It’s a Small World

What better way to spend the morning than in the Enchanted Forest? A walking path runs through tall redwoods, fir and other trees lining the banks of a canal on the outskirts of Methven, and it’s been turned into a mile long fairy garden. Little wooden doors are set into trunks of trees, fairies, goblins, elves and dragon’s eggs about and it’s a wonderland for little kids. And me. A touch tacky, but unexpected and fun.

Zach went to work before lunch, so that left a wide open afternoon with brilliant sunshine and endless exploring options. It’s almost a problem, you have so many choices. Since Zach had touted Peak Hill quite heavily, Heath and I decided to run up there while Kindi napped and get home in time to cook a lamb supper. Best decision ever.

Peak Hill sits at the merging of three huge rivers, and overlooks several stunning mountain lakes. To reach the hike proper you have to climb a stile, tramp across a sheep pasture and then exit via another stile. It’s a steep climb and took us two hours to summit. The wind was positively howling over a ridge we needed to cross, and things like head coverings and sunglasses wanted to blow off. Occasionally we’d find a large clump of grass to rest in and get a break from the gusts, or a large boulder to shelter behind. We felt just like little kids, tucked into our grass nest, surveying absolutely unmatched beauty below us. The hillside was covered with white daisy like flowers and the clouds were slowly building, as weather is on the way for tomorrow.

The Summit didn’t disappoint. The snowy mountains were mostly in clouds, but the closer ones were beautiful. You could see the rain starting way up the passes, slowly coming our way. We spent a while just drinking it all in. The rivers are quite unique here. They call them braided rivers. Multiple smaller streams crisscrossing between small, temporary islands. When it really rains the whole bed fills up and changes to a churning brown river. It’s an interesting look.

We met several other trampers out enjoying the sunshine, but mostly had the area to ourselves and the sheep. Sheep. Always sheep. I love it! The wind had wrecked absolute havoc with my hair and I do believe there wasn’t a single strand lying flat as we approached the first stile. Coming up and over it were three German guys, and one of them for sure had a magazine quality hairstyle, still looking extremely stylish. I didn’t blame him for taking one look at me and then unconsciously smoothing his own perfect blonde locks into place. In fact I almost snorted when I got a mental picture of how that hairdo would look after one minute on the ridge.

After a quick stop on the shores of Lake Coleridge, we headed back to Methven and home to cook and devour delicious lamb. The best lamb I have ever eaten. Camille made a summer tasting Greek salad and we roasted some tators. The rain moved in around 7:00 and it got chilly outside and cozy in the house. Zach has the next two days off so we spent way too long trying to decide what to do, and then ended up going to bed fiercely late cause good friends means good talking.