What happened in September 2021…

October 7, 2021October 6, 2021 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Home and garden:

Last of the tomatoes

gladiolas

sumac

chamomile

Farmer’s Market bounty

Knitting:

I finished more hats for the Women’s Shelter donation, made progress on socks and a shawl, both excellent travel knitting, and began knitting the fall Mystery Gnome. And I received a late but welcome crocheted bag as a birthday gift from my sister.

Crocheted bag from my sister.

Donation hat

Weaving Socks, pattern by Very Busy Monkey; Knit Picks Stroll yarn.

Hitchhiker Shawl, pattern by Martina Behm, yarn by Knitted Wit

Mystery Gnome 7, pattern by Imagined Landscapes, yarn is Noro Silk Garden sock.

Hiking:

We spent a lot of time on hiking trails! In addition to two out of town trips to the Olympic Peninsula and Mt Baker, and a day hike at Cloud Cap on Mt Hood, all described in separate posts, we went on six other adventures:

September 9, East Crater Trail, Indian Heaven, Washington. Return to Junction Lake.

Into the woods

East Crater

Junction Lake

Mountain ash

Huckleberry

Mt St Helens from the PCT Southbound

Birds in a water hole in a mostly dry creek

September 17, Portland Arboretum. Early fall color on a beautiful day.

Aralia

Sumac

Hop hornbeam

Douglas fir with sap

September 24, Kiwa Trail, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington. Looking for Sandhill Cranes while we can still hike the trail before it is closed for the winter nesting season.

Nightshade berries near the creek

Woodland

Grassland with teasel

These are the sandhill cranes we are looking for!

Resident nesting pair with colt

September 26 – Saltzman Road in Forest Park, Portland. Our first time on this particular trail through the park, we walked 6 miles while catching up with friends.

Saltzman Road, Forest Park

September 28, Crawford Oaks, Washington. A return to an oft hiked trail, we escaped the rain in Portland and saw only 4 other hikers the entire day.

Columbia Hills from The Dalles Bridge

Geologic context

Eight Miles Falls

Pear tree

Our usual lunch spot

Clouds and wind

Eastward

Tufts

The “one tree”

Dried balsamroot, Dalles Mountain Ranch

Some foliage for the day:

pear

poison oak

oak

grasses

September 30, Coyote Wall, Washington. Another often hiked trail, again with friends. A beautiful day up there!

Puffy clouds and rocks

Coyote Wall

Mt Hood in the clouds

Return hike

Other news:

Tiaki, the Albatross chick I have been watching in New Zealand via webcam, has fledged!

The blue line is a tracker on Tiaki, the red line is one of her parents.

A family member acquired a new-to-him car.

I attended an in-person book group meeting, where we watched the moon rise over the Willamette River from Sauvie Island.

Cloud Cap, Mt Hood, September 23, 2021

October 5, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

To the High Point on the Timberline Trail… September 23, 2021

After the long drive up the rutted road to the Cloud Cap campground (elev 5850′), on the east side of Mt Hood, we begin by hiking up the steep sandy side of the South Eliot Glacier lateral moraine.

Reaching the crest of the South Eliot Moraine

From here we see all the volcanoes to the north,

Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt Adams

but it is the head-on face of the Eliot Glacier that draws us upward over the rock studded surface of the moraine, continuously up toward the mountain, like a scene out of Close Encounters, we move forward.

We are passed by a few hikers headed for the high point on Cooper Spur, near Tie-In Rock, but we take the turn off to the hut.

Cloud Cap Shelter

Before we leave the moraine, I give the Eliot Glacier a few minutes to pose for close ups.

We reached the Cloud Cap Shelter at lunch time.

“Not very crowded up here today”, said my hiking partner.

We choose to walk south on the Timberline Trail, around the mountain. We play dot to dot with the rock cairns as we walk the gray trail, winding sinuously upward across the wrinkled shoulders of the mountain, contouring around the canyons.

Timberline Trail, heading south

A solitary raven cry, some humming bees, wild flowers faded to golden seed heads, a few green leaves survive, on the wind blasted slopes paved with rocks and stones – a desert pavement of sorts, peppered with large angular boulders that could only be from above;

Gravity prevails whether we acknowledge the science or not.

A few fresh snow patches cling to sheltered slopes, left by storms last week that have given all the high peaks fresh white crowns.

