June 2023 – so far…

July 14, 2023June 19, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Hikes

June 1st- Tom Dick and Harry Mountain on Mt Hood – I hadn’t been up here in a while – there was still a bit of snow, mostly on the lower trail through the forest, and around the far side of the lake.

Skunk cabbage and snow on the lower trail

Camp Creek

Mirror Lake

Trillium just blooming

Mt Jefferson from the upper trail

Mt Hood and Mt Adams from the summit

Mirror Lake and Mt Hood on view during lunch, which I did not share with this persistent ground squirrel

Last view of Mt Hood as we descend.

June 6th – Hardy Ridge, WA – We started this 2000 foot hike in the cool of the morning, and there is a lot of shade along the way, but it got up to 90 degrees by the time we finished. Too hot to go all the way to Phlox Point. We had lunch in the one shady spot near the first viewpoint above the ridge crest.

Anemones were among the many flowers blooming in the shady forest.

Mariposa lilies and paintbrush on the sunny ridgecrest

Mt Adams on view just beyond our lunch stop/turnaround point

Splendid view from the ridge crest: Mt Adams, Table Mountain, Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, Hamilton Mountain (which we climbed last week) on the near right, and Mt Hood on the far right between the two trees.

June 12th – Wahkeena – Multnomah Loop, Oregon – Another trail I hadn’t been on for a while. Plenty of water in the falls, abundant greenery and wildflowers blooming, and lots of people near Multnomah Falls .

Entering the Multnomah Falls viewing zone. We turned right, and started walking the loop counterclockwise.

First stop – Wahkeena Falls.

Up to Lemmons Viewpoint, with a panoramic view across the Columbia River to Washington.

Continuing up Wahkeena Creek – lots of monkey flowers.

Fairy Falls in the bright sun.

Foot of Fairy Falls.

Salmon berries near the trail junction/lunch stop.

Cool waters near Wahkeena Spring

The next section of trail follows a nearly level contour through the forest high above the river. I have always experienced a great sense of peace walking through here.

Eastward between the two creeks

Columbine

Tiger lilies and peas

Iris

Even with burned trees I find this trail section so peaceful.

Next, the trail leads down Multnomah Creek, passing three other waterfalls before Multnomah Falls…

Top of Ecola Falls

Wiesendanger Falls, with a few people enjoying the beach

Dutchman Falls

Almost to Multnomah Falls – mock orange and a view to to the Columbia River

Lower Multnomah Falls and Benson Bridge – the top destination for many visitors.

Upper Multnomah Falls, in bright sun, from Benson Bridge.

Bottom of the Upper Falls

Multnomah Falls from the viewing plaza.

I always enjoy this hike – not too hard, and lots of peaceful forest above the waterfalls.

In town…

Summery things – roses blooming, farmer’s market salads, shadows and quirky neighborhood adornments…

Our roses all bloomed at once!

First summer tomato salad

Summer sky

Summer shadows

Whimsical garden post

June 4th – Peninsula Park Rose Garden, NE Portland – I have wanted to see this garden in full bloom, and since our roses had burst out, it seemed a good time…

Plenty of people enjoying the sunshine and roses!

Knitting

Starting things – A new pair of traveling socks, a new donation blanket, and a new shawl…

Socks

Meadowland blanket

Shawl

Quilting

Not starting things…I was planning to start the next Modern Quilt Studio Mystery Quilt, but life got busy. I have fabric, and hope to start in July.

Batik fat quarters for my next quilt…

June 7th – Portland Modern Quilt Guild Rainbow Quilt Show at Powell’s Books – I just happened to come across this colorful and inspirational show on my first visit to Powell’s in a very long time.

A few of the quilts on show…

And since it is Pride month, I will end with this heartbreakingly aspirational meme.

The rest of my June adventures will be in the next post.

April 2023

May 24, 2023 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

In April, there were neighborhood walks, wildflower hikes, knitting, and quilting – both before and after our trip to Pennsylvania and Connecticut, described in the previous post.

Neighborhood walks –

Spring blooming trees and flowers…

Crabapple

Cherry

Forget me not

Sidewalk cracks and shadows…

Birthdays…

A friend’s tea party

A stranger’s brass band in the park

Knitting –

I made progress on these two blankets – I keep one downstairs and one upstairs, as they are both getting big!

Slip Stitch Blanket

Sliding is Fun blanket

Quilting –

I finished piecing the top for the Modern Quilt Studio 2023 Mystery Quilt, and started piecing together the scraps plus other fabric from my stash into the backing.

Modern Mystery Quilt 2023 Top

Piecing the back with scraps.

Hiking –

We found lots of wildflowers in April, from the earliest trillium in the forests to the beginnings of spring balsamroot fields in the eastern Columbia River Gorge – all the wildflowers are late this year.

