Despite the fact that it's taken me nearly two months to start writing about this project, I have been working on my list since right after my birthday in September. My first weekend as a 30 year old, I woke up to a beautiful, sunny fall day. I decided to drive to Eugene, Oregon and finally hike to the top of Spencer Butte, one of the highest points in the southern Willamette Valley..
I lived in Eugene for almost six years, and never got around to climbing this thing. My friend Derek, who lives in Eugene, agreed to come with me. We got to the parking lot and had our choice of trails. We opted for the one that was slightly longer, but supposedly an easier hike. Yes, I said "supposedly." It started off with a nice gentle trail and quickly became a heart attack inducing rock climb.
Near the bottom of the trail
There were lots of places to stop for a photo; this was near the top
The view looking west
The south view
Me, feeling pretty damned accomplished and a little worried about rattlesnakes
The view from the top was spectacular. If I had known what I was missing, I would have done this a long time ago. Despite a difficult (for me) climb up the rocks at the end of the trail, it was a lot of fun getting up on the mountain and looking down at Eugene, Autzen Stadium, the campus and the valley. Not wanting to climb back down the way we came, we spent some time wandering around trying to pick up another trail before giving up and slowly picking our way back down the rocks.
Not only was this the first thing from my list that I actually did, it was really number one on the list itself. It was a great way to start.
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