Whiteside Mountain

Hiking shoes and workout clothes- check

Backpack with water and sunscreen- check

Olympus camera- of course

Walking stick- found along the way

Get into nature. A two-hour hike up and around the top of Whiteside in the clean mountain air will do it nicely. Birds chirping, bees very busy going from flower to flower, buzzing across our path back and forth. I was a little afraid one of them might bump into me while crossing my path and get upset that I disrupted his schedule of getting to his next flower. Gladly, that did not occur, but at the top a young boy somehow got his finger stung and wasn't too happy about it.

We sat on rocks on one of the cliff lookout spots eating bananas and granola. The views are breathtaking, with lookout after lookout along the way. There are "off-the-beaten-track" paths that lead out to cliff lookouts without railings. Not recommended for those faint of heart. Heights don't bother me, but when you are suddenly at a slanted rock that drops off and there are no railings, you tread carefully. But it's so amazing to sit there looking out toward mountains and down at lakes and dense firs from 4,930 feet.

Tomorrow morning we plan to make another trek up Whiteside. The start of the trail is just five miles away from our house, and definitely worth the climb up the trail to the top.