Two Columbia Gorge Hikes and more witches in PDX

October 30, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Tom McCall Point 10/21/2019

Beautiful fall colors on a trail we usually hike during spring wildflower season. Hike #48, 4 miles, 1050 feet. A few comparison photos:

We are going to the top of Tom McCall Point:

October 2019

May 2017

Looking west toward the Memaloose Hills from the trail:

October 2019

April 2016

Looking northeast across the Columbia River to the Lyle Cherry Orchard where we hiked last week:

October 2019

April 2019

Oak trees:

October 2019

April 2019

And a few lingering fall wildflowers:

golden weed

Angel’s Rest 10/24/2019

Another favorite hike with outstanding views! Hike #49, 5 miles, 1500 feet.

Coopey Falls

Fall reflections in Coopey Creek

Angel’s Rest – our destination.

Eastward view of the Columbia River; Mt Adams peeking above the Washington Gorge topography.

Closer view of Mt Adams.

Western view of the Columbia River.

Trees in the burn zone – 2017 Gorge Fire.

Heading down on a beautiful fall day.

Neighborhood walk and more witches!

First fall for this new black tupelo

Two wildlife refuges, Indian Heaven, and trying to keep up with fall colors, Sept-Oct 2019

October 13, 2019October 30, 2019 / margaretquilts

It has been a busy couple of weeks – a quilt show, a fiber festival, hikes at two wildlife refuges and Indian Heaven Wilderness. Meanwhile, the Mac hard drive is off at the Genius repair shop. I am learning blog work-arounds via iPad.

Friday, September 27 – I attended the Northwest Quilt Expo, admired all the quilts and photographed many. This vintage Tile Friendship Quilt (circa 1900, maker unknown) from the Latimer Quilt Museum, was very interesting. Seemingly random shapes are appliquéd to a plain background, each signed by a different maker in true Friendship Quilt style. It looks very modern, but it is old and entirely hand stitched!

I bought a few fat eighths to add to a batik quilt in my mental UFO list.

Sunday, September 29 -I visited the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, Oregon, just long enough to buy a lighter weight spindle and more fiber to practice drop spinning.

Then we went to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, our first visit there, and walked around the perimeter. Not many birds have arrived yet, but there are great overlooks and a nice winter trail for future visits. (Hike#44, 3.6 miles)

Great Blue Heron

Hawthorne berries

Looking across the refuge – soon this will be flooded with water and birds.

Great Blue Heron on the return trail.

Saturday, October 5 – We went to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington during their season closing bird fest. We walked the Kiwa Trail and part of the newly opened Carty Lake trail, and also went inside the Chinook Plankhouse to look around. (Hike#45, 3.2 miles)

Turtles

Sand Hill Cranes

Sand Hill Cranes in flight.

Great Horned Owl

Carty Lake

Chinook plank house

Inside the plankhouse.

Chinook Salmon trap

Sunday, October 6 – We joined friends for a hike in Indian Heaven Wilderness – from the East Crater trailhead to Junction and Lemei Lakes. Late fall colors, thawed mushrooms and blueberries, very pretty. (Hike#46, 8.8 miles, 1000 feet)

East Crater beyond one of many small lakes along the trail.

Junction Lake

Lemei Rock

Lemei Lake

Neighborhood walks – Meanwhile, in Northeast Portland, the days grow shorter, the light angles lower, the leaves more colorful.

Katsura trees

Sumac

Neighborhood witches hunting…

More witches…

Ash trees reflected in nearby windows.

Rain chain shadows

Knitting – I am making progress on my Meris cardigan….

Return to Mirror Lake and beyond…

September 18, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

9/12/2019 Mirror Lake and Tom Dick and Harry Mountain, Mt Hood, Oregon

Our first time on the rerouted trail to Mirror Lake – the trail is slightly longer than before, but not as steep, and crosses several small streams on new bridges.

Mirror Lake was popular on this not quite fall day.

Tom Dick and Harry Mountain beyond Mirror Lake.

Mt Hood reflected in Mirror lake.

We continued to the top of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain, and enjoyed clear views of the Cascades north and south while eating our lunch.

Mt Hood and Mirror Lake from Tom Dick and Harry summit.

Mt Jefferson to the south.

Panorama – St Helens, Rainier and Adams to the left of Mt Hood.

Late summer glaciers of Mt Hood.

Mt Hood in view on the descent.

There were a few scrappy wildflower blooms hanging on to their petals, and tinges of autumn on the vine maples and huckleberries.

Fireweed

spirea

lupine

mushroom

yarrow

penstemon

pearly everlasting

bunch berries

pinedrops

paintbrush

water parsnip

vine maples

arnica

toilet roll

aster

thimble berry

huckle berry

mountain ash

Hike #43, 7.4 miles, 1600 feet.