An older, dusty snow field, is preserved in the most sheltered north sloping hollow.

We reach the High Point of the Timberline Trail (7350′), then the ridge crest to the left where we rest, and enjoy a 360° view.

Mt Hood from near the high point of the Timberline Trail

Closer view of Tie-In Rock on Cooper Spur

Cascade peaks to the south above Gnarl Ridge:

Mt Jefferson, the Three Sisters and Broken Top

Of the Washington peaks to the north, only Mount Adams visible from here.

Mt Adams

On the return hike on this trail carved out of the edge of the sky, more ravens fly above, sweeping in choreographed pairs, swirling in groups above our narrow ridge and over toward Tie-In Rock, stalling and falling and circling around each other; then surprisingly, as I round a bend on the trail, I see them clustered on the snowfield.

They seem to be sipping from the surface, finding water in this sere late summer landscape where all the rivulets are dry.

A completely fresh air, clear sky, beautiful day up here, no smoke today, as close to the sky as I will get this year I think.

Cloud Cap shelter, and Washington peaks, on the return hike

One other creature living up here

And the mountain ash glowed red in the afternoon light.

Olympic Peninsula, WA, late summer, 2021

September 25, 2021November 18, 2024 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Aug 29 to Sept 3, 2021 – We scheduled a trip to the Olympic Mountains after our Iceland plans were cancelled due to increased spread of the Delta variant of Covid 19. We have been to the Olympics a few times, and have wanted to go back and explore more in the Hurricane Hill/Deer Park area where there are higher altitude hiking trails, the only ones that can be accessed without overnight backpacking. The weather was perfect, but a different sort of human pathology foiled our plans. The night we arrived in Port Angeles, the Olympic National Park website posted a closure alert due to police action. The closure continued for the three days we were in the area, so each day we found alternative hikes.

Driving north on 101 toward the Olympic Mountains – great weather ahead!

Port Angeles

Our hotel on the hill right above the center of town had an expansive view across the harbor, all the way to Victoria and the San Juan Islands. Port Angeles is home to the ferry to Victoria, BC. On previous visits, long lineups of vehicles filled the ferry loading zone at the dock, while people waiting to cross filled the town with activity. The ferry has been closed due to Covid since March of 2020. The town felt eerily quiet as we walked along the waterfront, admiring the beautiful setting and the shipping activity in the harbor.

View across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Mt Baker poking above the marine layer

Another view of Mt Baker beyond the ship

Hotel balcony view across Port Angeles Harbor to Vancouver Island

Stairs down to town

Evening lights

Sol Duc Falls

Monday, August 30th – A short trail leads to a beautiful triple falls.

Sol Duc Falls

We explored the river above the waterfall.

American dipper on the rocks.

Calmer water

We continued farther up the Sol Duc Trail to extend our hike.

Shelter near Sol Duc Falls

Trail beyond the waterfall…

Corydalis

The blue bead berries of the Queen’s cup or bead lily

Vanilla leaf

Ediz Hook

In the afternoon, we drove out onto Ediz Hook, the long jetty that shelters Port Angeles Harbor from the Salish Sea. There are beaches on both north and south sides of the jetty, and a Coast Guard Station at its far end.

Looking north toward Canada…

and westward from the north shore of the jetty.

A seal in the Salish Sea

We walked along the south shore of the jetty, looking back to land:

Southeast to the Coast Guard Station,

South to Port Angeles and the Olympic Mountains,

Southwest to the mountains and harbor industrial buildings.

Seagull on the north shore

Striped Peak

Tuesday, August 31 – We found an interesting hike at nearby Salt Creek Recreation Area on the Washington Trails Association website. This was a 7 mile hike through beautiful forest and not so beautiful clearcuts, with a visit to a lovely beach cove near the end of the loop.

Trail map

We began in the forest, hiking up almost 1000 feet to the top of Striped Peak.

We passed military bunkers from WW2 along the ridge, similar to bunkers we saw in Cornwall a few years ago.

A trail around the peak leads to views in all directions:

Crescent Beach to the west,

Olympic Mountains to the south,

Vancouver Island to the north,

Port Angeles, and our trail through the clearcuts to the east, taken from a bench near the top of Striped Peak.

