Walking the Miles ...: Round the Mountain

“Round the Mountain” with the Mazamas was such an awesome adventure yet I can’t find the words to describe the experience other than to say it was SO AMAZING! The Mazamas organize this event and break the participants out into teams based on desired hiking speed. There were four teams this year and each team had two hike leaders. We stayed at the Mazama Lodge near Government Camp on Mt. Hood, ate like royalty and were very well supported. Whatever our needs were, they were met. Questions? They were answered. Fears? They were recognized and paid attention to. Food allergies? The chef had your (my) back! Pains? Blisters? Illnesses? All taken care of. Amazing. This is an event I definitely want to participate in again.

We hiked on the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood over three days. Three awesome days filled with many miles (42 overall), thousands of feet of elevation gains and losses, multiple river crossings, and wonderful camaraderie. We hiked up one side of a ridge, down the other side, crossed a river, up another ridge, down the other side… repeat, repeat, repeat… all the way around the Mountain. I could not have been with a better group of people… a true TEAM making decisions together, encouraging one another, and helping each other when needed (Thank you, Team!). Our hike leaders – Amy B and Amy G – were absolutely fantastic - so knowledgeable, organized and friendly! (Amy B even provided acupuncture to one of our team members who's foot was in pain.) They were great leaders working together, always discussing and finding the safest routes across the rivers, making sure we all had water to drink and that everyone was comfortable with the pace, safe and happy. In the evenings and mornings we were together with members of the other teams and their leaders. Everyone was so friendly and talkative. I truly enjoyed meeting new people and tried to talk to as many as possible. What a great community to be a part of! There were several hikers that had done this event before... two on my team were on their third year and a man I met from another team was doing this for his NINTH time! Yes, it is THAT GREAT!

I was fearful of the river crossings (always). I hopped rocks across a couple of them, took my boots off and walked through two of them (when the water wasn’t too deep or rushing too fast), butt-scooted across a large, wet log once, and balanced on sometimes very unnerving little logs to get across the rest of them - once having to make a sharp turn onto another log in the middle of the river. My heart pounded, my knees shook, my feet stalled, and the tears of fear stung my eyes more than once but each time I made it across without incident all because of the people around me. I truly depended on and appreciated my TEAM. I believe I made some lifelong friends on this trip and I’m looking forward to seeing and hiking with them again.

I took tons of pictures - more than I thought I did but believe me, less than I wanted to! haha I saw the biggest mushroom I’ve ever seen, saw many different views of Mt. Hood, and felt like I was on a different planet at times because of the terrain. I was amazed how we would move from one ridge to another … the distance and elevation changes it would require to get there … and not once did I question myself as to how or why I was doing this. I was always in the moment - pain-free, happy and peaceful - and I loved every bit of it - well... except for the river crossings... but I loved that I was able to conquer them! ;) Life is good!

DAY 1: