Another couple of pandemic weeks with a birthday, two hikes on Mt Hood, and knitting…

August 19, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

8/17/2020 – I’ve had a birthday, which we celebrated with a hike and a socially distanced takeout Thai dinner with our two sons. Despite the palpable pandemic/political chaos tension in the world I have much to be grateful for. Although I am missing having our usual summer get togethers with extended family, so is everyone in the world right now. I am especially grateful that we saw almost every relation last year, between two weddings and a graduation trip to the east coast. My latest acromegaly lab tests all look good, and, we are eating homegrown tomatoes and basil almost every day.

Birthday cake, flowers from my daughter,

I have been knitting, knitting, knitting away on a few projects, fingers keeping the anxiety away.

Rio Calina Cowl, by Cat Bordhi, in Malabrigo Rios.

My neighborhood walks continue to reveal signs of encouragement and solidarity.

Also in the neighborhood, late summer flowers, shadow play, interesting architectural elements, and tinges of the autumn ahead….

Two hikes on opposite sides of Mt Hood –

Burnt Lake August 5, 2020

My birthday hike on the west side of Mt Hood was mostly through shady forest, on a hot day, with a few stream crossings, and late season flowers. The other time we hiked here the mountain was under a cloud, so today we were very glad to see the beautiful reflections of Mt Hood in the lake. Hike #55, 8.5 miles, 1500 feet.

The shady forest

Tree scorched in the early 1900’s.

Mt Hood, Burnt Lake

Mountain close up

Reflection

Notable flowers and plants:

pinesap

rattlesnake plantain

fireweed

devil’s club

yellow pond lily

Newton Creek to Timberline Trail, August 10, 2020

We started from the Elk Meadows trailhead, then walked uphill along the Newton Creek Trail, stopping for lunch near the Timberline Trail junction where we enjoyed lovely views of Mt Hood and Gnarl Ridge. We then walked south on the Timberline Trail toward Mt Hood Meadows for a short distance before turning back. Hike #56, 7.7 miles, 1600 feet.

Moon over Clark Creek

Newton Creek trail

Ghost tree in the forest

Gnarl Ridge beyond Newton Creek

Upstream

Downstream, fireweed

Mt Hood ahead

Lunch view of Gnarl Ridge

Gnarl Ridge closeup

We saw a few tiny hikers crossing Newton Creek on the Timberline Trail.

Glacier closeup

The peak

Backside of pea gravel ridge, which we walked along as far as the descent into Clark Creek.

Return hike down Newton Creek.

Editing note – This is my first post with the New WordPress Editor, so there are lots of formatting inconsistencies. Not loving it, but I suppose I will get used to it as I continue hurling forward into the future, keeping my synapses sharp by constant novelty….

Posting from my peaceful Portland neighborhood –

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

A trifecta of crises descends on my town –

I have been distracted from posting by current events. All I have been able to think about is how my community has been attacked by our own government. Federal gestapo-like forces have invaded Portland’s mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations, and created a war zone in the four downtown blocks around the federal building. Click-bait and spot news entertainment have focused on the four square blocks of federally-incited violence that occurs after most demonstrators have gone home. The leadership void in DC is trying to distract from inept pandemic management and interrupt local progress toward ending white supremacy. The ‘stormtroopers’ sent by a failed president are causing the violence. Today there is an announcement of an agreement to withdraw the troops. Our state and city have serious antiracist/police reform legislation proposals underway. I am cautiously optimistic.

I am speaking from a condition of white, middle class privilege. I myself have not been downtown, although I know people who have. I am of an age and health situation that I think the best thing I can do to help is to stay home, not contribute to spreading Covid-19. I stay aware of what is going on, donate money, and hope that the trifecta of political, economic, and public health crises our country is experiencing will begin to resolve after November elections.

I honor the Black Lives Matter protesters. I appreciate the wall of moms, the dads with leaf (teargas) blowers, the wall of vets, the volunteer medics, street cleaners, and cooks, all the folks who have put themselves on the line to keep the conversation about systemic racism and police reform going.

Meanwhile, in my neighborhood…

The quiet and calm in my neighborhood are uninterrupted. I see signs of support and blooming flowers on my walks.

masked statue

We have been eating sungold tomatoes and basil from our garden, and we’ve celebrated another family birthday.

Berries from the Farmer’s Market

Blueberry muffins

Another birthday cake

Black cherry tomatoes

I seem to be obsessed with knitting dishcloths and have also cast on a new sweater.

We have been out hiking in the past two weeks to places we have been before.

Lookout Mountain, July 22, 2020

Wildflower meadows and views of nine Cascade volcanoes, from Mt Rainier to Broken Top. Hike #53, 3.5 miles, 650 feet.

Mt Adams beyond the wildflower meadows of High Prairie.

Mt Hood from the volcanic spire overlook.

Glacier close up.

Mt Adams from the summit approach trail.

Mt Hood from the summit approach trail.

Washington Cascades from the summit.

Oregon Cascades from the summit.

Notable wildflowers:

heather

Douglas dustymaiden and penstemon

penstemon and scarlet gillia

orange agerosis

shooting stars

penstemon and aster

lousewort

Salmon River, July 28, 2020

A mostly shaded trail on a hot day along the Wild and Scenic Salmon River through old growth forest on the slopes of Mt Hood. Hike #54, 4.5 miles, 300 feet.

Peaceful lunch spot along the river…

arnica

monkey flower

Notable flowers…

Ghost pipe

Clarkia and blue gillia on a sunny cliff

Finding some peace in the old growth forest…

Two trails on Mt Hood –

July 18, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

7/6/2020 – Cloud Cap/Timberline Trail high point –

A favorite hike on the Timberline Trail along the high east edge of the mountain.

Washington Cascades from the crest of the East Eliot Moraine.

Eliot Glacier, Mt Hood under clouds.

Cloud Cap shelter.

The clouds lifted while we walked south on the Timberline Trail.

Crossing snow fields –

with a view of the mountains.

Timberline trail high point – 7350 feet.

Hiking back north on the Timberline Trail along the edge of the sky.

We met this bird along the way:

And lots of alpine flowers:

phlox, aster and sandwort

penstemon and lupine

buckwheat

(Hike #51, 6 miles, 1650 feet)

7/10/2020 – Barlow Pass to Timberline on the PCT

A new trail for us on the south side of Mt Hood. The first three miles ascend steadily through lovely shaded forest on the gently graded Pacific Crest Trail. As we reached the junction with the Timberline Trail, blooming beargrass with Mt Hood beyond gave us a breath taking trail moment – both stunning and unexpected! (Hike #52 for 2020!, 11 miles, 1750 feet)

Barlow Pass Trailhead

A new Wilderness Area for me.

Beargrass in the forest.

Beargrass in the upper meadows.

Beargrass, and Mt Hood!

Mt Jefferson and a faint glimpse of the Three Sisters to the south.

Zooming in on Mt Hood:

Timberline Ski area on the left.

Top of the mountain.

Glaciers and crevasses.

Tiny people walking around up there!

We walked along the Timberline Trail to where we could see Timberline Lodge from an overlook above the Salmon River.

On our way back, we noticed a waterfall in the White River drainage.

Knitting

I finished a Rafa Hat to be gifted (Joji Locatelli, Malabrigo Arroyo Piedras).

Quilting!

I actually pieced a quilt block, for a Local Quilt Shop raffle quilt.

Garden

My husband finished making a table for the yard so he can eat breakfast in the garden.

4th of July moonrise

From Camas, Washington – Columbia River, and alpenglow on Mt Hood.

