34. Lyle Cherry Orchard and Other Adventures

December 5, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail, Washington 12/3/2017 (#57)

What joy to step with boots on the trail again today, – a bright blue sky, bitter wind, December-low-angle light sparkling on the water day -in the eastern Columbia River Gorge. Trail of dirt and stone and oak leaf duff winding up alternately through golden grasslands and black cliffs of the Missoula flood scoured columnar Columbia Plateau basalts. White caps on the river, bare oak branches, luminous grey clouds to the west raining on the Cascade crest, with only the eastern flank of Mt Hood visible in the clouds if you know where to look. Sounds of wind and ravens and the occasional train. Deep memories of where the yellow bells, purple grass widows, golden stars (and poison oak!) will be come spring….

Approach trail

Views from the Convict Road:

East view

West view

Views from the lower plateau:

Along the trail to the upper tier:

Views from our high point:

The way down:

And looking back up from the Convict Road to where we were:

Some details:

We hiked about 3.5 miles, 1000 feet today. We turned back at the cliff high point where the trail heads inland then farther east toward the remnants of the old cherry orchard.

We saw a beautiful interplay of sun and clouds while driving back west.

West view from the Hood River bridge into the gorge

LOOKBACK:

Spring wildflowers:

Yellow Bells on the lower trail, March 2017

Gold stars along the upper switchbacks, March 2017

Grass widows at the upper viewpoint, March 2017

Fall colors:

Poison Oak, October 2016

Orange oak leaves, October 2016

CRAFTING

I distracted myself this week by sewing all the clamshells together on my Atmospheric River quilt.

Each clamshell is 17.5″wide; quilt is 87.5″ square.

I began knitting on Emily’s green scarf.

Other Adventures this week were less pleasant, including a horizontal trip in an MRI machine, several blood draws and waiting rooms, as well as scheduling a surgery date in January to remove something that a doctor discovered by chance while looking for something else. What luck, really – if all goes as planned the long term prognosis is great and there will be no lasting harm. Still it is an unexpected and unasked for journey. So after the emotional trauma of this week, it was with great joy that I ventured on to a dirt and stone trail today in the blue sky, bitter wind, golden hills, and black cliffs of the eastern gorge.

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33. Sun and Rain at Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge, WA, Thanksgiving weekend

November 28, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Our Thanksgiving drama: Emily home from Oberlin for the long weekend, Sean here, but covering college basketball games at the PK80 tournament at the Rose Garden, Brian also here and working, but not on Thanksgiving. Good friends to join us for dinner. I baked the pies in the morning, the casseroles in the early afternoon and started the oven to roast the 9 pound turkey at 3 pm. I rinsed the brine and trussed the bird – and the oven was only at 170 degrees. Ten minutes later, only 175 degrees. Eventually realized the oven is never going to get to 500 – it gradually rose to 300 degrees, hot enough to reheat the casseroles, but something is wrong! Our neighbors generously allowed us to use their oven when their turkey was done, so we were able to eat about 2 hours later than planned – another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat (thank you Arlo Guthrie), with plenty of leftovers for the next day. The silver lining was that Sean was home from work by the time dinner was ready.

Steigerwald Lake and Columbia River Dike 11/26/2017 (#56)

Post-Thanksgiving time/sun window Sunday morning after other family members delivered to airport/work. We drove about 25 minutes to the trailhead near Washougal, Washington.

Bright sun and clouds at the start of the trail.

Clouds closing in from the west. Tundra Swans in the lake beyond the closed art trail gate.

Noisy Canada geese in the distance as a bald eagle flies above them then alights in a tree above the first bridge. We also saw a smaller hawk rustling up the geese.

On to the second bridge as the sun dims and the clouds close in — a few wind gusts, a squall, large fat raindrops spatter us and cast rings in the lake. Three ducks in a row swim away. Other hikers heading back to the trail head. By the time we get our hoods up, lenses wiped, the rain has lessened to sprinkle, drizzle, mist. We are prepared for this.

We continue on to the dike and walk east above the Columbia River, Vista House on the horizon through a shroud of clouds closing in. We walk all the way to the closed gate, though I believe the land beyond is soon to be added to the conserved space. Wind blowing east with the clouds, and the wave caps give the illusion of the river flowing upstream…

Vista House across the Columbia River

Returning the same way, and the rain returns.

Back to the trailhead, with a few more photo stops. Light has changed again. Time to get inside, get dry.

White tundra swans in the far lake

We walked about 4 miles round trip.

