East Oregonian : E.O., July 15, 2017, WEEKEND EDITION, Page Page 6C, Image 26

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East Oregonian
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Oregon mother, infant bond on trails to 50 waterfalls
Baby has been
everywhere before
he learned to walk
By SHERRI BURI MCDONALD
The Register-Guard
EUGENE — As he nears his
first birthday, Rowdy Briggs, a
brown-eyed, chubby-cheeked
towhead from Cottage Grove, is
making good progress on all his
milestones.
He’s babbling; he’s waving; and
he’s standing with support, gearing
up to take his first tentative steps.
By his birthday on July 28,
Rowdy and his mom, Alivea
Binder, will reach another important
milestone — one that’s all their
own.
They will have hiked to 50
northwest waterfalls, from Cedar
Creek Falls, near Dorena Lake,
southeast of Cottage Grove,
to Palouse Falls in eastern
Washington, which they plan to
visit next month.
Rowdy and his mom have
averaged at least a hike a week
since he was 5 months old, logging
more than 150 miles on the trail in
wind, rain and even snow.
Binder set the goal of hiking
with her son to 50 waterfalls in his
first year when she was at a low
point in her life.
Rowdy was 3 months old when
his dad, Binder’s former partner,
Kyle Briggs, left his young family,
returning to Washington state,
Binder said.
“The hardest thing about all
of this was becoming a single
mom,” she said. “I was at home so
miserable, depressed and sad and
lonely.
“I was going to counseling
and that didn’t seem to be going
anywhere. I needed some motive to
do something.”
Hiking to waterfalls provided the
incentive Binder needed to get up
and going.
“Waterfall hikes are so
rewarding,” Binder said, as she
carried 22-pound Rowdy in a baby
backpack along the forested trail to
shimmering South Falls at Silver
Falls State Park, east of Salem.
“You have a destination,
something to see, so all the sweat
and hating it is worth it in the end,”
said the trim, energetic 24-year-old.
For Binder, hiking is a way to
get outdoors, stay fit, lift her mood
and strengthen her bond with her
son.
It’s also a positive way to cope
with all that life throws your way,
the single mom said.
“This has been incredible to get
out,” she said “It’s like the second
you’re hiking and outdoors, it clears
your mind.
“I tell my family, hiking is my
therapy. It’s the best therapy ever.”
The oldest of seven children,
Binder grew up in the Olympia area
of Washington.
She and Briggs, her former
partner, moved to Oregon from
Washington in September 2015 to
be closer to her family. Binder’s
dad, Steven Vann, lives in Dorena.
Two months later, she found out
she was pregnant.
Nearly all new parents struggle
to adjust to the routine of night
feedings, sleep deprivation and
being on call around the clock.
But Binder had some additional
challenges.
Rowdy was nine pounds at
Brian Davies/The Register-Guard
Alivea Binder and her son, Rowdy Briggs, hike in Silver Falls State Park east of Salem on May 31 as
they close in on their goal of completing 50 hikes to Northwest waterfalls in Rowdy’s first year of life.
birth, and “I’m a small person,”
Binder said, adding that it was an
all-natural birth.
Rowdy was born with jaundice.
His coloring was so yellow and
his hair so platinum blond, that she
and Rowdy’s pediatrician, Dr. Todd
Huffman, both immediately saw
the resemblance to then-presidential
candidate Donald Trump. They
jokingly called Rowdy “Baby
Trump” until his jaundice cleared,
Binder said.
Then just three months after
giving birth, Binder suddenly found
herself a single mom.
Now within one hike of her
audacious 50 waterfalls goal, Binder
advises other new moms who may
be struggling with relationships or
other troubles, to “get out and hike,
and get your mind off things. Get
out in nature.”
“Just focus on being a good
mom and put all your effort into
that.”
Pediatrician Huffman said he
found Binder’s story “inspiring
from the get-go.”
“It’s young parents like Alivea
who give me hope for the future,”
he said. “She is energetic and
curious and articulate. She is a
very involved, loving mom and is
very eager to show her child the
world and teach her child to live
big and love nature and explore
everywhere.”
“It’s wonderful that Alivea is
teaching her child right from the
start that there should be no rain
or any other weather to slow you
down,” Huffman said.
Setting and sticking to such an
ambitious goal is “something kind
of new for (Alivea),” said Vann,
Binder’s dad.
“We’re really proud of her,” he
said. “She packed a lot of miles with
a baby in a pack, which isn’t easy,
and she did it in the time of year
when the weather isn’t all that nice,
either.”
