March | 2026 | Margaret Quilts

Five outdoor adventures in January…

1/3 – Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, WA

Just the auto tour, to see the birds…

1/5 – Balfour/Klickitat Eagles, and Labyrinth Trail, WA

Our annual visit to this eagle nesting area near Lyle, Washington…

Osage oranges on the trail to the eagle overlook,

Lagoon with salmon, ducks, and eagles hiding in the trees. We saw about 20 while watching for a half hour.

Zooming in on the snag in the distance – more eagles.

Next we went to the Labyrinth Trail, our first time here since the fires last summer…

Looking up to the guide Ponderosa Pine tree above the Rowland Lake Trailhead.

Zooming in, I can see it is partially burned.

The waterfall – quite full this time of year.

The burned areas are sprouting new grass.

My favorite oak grove is scarred, but trees are still standing.

We didn’t get all the way to the guide tree on this day,

but zooming in, I can see it is less burned on the west side.

1/14 – Catherine Creek and Rowland Basin, WA

Another rainy day in Portland, but nice and sunny in the eastern Columbia River Gorge…

First we walked the lower loop at Catherine Creek, looking for the first grass widows, which we had seen reports of…

Trailhead. The burned slope here is turning green.

We found a few clumps of early grass widows along the ADA trail south of the road. This area did not burn.

Next, we walked up the trail that starts at the base of Rowland Wall, and walked about a mile up into Rowland Basin, having never started our hike from this point before, just to see what we would see.

Uphill, again, plenty of burned landscape, all in recovery mode…

And we can see the guide tree from here.

Another zoom in on my favorite ponderosa.

All the usual undergrowth is gone under the oak trees

Looking back eastward toward Rowland Wall

We found a few clumps of grass widows out here

Another view of Rowland Basin, before we start back.

1/20 – Hummocks and Boundary Trails, Mt St Helens, WA

And now for something different – It had been a low snow January, so we drove up to Mt St Helens to try the Hummocks and Boundary Trails. As long as we stayed among the hummocks, we could enjoy the day. There was a cold wind blowing along the Boundary Trail, so we only walked a short way up…but we had great views, and a real change of scenery from the Columbia River Gorge.

Mt St Helens, as seen from I-5 as we drove north.

Snow in the parking lot. The trail was mostly clear. The trail winds around through hills of volcanic debris that were completely barren after the eruption in 1980. Forty five years later, the hummocks are covered with vegetation and there are many lakes and ponds throughout this landscape.

On this day the lakes were partially frozen.

I was fascinated by geometric patterns in the ice, apparently caused by differential melting due to plant shadows.

Groves of alder trees have filled in much of the landscape.

Toutle River Overlook – this downstream landscape is unstable and constantly changing.

Junction with the Boundary Trail, toward Johnston Ridge…into the wind we go.

The trail switchbacks up onto the ridge on the left, toward Johnston Observatory, with great views of the northwest side of Mt St Helens.

View from our turnaround point…the wind was getting stronger the further east we went.

The return loop passes by this inverted tree, still buried where it landed in May, 1980.

We stopped for a last look from the Elk Rock viewpoint on Hwy 504 on our drive home.

Panorama of the Mt Margaret backcountry, Mt Adams, and Mt St Helens.

1/28 – Eagles and Catherine Creek, WA, again; with a side of Multnomah Falls, OR

My sister was visiting, and interested in an easy hike, so we took her back to a couple of our favorite places in the Columbia River Gorge.

We could see a few bright white spots in the trees as we approached the overlook at the Balfour/Klickitat Reserve.

Three bald eagles. We saw about a dozen this day.

The pond is icier than it was earlier in the month.

Next we walked the lower ADA Trail at Catherine Creek, and found just a few of the early flowers.

We walked up to the fairy ponds, now frozen around the trunks of slightly burned oak trees,

And finally, we drove back through the rainy Gorge, and made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls.

I am gald to be back out on the trails, though I have some work to do to regain my stamina!

I will continue to post about knitting and other crafting; reading; neighborhood sights; hiking and other adventures, including monthly visits to an art museum; and inspiring resistance memes from my internet neighborhood, trying to focus on the positive.

Knitting –

I finished two projects in January – a cowl, and a pair of socks.

Reading – My own private Jane-uary –

I have been rereading Jane Austen’s novels since my teenage years. Perhaps because it was Jane Austen’s 250th birthday last month, there have been many new ‘adjacent’ books published: scholarly analyses of the times she lived in with speculation about her political, feminist, quirky, satirical, and social views; and fictional sequels and ‘inspired by’ books. I realized at the beginning of the month that I was simultaneously reading three of them (one audio, one ebook, one analog). And there are more on my shelf, or in my library queue! Austen literature gives me joy and provides escapism from these troubling times.

Six of the eight books I finished in January were Austenesque. There will be more in February!

Neighborhood sites in January –

Museum Days –

We had two museum visits in January – the Portland Art Museum, and the Ursula Le Guin Exhibit at the Oregon Contemporary Museum.

1/6/2026 – Portland Art Museum – We spent most of our time at the Global Icons, Local Spotlight exhibit, and also visited the Mt Hood room.

Global Icons entry placard. There followed several rooms of bright and inspiring artworks. Highlights for me:

25 Dots, 2013, Chul-Hyun Ahn – This piece is extremely colorful, and three dimensional.

Your Love Will Bring Me Home, 2023, Jeffrey Gibson. By an indigenous artist, includes acrylic paint and glass beads.

Spirit and Matter, 2023, Jeffrey Gibson, Acrylic paint on elk hide. Skywalker/Skyscraper, 2022, Marie Watt, Reclaimed blankets, cedar, steel.

Atomic Pinwheel 8 and 9, 2018, Polly Apfelbaum, Woodblock monoprints

LA Magic Hour 6-10, 2021, Tacita Dean, Lithographs of sunset colors; these pieces reflect the circular airbrush painting: No. 138, 1999, by Ugo Rondinone, at the far end of the gallery, providing a surreal, almost immersive atmosphere.

Jazz Stories: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart #2, 2023, Faith Ringgold, Quilted textile

Some of the mountain paintings in the Mt Hood room:

1/16/2026 – Ursula Le Guin at the Oregon Contemporary Museum –

Author Ursula Le Guin spent much of her adult life in Portland. Her family helped create this exhibit with many of her original manuscripts and hand drawn maps of some of her fantasy worlds; personal belongings, including childhood toys, books, sketch books, and literary awards; and interactive exhibits about her literature. I didn’t take very many photos, but I was inspired to see these artifacts of her life and works.

Awards and books and a lifetime of pet cats.

Eugene Weekend

Late January – early February, my extended family held a celebration of life for those we lost last year. The silver lining was the reunion with several distant loved ones parted since before the pandemic. We hope to meet up more often going forward.

Celebration, with Nathaniel’s Art on the walls

The rainbow that came out as we toasted him.

Etc…

Events are occurring in our own country I never thought to witness. My neighborhood held a candlelight vigil after the murders of protesters in Minnesota. We continue to support the resistance as best we can…

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

Month: March 2026

January 2026 – Hikes and adventures…