If At First You Don't Succeed...

My favorite photo from last year's season

If you've been following this blog at all you know that Alli's main identity right now is that of an athlete.  If she could play ALL THE SPORTS she would, but she seems to have narrowed (note the sarcasm) it down to soccer, basketball, lacrosse and track and field. She wanted to keep playing water polo during the summer but we said, "No. You can't do all the things. Read a book or take a nap.  Those are good skills to learn."

This winter was Alli's third season playing basketball.  The first two seasons her team lost a lot.  And by "a lot" I mean they won ONE game last season. It was so frustrating for the players, the coaches and the parents. When all you do is lose, it is hard with a capital H to keep showing up to practice.  Keep working hard.  Keep giving 100% effort in the games.  It would have been easier to quit, but our girls are athletes.  They show up, even when it's rough. Seasons like last year developed our girls' character through suffering and perseverance.

6th Grade Basketball Team

When basketball season rolled around this year I readied myself for more of the same, but this year was different.  Alli's grade had an influx of new players and coaches worked into the mix of the regulars from the past two seasons.

Middle school girls are prone to drama - on the court and off the court.  Managing 14 of them is not for the faint of heart.  But Coach Alloway and his coaching staff immediately established clear ground rules.  They had high standards and expected the girls to meet the mark.

Practice was not social hour.  It was HARD work. If a player didn't follow the instructions, the whole team ran. The girls learned quickly to pay attention and work together.

Coach also had high standards for his players' behavior. "During basketball season we are a family on and off the court. We support each other. We work hard.  We encourage each other.  We don't put up with social media drama or any kind of negative talk toward each other."  And then he enforced it.

I think he deserves a Gold Star for holding these girls accountable to a higher standard of living on and off the court. Alli came to life under his leadership.  Coach saw Alli's potential on the basketball court and he didn't let her cut corners or do things halfway.  Alli submitted to his leadership and became a student of the game.  Her raw, undeveloped talent morphed into smooth ball handling, less turnovers, more steals, more assists, more rebounds, and less fouls.  She still missed a ton of shots, but she made a ton of baskets too, including her first three pointer.

My favorite action shot from this season.

SCREEN

Dribbling without turning it over all the time has been a huge improvement this season.

Going for the steal

She will take on any player, any size.  This kid is fearless. 

THREE POINTER!

Defensive Trap without fouling

It wasn't just Alli coming alive.  Her teammates had similar stories.  Each game they got better, smoother, cleaner.  Less mistakes.  More confidence. The deeper into the season we got, the more these girls looked and played like a team. It was SO fun to watch.

This year's players and coaches - more of both genres!

And you guys...  THEY WERE WINNING! In our first weekend of game play, we tallied two victories in five games, doubling our wins from the season before. The girls ended up finishing 11 and 4 in league play, earning a first place seed to the league championship tournament. Winning isn't everything, but it sure is fun.

This weekend our girls played their hearts out in the league tournament.  They won their first game convincingly, but started slow in their second game and lost by 5 points.  Their only chance at the championship game was to win the following day.

We started that game slow too and went down 0-6 in the early minutes of the first quarter.  We couldn't buy a bucket.  But the girls didn't quit.  They believed in themselves and trusted their coaches.  They slowly clawed their way back into the game.  Tied it, then went up by eight.  The momentum shifted back and forth. Both teams were hungry for victory.  In the end our girls came out on top 27-22 to earn a spot in the coveted championship game.

Our opponent in the championship game was McMinnville (Mac) - the same team that defeated the girls the day before.  It was the perfect matchup against long time arch-rivals. Our girls charged to a 0-10 lead, but Mac refused to roll over and die.  They started scoring, shut down our offense, and were right back in the game.

The momentum shifted back and forth the entire game. When Mac would shut down a Newberg player that was on fire, we'd shift our offense to another player.  The points, rebounds, steals and assists were spread evenly between all the Newberg players.  Both teams played with grit and determination, but our girls pulled off the victory: 32-36!

They are your Three Rivers League Champions - Bronze Division! What a great way to finish a season that has developed their confidence and their character. When at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

The future of Newberg basketball is bright.  Well done girls.  Well done Coaches.  We are all so proud of you.

Tigers on three:  1-2-3 TIGERS!

McNeil Point And Then Some

Well hey there.  Long time no talk.  The only excuse is life is full of such awesome things.

In September Curt and I had a Date Day and we tackled the McNeil Point hike.  We've attempted it together twice before with the kids, but both trips had way too much whining and not enough fun (adults included).  Since this is one of my all time favorite hikes, we attempted it a third time and were successful.