Sisters hiking interlude…

July 13, 2020 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

June 28 to July 1, 2020 –

We escaped to Sisters, Oregon, about a three hour drive from home, for a few days of hiking. Our motel room was self contained, we brought all of our own food, and chose uncrowded trails during the week to satisfy pandemic safety concerns for ourselves and others. The trip was successful! It was wonderful to get out of our neighborhood and into the mountains we love so dearly, to see so many wildflowers and mountain views, and to hike both new and familiar trails.

Cone Peak Meadows June 29, 2020

Famous for wildflowers! We hiked in the fog most of the day – few views, lots of flowers, including some new to me. We didn’t go up to the Iron Mountain Lookout because of the fog, but did hike the entire loop for the first time. (Hike #48, 6.6 mile, 1300 feet)

Trail map

Rocky outcrops above the forest slopes were covered with blooming larkspur, Oregon sunshine and blue gillia.

Lower Cone Peak meadows in the fog.

Lunch view.

Fog rising, Cone Peak almost visible.

Upper Cone Peak Meadows – death camus, larkspur, paintbrush and more.

Crossing the upper meadows.

Forested section just north of Iron Mountain.

Foggy glimpse of Iron Mountain, which we decided not to climb.

Prolific wildflowers in the meadows and forests!

First time seeing wild ginger flowers!

Buckwheat, Oregon sunshine, larkspur

blue stickseed

paintbrush, sandwort, larkspur

Larkspur, Oregon sunshine, mariposa lilies, paintbrush, death camas

moss

mariposa lilies and paintbrush

scarlet and blue gillia

penstemon

coneflowers

larkspur, Oregon sunshine, blue gillia, paintbrush

columbine

bluebells

Tam McArthur Rim, June 30, 2020

A favorite hike, often very crowded, was pleasantly unpeopled today. Also, not as windy as expected, and the views of the Three Sisters and Broken Top were stunning from our endpoint – the 7950′ red cinder ridge that leads to Broken Top. We lost the trail briefly in some of the snow patches, but the wide open volcanic landscape made it hard to actually get lost. Hike #49, 8 miles, 1500 feet.

Ascending above Three Creeks Lake. That sharp prow on the left is the overlook.

Enjoying our lunch view of Broken Top and the Three Sisters from the overlook, while not feeding the chipmunk.

All the chipmunk got were some close up photos.

Three Creek Lakes from the overlook.

We hiked on across the high plateau to the ridge, crossing a few snow patches along the way.

View from the saddle of the red cinder ridge.

Our endpoint – the top of the red cinder ridge. Broken Hand and Broken top seem just a few steps further…

Broken Top and South Sister.

Three Sisters

Middle and North Sisters, and the clouds sitting on the Cascade peaks to the north.

Our trail across the high plateau, back to the lookout.

We stopped again at the lookout before heading down.

Western pasque flowers and heather near the lookout.

McKenzie Pass and Clear Lake, July 1, 2020

We drove up to the Dee Wright Observatory at McKenzie Pass, one of my favorite places on the planet, to look at the volcanic landscape and hope for some views. The clouds wafted away from some of the peaks briefly, though the bitter wind was not hospitable to hanging around.

Black Crater from the observatory.

The Belknap Craters

North and Middle Sisters appeared briefly.

We also stopped at Clear Lake, hoping to see the submerged fossil forest under the turquoise clear waters we have heard so much about. We could not see it from the trail. We did find the Great Spring, from which the McKenzie River is born, and a few new flower sightings. We will have to come back and rent a boat to see the underwater forest. (Hike #50, 5 miles, 200 feet).

Turquoise blue Clear Lake from the trail

The ripples near the bank are where the water emerges as a spring from under the lava flows.

Another view of the Great Spring.

My first time seeing candystick, one of the more unusual flowers in the western Cascades forests.

Candystick

Twinflower

Pink pyrola

Knitting

I brought my latest traveling socks on the trip, and they are finished!

Hermione’s Everyday Socks, pattern by Erica Lueder, made from Red Heart – Heart and Sole yarn in the Bayou colorway.

