Hiking, September 2026

October 31, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We had five hiking days in September.

9-1 – Mt St Helens area, Lava Canyon and Goat Marsh, WA

These were both ‘new to us’ trails. They are short, and not difficult, so we bundled them into the same day.

Hike locations, Lava Canyon and Goat Marsh, circled in pink. Gaia map.

Lava Canyon (1.8 miles, 300 feet) This trail follows both sides of Lava Canyon, on the southeast side of Mt St Helens. Even though this side of the mountain was away from the 1980 blast zone, the canyon was gouged out by a glacier meltwater/mudflow during the eruption event. It is very pretty hike, but the bridge connecting the two trails is now washed out, so we hiked both sides of the canyon.

Trail and geology information sign for Lava Canyon.

Lava Canyon Falls. Any closer view would be unsafe below this steep cliff.

Closed bridge, north side. Our turnaround point.

We retraced our steps, then crossed the good bridge to the south side, and walked along the canyon there.

A small waterfall near the Lava Canyon Bridge.

Scoured rocks in the canyon along Muddy Creek.

Scoured rocks along the trail on the south side of Lava Canyon.

Closed bridge, from the south side, and our turnaround point. The view upstream from the bridge must be great! I hope they reopen it someday.

From here, we drove the bumpy Red Rock Pass Road to the west, to the Goat Marsh Trailhead.

Goat Marsh (2.5 miles, 120 feet) The marsh lakes reflect Mt St Helens on a clear day. We were hiking on an overcast day with no views. We walked through perfectly beautiful forest for a while before reaching the marshes.

We reached an opening in the woods and could see across the first of the two “lakes” or “marshes”, This time of year it looks like a big meadow.

Somewhere in this direction one should be able to see Mt St Helens on a clear day.

The far end of the marshes still had some water and lily pads.

We would like to come back on a sunny spring day when the marshes have more water, and the reflection of the mountain…

9-10 – Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, OR

River Overlook and Wetland Trails (3 miles, 50 feet) We were in the neighborhood for some errands, so stopped for a walk. The lakes are not extensive right now, and there were not many birds.

9-21 – Owl Point, Mt Hood, OR

Owl Point Trail (4.5 miles, 600 feet) It was too hot to go up Vista Ridge, where the burned trees offer no shade on a day like today. The Owl Point Trail follows the edge of Red Hill, is mostly shady, and ends at a spectacular view to Mt Hood, with some pretty fall colors in the foliage.

Along the “approach” trail through the forest.

The approach trail reaches this viewpoint – Mt Hood through the trees, with lots of fireweed seedheads in the foreground.

We take the left fork, toward Owl Point.

Fall colors – mountain ash and huckleberries along the way.

After about 2 miles, we reached the rocky outcrop known as Owl Point.

View to the east, toward the Hood River Valley.

Lower eastern slopes of Mt Hood. The Pinnacle in the right foreground. (Midday is a difficult sun angle.)

And a last view, with all the Dollar Lake Fire (2011) ghost forest spread out below.

9-23 – Lacamas Lake, WA

Heritage Trail (5 miles, 30 feet) – We joined friends who live nearby for a walk and talk visit. I hadn’t seen this much of Lacamas Lake before. Many people live nearby, and lots of them run, walk, bike, paddle, and fish in the recreation areas here.

Southern end of Lacamas Lake, near the trailhead.

The lake stretches about two and a half miles to the north.

9-28 – Rock Lakes – Old Cascade Crest Loop, Indian Heaven Wilderness, WA

Thomas Lake Trail – (6.3 miles, 700 feet) Indian Heaven Wilderness is full of small lakes and huckleberry meadows and is one of our favorite fall hike destinations.

It is less than a mile up the trail to the first set of lakes.

The trail ascends to a viewpoint of Mt St Helens, and more lakes and meadows.

Naja Lake is near the top of the next rise

And one more meadow to cross before our lunch stop.

We took a break at Rock Lakes.

When the lake level is higher, there is only one lake here. Today we can walk between two lakes.

After lunch we continued to the east, toward Junction Lake – there are a few unnamed lakes along the trail.

View of East Crater near the junction with the Old Cascade Crest Trail.

We turned south on the Old Cascade Crest Trail. There are many unnamed lakes and huckleberry meadows – it is my favorite part of this hike!

Blue jays were following us in one section.

Southern end of this section – and a look back at East Crater.

We rejoined the Thomas Lake Trail, then hiked north, passing by Rock Lakes again, before returning to the trailhead.

As we returned from this hike, I took a picture of the grey tree fringe in the gorge beyond the Bridge of the Gods – It has been almost 10 years since that fire.