As we walked more than a mile through the clearcut, we could look back and see the top of Striped Peak.

Eventually, the trail reentered the green forest, and we made our way back along the coastal cliffs .

A side trail leads down to Eagle’s Cove, with its surreal turquoise waters:

Eagle’s Cove, tide going out

We spotted a heron out in the cove.

Heron and sea gull

We think the heron is standing on a floating log.

Pebbly sand and shells on the beach

Pebble close up…

The hike out of the cove is steep.

Looking down at Eagle’s Cove

Wednesday, September 1 – We drove from Port Angeles to Lake Quinault, with stops along the way.

Bogachiel Rainforest

First stop, a three mile hike at the Bogachiel Rainforest. This is the dry season in the rainforest.

Large tree as bridge.

Plank boardwalks through what I presume can be a much wetter forest floor

Fallen tree to the right of the trail

Ruby Beach

After our rainforest hike, we stopped at Ruby Beach, the first of several beaches that can be visited while driving south along the coast.

Looking down at Ruby Beach from the overlook

Sculpted sea stack near the access trail

We walked north along the shore as the tide receded.

Wave sorted shingle

A flock of birds kept us company…

Walking south again…

Tide pools formed around the sea stacks …

Sea anemones

Sand, cobbles, clam

Back beach lagoon

We also walked a short distance south on Ruby Beach.

Destruction Island, with lighthouse, in the distance

Parting view of Ruby Beach

We stopped briefly at the at Kalaloch Beach 4 overlook.

View from above Kalaloch Beach 4

Cormorants

The sun is shining somewhere on this foggy day.

Roots around a nurse log

Lake Quinault

We stayed two nights at Quinault River Inn, a beautiful property with lovely views of the river and mountains.

View from our porch to the river and mountains

Thursday, September 2 – We explored the network of trails along Lake Quinault and nearby rainforest, then drove the loop road around the lake.

Trail sign

We began by walking east along the lake shore, mesmerized by the reflections in the glassy lake surface.

The spell was broken by a launch crossing the lake, casting wake ripples through the reflections.

We turned back west, passing by the historic Lake Quinault Lodge.

We crossed a bridge near Willaby Falls, then headed uphill to the rainforest trails.

Willaby Falls

I was continuously awed by the size of the trees in the rainforest.

Cedar swamp

Cascade Creek

After finishing our hike, we drove the roads around Lake Quinault, passing waterfalls and a view into the higher mountains.

Merriman Falls

Bunch Falls

Quinault River upstream (east) from the lake

We closed our last day back at the Quinault River Inn, watching reflections in the water as the shadows grew long.

Follow up to the Olympic National Park crime situation: We learned that a man under the influence of methamphetamine had wrought havoc on the area before disappearing into the wilderness with a long gun. Trails and campgrounds in the National Park were evacuated for three days, interrupting many people’s trips. The man was located, and the park reopened, about an hour after we departed. Allegations as of time of writing this, according to a news article in the Sequim Gazette (September 14, 2021): He assaulted his girlfriend, set a 1000 acre fire, cut down a tree to block the road, disabled a park service radio repeater, and tried to shoot down a surveillance drone. After a negotiated surrender, he was placed in custody. He had multiple weapons, ammunition, chain saws, survival gear, a letter announcing a revolution to begin soon, and a quantity of presumed methamphetamine in his possesion. He has many past domestic violence charges.

This crime event did not exactly ruin our trip, as we were able to find other options for hiking and seeing beautiful places, just not the places we had planned to see. We have become accomplished this year at making other plans, and making the best of unforeseen circumstances. We hope to return another year to see the high country.

More hiking in August, 2021: a witch’s castle, an artesian spring, and waterfalls

September 6, 2021 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

In addition to our walk at Nehalem Bay earlier in the month, we hiked three other days in August before going on our trip to the Olympic Mountains at the end of the month.

8-17-2021 – Wildwood Trail/Witches Castle

We added another 2 miles to our section hike of the Wildwood Trail.

A five mile loop – Wildwood Trail to Birch Trail to Holman Lane

The forest was dry and dusty today

Balch Creek

This segment of the Wildwood Trail passes by the “Witches Castle”, formerly a visitor center, now a destination for various graffiti artists and partiers, and a colorful landmark in the green forest.

Meanwhile, in the forest, harbingers of fall in the maple trees….