LOOKBACK:

The Steigerwald is a close-in go-to place for us – the light is always spectacular, there is often a resident bald eagle, we often see waterfowl – heron, duck, geese, swans, and on a clear day, the top of Mt Hood is on view.

March 2015

August 2015

March 2016

Vista House, March 2015

Vista House and Mt Hood, August 2015

Ice on the lake, December 2016

Flying geese:

March 2016

CRAFTING:

Our Thanksgiving tableau includes one of Emily’s glove turkeys and several knitted pumpkins.

Woven apple pie crust.

New yarn for a green scarf for Emily

There is a medical issue to be dealt with, so I am adding some words of wisdom for the days ahead:

32. Trillium Lake Snowshoe, Mt Hood

November 20, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Trillium Lake Snowshoe November 18, 2017 (#55)

We walked the loop around Trillium Lake from the Trillium Lake snowpark. It was a beautiful blue sky day with plenty of fresh snow.

View to Mt Hood from the snowpark

Access road from snowpark to the lake

We stopped near the dam for lunch.

The lake has a thin ice layer.

Ice layer

Snowy lake shore

Lunch view

Ski runs above Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood

Continuing around the lake:

Lake view from the southern trail

Mt Hood ahead

Summit meadows

5.5 miles/500′

LOOKBACKS:

A summer view of Trillium Lake and Mt Hood:

June 2013

Looking back toward Trillium Lake and Mt Jefferson from the slopes of Mt Hood:

February 2015

CRAFTING:

Two more washcloths, 2 small skeins of handspun yarn.

30. Coyote Wall, WA

November 8, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Little Moab trail on a misty day. Nov 6, 2017 (#53)

Monday was supposed to be clear in the eastern gorge after a rainy weekend, but the clouds did not move out until afternoon. Fortunately, the misting rain at the Coyote Wall trailhead dried up about the time we got our boots on. We walked the old road section, admiring the remains of fall colors, then wound our way up the cliffs of the Little Moab trail.

Dried flower seed heads in the grass,

lichen and moss on the rocks,

fog on the top of the wall,

all the views across the windless glassy Columbia River to the Mosier/Lyle/Rowena viewpoints.

‘Twas a good hike at Coyote Wall, with only a few other hikers and bikers sprinkled through our day.

4.6 miles/1300’

LOOKBACK:

We have hiked here many times – to see the first grass widows in February,

February 2015

the brilliant balsamroot in April,

April 2017

the autumnal colors of fall, as we saw today, and snow in winter:

December 2015

I am hoping someday the trail below the wall will reopen to hikers – it would be a lovely loop.

Knitting, spinning, quilting:

I have spun more singles and plied, skeined and washed my first practice yarn.

I cast on a Sonic Six hat with the tubular 1×1 rib cast on in Total Eclipse yarn and am enjoying knitting the slip stitch pattern.

I finished the fourth of the blue and purple washcloths.

I have sewn the first two rows of the Atmospheric River clamshell quilt – so far, so good.

28. Atmospheric River Quilt / Tryon Creek Hike 10/22/2107

October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Heavy rain predicted for the weekend. Meteorologists describe an atmospheric river headed our way. Hiking questionable. Time for some quilting!

I have finally drawn a successful template for my giant clamshell quilt, and spent some enjoyable moments sorting fabric for the clams. It began with a stack that I purchased approximately 20 years ago at a quilt shop in Bend, Oregon – blue-green-purple with gold metallic accents in geometric patterns.

I have used small pieces in scrap quilts, but have been more recently plotting to use these in a giant clam shell quilt, inspired by one I saw on a bed at the Metolius River Lodge in August of 2012. That one had 19 1/2″ wide clams.

The dimensions of my available stash limit my clam size to 18 inches maximum. It took me a while to design the clam shell template. I resorted to creating a compass with a piece of graph paper, a pin, and a mechanical pencil. I traced the half-clam onto freezer paper, and will use the freezer paper template to cut 40 whole clams on the fold, and 20 different half clams, 5 each left, right, top and bottom. I watched the Latifah Saafir YouTube video on sewing clams without pins, but I have already made drunkard path, apple core and half-circle quilts, so I am familiar with the technique. These curves will be relatively easy to sew, I hope, with such large circles.

I visually selected a palette of cool colors to go with the focus fabrics. It makes me happy that I can make this a charm quilt in the sense that each fabric is used only once. After cutting the large clams from my larger fabrics, I placed the smaller pieces around the tentative layout to audition for the half clams.

As I looked at the flood of cool, watery colors on the floor, the perfect name popped into mind – Atmospheric River. In the week ahead I plan to finish cutting the half clams and finalize the layout. Then, on to the sewing.

