An Adventure

High point so far!

Looking south over Manzanita.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered." The two mountains between Arch Cape and Wheeler, one of which climbs to 550 feet in 2.5 miles and then descends back to sea level in just 2 miles, provided quite an adventure today. The twelve miles were the shortest distance of the first three days, but my legs felt the strain as I got near Wheeler. The fact that the temperatures reached into the lower 70's made the afternoon all the more an adventure. I was only about a half mile away from town (pop. 500 or so) and had to send a text to Paul that I had run out of water and needed his help. Paul has been doing an amazing job of keeping me going and offering encouragement. Only one time so far, on the very first day, have I had this brief thought: "What the heck have I gotten myself into?" I shared that with Paul and he said, "You've only thought that once?"

There were several of what I call "St. Francis Moments" today. His great love and appreciation for nature are always brought to mind when things like this happen: a cool breeze carries a mist of water off a roadside waterfall (momentarily easing the burden of 72 degree heat); red rhododendrons spring out of a hillside and accent the first view of the ocean after 3 hours in the mountains; and a Great Blue Heron flies overhead at about the same hour that the Bald Eagle visited yesterday! No, there were no singing chipmunks, nor chirping flocks of sparrows, but those wouldn't provide true "St. Francis Moments" anyway.

There is no Catholic church here in Wheeler, I assume people go to St. Mary by the Sea in Rockaway or back north to Arch Cape, but it has proven to be a good place to settle down after the twelve mile hike today. The original plan was to stop in Nehalem, two miles north, but it was nice to add the two miles; this will allow us to go through Rockaway tomorrow and wind up in Barview. We have scouted out the journey already and there are no 550 foot climbs between here aand Barview. Thanks be to God!

(This weekend will allow us a few extra moments to add some photos to this weblog and we'll start working on a visual map so you can have an idea of where we've gone and where we're going. Sorry it's been nothing but text so far, thanks for your patience.)