We only have 5 miles remaining in our pandemic thru hike.

8-22-2021 – Dry Creek Falls

We returned to this short hike in the gorge with our visiting daughter. And I noted that, while we were not in Iceland, we were looking at a waterfall and columnar basalts…

Dry Creek

Dry Creek Falls

Columnar basalts

Columnar basalts, vine maples and cedar branches

Bridge on the PCT over Dry Creek

There were a few colorful flowers and berries along the trail…

Fireweed

Penstemon

Solomon seal

And the evil poison oak, showing its fall colors

A ghost tree along the path.

8 26-2021 Little Zigzag Falls and Little Crater Lake, Mt Hood

We planned to hike up high on Mt Hood today, but the cloud cover directed us otherwise.

Little Zigzag Falls – We’ve never stopped here before because the hike is so short – less than a mile round trip. This trail through beautiful green forest along a mountain stream will be a good one to keep in mind for visitors on the grand round-the-mountain tour.

Remnants of the old Mt Hood Highway near the trailhead

The trail follows along the edge of Little Zigzag Creek

Little Zigzag Falls

Rock-hugging tree at the top of the falls

View upstream from the top of the falls

Another view of Little Zigzag Falls

Exposed tree roots near the falls

Little Crater Lake – This lake, south of Mt Hood, has long been on my ‘to visit’ list.

The lake is an easy walk from the trail head.

Little Crater Lake

The true blue color…

The lake is not actually a crater – it was formed by an artesian spring.

The blue clarity of the water is mesmerizing. I love the reflections. My little camera has a hard time catching the actually vibrancy of the turquoise blue, but none of the brighter blues here are exaggerated.

We continued to a section of the Pacific Crest Trail that follows the northern arm of Timothy Lake, where we found more lovely views and foliage.

PCT to Timothy Lake

Northern arm of Timothy Lake

More reflections…

We passed by Little Crater Lake again on our return hike – once again admiring the deep blue and the reflections.

Little Crater Lake again

Siltstone stratigraphy

Reflections and abstractions

I plan to return next spring when the wildflowers are blooming!

A walk on the beach – Nehalem Bay, Oregon

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Nehalem Bay State Park, Oregon, August 3, 2021

Too hot for hiking inland, we decided to drive out to the coast and walk the loop around Nehalem Bay spit.

The green line is our track – about 5 miles round trip.

Crossing the spit to the ocean beach.

View north to Neahkanie Mountain.

We are walking south, wind at our back, to the Nehalem Jetty.

Equestrians on the tidal bars.

Most of the birds we saw were near the jetty.

Nehalem Jetty

The rock jetty was also a catch for sand and drift wood.

Nehalem River north jetty

Looking across to the south jetty and shore.

We found a lunch spot on the jetty with a wind shelter. After lunch, we crossed to the inland shore of the spit, and walked north along the Nehalem River/Bay, with different views and shore features, and the added advantage of being less windy.

Mussels in the low tide zone.

Looking back seaward

Walking north along Nehalem Bay

Some of the marine life washed up in the low tide zone:

sea star

purple varnish clams

jelly fish

Continuing north along Nehalem Bay:

Looking for clams.

We enjoyed our day at the beach – fresh air, mountain and ocean views, a few birds.

On our return drive, we stopped at the highway overlook in Oswald West State Park, to look back at Nehalem Bay and the jetty. And to once again thank former Oregon governor, Oswald West, for claiming the beaches in Oregon as public land, in 1911.

Looking south from Oswald West overlook

Nehalem River Jetty

July 2021, a miscellany

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

July has been low key, with an episode of busyness near the end, when we had house guests and a long awaited wedding celebration of a good friend. Otherwise, I have been knitting, hiking, walking the neighborhood, growing tomatoes, attending zoom and back yard knitting and book group meetings, and watching Le Tour de France and the Tokyo Olympics. And avoiding exposure to the Delta variant of Covid 19, so masking up in stores again, and keeping all contact with non household people as sanitary as possible. Sigh, but it must be done!

Knitting –

I finished a gnome, a charity hat and a pair of gift socks.