Tryon Creek Hike 10/22/2017 (#51)

Meanwhile, by Sunday afternoon, the atmospheric river had passed over our area, and we headed to Tryon Creek State Park, only 20 minutes away, for a brief hike in the drippy forest. This beautifully maintained park is one of the oases of nature surrounding Portland. A maze of trails and bridges cross and recross Tryon Creek, providing peaceful moments.

Big leaf and vine maples showing fall color:

Vine maple

Big leaf maple

Moss, fern and cedar:

Muddy creek reflections:

About 3 miles/300 feet.

LOOKBACK:

We have hiked in Tryon Creek many times – it is famous for blooming Trillium in the spring.

Trillium at Tryon Creek, April 2015

OTHER CRAFTING:

Kimono robe and socks I made for my daughter for her birthday.

27. Cape Horn Loop, Columbia River Gorge, Washington

October 18, 2017October 23, 2017 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Cape Horn Loop October 14, 2017 (#50 – hikes in 2017)

On a beautiful fall day, after several days of rain, we went with friends to the Cape Horn trail just east of Washougal, WA. This view shows the massive cliffs of Cape Horn from Angel’s Rest on the Oregon side of the river. Our trail will follow the road down to the lower green fields, then traverse west along the lower cliffs before heading back up hill to the top of the mountain.

October 2014 Cape Horn viewed from Angel’s Rest

Fog draped the summit when we arrived, so we chose to hike clockwise around the loop, our first views being the highway 14 viaduct above us as we completed the road walk.

From the road, the trail then enters the forest, and emerges onto the open mossy scree slopes above the cliffs adjacent to the waterfall (which was at very low flow).

We reached the lowest part of the trail above the Columbia River, and could look east to see Cigar Rock.

Eastward view toward Beacon Rock, Phoca Rock; fog topped cliffs

We continued across the cliffs, and opted for the westernmost loop that leads onto a promontory above the western entrance to the train tunnel that cuts through the cliff beneath us.

From here, the trail heads upward through various switchback sections, with spurs to the Oak and Waterfall viewpoints, then through the trail tunnel under highway 14, and finally up to the Nancy Russell Overlook, where plenty of other hikers were resting.

We saw two giant baguettes being transported by barge (or was it sawdust)?

There is a distinct sandbar in the river channel below glinting in the sun.

Next, the traverse along property boundaries to the actual highest point – Pioneer viewpoint. By this time the fog had evaporated.

View to the east upriver from Pioneer Point

View to west from Pioneer Point, including Hwy 14 viaduct

From there it is all downhill, down the steep switchbacks to the trailhead. We were a bit early for the fall color display, and saw only one flower, a penstemon, whereas in the spring the trail is lined by hanging gardens of wildflowers.

The last penstemon

It was a lovely day for a hike. On a side note, the turftoe plate I was using in my right boot seemed to delay the onset of pain in my arthritic big toe for a couple of miles, and I hope this tool will allow me to continue with longer hikes.

Total for the day: 7.5 miles, 1350 feet.

Look back:

We have hiked this trail several times – though we have only completed the full loop a couple of times because the lower cliff area is closed from February to July for peregrine falcon nesting. In 2014, when we hiked the lower loop, we saw a train exit the tunnel beneath us.

The most striking comparison is the new view of burned up Angel’s Rest, almost directly across from Cape Horn on the Oregon side of the river. Green in the past, it is now brown.

Angel’s Rest 2014

Angel’s Rest 2017

Crafting:

I have knit two more tortillas and a square purple wash cloth, as well as mended four pairs of hand knit socks in time for winter.

I have been planning my giant clam shell quilt, but have not yet made a satisfactory template. More on that later.

23. Visiting the Midwest

September 24, 2017September 26, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

As I write this I get an Eagle Creek Fire update: Rain has finally slowed the fire, and operations are turning to cleanup and recovery.

We flew to Ohio, passing over the south side of Mt Hood – smoke not impeding our view today to Mt Adams and Rainier beyond.

Mt Hood, Mt Rainier and Mt Adams

Ohio

Oberlin College

We visited our daughter at Oberlin College in Ohio. I had previously only had a brief peak at the campus the day we moved her into her dorm two years ago. She and her roommate are now in a two bedroom apartment and enjoying the non-dorm lifestyle. We walked all around campus, seeing the various buildings and rooms where she spends her time. She introduced us to friends that seemed to appear around every corner. I enjoyed the quiet, but intensely busy vibe on this early-term late summer weekend. We got coffee from The Local, ate delicious dinners at The Feve and Indian Garden, and joined her for a student prepared lunch at her dining coop.