Everything that is happening right now-

I keep hearing this expression on the airwaves, to describe the intersection of pandemic, political chaos and antiracist activism. I have been reading the book Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, journaling about the prompts, and discussing the ideas with my family. I feel not exactly guilty, but impatient, with myself and the world for having accepted a racist society as status quo for so long.

Wildflower Rainbows along the trails during Pride month; some knitting, and neighborhood views –

June 27, 2020 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Friday, June 19, 2020, Grassy Knoll, Washington

Wildflower meadows filled the open slopes near the trailhead.

lupine and paintbrush

blue gillia and buckwheat

paintbrush

mariposa lilies and blue gillia

White dogwood, lilies and anemones led us through the shady forest up the steep trail to the ridge crest.

bunchberry

bead lily, starflower

anemones

More flowers all the way to the top of Grassy Knoll, and beyond.

Pink cliff penstemons along the rocky ridge, Mt Adams beyond.

Grassy Knoll looks green from here,

but the green slopes are full of flowers!

Summit view toward Mt Hood.

Summit view toward Mt Adams.

Continuing up the ridge, Mt Hood, the Columbia River, and more wildflower meadows.

And more blooming meadows near our turnaround point.

Every color of wildflower was in bloom today!

columbine

honeysuckle

wallflower and parsley

blue gillia

phacelia and penstemon

pea

coral root

meadow rue

cliff penstemon

olympic onion

phlox, sorel and parsley

parsley and onion

paintbrush

It was a great day in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. (Hike #46, 6.2 miles, 1350 feet.)

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, Chinidere Mountain, Oregon

We saw many of the same flowers that we saw at Grassy Knoll, though we were a thousand feet higher in altitude, so earlier in the bloom season. (Hike #47, 7.5 miles, 1450 feet.)

Wahtum Lake, near the trailhead.

A few early season flowers still in bloom here:

avalanche lily

clasping twisted stalk

bugbane

Ascending into the rainbow meadows on Chinidere Mountain.

Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, and Mt Adams from the summit.

Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson from the summit.

Wahtum Lake and Mt Hood.

A highlight was walking north of Chinidere Mountain on the Pacific Crest Trail, into the upper margin of the 2017 burn zone. Beargrass blooms sparkled in the recovering forest.

Tree guardian…

Wahtum ‘Express’ back to the parking area.

Knitting

Finished mitts.

A nearly finished Meris cardigan – still have to sew on the buttons.

Sock progress.

Around the neighborhood:

Black Lives Matter signs blooming everywhere, along with summer flowers.

lily

One of many posted throughout the neighborhood.

Pandemic masks ubiquitous, thank you!

Skyline sign on the Fairhaired Dumbbell Building

Hydrangea

George Floyd memorial

And more action nationally…

First Columbia River Gorge hike in a while, another hike on the Wildwood Trail, some knitting, and neighborhood views

June 12, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

June 2, 2020 – Phlox Point, Beacon Rock State Park, WA

A quiet Tuesday. We met only a few other hikers on trails that are mostly wide equestrian trails until they switchback up Hardy Ridge. Lower slopes are shady forest, with shady forest blooms. We passed a few sunny open areas before reaching the rocky ridge crest with the wide angle view of the Columbia River Gorge that we have been missing these last few months of pandemic-closed trails. A mile north along the ridge are the rocky ledges of Phlox Point. I was very tired by the return, but happy to be able to hike here again. Hike #44, 8.5 miles, 2200 feet.

The wide angle view – Mt Adams, Table Mountain, Columbia River Gorge, Bonneville Dam, Hamilton Mountain, Mt Hood.

Hardy Ridge Crest intersection

Lunch view of a raven and Mt Hood.

Heading north along the ridge to Phlox Point.

Phlox, paintbrush, and parsley on the way up Phlox Point.