Gnot Just Another Gnome by Sarah Schira

Straight Up Reversible Striped Hat by Nicole Nehrig made from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Superwash

Green Striped socks, Patons Kroy sock yarn

I finished the face embroidery on my albatross, and have another pile of works in progress:

Albatross by Rachel Borello Carrol

WIPS – Two hats, a pair of socks, a cardigan.

Neighborhood and Garden –

Hot dry days and colorful flowers.

sunflowers

rudbeckia

the path ahead

interactive succulent planter

fireweed and music boxes

farmer’s market fruit

Love

dahlias

old cement

homegrown tomatoes

sweetpeas, zinnias and coreopsis

Hikes –

Keeping pace with weekly hikes. Still avoiding weekends, and dodging heat.

July 6 – Lookout Mountain, east of Mt Hood. Always enjoyable for the flowers and the views this time of year.

Mt St Helens, from a blooming High Prairie, near the trailhead.

Mt Hood from the summit of Lookout Mountain.

July 20 – Larch Mountain Crater – north of Mt Hood, a 7 mile loop that circles the top of Larch Mountain through very quiet green forest. At the top there are views to all the Cascades north and south:

GPS track of Larch Mountain Crater hike, July 20, 2021

The quiet forest below the summit.

Some of the views from Sherrard Point:

Mt Hood

Close up of Mt Hood

Mt Jefferson through the haze.

Mt Adams to the north, beyond the burn zone

July 15 and 28 – Wildwood Trail, Forest Park – We hiked two sections from the NW 53rd trailhead, and now have only 7 miles to go to complete the entire Wildwood trail, a pandemic aspiration.

Dry and shady, Wildwood Trail near mile 10, July 15, 2021

Two July hikes on the Wildwood Trail.

Wildwood Trail near mile 8, July 28, 2021

A few of the flowers in the forest:

Chicory

Veronica

Solomon seal berries

Other events:

A wedding.

Emily returned to the east coast.

Trip planning with crossed fingers.

On to August….

NZ2020: Days 10 and 11, Walking the Kepler Track near Te Anau, lots of rain, and a film

July 28, 2021 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

February 3rd and 4th, 2020 – Te Anau, New Zealand. After returning from our Doubtful Sound cruise, we were supposed to go to Milford Sound. As described in my earlier post, we were experiencing extreme rain and flooding throughout Fiordland. Many roads were washed out. Our guides improvised some other adventures for us, based near Te Anau.

Trail sign, locations of our next two hikes circled. The diagram shows how these lakes are interconnected to the huge hydropower scheme that ends up at Doubtful Sound, where we were the previous day.

Yes, it rains!

February 3, 2020

After lunch, we zipped up our rain gear and set off on a 6 mile hike near the shores of Lake Te Anau on the Kepler Track. We passed through beautifully green rainforest, and crossed a river that was swollen with runoff. We paused at Brod Bay on Lake Te Anau, our turnaround point, then walked back the way we came.

Starting off on the Kepler Track in our rain gear.

A swollen creek entering the lake.

Brod Bay beach, turnaround point.

Walking through the rain forest.

Another view toward Te Anau across the lake.

February 4, 2020

The next morning, with rain still falling, and many surrounding roads still closed, we set off on a different stretch of the Kepler Track, this time along the Rainbow Reach to Moturau Hut, a 7.5 mile hike.

We crossed the Waiau River bridge, above a swollen river.

Waiau River

One of the highlights was passing through a wetland near Spirit Lake, with amazingly colorful plantlife and beautiful reflections in the water. On a nicer day I could have spent a lot of time here playing with the lights and reflections with my camera.

Wetland side trip

Spirit Lake, rain.

We arrived at Moturau Hut, near Lake Manapouri, where we paused long enough to eat lunch. The rain continued to fall during our return hike, again through the lush and green rainforest.

View from Moturau Hut to Lake Manapouri

Rainforest trail with possum trap.

I took two pictures from the same vantage point, about three hours apart, that show how Waiau River still rising.

9:20 am

12:30 pm

Later that afternoon, after we had dried off, we visited a pub in the town of Te Anau, and then went to the Fiordland Cinema, and watched a film called Ata Whenua – Shadowland. The movie was made by some of the Lord of the Rings film makers, and included gorgeous cinematography and ethereal music depicting the beautiful Fiordland landscape that we could not see because of all the rain.

Serious Jenga at the Redcliff Cafe.

Another map of our Kepler Track hikes.

