June | 2026 | Margaret Quilts

We are back to our usual weekly hiking schedule, with four hikes in May; all repeat hikes, with wildflowers and waterfalls.

5/6 – Eagle Creek, OR

We walked most of the way to the High Bridge on this warm day (5.8 miles, 600 feet). The trail has been recently reopened after repair of landslide and fallen trees from last winter. Still beautiful, with lots of wildflowers.

Eagle Creek near the trailhead – the water has a distinctive beautiful green color.

The trail rises gently above the canyon. Here the rocky slopes are covered with manroot and fringe cup blooms.

In places, the trail is cut into the cliff edge, as the gorge deepens.

Farther along, the cliff edge is more of a steep slope, in this case, covered with blue-eyed Mary meadows.

From the trail edge, the view to Metlako Falls.

Eventually, we could look down onto Punchbowl Falls, with the burned slopes from the 2017 fire beyond.

Cascades on Fern Creek, from a trail bridge across this side stream.

We had to get home for an appointment, so didn’t quite make it to High Bridge, about 3 miles in.

A few more of the many wildflowers we saw today:

5/12 – Cape Horn, WA

Return to this easy-ish forest bathing walk during tall delphinium bloom season, from Strunk Road down to the Waterfall Overlook, and then back up (3.5 miles, 620 feet).

Once into the shady woods, the tall delphinium are blooming on both sides of the trail.

All the way down to the Nancy Russell Overlook…

We always pause here to thank Nancy Russell for her lifetime of work preserving this trail area from development, and helping to create the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Thank you Nancy!

The view to the eastern gorge from here.

We continue down through more mossy woods,

A few irises were blooming in the sun here.

We continued down, under the highway, to the Cape Horn Waterfall Overlook.

A wide view up the eastern gorge to Beacon Rock.

And a leaning over the edge view of the waterfall.

Then back up, once again through delphinium blooms, to the trailhead.

A fern leaf parsley, one of my favorites, near the end of the trail.

5/18 – Swaths of purple at The Labyrinth, WA

We visited this trail just slightly later in May last year (May 27, 2025). We saw similar flowers, but this year there were so many more. It was very purple there today (4 miles, 820 feet).

Approach trail along Hwy 8, with Mt Hood on the horizon. Poppies blooming in the verge.

Near the lower waterfall, we began to see the flowers that would fill the slopes above.

Cornflowers (or bachelor buttons), ookow, and creamy buckwheat.

Purple vetch was intertwined with many of the flowers, adding another layer of color.

Pink tapertip onions were also scattered along the way.

Purple flowers filled the meadows all along the trail, with some white yarrow here.

Bicolored cluster lilies also added a pale lavender clumps here and there.

More purple fields as we approached the upper waterfall.

Purple fields below the columnar basalt butte.

Trail out to the lunch ledge – meadows that were filled with grass widows in March are now full of cornflowers.

We noticed three hues of purple cornflowers.

After lunch, we continued upward, still accompanied by the purple flowers, though the grasses are getting drier. Mt Hood ahead.

I stopped to check for bitterroot on the rocky outcrop at the turn in the trail. I found the last bitterroot of spring.

As we approached the ridgeline oak tree, we passed the last of the purple flowers

Down the slope, the last yellow balsamroots of spring were fading.

Our destination – the viewpoint near the tall ponderosa.

As we got closer, I was hoping to see signs that it would recover from the Burdoin Fire of last summer. In March it still had green needles on this side, and I had a bit of hope that it would survive.

As we got closer, I could see no green on the tree, despite the green oak trees all around. I hope it remains standing as a guide snag, at least for a while.

From the viewpoint, the whole eastern gorge is on view.

Pink winecup clarkia are hiding in the dry grass all over this hill.

We hiked back down, through the meadows of purple. Down on the river, a cruise ship was passing through.

Can they see the fields of purple from there?

5/26 – Falls Creek Falls, WA

We enjoyed this relatively easy, mostly shaded hike on a warm day (3.4 miles, 620 feet). The last time I was here, in the fall of 2018, fall colors were on display. Today there were white flowers in the forest, a few colorful flowers in the sun, and the sound and glory of this enormous waterfall!!

The trail follows Falls Creek for much of the way.

Reflections of green and purple in the water.

We passed a few cascading rapids, and crossed a bridge over a small gorge.

White flowers in the shady parts of the forest:

A few more colorful flowers in the sunny spots:

And Falls Creek Falls at the end of the trail:

Falls Creek Falls – 335 feet total drop.

Slightly different view from our lunch perch.

And then a mostly easy downhill walk back along the creek to conclude this pleasant day in the forest.

What happened in May…

In the Garden –

More roses blooming early in the month.

Last year we had so much exterior work on the house (roof, painting, window repair, tuck pointing) that we never put in any kind of garden. But by the end of May, I had planted seven tomato plants, some basil, and some colorful marigolds, zinnias, scabiosa, and sea thrift. There are still many weeds to pull, but there will always be many weeds to pull…

Knitting –

I sewed the buttons on my Zephyr Cardigan.

Zephyr Cardigan, pattern by Celia McAdam Cahill, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn

I started the knitting of Frog and Toad, but then had to take a break, as the tiny needles hurt my thumb joint.

Frog and Toad, in progress, Knit Picks Swish DK yarn

I made progress on socks and a market bag.

Ilene Bag by Hannah Mason, Lang Linello yarn

New yarn – I indulged in a colorful rainbow of mini skeins on a day I needed some cheering up. I also won a skein of sock yarn in the guild raffle. Not sure what either of these will be, but right now, I enjoy just looking at my yarn rainbow.

Reading –

I finished ten books in May. Three were in the Jane Austen adjacent category. In particular, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney, is a look at other women authors Jane Austen would have been reading in her lifetime, writers who inspired her, and who she refers to in her own writings and letters. These authors have mostly ‘disappeared’ from the literature canon, mainly because they were women. My ‘to be read’ list is now much longer, and I look forward to reading many of the authors described in this book! That may be my project for next year. I love having very long list of books waiting for me!

A Visit to Eugene, May 3rd –

A day with family while our son Brian was on the west coast, visiting from Philadelphia.

Art, but on Ice, May 24th –

Once again, no art museum visit this month. But we attended the Stars on Ice show in Portland, a showcase of Olympic figure skaters. It’s been a while since I have attended a live event, though I do like to watch competitions. This year, I was enchanted by the skill and performances at the Olympics, especially seeing the mutual support of the athletes for each other. With just the right amount of sequins, music, spins, and backflips. What must it be like to have their gravity- and friction-defying motion in their muscle memory! (I took just a few photos – which are blurry because they move so fast!)