Satisfying Summer, 2010
Posted: August 28th, 2010 | Author: Greg | Filed under: Hiking, Thinking | 2 Comments »In the past, I’ve been not so good about taking time for myself and my family in the Summer. Sure, I’ll take a couple of days here and there but this Summer I decided to do it a bit differently and took 10-12 days to just check out of work and life. It was a great decision because I think I’ve been outdoors almost 90% of the time on this break and overall have spent a large percentage of my time outdoors this Summer. Doesn’t hurt that the weather has been incredible.
On the coast
What a view
My son and I have done a lot of hiking this summer. We’ve been out to the Clackamas River twice together (I’ve been another 3 times solo), we’ve gone to Forest Park inside of Portland and we’ve gone to the coast to hike the Ecola State Park trail. I get a lot of satisfaction from hiking and from getting out to places that are incredibly silent. I prefer the sounds of the environment over any other. It keeps me calm and balanced. But I really enjoy sharing the outdoors with my kid. It’s very satisfying to see that he is developing a fondness for being outdoors. And for me, there is nothing that can take the place of being outdoors amongst the elements.
Lookit!
Forrest Park
So to that end, I’m glad that this Summer was different thus far in taking larger time out to hike and to share it with the kid. He’s got the passion now and is always up for an adventure whenever I ask. Considering where we live, I think that is very important. Oregon has hundreds of destinations and many of them are around Portland and it’s a crime to not take advantage of them. It seems that so many people who do live here do just that, never taking advantage of the parks we have. Even the ones within the city. I don’t get that but I look the other way and make sure that I take advantage of all of it and more. Next Summer, I’m going to plan a longer hiking season with a camping trip thrown in for balance on the hike. Planning starts……..now.