Meanwhile, our guides were creating a new agenda for the next day, an impromptu tour of Southland, since all the roads in every other direction were closed by flooding.

Six Hikes in June, 2021

July 11, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We had six hiking days in June, all repeat hikes, so I am showing just a few highlight photos, and linking past posts for trail details.

June 3 – Hamilton Mountain, WA, hike – I love this hike, however challenging (8 miles, 2200 feet), and always feel accomplished to have made the trek again, especially when I get to see the lovely Lewisia flowers on the upper switchbacks.

Trailhead

Waterfall area

Little Hamilton Mtn death camus meadows, Mt Hood

Bonneville Dam from Little Hamilton Mtn

Table Mtn and Mt Adams from the summit

Clarkia

Lewisia

Looking back at the summit from the saddle/plateau

Respite in Hamilton Creek

Where we have been…

2. June 10 – Grassy Knoll, WA, hike – Another well loved hike. A bit rainy today, and on the early side for flowers blooming, but so green and lush along the trail!

Beargrass in the forest

Cliff penstemon; Mt Adams behind the clouds today.

Onion and phlox on the mossy rocks

View to the summit

Switchback up the meadows

View from the summit

East to Indian Heaven

Paintbrush and lupine

Back to the trailhead, lower meadows in bloom

3. June 17 – Saddle Mountain, OR, hike – We were here last month before the full bloom of the upper meadows, so hiked again on our way to an overnight at the Oregon Coast.

Saddle and summit

monkey flowers, nodding onions

irises

lewisia, saxifrage

checkermallow, chickweed

fleabane

prairie smoke

blue-eyed grass

cutleaf anemone

Pacific Ocean from the summit

Washington peaks from the summit

4. June 18 – Oregon north coast beaches – We stayed overnight in the Tolvana area of Cannon Beach, with a lovely view of Haystack Rock beyond the parking lots.

The next day we walked from Arcadia Beach and around Hug Point at low tide, to Big Barnacle Rock. We visited all our favorite landmarks from 30 years of visiting this stretch of beach nearly every summer, often staying for a week when our kids were young. So beautiful!

The sphinx of Arcadia Beach guards the northern beaches,

but we are heading south, along these open sands as the tide recedes.

We saw some birds and tide pool creatures:

sea anemone

Caspian terns – we’ve never seen these before.

Caspian terns

A pod of pelicans flying north along the wave crests

Pelicans

Next we crossed over the old road carved out of Hug Point, passable at low tide.

Hug Point

South view from the Hug Point road

The Waterfall

The Cave

Big Barnacle Rock and Castle Rock from The Cave

Looking south toward Arch Cape from Big Barnacle Rock – our turnaround point.

North view, crossing back over Hug Point.

Walking into the wind, sand rivers pelting our legs.

5. June 22 – Three Corner Rock – Another repeat hike. We were the only ones on the trail today. It was just shady enough in the forest to be comfortable.

Our big surprise was the profuse bear grass bloom in the upper meadows below the rock. And almost no wind.

Three Corner Rock

Views from near the summit (we didn’t scramble to the upper platform):

Looking south – Mt Hood and the cell tower, and so much bear grass!

St Helens, Rainier, Goat Rocks and Adams

Mt Adams

Mt St Helens

And a few more flowery views before heading down:

6. June 30 – Thomas Lake to Rock Lake Mosquito chase – Indian Heaven Wilderness, WA – Why we thought we could out-smart the famous mosquitos of summer in Indian Heaven I do not know, except sometimes you have to find out for your self. Which we did.

There was plenty of water (mosquito breeding grounds) in Indian Heaven.

Thomas Lake

Dee Lake

Shooting stars, Heather Lake

Vernal Lake in one of the meadows.

The highest trail section had snow patches, with marsh marigolds and avalanche lilies blooming nearby.

avalanche lilies

marsh marigolds

snow

We made it to Rock Lakes, and sat long enough to devour our lunch as quickly as possible, while the mosquitos devoured us through our DEET sprayed clothing.

Rock Lake – no rock bridge today.

heather

huckleberries

We had reached our tolerance point, so rushed back down the trail, stopping just long enough to notice Mt St Helens through the trees.

We learned our lesson! There is not enough DEET in the world to make this a comfortable time in Indian Heaven. We will return in late summer or fall when the mosquitos are gone.