Knitting

I pulled this sweater yarn out of the hibernating pile, measured and swatched a bit, and recast on….we’ll see how it goes.

Back to the sky/some sewing

September 5, 2019 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

8/31/2019 Cloud Cap/Timberline Trail High Point

We returned with friends to this same trail near Cooper Spur on Mt Hood that we hiked in July. Fewer flowers, less snow, still the sky, the swirling cloud cap, the views afar, the plans formulating to complete the Timberline Trail loop someday. Hike #42, 6 miles, 1650 feet.

Once attaining the crest of the East Eliot Moraine, the Washington Cascade Peaks are on view to the north,

and Mt Hood is ahead to the west.

Low growing buckwheat, lupine and yarrow.

Later in the day, clouds forming on the mountain, knotweed in the foreground showing fall colors already.

My hiking companions resting near the Timberline Trail high point.

And, almost back to the trailhead, high desert beyond.

Lookback: A couple of photos comparing snow levels with mid-July:

View up the Eliot today, 8/31/2019.

View up the Eliot seven weeks ago, July 12, 2019

View to the south, toward Lamberson Butte and the Timberline Trail crossings, today.

Similar view seven weeks ago.

Some sewing

Two pairs of sleep shorts.

And a random Portlandia street art scene:

Late summer Gentians at Chinidere Mountain, Oregon

August 29, 2019August 26, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

8/23/2019 Chinidere Mountain hike

The trail leads down to Wahtum Lake,

Chinidere Mountain, our destination, on the skyline.

Endemic cutleaf bugbane blooming along the lake trail.

After crossing the log bridge at the lake outlet, our trail leads steeply up hill, eventually reaching the top of Chinidere Mountain, with views of five Cascade volcanoes.

Mt Hood to the south,

and Mt Jefferson on the horizon just to the right.

Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, and Mt Adams to the north.

The burned drainage of Eagle Creek, with Mt St Helens on the far right.

Wahtum Lake below us to the east.

I was pleased to find many patches of Explorer’s gentian blooming along the trail and at the top of the mountain.

Explorer’s gentian

Previous hikes here earlier in the season had a different suite of flowers. Today we saw the later season flowers and berries:

Other new and notable flowers:

Fringed grass of Parnassas

hare bell

Scouler’s bluebell

cutleaf bugbane

angelica

Berries of late summer:

Sitka mountain ash

Devil’s Club

fungus?

thimbleberry

juniper berry

pinesap

solomon seal

salmon berry

Huckleberries!

We found plenty of ripe huckleberries to supplement our lunch. We saw a few north and south bound PCT through-hikers, but not many other people on the trail today. It was a fairly perfect late summer hike.

Hike #41, 5 miles, 1200 feet

Spinning

I finished plying the last of my Tour de Fleece yarn. I am planning to try Easter Egg dye on this yarn – stay tuned for updates.

Signs of Fall in the neighborhood

Finally some knitting! And two new hikes…

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Flyway Twist Shawl

This shawl has been delivered to it’s recipient, so I am happy to share the pictures! The solid yarn is Malabrigo Sock in the Reflecting Pool colorway. The real star of the show is the Fully Spun colorful gradient called ‘Voices in My Head’. It was fascinating to knit with the gradient, watching the colors emerge and play against the teal backdrop. The brioche section in the middle adds variety to both the look and the knitting experience. The pattern is by Veera Valimaki, and is easily obtained on Ravelry.

Salmon River Trail 8/12/2019

We hiked with friends on a flat easy trail where we could enjoy a shady beautiful setting with lots of time to chat. This was my first time hiking this trail, near Welches on Mt Hood, and I can see why it is often recommended.

Salmon River from the trail.

Hike #39 – 4 miles/200 feet

Cheater hike on the Timberline Trail, Mt Hood Meadows 8/15/2019

I would like to walk all of the 40 mile Timberline Trail around Mt Hood. This is a section I hadn’t done yet. We rode the Mt Hood Meadows chair lift up 700 feet of elevation (thus, cheating) then began walking north along the trail, as far as Clark Creek. Beautiful flowers, creek crossings and wildflower meadows along the way.

Our cheating enabler – the Stadium Lift

Looking back as we silently rise – Mt Jefferson and a hint of the Sisters.

Aster and goldenrod meadows along the Timberline Trail.

Several small, easily crossed creeks along the trail.

We eventually reached views of ‘Pea Gravel Ridge’, a glacial moraine just beyond Clark Creek.

Pea Gravel Ridge

Downstream view of a branch of Clark Creek.

Upstream view toward a waterfall on Clark Creek.

