Oregon's first hint of spring happened late January. The forecast was predicting sunshine, so we decided to take our chances and head out to the coast. As soon as we started to head west, we ended up in dense fog.
Luckily, as we approached our final destination for the day, the fog lifted. Our plan was to hike the Cascade Head Trial from the lower trail head. By the time we got there it was absolutely packed!
If you start at the lower trail head, you have to cross the street and follow a path that runs back and forth along a side road before reaching the sign below.
The hike starts with a steep climb and continues climbing for the entire way in. There are a few brief points where it levels out for a few hundred feet, but not enough to call this an "easy" hike. Oregon Hikers calls this trail moderate, but I would place it at the upper end of moderate unless you are a seasoned, year-round hiker.
The first major view point happens about two miles into the hike. According to my Fitbit One stats we had climbed the equivalent of 81 floors.
At this point we decided to turn around because I was (and am) still breaking in my hiking shoes. If we had pushed on the hike would have been another four miles or so.
On the way back I spotted this interesting flower. I asked some of my "plant friends" and they suggested that it was probably Lysichiton americanus or "Skunk Cabbage".
I don't think I've ever hiked in January, so it's no surprise that I wasn't prepared. I had packed extra socks and shoes, but didn't even think to grab a spare pair of jeans.
Despite the dirty jeans, we headed into Lincoln City to have lunch and get our McMenamins passports stamped. Shortly after that we headed home to relax.
I was pretty happy with my Fitbit One stats for the day:
It was a wonderful treat to be able to hike in the rare, January sunshine.
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