Stegner's Bench Hike 2013- Karin's thoughts on a beautiful day out!

Stegner’s Bench Hike

 

Where were you on Sunday morning? If you weren’t at CGF’s Stegner’s Bench Hike, you missed another special event, this time commemorating our founding President, Wallace Stegner on what would have been his 104^th birthday.  

Early mornings + weekend still don’t mix for me, but for our great CGF members, I’m willing to drag myself out of bed at 7ish on a Sunday. This year we had a bit of luck in the weather department…

Last year...

Photo by Matt Burrows

versus this year:

Stegner's Bench 2013

…so that was a definite plus. I’m always trying to create a tasty food spread at every event I set up and this time I decided folks joining us deserved a little something special. So in addition to the normal spread, I spent a little time baking one of my favorite cookies…

Army of Orange Cranberry drops

Don’t tell CGF, but since our events are usually on the weekends, I tend to plan fun things I wouldn’t mind doing anyways. The tasty treats don’t hurt either. By the way, due to some confusion expressed by our guests on a couple of previous events, CGF strives to practice what we preach and we generally provide compostable cups, plates, utensils, etc. whenever we can. So please read the fine print on your 100% compostable items and make sure to toss them into the right bin! 

 

Gorgeous hike...

Back to the hike, *high five* to all of our guests for bringing their waiver forms and being on time. We set off on our hike after a brief introduction. Fresh air, beautiful scenery and a fun group of people to chat with, Sunday morning was starting to look up. 

During the hike, a thought suddenly occurred to me…I can’t remember the last time I went hiking. I know it was a couple of months ago, but it’d been long enough that I’m not sure where the last place was. Then my thoughts drifted from “eh, this isn’t so bad” to “mmmm this is fun” and finally to “why don’t I get out more and enjoy the open spaces more often? I could do this…I SHOULD do this more”. This happens every time, it takes a nudge to get me to wake up early and head out, but generally, once out, I have a great time. So if you’re like me, let CGF events be the nudge that gets you out and about.

Beautiful view from Stegner's Bench

This year when we reached the bench, we were welcomed with a beautiful view and some treats; set up by our wonderful Board President, Margaret MacNiven and a great CGF volunteer, Norm Arslan (our events are infinitely better with the support of great
volunteers like him!).

Folks enjoying Lynn's reading

A special thank you to Lynn and Allison Stegner for joining us this year to remember Wallace, Lynn prepared a reading for us and shared a few memories with our guests. Then everyone had the chance to mingle, scope out the beautiful view and just enjoy being outside on a perfect day. 

Lynn Stegner-Image by Carolyn Straub

We packed up and headed back down on a slightly more difficult path than last year, CGF members are always up for a little adventure, *cough* but we’ll probably avoid that one next year. I’m the sweeper for a reason…

On our way out, folks were already asking about next year and of course, being the program oriented person I am, I’m already thinking of ways to make next year’s hike even better! 

Hope you'll join us on an upcoming CGF event, next are our popular April hikes (wildflower viewing on April 6^th). The more I hear about the Kammerer Property (“Mystery Hike” on April 14^th), the more excited I get to go check it out. So come out and join CGF on a little adventure and fun in the outdoors - check out our events calendar here.