(Formerly known as Cape Mountain)
Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris
Narration by Lane Harris
“If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan but not the goal.”
~ Anonymous
I imagine this anonymous guy or girl must’ve had a big hike planned and had to change it at the last moment. Ok, so I guess that quote could fit almost any given situation when a plan goes awry. Regardless, it certainly applied to today’s planned hike to Cape Mountain near the coastal town of Florence, although it more or less did not come as a big surprise.
I had been watching the weather forecast all week, keeping a keen eye on Saturday. Depending on which tv channel I watched, which app I looked at on my phone, or which website I saw, they all seemed to be anticipating less than desirable conditions for hike day. Well, ain’t that a kick in the ol’ hiking pants! As the day drew nearer it was appearing, at least to me, that the gloomy forecast had lightened up a bit, and maybe it wasn’t gonna be as bad as they said it was going to be. (BTW, who are “they” anyway?…)
I was somewhat optimistic as I pulled into the parking lot at 7:45am, imagining that I would have a good little group who were eager to be adventurous and brave a little rain, and poo-poo all those so-called weather forecasters. So far it was just John and Tracy who had arrived and were ready to go. No problem, we had 15 minutes for the other hikers to arrive. Ah, here comes one now. It was Edwin. Ok, so that makes four of us. Tracy then mentioned that she was not up to driving 5 hours (roundtrip) to hike in the cold. And so began our discussion about the weather, the cold, the possible snow, rain, etc. I said, “Perhaps we should wait to make any decisions until everyone else shows up.”
It was now 8:05 and everyone else did not show up. The four of us were the “everyone else.” Oh, wait here comes another…. oh, never mind, it’s just a random car passing through the parking lot. We discussed our local hiking options, and finally settled on Cooper Creek Reservoir just east of Sutherlin. Edwin, who had previously stated that if we changed the hike that he would probably just go home, did just that. I can’t say I blame him, as he’s been there done that when it comes to all the local hikes. I sent a text to Rebekah, an interested hiker on the coast, informing her that we were not hiking at Cape Mountain today. She was going to meet us at the trailhead, and I didn’t want her waiting for us unnecessarily. So, it was just the three of us now, and with that, we climbed into my truck and sped off. We had just changed the plan but not the goal… to go hiking!
Once we were at Cooper Creek, I decided I better call Tom with the South Coast Striders. His group was also planning on meeting us at the trailhead near Cape Mountain, and I was envisioning his gang of angry coastal hikers waiting around in the rain for us mild-mannered inlanders to show up. To my relief, however, he informed me that he had only one person that was interested, so they pretty much bowed out of the whole thing. I love it when a plan doesn’t come together!
John, Tracy and I started the 6.2-mile hike around the reservoir under nasty skies. The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was cold, and even turned to wet snow for a while. There was even a bitter wind, acting all windy and such. But once we got under the canopy of the trees, it wasn’t so bad. And after maybe 30 minutes of hiking, the weather actually got better! The wind and rain ceased, and it was quite pleasant. Yes, it was still 37 degrees, but compared to what the forecast was, we accepted this as a gift from the hiking gods.
Our hike was rather uneventful, which was fine with us. Lots of waterfowl were spotted, fish were jumping, and I even saw a rabbit! Parts of the trail were a bit muddy, but that didn’t bother us at all. We were just happy to be hiking and not being drenched in cold H2O. That’s never really all that much fun, trust me, even on a Richard hike. Unsurprisingly, we did not see any other hikers this day.
Upon returning to Roseburg, I checked my phone. I had received a text back from Rebekah on the coast. Her response to my cancellation was “That’s ok, this was a mile out from the trailhead anyway.” Attached was a picture (the last one in the slideshow below) of a snow-covered road with several trees across it, blocking any would-be hikers from reaching the trailhead near Cape Mountain. 😲
Thus, our smart decision to change plans but not the goal was validated with that photo. I’ll say it again, I love it when a plan doesn’t come together!
More pictures on Lane Harris’ Flickr page
Pictures below by Lane Harris