In all, September was a good month for rebuilding my leg strength and stamina. We also took several long walks at the Oregon Coast, during a few days we spent at Rockaway Beach (next post).

September 2026, Portland, OR…

October 29, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We went to the new Australian Exhibit at the Portland Art Museum; we took our annual walk on Labor Day through the Art in the Pearl show, and we also went to Leach Botanical Garden to see the once a century blooming black bamboo.

9-4 Art Museum

I really enjoyed walking through The Stars We Do Not See, an exhibit of Australian Indigineous Art, that opened at the Portland Art Museum this month. The art is nothng like traditional Western European Art. Many of the large scale images represent maps, history, traditional ceremonies, and many are collaborative, made by people that passed their stories orally and visually, without written language. The impact of colonization and cultural destruction of aboriginal traditions is a major theme of these works.

A wall-sized “map”:

Spirit Dreaming Through Napperby Country, 1980

Another wall-sized map:

A slightly smaller, more colorful map:

In another room, a large display of free standing eucalyptus “posts”, and bark paintings:

A star map…

Another large colorful map:

A different type of map…

A set of colorful map-like images of the Kunawarritji area, by two different artists:

The next two images filled an entire room, and were displayed to reflect each other. The horizontal piece was displayed that way, because aboriginal artists traditionally painted on the ground.

Kalipinypa, and Anwerlarr Anganenty (Big Yam Dreaming)

By the time I walked into this next gallery, I was a bit overwhelmed, but still wanted to take it all in!

I was completely fascinated by the colors and the patterns in this exhibit, and this is only a sampling of the art on display. I plan to visit again!

9-6 Leach Botanical Garden

We saw a notice that Black Bamboo, which blooms all at the same time globally, in a 120 year cycle, was in bloom at the Leach Garden. We went to satisfied our curiosity – it is not spectacular to look at, but an interesting phenomenon.

The flowers are similar to other grass flowers – not colorful.

A few other images from this slightly rainy day:

9-7 Art in the Pearl

I always gain inspiration by walking through this outdoor art fair. A few of my favorite images from this year:

Reading

I finished reading eight books in September. My Jane Austen book for the month was The Jane Austen Remedy, by Ruth Wilson. The author is an Australian scholar who wrote this while rereading the Austen books in her later life, and evaluating her life goals through this lens. I have also reread Austen’s books throughout my life, and find myself interpreting them more deeply each time, so I could relate to many of the author’s thoughts. Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schyler is a novel that includes short explanations of art masterpieces. The Mary Cain book, This Is Not About Running, is an upsetting documentation of how difficult it is for young women entering the competitive world to avoid exploitation. I hope her account increases awareness.

Neighborhood walks…

The beginnings of fall in Portland this month, and full colors in my flower garden.

Health update…A major update for my acromegaly treatment…instead of getting an expensive and painful monthly injection, I have switched to a daily, equally expensive oral pill, that so far, I am tolerating well. I won’t know until December if the IGF-1 level is well controlled, but so far, so good. (Fortunately, my Medicare + Medigap Health Insurance covers most of the cost.)

Poetry Post of the month:

Several hikes, and a few days spent at the Oregon Coast, will be described in later posts.

August 2026 Hiking

October 19, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

August is usually a great month for hiking…but this year, wildfires at the higher elevations, and high temperatures at the lower elevations, interfered with our usual adventures. We tried! The Grasshopper Fire kept everyone away from Mt Hood, and our attempt to hike at Mt Rainier was interrupted by the regional smoke plume from Canada covering the entire Pacific Northwest for a while. We got in one good hike near Mt Jefferson; otherwise, these were shorter, easier jaunts.

August 2-3 – Mt Rainier interrupted

We drove to the town of Packwood, WA, just south of Mt Rainier, on a clear, beautiful day, knowing that higher temperatures and possible smoke were predicted for the latter part of the week. That evening, we drove to a couple of local lookouts on Highway 12, to watch the sunset, and to look at a waterfall.

By the next morning, the smoke had arrived, even earlier than expected. Blah! The hotel kindly let us postpone the remainder of our stay until October, so we packed up. We drove home through the National Park via Steven’s Canyon Road, and stopped to look at some of the views and the flowers. The smoke was not deterring the usual summer crowds at Mt Rainier. We could barely find a place to park, and certainly not anywhere near the Paradise Lodge or Visitor Center. Despite the smoky air, many people were in full hiking gear. We knew our lungs wouldn’t like that, so we wore our masks while taking brief walks to look at the views.

Mt Rainier through the smoke at Raflection Lake.

We found a place to park in Paradise Valley, below the Visitor Center, which was fine for our purposes. There were some lovely wildflower meadows and a mountain stream, plus views to the surrounding mountains. We didn’t have to walk very far through the smoke, but at least we got to see the scenery briefly.

