Nathan and I hiked to the top of Black Butte in August of 2007. We really enjoyed the view at the top, and said that we should do it again some day. For some reason, I really really wanted to do it again this trip to central Oregon. Nathan called it a pregnancy “craving.” We didn’t know if it would be awesome or incredibly stupid to try to hike to the top of Black Butte…I am pregnant, and Nathan would have to carry Elias (26 pounds) in the backpack. We decided to go for it. It was hard, but definitely worth it. We actually made it up to the summit quicker than we did the first time. Elias enjoyed almost all of the hike (more on that later).
So….here is our Black Butte hike in pictures:
The start! Here is our before picture. Notice how happy and excited Elias looks. It is relatively cool and shady.
Look at this view! And this is just during the hike…not even from the summit. It’s hard to enjoy it when you are hiking up a steep slope in the hot sun…but enjoy it I did!
Here we are at a rest break. We needed water and Elias needed a snack. We only stopped for 5-10 minutes, but it was much needed about 3/4 of the way up.
At the summit! We made it!
Ok we made it…now we need water….
And we need a picnic lunch….
During and after lunch we took in the view and the wildlife. I remembered these chipmunks from the last time we made it up here, but it was fun to watch them again.
Here is Elias finishing his lunch. Notice the smudge on his cheek. He got quite dirty playing…he cried and rubbed his eyes for a bit and a few hours later we found a small pebble in his eye. Poor guy. Also notice the butterfly near his shoulder. I snapped the photo right as it flew next to him.
Elias enjoyed looking around the summit. There were lots of insects. Elias calls all flying bugs “bees”….I think because they make a buzzing sound. Anyway…a large black flying insect flew directly at his face and veered away at the last second. Poor Elias was in hysterics. He just kept saying “bee, bee” and he cried for at least a couple minutes even with me comforting him. Hopefully he won’t be scarred for life.
While Elias was up and exploring, one of the previously mentioned chipmunks came and stole part of his sandwich. Luckily he seemed to be done with it by then anyway…
More chipmunk….look at his cheeks getting fat with crust.
After the chipmunk incident, we cleaned up lunch and looked around the summit a bit more. It was a really clear day so we could see lots of the cascade range. Then, we started our hike down.
After shot….we made it all the way to the top and back! I had sore muscles for a few days afterward, and Nathan broke some blood vessels in his shoulder from the backpack. Elias was almost falling asleep in the back pack on the way down, but we made it to the car with him awake! We are very glad we hiked up Black Butte…we’ll try again in another 5-10 years.
