain consists of a long paved pathway and a bunch of stairs...about a mile each way).
boys on stairs
view from the top: Mt. Hood
and Mt. Adams (I think)
(You can also see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Jefferson from Larch Mountain.)
I LOVE that ring sling! I can hike and breastfeed at the same time. (Sorry if TMI!)
It saves us a lot of sitting around and waiting time.
(The top of Larch Mountain is fenced in for your kids' safety...sheer cliffs on 3 sides!)
Just before Brent's big descent. (Time for me to pray.)
Brent's BIG adventure...camera in one hand, GPS in the other, cell phone in pocket (!)
(Nice hair, Kramer!)
the road less traveled, the path less taken
(that's where Brent wants to be)
the soft glow in the wood
All the while he was running in Brent dream land, I was driving down the mountain and around to the Old Colombia River Gorge Highway...to the bottom of Multnomah Falls to pick him up. I did indeed say a prayer (yes, I know that I was being very paranoid...but I've lost my dad and my daughter both too young and both very unexpectedly), and I felt peace and comfort. It was a beautiful drive. Imagine driving through scenery like in the pictures above (the kids are all quiet). And feeling a general sense of happiness, well-being, and spirituality. Like God and Elsa are loving me both at the same time. And I am happy. It's the first time I feel TRULY happy in a long time. And I know the depression is officially over. I am able to remember the joy and the excitement that we felt in moving to Oregon again...the greenery, the landscape, the beauty. I realize that I made it. I made it through the hardest year of my life.
I pull up to the Multnomah Falls parking lot. It is a busy day...many tourists. I get the kids out of the car and feel the rush of excitement that I felt the first time we came to Multnomah Falls. We all hike up to the bridge, and we keep on hiking until we meet up with Brent...safe and sound. He is beaming.
(This picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. I was too lazy to dig up my own picture from my files.)
4 comments:
Yeah, for peaceful happiness. I am glad you have made it through this last year and feel blessed to have been (though small) a part of it. (Hugs)
Such a great post Katie! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your beautiful pictures. I miss Oregon!
Wow. Your posts always inspire me. You have such a strong spirit! And, the beauty of Oregon amazes me!
I love the negotiation! And the beautiful photos!