Vann said it’s amazing how
comfortable and contented Rowdy
is on the trail.
“We’ve gone on a few hikes with
Alivea and offered to take Rowdy,
so she could get a break,” Vann said.
“The little guy just sits in the
pack with a big smile on his face.
“He’s just like, ‘No problem,
Brian Davies/The Register-Guard via AP
In this May 31 photo, Rowdy Briggs rides in a pack on the back of
his mother, Alivea Binder, as they visit Silver Falls State Park east
of Salem.
let’s go for another hike,’” Vann
said.
He said the hikes his daughter
and grandson have taken together
have brought mother and son closer
together.
“I think any time you share an
experience, regardless of the age,
you’re going to build a closer bond
with each other. I spent thousands
of hours with my kids. When you
share an experience you create a
bond.”
Binder said many people,
including those she has just met,
have said, “(Rowdy) loves you so
much.”
“We’re all each other has,”
Binder said. “I’m sure all babies
love their moms, but there’s a
special bond between us.”
With that, the pair continued
down the trail to South Falls.
Rowdy’s diaper and jeans-clad
bottom was suspended in the seat
harness of the baby backpack his
mom wore, and his baby Nikes
bounced against her lower back.
Rowdy reached out, gently
stroking a handful of his mom’s
long blond hair.
Binder said she carried Rowdy in
a front pack until he was 7 months
old, and liked having him so close.
She switched to the backpack when
his weight in the front pack put too
much strain on her back.
Binder said she usually changes
Rowdy’s diaper in the car before
they set off to hike and changes it
again when they return to the car a
couple of hours later.
Thankfully, he hasn’t had any
major blow-outs on the trail, she
said.
Binder said before they set out,
usually leaving Cottage Grove at
about 6 a.m., she researches their
destination and checks comments
from recent hikers on her AllTrails
app.
They’re not always accurate,
she said, recalling a comment last
month from a hiker who had been
to Salt Creek Falls in the Willamette
National Forest near Oakridge, the
day before Binder planned to take
Rowdy.
The hiker said there was only a
bit of snow, but when Binder pulled
her car toward the trailhead, the
parking lot sign was nearly buried
in snow.
Binder said she counts that
among their worst hikes.
“It was snowing while we were
there,” she said.
“(Rowdy) didn’t want to do it.
He was miserable; I was miserable.”
But those experiences have been
the exception, Binder said.
One of their most memorable
hikes was last month to 113-feet
Toketee Falls on the North Umpqua
River in Douglas County.
“It was amazing,” she said.
“Pictures don’t do it justice. The
water was bright blue. It looks like
you’re in some ‘Blue Lagoon’ sort
of thing.”
Also before they set out, Binder
said she researches online to see if
it’s possible to hit more than one
waterfall in the same trip. Although,
she added, she hasn’t counted
toward their total any falls with less
than a 60-foot drop.
When they saw Tokatee Falls,
they drove a few miles down the
road and hiked to Watson Falls, too,
Binder said.
She said for safety, she always
hikes in the daylight, carries pepper
spray, tries to stay on well-traveled
routes and lets family or friends
know where they’re heading and
when they plan to return.
Binder said the hikers she comes
across have been friendly and
supportive.
“It’s amazing how many words
of encouragement I get (on the
trail),” she said. “You go, mom!
That’s a heavy load, mom!”
When asked if he had any safety
concerns about a mom and baby
hiking in the woods, Huffman
responded: “I’d rather (see) a young
baby on a trail than a young baby in
front of a screen.”
“We see far too many babies and
toddlers who are being entertained
by their parents’ cell phones and
iPads.
“A recent study showed 40
percent of children by age of 2
are adept at using their parents’
cellphones. I’d much rather a baby
explore the trails than explore the
Internet.”
On their hiking days, Rowdy
naps a good part of the day, Binder
said.
“It takes a lot of energy out
of him, even though he’s not the
one hiking,” she said. “All the
stimulation of looking around and
observing. Always after our days of
hiking he’ll sleep solid through the
night.”
Binder works full-time and
supports herself and her son. She
cleaned houses until he was 7
months old so she could take him
with her. Rowdy recently started
going to day care because Binder
got a job managing a resale store.
In her job interview, a manager
asked Binder how she is at
achieving goals.
“I brought up the waterfall goal,
and she thought that was the neatest
thing ever,” Binder said.
