I feel very tired today..
Not that I don't have good reason, yesterday Brandon and I went hiking in the gorge... We set off around 9am and after stopping for a quick Starbucks breakfast, we went up behind Multnomah and came down on the touristy side. Went about 5 miles... Saw some cliche waterfalls, crossed some not so cliche bridges and had an all around good time.
By the time we got back to the car we were both famished (a bagel and a latte only goes so far) so we went to lunch at this cute little restaurant on the river called "Island Cafe" (when I say on the river, I mean ON THE RIVER... literally floating). It was a little spendy, but the food tasted good, and the atmosphere was pretty nice (and there were NO do not feed the duck signs hehe).
From there we went home and on the way it was decided that we would do the Ape caves. Crazy, me? In the caves?? Well, I was thinking out loud and just THOUGHT that it would be *fun* to do again (since it has been close to 20 years since I had been in those caves).
Uh..
I don't like enclosed spaces.
Now add the fact that we are in complete darkness, me with a flashlight that really needed new batteries (he said he was going to bring lanternS which was why I didnt replace them.. this was only supposed to be a back up), Ethan with nothing and Brandon in the lead with a lantern that only lit the area right next to him.
I kept kicking rocks, cut my finger, have bruises all over my legs... I almost fell numerous times and came within an inch of ramming my face into the ceiling at least three times.
Oh and did I mention that I was freaked out??
I did not feel safe at all; I was the rear of the group and I swear it felt like someone was going to reach out and grab me the entire time.
Now, I know that there is nothing in these caves, but I cannot help which direction my imagination turns... and I kept thinking about a horror movie that I watched a while back that took place in a cave... very inappropriate for what I was doing at that moment.
Since we didnt leave for the caves until after 5pm, there was not much left of the daylight when we got there. Now that we walked the 1.3 miles to the "exit" of the cave (which we used as the entrance in our case) and walked the 1.3 miles back, it is now as dark outside as it was in the cave. The only thing that let me know we actually were outside was the temperature change and the fact that I could see the stars through the trees.
Where we came out was only a 2 minute walk back to the parking lot and when we got there our car was the only one there (no surprise). There was not a single light in the parking lot so we still had our lantern/flashlights out when Brandon hears what he described as four-legged footsteps/claws on the pavement on the far side of the parking lot. Since my flashlight was so weak and his lantern wouldn't light long distances to save his life we couldnt see what it was and didn't linger to look at just how breath taking the stars are without all the light pollution of the city (we stopped a little later and looked out the sunroof from the safety of the car...)
We got home around 10pm; we couldnt have squeezed anything else into the day even if we wanted to :)
Not that I don't have good reason, yesterday Brandon and I went hiking in the gorge... We set off around 9am and after stopping for a quick Starbucks breakfast, we went up behind Multnomah and came down on the touristy side. Went about 5 miles... Saw some cliche waterfalls, crossed some not so cliche bridges and had an all around good time.
By the time we got back to the car we were both famished (a bagel and a latte only goes so far) so we went to lunch at this cute little restaurant on the river called "Island Cafe" (when I say on the river, I mean ON THE RIVER... literally floating). It was a little spendy, but the food tasted good, and the atmosphere was pretty nice (and there were NO do not feed the duck signs hehe).
From there we went home and on the way it was decided that we would do the Ape caves. Crazy, me? In the caves?? Well, I was thinking out loud and just THOUGHT that it would be *fun* to do again (since it has been close to 20 years since I had been in those caves).
Uh..
I don't like enclosed spaces.
Now add the fact that we are in complete darkness, me with a flashlight that really needed new batteries (he said he was going to bring lanternS which was why I didnt replace them.. this was only supposed to be a back up), Ethan with nothing and Brandon in the lead with a lantern that only lit the area right next to him.
I kept kicking rocks, cut my finger, have bruises all over my legs... I almost fell numerous times and came within an inch of ramming my face into the ceiling at least three times.
Oh and did I mention that I was freaked out??
I did not feel safe at all; I was the rear of the group and I swear it felt like someone was going to reach out and grab me the entire time.
Now, I know that there is nothing in these caves, but I cannot help which direction my imagination turns... and I kept thinking about a horror movie that I watched a while back that took place in a cave... very inappropriate for what I was doing at that moment.
Since we didnt leave for the caves until after 5pm, there was not much left of the daylight when we got there. Now that we walked the 1.3 miles to the "exit" of the cave (which we used as the entrance in our case) and walked the 1.3 miles back, it is now as dark outside as it was in the cave. The only thing that let me know we actually were outside was the temperature change and the fact that I could see the stars through the trees.
Where we came out was only a 2 minute walk back to the parking lot and when we got there our car was the only one there (no surprise). There was not a single light in the parking lot so we still had our lantern/flashlights out when Brandon hears what he described as four-legged footsteps/claws on the pavement on the far side of the parking lot. Since my flashlight was so weak and his lantern wouldn't light long distances to save his life we couldnt see what it was and didn't linger to look at just how breath taking the stars are without all the light pollution of the city (we stopped a little later and looked out the sunroof from the safety of the car...)
We got home around 10pm; we couldnt have squeezed anything else into the day even if we wanted to :)