Self timer at the top of the ridge in Really High Country

DIFFICULTY: According to our trusty hiking book (60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Portland by Paul Gerald) this 9.2 mile hike is rated "Easy" to Bald Mountain and "Strenuous" to McNeil Point.  We agree. The trail definitely shreds your quads and calves with the steep climbing and descents, but is worth every sweat-inducing step.  For detailed specifics about this hike, buy the book or google it.  My "directions" will be vague.

TRAIL ACCESS: This trailhead is remote, but not too rugged. You'll drive the typical narrow Forest Service road that is really one lane with steep drop offs on one side, but is supposedly wide enough for one car going each direction.  Thankfully all of it is paved save the last 1.2 miles and the potholes are minimal. The trail is under snow from October through June, so the window to go on this adventure is July through September.  Mark your calendar now and just do it!

The Bald Mountain viewpoint is only a mile from the trailhead and it is magnificent.  You hike through an old growth forest, go around a corner onto a ridge and BOOM!  There's Mt. Hood.  She takes your breath away.  The ridge the trail traverses is high in the air with a relatively steep drop off.  Don't bring dogs off a leash or kids that don't obey or they could roll off the edge to great peril. The ridge looks down into the valley of the Muddy Fork of the Sandy River.

Curt in the old growth forest before we came out onto the ridge.

Curt at the Bald Mountain Viewpoint.  McNeil Point is WAY up Mt. Hood on that ridge to the left.

The trail is narrow with some significant drop offs.  Be careful.

I love this viewpoint because it's a glimpse of where your final destination is. Squint and look way up on Mt. Hood.  Four more miles of hiking will take you WAY up the mountain to a "1930's era stone shelter" that marks McNeil Point.

Along the way, you'll finish traversing the ridge, hike back into old growth forest, ford a creek twice,  and pass wildflowers (if you're lucky enough to catch them in bloom). The mountain terrain changes the higher you hike with big boulder fields and mountain meadows with ponds.  Backpackers camp here and we saw several breaking camp on our way in.

We stopped at The Ponds for a snack, then continued the final stretch to the McNeil Point.  The narrow trail takes hikers across a "windswept ridge and eventually crosses a rockslide/snowfield."  This area is a little sketchy.  Go slow and be certain of each step you take.

The Ponds

Curt checking directions before we set out to finish our hike.

Getting closer to McNeil Point

Some of the Sketch Area.  The trail picks its way across these loose rocks that are often covered with snow.

It was in this area that Curt and I missed the right hand turn that leads down to McNeil Point.  We accidentally followed another trail to the left that meandered up the ridge instead of down.  When we reached the end of the ridge there was no where to go except into thin air.  It was amazing.  McNeil Point was below us by several hundred feet.  We set our lunch up on a rock and picnicked on top of the world.

Lunch Rock

That tiny turquoise speck directly in the lower middle of this image is a hiker.  The slightly bigger brown speck is the stone shelter.

The panoramic views were jaw-dropping.  Layers and layers upon layers of mountains and forest nestled together to form a backdrop for all the Cascade volcanoes.  Mt. Hood.  Mt. St. Helens. Mt. Rainer. Mt. Adams. They were all out to play and they were amazing.

Volcanoes in the distance.

The very steep, non-switchback trail up into Really High Country.

The trail we were on continued above us into "Really High Country.  It's not on any maps, but if you follow it you will soon run out of breath as you approach 7,000 feet in elevation with virtually no switchbacks and find yourself on a narrow, rocky ridge between the Sandy and Glisan Glaciers." You better believe we huffed and puffed our way to the top of that ridge.  It was slow going and H-A-R-D, but so worth it.

Hello Handsome.

I hiked all the way up to the point on that middle ridge, then came back.

We sat on a rock at the top of the ridge and listened to the glaciers pop and crack and slide down the mountainside.  It was an experience I would have paid a ton of money for, but it was free (minus the National Forest Pass required for parking our car).

We hiked down to the stone shelter on our way out.  It's pretty cool. 

#forreal #mightycreator #inoregonasitisinheaven

Our little side trip added 2.5 miles to an already long hike, giving us almost 12 miles of hiking by the time we made it back to our car. Since I hadn't run my mile yet for my run streak, I let Curt pack up the car and I ran down the mountain for two miles until he picked me up.  All exhaustion from the hike dissolved into the euphoria of running in the remote wilderness, fresh cool mountain air filling my lungs.  One day I will retire and live in the mountains.  They are my happy place.

So there you have it.  An overview of the McNeil Point hike.  And can I just add one thing?  If you're married, date your spouse.  The adventures Curt and I go on carry us through the mundane, nose-to-the-grindstone weeks and make us fall more in love.  Happy hiking.

Selfie game is strong.

