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.EaglesEaglesZooming 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.Hiking upward through the mosaic burn…The burned areas are sprouting new grass.My favorite oak grove is scarred, but trees are still standing.View upriver from our lunch ledge.The ridgeline oak tree is intact.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.Catherine Creek waterfall viewpoint.
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.
TrailheadUphill, 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 treesLooking back eastward toward Rowland WallWe found a few clumps of grass widows out hereAnother view of Rowland Basin, before we start back.Hiking back down.
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.More ice patternsSnow patches along the trail.Groves of alder trees have filled in much of the landscape.Alder treesToutle River Overlook – this downstream landscape is unstable and constantly changing.Another pond with tree reflections.Tree reflectionsJunction 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.Closer view of the summit on this side.The return loop passes by this inverted tree, still buried where it landed in May, 1980.And one more reflective pond picture…
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.
Catherine Creek ADA trailGrass widowBudding Columbia Desert ParsleyWaterfall OverlookWe walked up to the fairy ponds, now frozen around the trunks of slightly burned oak trees,and looked over to the Arch.
And finally, we drove back through the rainy Gorge, and made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls.
Multnomah Falls
I am gald to be back out on the trails, though I have some work to do to regain my stamina!
Margaret Quilts 