Come On Eileen

"At this moment, you mean everything..." ha ha, yes - I'm an 80's girl; as you can tell from my second post with a reference to a song from that era. Come On Eileen was Janet and I's "rally cry" as we suffered our way to said named lake while hiking a loop trail in Oregon on a near 90 degree day last week. 

Actually, Lake Eileen is a side trip off the iconic "Three Sister's Hike Loop"; one of several "extras" that were originally planned for our 6 day adventure. But, life had other plans.

Poor Heidi - she had painstakingly planned this trip for months. With permit in hand and days off approved, everything was in place to conquer the loop along with her sixth volcano summit...until her doctor ordered her to stop hiking until her stress fracture is healed.

Sammy and son Rocky

Is it bad to say I was somewhat relieved? Of course I felt terrible for Heidi, but with the forecast of HOT and the multiple double digit mile days planned, I was seriously doubting my abilities for this one. In fact, it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay in a state of denial about it. 

Obsidian Falls

Thankfully Janet agreed to an altered plan once we knew Heidi was out - and by "plan" I mean not having a plan at all. (The itinerary that developed is below for those interested.) There was one plan though; we both knew we would hike out early enough to meet Heidi on the Oregon coast to spend some time just being tourists and trying to keep her from walking too much. (Not an easy task!) 

Life often has a way of messing up our plans, doesn't it? Though oftentimes, if we can roll with the punches, we find our altered outcomes can still turn out to be good ones. Happy "embracing the pivot" trails! 

We love you, Heidi! Heal fast!!!

TRAIL LOG:

Day One: 6.5 miles to Minnie Scott Spring going CCW from Lava Camp Lake TH. We thought we could make it to Glacier Creek, but when we arrived here, it was too good to pass up. We didn't start hiking until 11:30 am or so, and it was definitely heating up. We took the PCT at the split you come to at .9 even though it's slightly longer with more elevation. We figured we'd appreciate the different view, and would want to take the easier way on the way back. We saw plenty of thru hikers all three days -- maybe 30 to 40 total?

GREAT spots just across the spring - hard to see from trail

 

Day Two: 8.6 miles to Lake Eileen. I wouldn't call these hard miles, but like I said; we were struggling. It had to be the heat. I don't know how hot it actually was, but it was the only day in RED on the forecast the day we left. The bugs at the campsite were annoying, but I've seen way worse. We talked a lot about what we wanted to do the next day, and the next. There are several different "mini loops" you could do here. Ultimately we decided we would try to make it back the way we came so as to possibly have an extra day on the Oregon coast. 

First spot is best!

Day Three: 15 miles back to our car. This is about my limit as far as miles in a day goes, but we got a really early start, so that helped a lot. Plus the elevation is a little better going this direction. 

I love morning light

Day Four: Heidi had gotten a hotel room right on the Seaside beach, so we met her there and crashed her place. I know this isn't hiking related, but if you are staying in Seaside and like Karaoke, the Capricorn Pub is the place to be! We had SO much fun, and it was an easy walk back to the hotel. 

Singing our little hearts out!

Day Five: Even though it was probably too much walking for Heidi, we had to visit Cannon Beach and get as close to the famous Haystack Rock as possible. We were lucky to score a campsite at the incredibly cute and family owned "Wright's For Camping" campground where we just hung out and played games, though if you wanted you could walk to town from here.

We actually walked right up to it!

Day Six: A quick stop at Hug Point before heading home is worth it, especially at low tide! The waterfall was anticlimactic though for sure.

More like a water dribble ;)