May 2021, part 3: Hiking

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Three significant hikes:

May 5 – Weldon Wagon Road, WA

We returned to this favorite trail while the balsamroot were fresh, and the later season flowers were just beginning to bloom.

Open slopes of balsamroot along the upper trail.

Mt Hood view from the open trail.

Late season flowers:

manroot tendrils

ookow, fringe pod, balsamroot

blue gilia, taper tip onion

clarkia; taper tip onion

white western groundsel, lupine

Old plow at the turnaround.

Second growth firs viewed through oak trees.

May 11 – Saddle Mountain, OR

Another favorite trail – this time we were early for the full bloom, and saw fawn lilies in the upper saddle.

The alder trees in the lower forest had not leafed out yet. We made our way up to the prominent knob, admiring lots of early flowers in the alternating woods and open slopes.

Alder trees

The knob, and first view to the ocean.

Some of the early flowers:

Chocolate lilies covered these steep slopes.

Sitka valerian

Meadow rue

Trillium

Lilies along the first summit before the saddle:

Glacier lilies

Pink fawn lilies

View to the saddle and summit.

Prairie fire in the upper meadows.

Lewisia foliage – too early for flowers.

View of three Cascade peaks from the summit.

May 28 – Ridge Trail, Forest Park, Portland

This was our first time hiking the Ridge Trail in Forest Park.

This trail has an excellent view of the iconic 1930’s St Johns Bridge, over the Willamette River.

The trail ascends 1000 feet from the start near the St Johns Bridge in North Portland, to the intersection with Firelane 7. We continued the loop on Firelane 7, the Wildwood Trail, and Leif Erickson Drive, before returning on the lower Ridge Trail for a total distance of 4.25 miles. Most of the time we were in the forest.

Through the woods…

Vine maples

Mushroom

Late trillium

We stopped to admire the bridge again on our return trip – sky a little bluer than when we began.

My next and last May 2021 post will be about our wonderful first post-Covid-vaccination trip to visit our daughter, in Washington DC.

Late April 2021

May 8, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Continuing my neighborhood walks: After the cherry blossoms, the pink snow,

We go from pink trees

to pink sidewalks in a week’s time.

And find them all through the neighborhood.

Dogwood trees and other flowers bloom,

Dogwood

rhododendron

fothergilla

lewisia

Interestingly cracked concrete catches my eye…

We went on two more hikes with amazing wildflowers:

Tom McCall Trail, OR, April 23

When we hiked here on March 11th, the slopes were covered with purple grass widows. Today, the balsamroot is the star!

Starting up the trail with friends.

Lower cliffs, balsamroot and lupine in full bloom!

Eastward view.

Every blade abloom under the oak trees.

Open slopes of balsamroot and Mt Adams.

Continuing up.

Paintbrush in bloom on the upper slopes.

Views from the top:

West to Mt Hood.

North to Mt Adams.

Northeast, to the Cherry Orchard.

More views on the hike down:

Rowena Plateau.

Paintbrush! and the Memaloose Hills, with their yellow backs.

Parsley Alley….

And a few more flowers, for the day.

Chocolate lily and some of that sneaky poison oak creeping in.

Oaks toothwort

Miner’s lettuce

Waterleaf

Orobanche

Baby stars

Bitterroot Trail, Catherine Creek, WA April 26

Aptly lived up to its name – the earlier blooming flowers have faded, but the bitterroot is just getting started today!

We began near the fairy ponds – now filled with camas lilies; the adjacent rock outcrops hosting glorious bitterroot flowers.

Lewisia rediviva

Sprinkled across the basalt; bicolored cluster lilies speckle the meadow beyond.

We wind our way up the slope:

Eastward.

Camas lilies and shooting stars.

Death camas and purple camas lilies

Turn left at the balsamroot, while admiring the windswept views east,

and west…

We drop down the Rowland Wall trail,

One of the largest clusters of bitterroot buds I have seen…

buckwheat

A giant clump of cliff penstomen surprised us!

More bitterroot scattered across the rocky surface along our return trail.

This is their time to rise up!

Meanwhile…

We finally had a chance to see the heritage American Chestnut Tree in the Sellwood neighborhood. It dwarves the house, and there is an enormous stump of another chestnut tree behind it.