Worth It

This is a picture taken yesterday at Linton Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness area. Michael and I went camping with New Friends this weekend. We drove east of Eugene toward the McKenzie Pass, a stunning drive that takes one through old growth forests of Douglas Fir, past snow-capped mountains, lava bluffs, waterfalls, and more. We found a campsite off 126, set up our tents, then headed for the Linton Lake trail. We left around 4, each of us carrying 32 oz of water and a jacket, but not much more than that. The hike to the lake was an easy 2 miles through old growth hemlock and Douglas fir and over a lava bluff, then down to the forest floor. The trail ended at the lake, so we stopped to play around for awhile. And to throw stones onto the incredibly clear and calm surface.

From the northeast side of the lake we could hear roaring water, so we decided to go on despite the lack of kept trail. We circled around to the south end of the lake and found a river, then followed the river up into the forest, scrambling over down trees and mossy rocks. We were completely alone, off the trail by miles, finding our own way. We stopped for awhile by the rushing water to play on some down logs, poke at orange fungi, and take it in:

We then went on, further up and further in. We did some scrambling and climbing, using roots to pull ourselves up for another .25 miles. That's when the Linton Falls broke into view. One of our New Friends, who led the way and never gave up on finding the falls, said "That was worth it, huh?" We could only nod, our lungs sucking in oxygen. It was worth it. We found it by ourselves and we were alone. It was ours.

At this point the sun had another 30 minutes before it was going to set. Luckily our friend had a headlamp and Michael had his nalgene lantern because we hiked the last couple miles in the dark. Despite this, we could not help but stop back at the lake and watch the sunset:

When we finally got back to camp around 8 we started a fire, started dinner, and opened a few beers. The night went on until 2 am after hours of conversation around the fire and more beer. I slept better, despite the chilly 40 degrees and rain, than I have in months. This was possibly the best experience Oregon has given me, so far. We're still figuring out so much about what it means to be here, so far from friends and family. Which is hard, really really hard. And we get nervous about the unknown, but it's worth it. You know?

Love from the west,
Katie and Michael