#mcneilpoint #mthood #wiildnernessadventures #hikingadventures #dateyourspouse

Hurricane Creek Campground, Wallowa Lake and Hells Canyon

When we moved to Oregon it took us five+ days to drive from Chicago Land to our new home in Newberg. By the time we entered Oregon from the Idaho border we were OVER the road trip.  And then we saw the Wallowa Mountain range in the distance.  I was instantly captivated and made a mental note to come back "soon" to explore them.

"Soon" was eight years, but last weekend we packed six people, two dogs, and camping gear into the Sequoia (with no trailer) for five days in Enterprise, Oregon.  The car was so packed out it was ridiculous, but we all had enough space to breathe and not suffocate, so it was all good.

We spent the first two nights at the Wilderness Inn in Enterprise while Curt worked an all day meeting.  The Wilderness Inn was clean with all the basic amenities, let us bring our dogs, and had a very friendly and helpful staff.  I'd stay there again.

We camped at Hurricane Creek campground the last two nights.  It cost a whopping $6 per night, but didn't have any potable water and no place for trailers to turn around.  (Good thing we didn't bring the trailer!).  We snagged Campsite #1 - the best of the thirteen campsites in my opinion.  It was in the farthest corner of the campground, right on the creek with woods surrounding it. We couldn't see or hear our neighbors and we got to fall asleep to the sound of the creek rushing by and towering pines surrounding our tent.  It was our own piece of paradise.

I was playing Toy Blast on my phone and Grant busted me with this photo.

The great thing about Hurricane Creek campground is that it feels very remote but it's only a handful of miles in each direction to get to Enterprise or Joseph.  We went into town each day to refill our giant water jug and buy junk food. Talk about the best of both worlds.

The Hurricane Creek trailhead is 2.2 miles from the campground.  The kids and I did a short hike to Falls Creek waterfall one day and played in the creek.  The following day we took the whole family back to the trailhead and hiked out to the Slick Rock area.  Total hiking mileage including the trip out to the waterfall was just a little over six miles.  It was one of the most beautiful hiking trails I've ever been on.

The trail was very steep in parts

The official Joseph Oregon website has this to say about the trail.

"The trailhead at Hurricane Creek offers a fairly gradual way into the Eagle Cap and has majestic mountain views within the first mile that only get better the farther you hike.  It follows along the creek to open meadows where mountain goats are often spotted along the ridges above.  After two meadows, the canyon narrows and climbs high over Hurricane Creek along cliffs that overlook pools and waterfalls (keep a leash handy for your dog and watch your kids). " 

One night we got invited to a BBQ and barn dance at the Big Blue Barn in the farmland outside of Joseph.  We ate at tables set up in the field and then went to the second floor of the barn where a live band and a square dance caller provided entertainment for the evening.  The instructor used Grant as her partner for one of the song.  According to him, "it was the most awkward 15 minutes of my life." LOL! The girls LOVED the dancing and giggled their way through several dances.  People not dancing sat on hay bales to watch.  It was a truly unique experience.

Wallowa Lake did not disappoint.  I had heard about how awesome it is for years so I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but it was magnificent.  One day we swam at the Wallowa State Park beach.  The following day we swam on the other side of the lake at Wallowa Lake County Park.  It was refreshing way to cool off on a hot day.

We wanted to see Hells Canyon so we took one day to drive to the Buckhorn Lookout.  Buckhorn Lookout is in the absolute middle of nowhere.  We drove THIRTY miles on a gravel road to get there and in those thirty miles we might have seen a handful of ranches, a few weathered barns, and miles and miles and miles of the Zumwalt Prairie.  The vast openness and lack of human presence was hard to wrap our heads around.

Buckhorn Lookout has such a clear panoramic view of Hells Canyon that the lookout shelter didn't have to be elevated.  It sits right on the ground, but is no longer in use.  We ate lunch at the lone picnic table and of course snapped a ton of photos.  The girls, dogs and Curt didn't want to hike, so Grant and I took the Sequoia 1.5 miles to the hiking trailhead.  We descended into the canyon 2.6 miles to an overlook with the first glimpse of the Snake River.  There was no sign of human life anywhere.  Not a single hiker on the trail aside from the two of us, and there is no cell coverage.  It was very isolating, but it in a peaceful way.  We ran down to our turnaround and then labored up the very steep ascent back to the car.  It was an epic adventure with my son who is turning into a man before my eyes.

In all authenticity, there were parts of this trip that were awful.  Six people and two dogs crammed into tiny spaces with no room to escape from each other can be a nightmare.  But six people and two dogs crammed into tiny spaces with no room to escape from each other can also be one of life's greatest gifts.  In spite of some low moments, we all came home feeling so grateful to be a part of this imperfect, messy, beautiful family.  Thank you Jesus for this life.

I can't wait to come back and explore more the next time Curt has business in this area.