Mt Hood, summer view

Glaciers

We then retraced our steps and walked south along the Timberline Trail until it began to descend through the woods to the White River crossing – we’ll save that for another day. We passed through beautiful meadows, under ever-present ski infrastructure and views of the mountain. We walked the mile and a half and 700 feet down to the trailhead instead of going back to the chairlift, so we only ‘cheated’ one way.

Clark Creek

Asters, paintbrush, goldenrod, false hellebore, with ski lift.

Mt Jefferson, and a very hazy view of the Three Sisters from the trail.

Tall cotton grass, aptly named, in this moist meadow.

The Timberline Trail continues down through the forest to White River, but we turned back.

GPS track (with some wandering points). Hike #40, 6 miles/1000 feet.

New or notable flowers:

buckwheat

salsify?

wintergreen

gentian

goldenrod

mariposa lily

tall cotton grass

lupine, paintbrush, aster

pearly everlasting

View from the Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge

August 5, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

8/4/2019 A two hour cruise

With the Friends of the Gorge, from Cascade Locks, east to Wind River, then west to Bonneville Dam.

Our vessel

Hot day, river surface like glass – not enough wind for the kiters and surfers this morning, but enough of a breeze to enjoy the wide views from the top deck of the boat.

Ready to embark – Cascade Locks and Bridge of the Gods in view.

Table Mountain reflected in the glassy Columbia River.

Eagle nest on a buoy.

Eastern turnaround at Wind Mountain.

Downriver toward Hamilton and Table Mountains.

Bridge of the Gods, burned forest on the skyline.

Passing under the Bridge of the Gods – shadows and angles.

Western turnaround above Bonneville Dam:

Beacon Rock beyond the powerhouse.

Back under the Bridge of the Gods to port.

A lovely morning on the river.

Knitting

Some very long rows ahead to finish this gift:

Revisiting haunted trees on Vista Ridge, and winning the Tour de Fleece

July 31, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Vista Ridge to Wy’East Basin on Mt Hood, July 25, 2019

We like to hike Vista Ridge on the north side of Mt Hood at least once a year. I posted previous reports from 2017 in June before full snow melt, 2017 in August, and 2018 in August.

Today was hot going through the burned trees, but I found a few old and new ghost friends along the way:

This poor fellow has been felled by trail keepers.

Eventually we made it to the blooming alpine meadows of Wy’East basin.

Barrett Spur and Mt Hood

Looking north toward Mts Rainier and Adams

After lunch we continued hiking above the basin to a remnant snowfield, and a view over to the other side of the mountain.

Snow surface covered with debris

Looking over the lip of the moraine to Mt Hood and MacNeil Point.

View north from our high point – Wy’East Basin, Dollar Lake Fire scar, Washington Cascade peaks.

Hike #33, 7.7 miles, 1700 feet.

Flowers of note:

pinesap

First fireweed beginning to bloom

Pearly everlasting

White rhododendron

shooting stars, paintbrush, cinquefoil, glacier lilies

knotweed?

white heather

saxifrage

valerian

magenta paintbrush

Fleabane just beginning to bloom.

Pasque flowers – an all-time favorite!

Tour de Fleece Podium

I finished spinning, plying and setting the brown fiber:

Fiber, spindle, and a day’s handful of fluff.

Each spool has the single ply spun in one day

Two ply yarn on the spindle.

All of the yarn on the niddy noddy, plied and tied into one long strand with four knots.

After washing, drying.

64 yard skein

I have made headway on this white fluff:

I spun while cheering on the superhuman athletes who propel themselves on bicycles for 21 days! So many ways to win in Le Tour de France – jerseys, stages, sprints, mountain tops, combatitiveness, even a red lantern for the last place finisher, and I feel I have won too, by spindling every day. I am looking forward to adding more spinning to my crafting time.

Wildwood Trail and Tour de Fleece

July 24, 2019September 26, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

July 19, 2019 Wildwood Trail

A short hike this week on the Wildwood trail in the Portland Arboretum. We stayed in the shade, though it is not as hot here as other places right now. Hike #32, 2.6 miles, 200 feet.

sun and shade

fireweed

thistle

Wildwood Trail map

Tour de Fleece

It is Tour de France time, which we love, and I have joined the parallel Tour de Fleece. I took a drop spindling class in the fall of 2017 at my local yarn shop. Shortly thereafter, spinning fell by the wayside as I dealt with my acromegaly diagnosis. For Tour de Fleece 2019 I pulled out my drop spindle and remaining fiber samples. I borrowed the Maggie Casey Getting Started on a Drop Spindle DVD from my library. I have been spinning a bit of fiber each night as we fast forward our way through each day’s stage in France. I love seeing the landscape, mountains, castles of France, and the bike race has been exceptionally unpredictable this year. And I feel like I am getting a new feel for spinning, and would love to take another class.