Now that they’re close to
accomplishing the goal of 50
waterfalls in 52 weeks, what’s next
for the mother-and-son duo?
“We’ll just keep going from
there,” Binder said. “We might
make it 100 because it blew my
mind how fast it went. And after
doing more research there are so
many more we could do.”
Hiking to waterfalls is an apt
metaphor for the first year of
motherhood; indeed, a metaphor
for life.
Just when the going seemed
too rough, the weather too harsh, a
spectacular waterfall appeared out
of nowhere at the next bend.
Binder has discovered the power
in setting a goal, sticking with it
through adversity, and sharing it
with another person. Her baby
might not remember the hikes or
the waterfalls, but in some deep
place he knows the secure feeling
of riding on his mom’s back,
breathing in her fresh scent, gently
grasping her long blond hair, like
reins leading him safely into the
unknown.
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Whitman Mission
Eastern Oregon’s only figwort out in bloom receives EPA award
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
Common
Name:
Lanceleaf
Figwort
Scientific Name: Scrophularia
lanceolata
This perennial plant is somewhat
common but seldom noticed. Scrophu-
laria is the type genus for the family
Scrophulariaceae, meaning that the
basic flower characteristics of the
plants in the genus set the standard for
which plants should be included in the
family.
This member of the genus is found
across southern Canada and most of
the U.S. except the southeastern states.
About a dozen species are found in
the western U.S. and another 90 or
so in Europe and Asia. The figwort in
this article is the only one in Eastern
Oregon and generally grows at middle
elevations.
The family and genus names are
from the Latin scrophula, which is a
disease of the neck tissues that was
once believed to be cured by the plants
of this genus.
Lanceolate refers to the lance-
shaped leaves. Figwort is a name
applied to plants in this genus many
centuries ago. Wort, the latter part of
the name figwort, was often tacked
Photo courtesy Bruce Barnes
Lanceleaf Figwort
onto the end of plant names, to simply
indicate it was the name of a plant, so I
suppose one could substitute the name
figplant, though it has nothing to do
with figs.
Lanceleaf Figwort is usually about
three feet tall with one to several stems
per plant. The stems are square, and
the lance-shaped leaves are in opposite
pairs on the stem, with jagged edges.
The flowers set this plant apart from
any other plant in the Blues, though
they are a dark, dull purplish to green
or brownish color guaranteed to avoid
being noticed.
The flowers are also rather
odd-shaped, kind of like some sort of
deformed guppy. More specifically,
they are the size and shape of a large
vitamin capsule with a little baseball
cap sun-visor sticking out at one end.
The flowers are later replaced by cone-
shaped seed capsules.
European and Asian species of
Scrophularia were used for a variety
of skin ailments including sores and
cuts in addition to scrophula. Scrophu-
laria lanceolata was used by many
American Indian tribes across North
America.
The primary use appears to have
been for skin ailments including infec-
tions, sunburn and frostbite. Several
tribes also used a decoction of the roots
to treat bleeding following childbirth.
The similar medicinal uses for plants
of the genus were used in both eastern
and western hemispheres long before
any contact between people of the east
and west.
Where to find: This plant is
currently blooming in a few places
along Highway 204 west of Spout
Springs in the vicinity of Andes Prairie.
East Oregonian
WALLA WALLA —
Whitman Mission National
Historic Site has been
selected to receive an award
from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency for water
conservation after the park
lowered its water usage by
36 percent in 2016.
The award comes from
the Federal Green Challenge,
part of the EPA’s Sustainable
Materials
Management
Program, which challenges
government
offices
throughout the country to
reduce their environmental
impact.
The program is broken
down into six categories:
energy,
electronics,
purchasing, transportation,
waste and water. Awards
are given by the EPA to
encourage efforts that save
money,
reduce
carbon
footprint and protect the
environment.
Out of all agencies that
participated in the Federal
Green Challenge, Whitman
Mission yielded the most
water conservation across
the Pacific Northwest Region
by reducing the number of
irrigated lawns in favor of
planting native grasses. The
vegetation also requires less
mowing, which reduces
gas emissions and fuel
consumption.
Other Pacific Northwest
winners include:
•
Innovation
and
transportation — Klondike
Gold Rush National Historic
Park, Skagway, Alaska
(Department of the Interior).
•
Electronics
and
leadership — Bonneville
Power
Administration,
Portland (Department of
Energy).
• Energy — Cadillac
Hotel, Seattle (National Park
Service).
Have a photo of your lunker of a fish?
Email it to ttrainor@eastoregonian.com