A gathering of late reports….
Monday, November 2nd, The Labyrinth
My favorite, often visited, eastern Gorge trail on a windless day with beautiful low autumn light. (Hike #69 for 2020, 4.4 miles, 1000 feet)
Trailhead, Rowland Lake, perfectly calm and reflective. Our destination is the tall Ponderosa Pine, left of center.
The Old Hwy 8 waterfall is completely dry.
Mt Hood on view to the west across the Columbia River.
The labyrinth waterfall is almost dry…
A few drips in the mossy wall,
and some still pools below in the streambed.
We wind around columnar basalts surrounded by golden grass,
Through the oak grove.
Mt Hood still on view in the glare, as the sun moves west
We pass a favorite trailside oak tree,
Almost to our destination Ponderosa…
The eastern Gorge beyond
Rowland Wall and the Catherine Creek area slopes.
Zoom in on Lyle and Memaloose Island
Tom McCall Point and the orchards of Mosier on the descent.
The haunted oak tree bids us farewell.
Monday November 9th, Dry Creek Falls
We spotted the winter swans in Mirror Lake at the base of Crown Point as we made our way through The Gorge to Cascade Locks.
Dry Creek Falls, which we have hiked many times, is one of the closest waterfall hikes, most of the trails still being closed since the 2017 fire. Today we walked through falling Big Leaf Maple leaves lighting up the partially burned forest. (Hike #70, 4.9 miles, 1050 feet)
Bridge over Dry Creek on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Dry Creek Falls
Monday, November 16th, Finley Wildlife Refuge
Our first visit to this refuge, on a day when the Willamette Valley to the south was the only partly dry place within a two hour drive from home. Recovered farm land is a winter sanctuary for migratory birds. (Hike #71, 2.5 miles, 150 feet)
Our first stop, the Prairie Overlook:
Miles of Willamette Valley grasslands.
From there, we walked the Homer Campbell Boardwalk through a wetter terrain.
Canadian Geese near the trailhead
The boardwalk…
Marshy forests
A bird blind at the end of the winter trail.
Back through the mossy and lichen covered trees.
Another hiker told us we would see swans in the McFadden Marsh, so we headed there for our lunch stop.
Swans, geese and other water fowl.
The weather had cleared a bit, so we hiked the Woodpecker Loop trail to stretch our legs a bit more.
Along the Woodpecker Loop trail.
High point – a shelter, and view of some of the high Cascade Mountain peaks to the east.
As we began our drive home, we found the best view of the Cascades was from a road pullout above some of the historic farm buildings.
Mt Jefferson
North, Middle and South Sisters.
We enjoyed our day at Finley Wildlife Refuge – anything to get out of the house for a few hours and walk in nature. I would like to visit in other seasons, but we usually have destinations closer to home…
Deschutes River trail, a smattering of rain, it feels like walking through a purifying mist, and there’s no Covid out here.
Grass widows were waning, desert parsleys, gold stars, yellow bells and buttercups were emerging.
Margaret Quilts 