Trail Sign, and our location at the 4th Crossing Trailhead.

View toward the Tatoosh Mountains from the parking area

Paradise Creek, near the 4th Crossing Trail

Paradise Creek as it continues down the valley.

The wildflowers were prolific! Mostly pearly everlasting, spirea, Indian paintbrush, and asters, and a few pasqueflowers.

And more smoky views to the mountains…

We also stopped for a brief look at Narada Falls before driving home, ending our trip after only two days.

Looking down on the Upper Tier of Narada Falls

August 10 – Pamelia Lake, OR

This trailhead, in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness east of Salem, is a bit of a long drive for a day hike, but it seemed our best bet for something not too hard, not too hot, and not smoky, on this particular day. We had only done this hike one other time, and as I remembered, the trail goes gently upward through old growth forest, to the shore of Pamelia Lake, with a view of Mt Jefferson. We got a permit from the Recreation.Gov website for this limited use area, and enjoyed our day, despite the long drive. (5 miles, 800 feet)

Mt Jefferson seen through the burned forest along Hwy 22.

Hiking up through the shady forest, fortunately, not burned in recent years.

We reached the lake, then walked a ways around the south shore to get a view of Mt Jefferson.

View of Pamelia Lake from the end of the trail.

Closer view of the south face of Mt Jefferson

A family of blue jays kept us entertained while we ate our lunch near the shore.

And we had a shady downhill trail back to the car.

Pamelia Lake Trail, Mt Jefferson Wilderness.

August 18 – Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, Portland

My husband had a new camera lens for bird photography, so while he tried to get the sleepy geese and ducks to let him practice action shots, I walked a couple of easy laps around this beautiful garden, trying to stay in the shade on this hot day. (2 miles, 50 feet)

August 26 – Oaks Bottom, Portland

Another hot day, and a hope to see a few birds. They were mostly staying hidden, but we did at least get to stretch our legs in a green area, not too far from home. (3 miles, 100 feet)

View across Oaks Bottom from the Springwater Corridor Bike Path.

Graffiti images in the underpass tunnels:

Stone art along the river path…

Side trail to the tadpole ponds…

The tadpole ponds are dried up, but once it rains, the ponds fill with salamanders and frogs.

The shady trail under the Oaks Bluff provided views of a few birds…

Two white egrets, Oaks Amusement Park, and the West Hills.

We had better luck with “real” hikes in September…

August 2026 in Portland

October 17, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Playing catch up again…August had memorable events, but now it is October…We were supposed to spend the first week of August hiking near Mt Rainier, but the wildfire smoke rolled in and we decided to come home early. We spent most of the week avoiding being outdoors due to the air quality,

but I still celebrated my birthday in a quiet way:

Flowers, shadows, sidewalks of the neighborhood during the month…

Eugene Weekend:

Later in the month, we had visits from our two children who live across the country, and a family reunion event in Eugene.

Delicious food:

Time spent in my favorite garden:

Some interesting neighborhood sites:

And a stop at Mt Pisgah Orchards on the drive home:

Reading

I finished twelve books in August, two in my Jane Austen category. I really enjoyed Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen, by Kate Evans. She highlights all of the key events of Jane Austen’s life, and her novel plots, and she intersperses it with images of the quilt made by Jane Austen, her mother and her sister Cassandra. The Will Gompertz book about looking at Art was illuminating, and The Personal Librarian, by Benedict and Murray added another interesting layer to that topic.

Eclipse

On August 27th, we watched the partial lunar eclipse from our nearby schoolyard.

We hiked four days, later in the month – to be described in a later post.

Tributes to Dolly:

Toward the end of the month, we were all very sad when Dolly Parton died – she was a powerful person who used her fame and wealth for good, it can be done!

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

Month: October 2026

Hiking, September 2026

9-1 – Mt St Helens area, Lava Canyon and Goat Marsh, WA

9-10 – Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, OR

9-21 – Owl Point, Mt Hood, OR

9-23 – Lacamas Lake, WA

9-28 – Rock Lakes – Old Cascade Crest Loop, Indian Heaven Wilderness, WA

September 2026, Portland, OR…

9-4 Art Museum

9-6 Leach Botanical Garden

9-7 Art in the Pearl

Reading

Neighborhood walks…

August 2026 Hiking

August 2-3 – Mt Rainier interrupted

August 10 – Pamelia Lake, OR

August 18 – Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, Portland

August 26 – Oaks Bottom, Portland

August 2026 in Portland

Eugene Weekend:

Reading

Eclipse

Tributes to Dolly: