#7 Wild Iris Ridge, Eugene Oregon

Hike #7  Wild Iris Ridge, Eugene, Oregon
#52HikeChallenge

Date:  March 1, 2020
Distance: 2.5 miles
Weather: Gorgeous Sunshine!!! Ahhhh...Hello March!
Type: City Trail
Company: Sue, Traci, and the four pups-- Mali, Jax, Ripley, and Jack

Reflections: Today's adventure took me to Eugene to meet up with Traci, Sue, and their pup pack. Sue had her two babies-- Mali and Jax. Traci had her new baby, Ripley, along with Aaron's boy Jack!  Let me just start out by saying that hiking with four pups is quite the trip!  Actually, I am sure that doing anything with four pups is probably a trip. They are all lovely and well behaved but it definitely adds a new layer to the adventure!  Overall the day was lovely, the trail was beautiful, and the company was first class!  Since the trail was on the outskirts of town I got to take the scenic route there. So scenic drive + hike. Win! Win!

We did a section of the Ridgeline Trail System. Eugene is such a cool town in the way it embraces natural spaces. They have these trails running all over Eugene and Springfield and if you are fortunate enough to live in that area you can literally be on a trail surrounded by trees in a matter of minutes without ever leaving the city.  Side note: This is the complete opposite of where I live--which is completely surrounded by trees yet you must drive at least an hour to access a trail system.  Weird.  "Where Nature is Your Backyard!" Puh-Lease!  It may be some body's backyard--but it is fenced off from the masses and completely off limits! Not cool. If I had money I would buy a large tract of land and open up hiking trails here!  Wouldn't that be the best? I would probably be the town hero. Maybe I could ride in a float in one of the parades or something! Right? Until then I will just be satisfied with urban hikes at home and the chance to explore cool places like this when the opportunity presents itself!  I will take it!
Oops...off topic! Back to Eugene. They have these trails EVERYWHERE and they are pretty cool. Really cool.  Hills. Trees. Nature.  Bliss. One downside---it was PACKED! Cars were literally circling the parking lot waiting for people to leave.  Staring you down and stalking you until you run to your car and peel out of the parking lot! Not saying that happened to me, but let's just reiterate that there were LOTS of people ready to get out and enjoy the sunshiny day and take in some amazing views. I mean--come on!  Look at these views! What's not to enjoy! Love. Love. Love.

In addition to lots of people getting out to explore and enjoy the sun. There were lots of people with dogs. Lots of Dogs! I think it was the most heavily populated dog zone I have ever been in!  Some of the dogs were pretty nice. Some maybe not so nice. Some big. Some Small. Of course our group added the mix! We had 3 people and 4 dogs. We were totally outnumbered! Something I learned. Dog people are chatty! Like really chatty.  Dogs stop and sniff--butt and nose. Like "hey, what do you smell like? And who have you smelled? Have I smelled them? Should I smell them? Must. Smell. EVERYTHING!". Dog owners stop and chat about the dogs. How big they are, how good they are, what they thought that would be, what they really are. It's cute and somewhat weird. Like parents on hyper drive!  Seriously. I love my children as much as dog owners love their dogs, but I don't recall ever stopping strangers to talk about what good kids my children were. No comments on their weight, height, feet size, bowel movements, etc. Maybe I should have. Wouldn't that have made for fun playground conversation! :)  I wonder if dog owners who also have children did that with their kids? Like were they at the playground comparing poop size with other mom and dads?  Clearly, I missed out on some important bonding time! 
In all honesty--the doggies are pretty awesome! Look at these guys! How can you not melt!  Pup Pack on the prowl! Makes me think of the show my grands love so much...Paw Patrol. Whenever you are in trouble, paw patrol on the double!  Or something like that. Paw Patrol assemble!   Don't they look ready to go?  I am not sure what was the better view on this trip---the scenery or the dogs!  Right now I am voting for the dogs!

Okay, back to the trail!  It was lovely--as I think I already said.  And hilly.  Lots of uphill. Or maybe it just felt that way because of the combination of the hike from the day before.  At the end of this hike, my Fitbit said I had climbed 143 flights of stairs over the two days.  That is a lot of stairs! And believe me...I certainly felt it over the next three days!  It took me until about Wednesday to recover enough to even start thinking about the next hike!  But recover I did and it is a good thing because there are 45 hikes to go!!  Where to next?!

#52hikechallenge #thingsthatmakemehappy #everydayadventures