Coffe Shop

Ivy Tree B&B

Door to the radio Station

Physics Bldg

Carnegie Library

Tappan Square

Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga National Park, Ohio Sept. 17, 2017 (#46)

She also wanted to go for a hike. We chose a 4 mile hike about an hour from campus, the Stanford/Brandywine Falls trail. It was a beautiful sunny day though the humidity was much greater than we are used to in the Pacific Northwest. There was enough shade in the woodlands to stay comfortable, a few summer flowers struggled along, and fall colors were beginning to pop.

Chicago

We then flew to Chicago to visit to our son. Beautiful weather continued on Monday as we enjoyed the Architectural Boat Tour.

Architecture Tour

Sears Tower

Windows and reflections:

After lunch we rented Divvy bikes and rode four miles along Lakeshore Drive trail from Millenium Park back to Lakeview where we were joined by long time friends for dinner.

The Bean, i.e. Cloud Gate, in Millenium Park

Biking north along Lake Shore Drive

The next day we visited the Chicago Art Institute.

We spent most of our time in the Impressionism and Modern American galleries. My favorite piece was by Georgia O’Keefe, a 24 foot long painting that filled a stairwell:

This also caught my eye:

We walked around some of the parks near the Art Institute.

Beginning of Rt 66 from the Art Institute steps

Looking north up Michigan Avenue

South from the Grant Park train bridge

North from the train bridge

An artist walking nearby

After dinner we went to see Hamilton!

Our view from row N seat 5

This was my first visit to Chicago, and only lasted two days, but I enjoyed my time, and can see why my son likes living there.

Knitting update:

11 dishcloths

19. Vista Ridge again, Fireweed this time

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

Vista Ridge, Mt. Hood, Oregon 8/25/2017 (#43)

Looking for another trip to subalpine elevations, we walked up the Vista Ridge trail on the north side of Mt. Hood, as we had in late June. This time, instead of millions of avalanche lilies, we were treated to the late summer swath of pink fireweed through the burn zone, with readily picked huckleberries along the way. We could see the dried seedheads of the earlier lilies. Other blooming plants in the burn zone were pearly everlasting and goldenrod, and plenty of Sitka Mountain Ash with ripening clusters of red berries provided additional color.

Fireweed and pearly everlasting understory in the burn zone

Mt Hood from the switchback viewpoint

Dried avalanche lily seedheads

Golden rod and fireweed

We reached the timberline trail, and rested in a shaded pocket at the edge of Wy’East basin, as lovely an alpine meadow as one could hope for – though the flowers are fading in the open areas. We continued walking east toward Elk Cove, hopping over the small strands of Clear Branch Creek that trickle down through Wy’east basin. Pink monkey flower, yellow groundsel, purple aster and lupine, and magenta paintbrush were the main riparian blooms.

We admired the view of the three Washington peaks from various angles, and turned the corner toward Elk Cove, with the rocky cliff of Barrett Spur to our right, and the looming peak of Mt Hood and its glistening Coe Glacier to the south.

Mts St Helens, Rainier and Adams

Turning the corner of Barrett Spur toward Elk Cove, with Mt Hood looming above

Close ups of the Coe Glacier

We continued about half way down to Elk Cove, far enough to see the hanging meadow of pasque flowers, and the long drawn out ridge of Barrett Spur. That was our turn around point for the day.

Mt Hood and Barrett Spur

Pasque flower seed heads

Heading back toward Wy’East basin, we located the trail that leads up to Dollar Lake. It is really more of a puddle.

Dollar Lake

Barret Spur and Mt Hood from the ridge above Dollar Lake

Back on the Timberline Trail, we meandered up the side trail to the upper part of WyEast basin to take in the slightly wider view of the horizon to the north.

Sitka Mtn Ash foliage with fall colors

Heading into upper Wy’East Basin

Magenta paintbrush

Looking down into Wy’East Basin and the Washington Peaks

Clear Branch Creek in Wy’East Basin

asters

From there, we retraced our steps back down the Vista Ridge trail, admiring the intense coral/red violet color of the fireweed, and greeting my favorite ghost trees on the way down.

Ghost tree, fire weed

shadows in the burn zone

Another ghost face

Intense coral/red violet flowers

Another friendly ghost tree

Our total for the day was 9 miles/ 1500 feet.

