Celebrating my birthday at Tyee Lodge, March 8th

This weekend, which coincided with my birthday, we went to Tyee Lodge in Mt Hood to spend the night. This stay was originally planned by the Trails Club together with the Hiking Group. From the beginning we knew that there would be a good amount of people and that we (at least Marci, Jeff, Lisa and I) had to help with household duties and take care of one meal. For some time I had offered to make Arepas with Perico (a Venezuela dish), and that was the plan for Sunday. As it was a relaxed trip, we went on Saturday morning without much trouble. Upon arrival at the Lodge, we chilled for a while before going out to enjoy the spectacular day. First we started digging three snow caves with the idea to connect them in the middle. We thought about spending the night in them but since the temperature was rather high, there was the possibility of high humidity, so the plan was scrapped. However, we managed to dig three caves of considerable size and joined them. All that digging made us spend a lot of energy. We then went in to enjoy delicious pasta with Pesto that Marci and David made. The afternoon went by with more playing in the snow. Just about when the sun started going down, I decided to climb for a while to enjoy the sunset up in the mountain. I took the Alpine Trail along some of the ski routes that go down to Government Camp. The climb was somewhat steep but the views were incredible. As you will see from the photos, I had the opportunity to enjoy the colors of the sunset and be above the clouds, all accompanied by silence. A unique experience. Going down was as entertaining while it was getting dark. Coming back to the lodge, I found a couple of very interesting views of the snow in front of the windows. Once inside we sang and ate birthday cakes. Apart from my birthday, we were celebrating Jeff, Mike and Lisa’s which are also in March. Marci’s cake was delicious as well as the cupcakes that Chris brought. The next day, we woke up early to begin with the task of preparing breakfast. The first was cutting onion which Jeff and Mike did while I started working on the Arepas. Marci helped, first preparing a fruit salad and then with the Arepas. After cooking for 30 people, we enjoy a delicious breakfast that apart from having fruit salad, Arepas and Perico, had avocado and cheese. After cleaning the kitchen, we went on a hike quite similar to the one I did the previous day; this time under a hot and radiant sun. The views were equally amazing with very interesting shadows and clouds covering the top of the mountain. You’ll also see in the pictures that we encounter some rabbit tracks. On our way, almost getting to the lodge we finally got the opportunity to see one. I think this weekend could redefine the concept of birthday party. The last photo was taken on our way back when the clouds made a quite peculiar shape.

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