Falls Creek Falls (18-42)

October 3, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Falls Creek Falls Trail, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA 9/29/2018 (#54)

This trail provides fall foliage along Falls Creek, and an impressive waterfall at the terminus.

Colorful vine maples at the trailhead

Into the woods

Over the first bridge

Along the creek

Over the upper bridge

Around this turn we hear the falls

Then look up and see the upper falls

Middle and lower tiers (about 225 feet high) of Falls Creek Falls viewed from the end of the trail.

Lower plunge pool

Downstream view

After eating our lunch, we returned back down the trail,

Through the vine maple corridor

Under the big leaf maple canopy

With a pause by the stream

And another pause near the trailhead to play with the impressionistic reflections…

We saw a variety of leaf displays…

Vine maple – green

Vine maple – turning orange

Vine maple – orange

Solomon seal, with berries

Vine maple – red

My new identification for the day was Pacific dogwood without the distinctive white flowers. In the fall it has red leaves and red seed pod clusters.

About 4 miles round trip and 800 feet.

CRAFTING

I have made knitting progress on my Ivy Lace Cardigan and a round dishcloth.

Fall Equinox, Indian Heaven, WA (18-41)

September 27, 2018September 27, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

East Crater Trail, 9/23/18 (Hike #53)

Indian Heaven is a landscape of lakes, cinder cones, forests and meadows in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest southwest of Mt Adams. The Pacific Crest Trail runs right through the center of the Wilderness on its northward path through southern Washington state. There are abundant wild huckleberries in late summer. By fall, the huckleberry and other foliage display a vibrant spectrum of bright colors – reds, oranges, fuchsias, magentas, yellows, yellow oranges and yellow greens that stand out in sharp contrast to the forest and lake greens and browns, and the sky blue.

Last fall the Indian Heaven Wilderness was closed due to the East Crater Fire that occurred at the same time as the Eagle Creek Fire, so we are back this year after a 2 year absence.

Today we hiked the East Crater Trail to Junction Lake in the center of the wilderness area, then completed a loop that passed several lakes and followed the Pacific Crest Trail back south to Junction Lake.

Red huckleberry bushes in the forest

Layers of color

Unnamed lake just east of East Crater – the burn from last year seen beyond and above.

Top of East Crater

Junction Lake

So much color in the meadows!

Ripe huckleberries

Amanita

Dropping down to Lemei Lake where we had our lunch:

Lunch view

The southbound section of the Pacific Crest trail was more forested, with views through the trees of a couple of bigger lakes.

Bear Lake

We passed Junction Lake again, then hiked back to the trailhead.

Huckleberry and spirea

Mountain Ash

Huckleberry stump

The last little lake on the trail out.

Our total for the day: 9.6 miles/1000 feet elevation.

Panther Creek Falls

We made a quick stop on our drive home at this massive waterfall complex – there are three creeks that tumble together into the main branch of Panther Creek.

Quilting

I went to the Northwest Quilt Expo in Portland and purchased some fabric for my next quilt project:

Red, White and Purple at Three Corner Rock, WA (18-28)

July 8, 2018 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

Three Corner Rock 4th of July, 2018 (Hike#40)

This easy hike follows the Pacific Crest Trail south from the 2090 road in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The beautifully maintained and graded trail switchbacks up a ridge lined with a variety of summer wildflowers. The last 3/4 mile is on a rutted red access road which goes to the saddle – and to the volcanic pile of Three Corner Rock that is holding down the ridge from blowing away on this windy July 4th.

We scramble part way up the rock to a windbreak and have lunch – only one of our hiking party braves the blast to scramble all the way to the top.

Meanwhile, we admire our five volcano view: Jefferson, Hood, Adams, St Helens, Rainier, along with views of the Columbia River all the way to Portland to the west. This was a good place for a lookout back in the day!

Mts Hood and Jefferson beyond the cell tower.

Mts St Helens, Rainier and Adams.

Silver Star Mountain

Among the flower palette are tons of red paintbrush, white bunch berry, and purple penstemon – nothing blue blooming up here today.

paintbrush

bunchberry

penstemon

Other wildflowers – some are first sightings this year:

columbine sparkler

twin flower

Prince’s pine

lousewort

Oregon grapes and foam flower

tiger lily opening

anemone? seedpods

The map and June flower comparison is on my blog post from last year. 4.4 miles/1200 feet.

We stopped in Cascade Locks on the way home to buy fresh salmon for our 4th of July barbecue dinner.

Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River.

Native fish market at Bridge of the Gods. The burned skyline shows how close the Eagle Creek fire was to Cascade Locks.

CRAFTING

Pinwheel Quilt completed and just waiting for baby:

Fabric baskets for a sister’s birthday:

I started a quilt for the Welcome Blanket project:

25. Early Fall in the Gifford Pinchot

October 4, 2017October 9, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

September 30, 2017 Rainy weekend predicted; possible dry window Saturday to the east of Portland; Indian Heaven still closed from the Crater Fire; windy along the Columbia River. We decided to try some short hikes in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest between Mt Adams and Indian Heaven, near Trout Lake, WA.

Our first drive through the Columbia River Gorge since the fire: Good photos are posted in official feeds elsewhere. I was pleased to see how much is not burned. That said, it was sobering to see the extent of the burn: blackened trees on the skyline, blackened forest floors down to the highway in some places, blackened trunks on still green trees. I felt great appreciation for the fire fighting, for the massive cleanup that has already occurred, and for the challenge ahead. We will be back someday but not soon.

Through the passenger window of a moving car: Blackened trees on the skyline; slash piles below.

We got a glimpse of Mt Adams and an intense, wide rainbow just as we entered Trout Lake.

Mt Adams from Trout Lake

Rainbow, Trout Lake, WA

Steamboat Mountain (#48)

This short hike (1.5 miles, 400′) is touted by Scott Cook in his Curious Gorge book to have some of the best views of the Cascades and a relatively easy trail. The weather was not in our favor, though. When we parked at the trailhead/quarry, we could just see the top of Steamboat Mountain from the base.

Steamboat Mtn from the trailhead

As we hiked up the well graded trail through red huckleberry the clouds closed in.

From the rocky top, I could just make out our Suburu parked at the base, but no mountains, no views.

Looking down at our Suburu (center of photo) from the top

We ate our lunch, hiked down. We were reminded that we are now in hunting season, as people were firing guns just on the other side of the quarry.

Langfield Falls

Driving back south toward Trout Lake, we visited Langfield Falls, just east of Tire Junction. There is a short trail down to the waterfall viewpoint, and another user trail along the creek above the falls. A spatter of rain, a lovely waterfall.

Langfield Falls

Natural Bridge

Back to Trout Lake, then west about 5 miles, is the Natural Bridge area- a collapsed lava tube with bridges in places of incomplete collapse. A friend from the Portland Hikers Facebook group had tipped us off to brilliant fall color here, and we found this to be true – even if we were early for the full show. The inner collapsed tube is overgrown with vine maples that blazed in gradation through the spectrum from bright green, to yellow green, yellow, yellow orange, orange, red orange and red: the analogous colors from half the color wheel on view. We wandered around for a while, and Dan set up his tripod as we waited for sunbreaks to illuminate the scene.