The sun came out for a few days, and the roses finally bloomed, seemingly all at once.
Hiking: We hiked twice on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, where wild flowers are also blooming late this year.
June 1 – Hardy Ridge – We found some of the earliest blooming wildflowers on top of Hardy Ridge (8.2 miles, 2100 feet).
Fading trillium
Oregon anemones
Glacier lilies
Eastward view toward Table Mountain.
Phlox Point, and plenty of black flies photobombing us.
Blue jay near our lunch stop.
Looking south toward Oregon on our return hike. Service berry bushes in bloom.
June 7 – Cape Horn – We started in the middle, at the Strunk Road Trailhead, since the full loop is not open this time of year. We were hoping to see the tall larkspur, which can be profuse along this trial.
Lupine blooming in reclaimed fields along the trail to the Nancy Russell Overlook.
Cow parsley also in full bloom.
Tall ferns unfurling
Tall ferns
And we found the larkspur!
Larkspur blooming all along the trail…
More larkspur…
Also, candy flower and buttercups.
More buttercups.
Maple trees were leafing out.
Avens at the Hwy 14 underpass.
We made our way to the Lower Oak Overlook, where the trail is closed for falcon nesting season. The river viewpoints were very windy, but it was calm and protected in the forest. We retraced our steps, back up the larkspur lined trail, for a 4 mile, 650 foot hike for the day. Lovely!
Knitting – I finished my June gnome for the ‘Year of Gnomes’, and made progress on socks, a hat and a sweater…
June Jester Gnome, Oh, Gnome, You Didn’t pattern by Sarah Schira
Side view, with jingle bells and pockets.
I was inspired by a Cirque du Soleil show from 20 years ago, and some other knitters’ Mardi Gras interpretations of the pattern.
Works in progress.
And spent much time preparing for our overseas adventure to Scotland and Iceland… finally! Postoned and postponed and postponed again. I will report back!
Margaret Quilts 