WARNING: It's kind of long, so feel free to grab yourself something cool to drink and hey, maybe even some popcorn or another snack.
My friend Amy and I had a brilliant idea to take a little trip together this summer after the semester ended. We had a few ideas but they didn't seem perfect enough... we finally made a decision- we decided to go backpacking for a few days together! So then came the next question, where should we go? After going back and forth between a couple of places, we decided to go to North Powder. North Powder is a small town in Oregon where Amy's uncle lives.
When the semester finally ended I was only in Washington for a few short days before meeting back up with Amy at her uncles on Tuesday, July 28th. The plan was to have her uncle take us up to the head of the trail Wednesday afternoon in his truck. Amy and I would then hike up to Rock Creek and spend a few days up there and then meet back up with her uncle Saturday evening at the trail head again. We packed our bags, double checking our lists to make sure we had everything. Wednesday morning came and it was time to head up to the mountains.
I'm not really sure how far the trip from his house to the mountains was but I'm guessing it was 45 miles total, 15 of which was a dirt road that was pretty beat up! Finally we got to the top and her uncle pointed us in the right direction of the trail. He told us we would first have to cross a creek, walk walk walk, cross the creek again, walk walk walk, then we would come to a fork in the trail. If we went to the right we would go straight up the falls, if we went to the left it would be all switch backs up to the top. Also, if we went to the left then we would walk through some berry bushes and if we see bears on the trip, that's where we would see them. However, he said, chances were that would happen, apparently the berries are out of season or something. Anyways, we said our goodbyes. Oh and just to be prepared, we took Amy's dog and her uncles dog.
So we're off on our little adventure. We get to the first creek and Amy crosses first. As she was crossing I notice her shoes and pants getting a little wet, but she made it across and now it was my turn. I start walking across (forgetting I have a 30-40lbs bag on my back), I start trudging across trying to stay on the rocks as to keep from getting wet. My feet are getting wet and I imagine how sucky the hike would be having to walk in wet shoes and socks so I pick up my pace... and well, that didn't go over so well. I lose my footing and I start tumbling down to the bed of the creek getting my shoes and pants completely soaked as well as my bag.
Finally I'm able to get up out of the water and back on my feet on dry ground. Amy and I laugh it off and continue on. We get to the next creek (which lets face it, don't let the word creek mislead you... this was not really a creek at all, it was more of a full fledge river). So we spent a couple minutes (when I say minutes I really mean 20) trying to figure out a way to cross and not get wet. That didn't go so well as you can imagine... dang slippery rocks. Yep, as you can imagine I got pretty wet again. Anyways, we eventually got across and came upon the fork in the trail. After going back and forth between paths, getting about 20 ft. down the trail before turning around, we decided to go the switch back way/berry bushes way. This time we get about 40 yards down the path and things are going great. We're making small talk, enjoying the nice weather, and the dogs were having a fun time when all of the sudden Amy's dog Max came running back on the trail to where we were. Simultaneously as the dog was running back we hear loud and HEAVY stomps to our left behind some bushes and trees. Amy and I stop dead in our tracks and turn towards one another. So here we are, two 20 yr olds stranded and being stalked by a bear. Bageera (sound it out),Amy's uncles dog, was grawling and barking. My stare went directly down to the trail, linked arms with hers and headed back the way we came. I was TERRIFIED! We continued walking back to the creek/river making sure to talk and make noise letting the bear know we were still there. We continued to hear loud and heavy steps behind us, twigs snapping (which later her uncle told us it was probably the bears jaw popping... which is what they do when they feel threatend and are about to attack. Scary, I know.) and Amy (big macho Amy) looked and searched for the stupid thing and saw the bushes swaying. The trail curved in a way in which we would have to cut the bear off in it's path but luckily we didn't hear it anymore. We quickly crossed the river (this time without hesitation) getting once again our feet and pants wet.
Once we were across the river we thought we might be far enough away that we would be safe and perhaps we could just spend our first night there?....nauuuugh. We both just didn't feel safe about it so we quickly darted to the head of the trail. No sign of her uncle.
We got out our cell phone in hopes we had perhaps one bar of service... but because of my plunge into the raging river my phone nor my camera was working. She was able to get hers own, only to find out in disappointment, there was no service. So we began the ~45 mile walk back down the valley to her uncles house. Finally we had a few moments of service on her phone and she was able to get a call out to her dad explaining what had happened. The news traveled down the grape vine and within moments her aunt was on her way to retrieve us. 
Once we had arrived safely back to her aunts and uncles we packed up my car with our bags and hit the road again heading to Le Grande. After lots of laughs and teasing we decided to call it a day and stay at a hotel. It was a nice little hotel, wood walls and an old fashion refrigerator, it had kind of a cabin...y feeling to it... it felt like we were still somewhat sticking to our outdoor adventure plan. So here we are, Day #1 roughin it in a cute little hotel!! The next day we drove out to Wallowa Lake where we spent Thursday night camping... only to pack up the next day and come back into Le Grande to the comfort of a hotel (after playing around at the lake of course... which can I just say was freaking AMAZING!?! We rented a paddle boat and afterwards even petted some deer!! Cool, right? I know). Only this time we decided to try out another room which was decorated a little more modern and well, pretty. Amy walked into the bathroom and was greeted by a MONSTEROUS spider. Now you'd think that because of my experience in Hawaii that I would be a little better with insects, animals, and big bugs... the truth is, well- I'm not. This thing was large and in charge! He was the master of that bathroom and there was no way we were going to disrupt what he had going there. (Yes, when we're in nature we run from bears. When we're in civilization we run from spiders.) We walked back to the hotel office like a dog with his tail between his legs. We wanted to switch rooms. But we were certainly not going to tell him it was just because we were cowards and didn't like big Mr. Spider in the bathroom! Yeah right, that'd make us look like sissy's! (Did I mention we wore bandanas the entire trip? Giving us a more hardcore appearance. Now you might understand why we couldn't let down our look and be a wuss to this man.) So of course we beat around the bush... just telling him we would like the other room, "just cuz". After the room switch things went great! We hung around there and ate at this DELICIOUS little restaurant and had milkshakes later as our dessert.
We were in heaven. Our horrifying experience was turning into a pleasent little adventure. The next day, Saturday, we hung around town going into cute little shops taking pictures (with our disposable camera... we some how managed to break hers this trip too). 
So there you have it... that pretty much covers every angle. So now that you know I'm still a little pansy when it comes to spiders and bears... I'm a little embarrassed so I think I'll just end this one here.