Hamilton Mountain, Mt Hood

Mt Adams

Northern Phlox Point ridges and view.

Some of the wildflowers:

phlox

beargrass

penstemon, paintbrush, Oregon sunshine

Cascade mountain ash

mariposa lily

serviceberry

anemones

columbine

nodding onion

June 10, Wildwood Trail again…

Today we hiked from the Springville/Trillium Trailhead on the Wildwood Trail, east to the detour at the Cleator Trail, and then back. We will have to skip the next mile of Wildwood Trail that is closed for repair. We have now completed approximately half of the 30 mile trail on our five pandemic Wildwood hikes. – Hike #45, 7.6 miles, 615 feet.

On the Wildwood Trail…

Salmon berries getting ripe…

A bridge

Green!

Knitting

Mitts and a new sock:

Neighborhood

Another tethered horse.

Interesting concrete

Low light

A colorful garden

A Black Lives Matter march appeared in our neighborhood. We were able to catch the tail end and join for a short distance, masked and separated, of course.

Knitting finish! and another Forest Park hike –

May 29, 2020May 30, 2020 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

May 22, 2020

For the third week in a row we went to Forest Park on Portland’s west side to hike. We chose the segment of the Wildwood Trail from Germantown Road to Springville Road, looping back to where we started via Leif Erickson Drive and the Cannon Trail (5.6 miles, 500 feet, hike #41 for 2020.) There was a 20% chance of rain for the day – I think we got all of it during our hike. The last time I hiked in this much rain I was in a rainforest in New Zealand!

We began our hike in the rain.

A cedar dripping with rain and moss.

There were some sun breaks.

Returning down the wide, social distance friendly, Leif Erickson Drive.

Robins were hopping along the trail.

Honeysuckle blooming along the Cannon Trail.

Thoughts of New Zealand!

Knitting Finish!

The Which Came First? shawl by designer Cheri Clark used three full skeins (1260 yards) of Malabrigo Mechita in the Piedras color way! I will be mailing this to my daughter, who chose the yarn when I saw her in January.

From bottom to top, eggs (eyelets), chicken feet, chicken wire.

Remains of the three skeins of yarn.

Garden and neighborhood:

Penstemon blooming in our front yard.

Two kinds of poppies in the neighborhood:

California poppies

Oriental poppies

More words of encouragement on a local Poetry Post:

Forest Park again…

May 22, 2020May 22, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

May 15, 2020 – Wildwood Trail: Newberry Road/BPA Road Loop

We returned to the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park on the west side of Portland for another pandemic hike. It had been raining off and on all week, and the forest was a little drippy. Clouds blocked the view of mountains we saw from the BPA Road last week, but there were lots of new wildflowers this week. (Hike #40, 6.5 miles, 1250 feet)

Newberry Road trailhead

Fern-lined trail

Forest

Powerline cut – no mountains this week.

Inside out flower

anemones

cedar and fir

fungus

honeysuckle

rosy plectritis and blue-eyed Mary

dew

lupine, rosy plectritis, and salad

native iris

In other good news, nearby forests and state parks are gradually reopening, so we will soon have a wider geography available.

Knitting

A finish! Patons Kroy Celestial Purple traveling socks.

Neighborhood walks-

nasturtium

dogwood

Porch parade

Porch pig

Tethered horse

More words of encouragement!

Addendum – Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, May 5, 2020

When Washington State reopened some public lands, we went to the driving loop at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. The wintering birds – swans, geese, and sandhill cranes – had flown on. Today we saw turtles, redwing blackbirds, egrets and herons. This was our first foray out of our neighborhood in two months, and it was great just to see some wide open spaces from the safe space of our car!

Egret in the distance.

Turtles

Red wing blackbirds in the meadows.

NZ 2020: Day 5, Point Elizabeth, Hokitika, Lake Mahinapua

April 17, 2020April 15, 2020 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

After our relatively dry day yesterday in Punakaiki, we encountered more of the rain of the rainy West Coast on our way south to Franz Josef.

