Hiking With Grandchildren

Article and photos by Susanne Twight-Alexander

The boys at Spencer’s Butte, a Eugene skyline landmark. The park features some of the best scenery and hiking in the area with a breathtaking panoramic view of the valley.

Hiking along Opal Creek, which can be reached from Portland in less than two hours. This easy riverside walk tours a spectacular, towering forest of 500-year-old trees and Sawmill Falls.

Cameron and Nicholas playing along Fall Creek. Fall Creek Reservoir is a prime recreation area that is surrounded by day-use parks and a campground.

The boys watching flocks of birds at the Eugene wetlands located in the watershed of the Long Tom River, a major tributary of our Willamette River. The West Eugene Wetlands comprises 3,000 acres of rare habitat, protected and restored by the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership, a unique partnership of state, federal and private agencies.

“A snake. A rattlesnake!” he shouted. Sure enough, there at the base of the 15-foot drop-off, stretched out in the dry grass, was a large rattlesnake. Ten-year-old Nick, his eight-year-old brother, Cameron, and I had hiked up Spencer Butte near Eugene from the Willamette Street side, the first time up the Butte for both of them. He wanted to slide down the rock face. I was concerned that if he went too fast, the force of hitting the small ledge at the bottom would toss him right off the edge. He looked over to see where he’d land.

My grandsons and I have been going on exploration trips for several years. Nick and I started with walks along the bike path in the West Eugene Wetlands when he was about four. When his brother was big enough to come along, we started including hikes at the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum on the bark paths.

One warm day, when Cameron was five, he and I had just started along the river at the Arboretum when he said, “Where’s the top?” I pointed toward the top (one thousand feet of elevation gain, three miles round trip) of Mt. Pisgah and said, “ Up there.” “I want to go up there,” he responded. “Okay,” I said, turning around. “We’ll go a little way up the trail.” I didn’t take our lunches or a bottle of water out of the car; I was so sure it was much too long and steep a hike for him. At every turn he would say, “Where’s the top?” “Up there,” I’d say. “Do you want to turn around?”

About an hour and a half later he was calling his father with my cell phone. “Dad, I’m on top of Mt. Pisgah!” For him it’s the goal. For his older brother it’s the journey, and there’d better be some interesting things along the way like frogs, grasshoppers, deer, or spit bugs.

We’ve hiked up Old Baldy off of Dillard Road. We’ve hiked the trail from Martin Road up to the Ridgeline Trail and from there to the Raptor Center. We’ve done numerous hikes out in the wetlands and have viewed great blue herons, geese, ducks, and a meadowlark singing from the top of a tree. We’ve hiked in a field beyond our subdivision where there is a peripheral stream, sometimes containing newts, and have seen trilliums in a small patch of woods and duck feathers on a fir branch and the ground from a hawk kill.

The older boy had such fun hiking at Finley Wildlife Refuge that we had to call his parents to ask if he could skip a scheduled favorite activity. We’d seen osprey, a great blue heron, and elk. One day, when I took both boys to Finley to hike the Woodpecker Trail, we spotted a bobcat at the trailhead when we got out of the car.

On Mother’s Day last year, we had a family hike to Opal Creek, about six miles round trip. Because the route is a dirt road, everyone could walk together, and we changed walking and talking partners frequently. This helped make the time pass more quickly for the youngsters. The boys’ five-month-old cousin, though carried, seemed to enjoy the trip as well. The previous Mother’s Day the two boys and their parents and I hiked up the Sweet Creek Falls Trail.

It’s important to make sure that grandchildren enjoy their time with you, even if your original expectations are not met. I’ve found that, with two of them, sometimes my excitement about the outdoors is not where they are that day. They might rather play imaginative games or just explore or skip rocks on a river or pond. Choose a hike appropriate for the age. Be sure to bring lunch, snacks, and water. Bring adhesive bandages, sunscreen, toilet paper, and hats. I bought cheap but adequate binoculars and a paperback bird book for each of them to mark the birds they’ve seen.

I believe one reason I’m in their lives is to give them some outdoor experiences as a contrast to their electronic toys, to keep them in touch with the real world, and to build memories. I know I’m building memories for myself. It won’t be long before they will be ahead of me on the path and waiting (patiently, I hope) for me to catch up. My ultimate goal is a backpack trip.

Susanne Twight-Alexander was raised, with three brothers, in northern California State Parks, where her father was a ranger. She’s married to husband Tom and has three children and three grandsons. Susanne works part-time at Tamarack Wellness Center in Eugene, OR.