Since I work every Saturday, my three-day holiday weekend extended till Tuesday, and on something of a whim I decided to use part of the day for a motorbike trip to mid-valley landmark I hadn’t visited in nearly two decades: Marys Peak.
The last time, on a sunny late winter/early spring day, we’d taken our then very young kids up there with the thought of sledding and otherwise playing in the snow. Arriving all bundled up, it was something of a surprise to find the temperature roughly 60 degrees; seemed like it was about 15 degrees warmer at the Coast Range’s highest point — 4,097 feet — than it was down in the valley.
Sans snow, we had fun anyway.
This time around, it was again about 60 up there, though there were still a few big islands of snow amid the green grass and new flowers.
If you’ve never been to Marys Peak, or haven’t been there in a while, do yourself a favor and block out a few hours someday and go. No matter where in the Albany/Corvallis area you live, it will likely take you not much more than hour at most to get there, and you can hike to the summit, which affords a terrific 360-degree view, in about 15 minimally exerting minutes.
And on Tuesday, in addition to providing a fine destination for your intrepid blogger, it also provided inspiration for this week’s list, my Top 7 Marys:
1. Mary, mother of Jesus. Just seemed kind of hard not to put her atop the list. Note: She also denied Mary Magdalene a spot; opted for just one biblical Mary.
2. Mary Tyler Moore. A lock for second-place, and the Chuckles the Clown funeral episode is one of the top 10 TV episodes of all time.
3. Mary Poppins.
4. There's Something about Mary.
5. Mary had a little lamb.
6. Mary, Queen of Scots.
7. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
Musical honorable mentions: Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary; “Proud Mary,” by CCR; “Along comes Mary,” The Association; Mary, oh what a sweet girl, lips like strawberry pie, from “Here Comes Tomorrow,” by the Monkees.