Point Elizabeth Track in the rain – palms and seals

We started the day with a hike through rainforest to a coastal viewpoint at Point Elizabeth. Highlights were lots of blooming nikau palm trees, and then our first sighting of fur seals for the trip.

View north toward Rapahoe

Landward mountains

View south toward Point Elizabeth

Into the rainforest

Tree fuchsias

Nikau palm trees

fronds

flowering structure

another “bloom”

Petals have fallen off

pod that encased the flower before it bloomed

fallen petals

Views from Point Elizabeth:

Looking down at the fur seals near the cliffs.

Still misty as we hike out.

Hokitika

We stopped to eat lunch and browse the shops offering Maori greenstone carvings.

Views from the Hokitika River Quay.

I discovered a yarn shop with a sock knitting machine museum, here near southernmost part of the settled world!

Sock knitting machines

And a Carnegie Library, here on the far side of the world.

Lake Mahinapua

Another hiking stop – we took the Jum Michel Walk, in the rain, and saw some interesting plants. Once again our guide dropped us at the trailhead, and met us on the other side.

Into the rain forest

Hen and chicken fern

Tree fern

Supplejack

Then we wandered over to Lake Mahinapua to look at what could have been a view to the peaks of the Southern Alps.

Lake Mahinapua

Total hike stats for the day: 6 miles, 300 feet.

Tree Ferns and mountain views, Franz Josef

Our final stop was our lodging in Franz Josef. Tomorrow, if the weather cooperated, we planned to see the Franz Josef glacier.

NZ 2020: Day 4, Punakaiki

April 7, 2020April 17, 2020 / margaretquilts / 2 Comments

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The sun was still shining when we woke up to a beautiful morning in Punakaiki!

Morning view from our lodging.

Southern rata and cabbage tree

We spent the day hiking in Paparoa National Park.

Our destinations for the day.

Pororari Punakaiki River Track

We had our first chance to fully immerse ourselves in the rain forest. It was beautiful, and very different from our usual forests in Oregon.

The red line shows our trail. Our guide dropped us at the Pororari River, then hiked in to meet us from the Punakaiki car park.

Limestone cliff above the Pororari River.

Tree ferns

Nikau palms

Each turn in the trail revealed interesting views.

Palm trunk

Cut trunk of a tree fern?

Pororari River, looking west toward the ocean.

We were learning the unusual (to us) foliage – this is the Rimu, or red pine, a member of the native Podocarp family. We would see these throughout our travels on the South Island.

The red blooming tree is the Southern Rata, a native evergreen tree.

Our guide had us taste the inner core of the supplejack vine – a bit like asparagus.

We were excited to see a few weka birds running across the trail and in the parking area. They are flightless native birds about the size of chickens, sometimes regarded as nuisances, but are a protected species, as are all the native birds.

Weka

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

After lunch we visited the famous Pancake Rocks. The tide wasn’t quite high enough for spouting during our visit, but we admired the weirdly eroded limestone rock formations and ocean views.

View to the south.

Closer look

Limestone layers

Red-billed gull

Imaginative viewing.

View north to the next destination – the Truman Track.

Truman Track

The Truman Track leads through rainforest to the beach.

It was a little misty in the forest.

By the time we reached the beach the sun was out.

View to the south back toward Punakaiki.

Truman Cove beach to the north.

The tide was going out as we walked along the sand.

Pebbly “sand”

Marine fossils in the sandstone cliffs and ledges

Overhanging sand stone cliffs, and view to the beach stairs.

Stairs up through New Zealand flax back to the trailhead.

We had a lovely day exploring interesting rocks, fossils, pebbly beaches, and rainforest palms and tree ferns of Paparoa. Tomorrow we would go south along the West Coast toward Fiordland. Our three hikes for the day added up to about 7 miles/600 feet (#3 for 2020).