Hey y'all. It's day who knows what of this quarantine life we're living now. I've been having the hardest time trying to sit down and write about this last trip we took before the chaos started. Motivation/ inspiration have been difficult to find amongst the anxiety I've been feeling but I owe this to myself. I'm so grateful we had the chance to get out into the forest before 💩 hit the fan. In early March, my boyfriend Zane and I booked a mini cabin for my birthday through Airbnb at Umpqua's Last Resort. One of my favorite things about this place was watching the fog wading through the treetops in the mornings, if you look in the background in the middle picture above you can see what I mean. There were so many birds around and a gang of turkeys too. Literally, a GANG. We also brought our fur baby Leo because he loves to explore too 🐾It was a short weekend trip so we only had one full day to explore Umpqua. These are the 3 hikes we did in 1 day... Hike 1: Umpqua Hot SpringsThe main reason I picked Umpqua was because of the Hot Springs. I'd seen pictures of them on Instagram and Facebook for a few years now and always told myself I had to make it there. So we made it happen. Normally you can drive to the trailhead and park there but there was way too much snow for my Camry to make it. So we parked as close as we could without getting stuck in the snow. We had to walk 2 miles to the trailhead... you guessed it - in the snow. That normally wouldn't have been a problem but I had forgotten my hiking boots at home, ha! All I had were my new balances so Zane walked in front of me almost the whole way to make a path behind him that I could walk in (thanks babe) 👣 That helped for a while but after so long my socks and shoes were soaked anyway. Although 2 miles doesn't sound that far, when both your feet are wet and freezing it feels like 5. So finally after 5 miles (okay, 2) we got to the trailhead. Here's where I got a little emotional, y'all know me. There's this bridge that crosses over the river with writing all over it. I wanted to make sure I captured a few to share. ![]() This first one really struck a chord with me. I thought of someone who had been through so much, finally being able to see the light in life. I imagine they had the realization that if they were gone, they wouldn't have made it to that moment. That person will probably never see this and I may not have a single connection to them other than being in the same place at different times but for what it's worth, I'm so grateful they had the chance to make it here too.
This last one speaks for itself. Travel as much and as far as you possibly can. I haven't been even half the places I want to go but this made me stop and reflect on how lucky I feel to have been where I already have. There is nothing like exploring this miracle planet. I can't help but get emotional when I think about it because this life could've been given to anyone, and here I am. Here we all are and we get to witness the world in all it's glory. I hope everyone reading this sets out to see it. You'll walk the trailhead after the bridge (about 1 mile) to reach the hot springs. There were about 5 or 6 pools to choose from and only 2 other groups of people there. We got there around 11 am so try to go early if you want a pool to yourself. If you can make your way down to the left, there's a "secret" pool at the bottom next to the river too! We watched snow fall around us onto the treetops and listened to the sound of the river below from a warm pool. It was serenity. Hike 2: Toketee FallsNext up: Toketee Falls. It wasn't that far of a drive from the hot springs and it was one of the waterfalls I really wanted to see. This trail was super short and easy to do. Perfect if you're running low on time like we were. The trail leads you to a deck above the roaring waterfall. We had it all to ourselves which was a surprise considering how popular this trail is. I'm assuming 1. Because it was March and cold or 2. Corona virus. The rocks and trees leading all the way up are covered in moss. I thought it was the coolest thing because it looks like they were wearing green fuzzy sweaters. It's called fashion, look it up. There's a fence around the entire deck so it's pretty safe too. On the side of the fence we saw a hole with rope tied to it to make your way down to the base of the falls (probably not legal but do what you will with that info, that's none of my business). Hike 3: Watson FallsThe last hike we got to do that day was Watson Falls - Zane's favorite ❤️🌲Because we got here a bit later in the afternoon it started snowing again and continued to snow the entire time. It was pretty magical. The entire way up you're walking next to smaller waterfalls but they still sound so strong. I love hiking with people who genuinely appreciate the world around us and Zane was the most in love with Watson - that made my heart happy. Especially because I know this means we'll be going back one day 🤞 I wish we had more time but I know we will in the future. It goes without saying that I can't wait to start traveling again when life is back to normal. Hopefully this inspired some of you to plan a trip once this is all over, even if it's just a weekend trip. You can do a lot in a day.
Til next time! Alondra 🚘
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AuthorA young writer sharing adventures both in every day life and my travels. Hoping to cover the topics of wellness, lifestyle, and travel. I hope I can both inspire and help people live their best lives. Archives
February 2021
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