GPS track

LOOKBACK:

I perused my photos from our previous hikes up Vista Ridge. Our trip in August of 2014 had more blooming flowers in the upper meadows.

August 5, 2014

March 29, 2015

August 25, 2017

The photo from August of 2013, taken only two years after the 2011 Dollar Creek Fire, shows a mostly blackened environment. The contrast with the with the avalanche lily / fireweed lined trail of this year is striking, and shows how fast the vegetation is restarting. I didn’t get a picture of the abundant low huckleberry bushes along some parts of the trail – I was too busy eating the ripe berries.

August 23, 2013, two years after the fire

June 30, 2017

August 25, 2017, six years after the fire

Knitting and other home front activity:

two more knitted tortillas

ripe tomatoes

zinnias

18. Late Summer on Mt Adams, Stagman Ridge Trail

August 24, 2017November 9, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Stagman Ridge, Mt. Adams, Washington 8/20/2017 (#42)

Looking for a hike that avoided wildfire smoke and eclipse traffic, we headed to the west side of Mt. Adams, north of Trout Lake, WA. This was our first time hiking this trail. We like to hike in Bird Creek Meadows this time of year, but that area is closed due to the massive Cougar Creek Fire of 2015. The area around Stagman Ridge was also recently burned, by the Cascade Creek Fire of 2012. The trail traverses through burned forest, with occasional forays into unburned terrain. The silver lining is mountain views through the ghost trees.

In many burned places the underlayer is green, topped by a pink swath of fireweed. Pearly everlasting and golden rod are abundant at lower elevations.

Pearly everlasting, fireweed, goldenrod

fireweed

pearly everlasting

golden rod

Higher up, the last of the asters, lupine and licorice root were hanging on in shady areas.

aster

lupine

penstemon

licorice root

thistle

orange agerosis

dwarf bramble

aster

corn lily

The open meadow at about mile 3 was green but past bloom – most likely thanks to the intense two week heat wave of early August. I would like to return when this meadow is in full bloom – with the open view of Mt Adams to the east – it is a lovely spot.

Glacier close up

We continued on past the meadow to the Graveyard trail junction, then crossed the small creek and headed west toward Lookingglass Lake. Riparian flowers lined the creek crossings.

gentian

second creek

paintbrush

cinquefoil

first creek

We decided the crossing of Cascade Creek looked difficult so we turned back after a rest at the water with great views of the mountain.

On the way down, we noticed the distance views of Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and west toward Indian Heaven.

Mt St Helens

Mt Hood

There were plenty of huckleberries for the picking. Berries, flower seedheads and tints of red foliage in the huckleberry and vine maple foreshadow the coming of fall.

fairy bells

huckleberry

spirea

corn lily

Cascade Mountain ash

bitter cherry

columbine seed heads

mountain ash

huckleberry

thimble berry

A few other items of interest along the way:

lichen and roots

ghost tree

My first time seeing pine drops

Our hike was approximately 9 miles with 1500 feet elevation gain, and the flower count was 34, with 5 berries.

gps track

34 flowers/5 berries

Mementos from my Peruvian travelers:

Knitting:

two more tortillas for the collection

And of course, the Eclipse, which I watched at 99% in my front yard:

16. Visiting in Eugene; Hiking in Silver Falls State Park

August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

Family time in Eugene, Oregon

A sister visiting from California created an opportunity for us to spend part of the week in Eugene visiting other family members while my husband and daughter are off on an adventure to Machu Picchu, Peru. We found a house to rent for a few days near the University,

and were able to spend some lovely down time relaxing, celebrating my birthday, and trying to stay cool in the unreasonable hot temperatures and smoky hazy air that have settled in the Willamette Valley for an overlong period this year. There was lots of color around town and at the Saturday Market,

the UO Art Museum,

Untitled (Full Color Butterfly 47.77), 2016, Mark Grotjahn

and a couple of family yards that were blooming with lovely flowers.

Wild turkeys

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Silver Falls State Park 8/6/2017 (#40)

We drove home via Silver Falls State Park, arriving about 4 pm and unrealistically hoping for slightly cooler temperatures. We completed the short loop (about 3 miles and 300 feet) around the Upper and Lower South Falls.

Upper South Falls

Lower South Falls

Lower South Falls

Walking behind Upper Falls

Upper South Falls

It was a little hot for hiking, and the water levels were low enough that we were not at all misted when we passed behind the falls on the trail, another hope that was dashed. This contrasts markedly with the last time I was there in February, when we had to practically run those trail segments to avoid being soaked. Still, my sister enjoyed the scenery and the greenery, as she lives in a completely different landscape.