April 3 – Tryon Creek, Portland – A rainy day with intervals of hail. We hiked for a couple of miles, and found the earliest trillium blooming along the Cedar Trail:

Indian plum

Hailstones on the bridge

Salmonberry

Trillium

Moss

Trillium

April 20 – Memaloose Hills and Rowena Plateau, Oregon – Checking the wildflower bloom in the eastern gorge – we saw the beginnings of the balsamroot bloom, and some of the last of the early flowers.

Memaloose Hills:

Lower Trail – buttercups in the oak woodland

Blue eyed Mary

Glacier lilies and buttercups

Pacific waterleaf and buttercups

A few balsamroot blooming on Chatfield Hill

View to Tom McCall Point from the top of Chatfield Hill, with desert parsleys, balsam root and paintbrush

Rowena Crest:

Desert parsley on the plateau

Columbia desert parsley on the cliffs, view toward Lyle Chery Orchard trails

Vultures on the cliff

Vultures

One of the last grass widows of spring…

April 25 – Upper Cape Horn Trail, Washington – We walked over the top of Cape Horn to the Nancy Russell Overlook, and back. Lots of trillium in the forest, and snow on the mountains to the north…

View north across the Columbia River from Pioneer Point

Looking south toward Cape Horn

Silverstar Mountain

Trillium in the forest

April 27 – Crawford Oaks, Columbia Hills, Washington – We hiked the Lower Vista Loop, with friends. Balsamroot beginning to bloom out here at the lower elevations – beautiful!

Horsethief Butte and Mt Hood

Eightmile Creek Falls with balsam root and desert parsley

Fleabane and biscuit root

Balsamroot, Dalles Mountain Ranch

Reflections in the Columbia River

Large head clover

Lupine

Showy phlox

The panoramic view across the Columbia River

March 2023 – Back in PDX

April 23, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned to Portland from New Zealand on the 18th of March. Our daffodil and crocus bulbs that had just started to bloom in February were still blooming because Portland was unusually cold while were gone. Spring flowering trees and bulbs continued to emerge, sprinkling the neighborhood with color.

Camellias

Daffodil

Moon, redbud

Crocus

Viburnum

Cherry

Star magnolia

We took one hike, on March 22nd, at one of our favorite winter season hiking trails, Catherine Creek, WA, and it was the same story out there. I had predicted tons of grass widows while we were gone, but instead, the area had been covered in snow again. By late March, the grass widows were re- or just blooming, and other early spring flowers were out – gold stars, Columbia and pungent desert parsleys, and yellow bells…

Gold stars and grass widows

Pungent desert parsley

Columbia desert parsley

Blue jay

Ent

Grass widows and gold stars, Columbia River, and the orchards of Mosier

Catherine Creek Falls

We made a short visit to the Oregon Historical Society on a rainy morning. I focused on some of the textiles on display.

Knitting: I made just a little progress on a sock while traveling, but then immediately cast on a toddler sweater for the knitting Guild service project when we returned. This is my first ever knit raglan sweater. I used the same Caron Cotton Cake yarn I am using for the Sliding is Fun Blanket, also for the Guild challenge. The blanket will take much longer, and I realized I had way too much yarn, so repurposed some of it into this little sweater.

Flax (Tin Can Knits) toddler sweater

Quilting: I attended an online ColorMixer quilt seminar on the Creative Spark platform this week, and got lots of ideas for future quilts. Next month, I plan to sew the blocks together for my Modern Mystery Quilt that I had made before our New Zealand trip.

Poetic ode to sunlight from a neighborhood Poetry Post:

Early February 2023, hiking, quilting, knitting…

March 5, 2023February 19, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

This post updates my activities for the first part of February…

Knitting: I’ve made progress on two blankets – one for me, and one for the Puddletown Knitters Guild Service Project:

Malabrigo Slip Stitch Blanket

Sliding Is Fun Blanket

I had planned to crochet the guild blanket, and tried my hand at a sample, but I’m not quite ready to commit to such a big crochet project yet. Maybe the next one.

Practice crochet swatch

Quilting: I’ve worked through all the clues on the Modern Mystery Quilt, and pieced the blocks. We were asked not to share the finished look until March 3rd.

Modern Mystery Quilt 2023 tentative layout…

In bloom: Our first crocus emerged from the mostly dormant garden beds on February 9th. Just about the same time as the first grass widows were blooming in the eastern Gorge.

Our first crocus

Hiking: Both hikes were in the eastern Columbia River Gorge, Washington:

Eagles again! Bitterroot-Rowland Trail at Catherine Creek, WA – February 8th:

Lots of water here today – in vernal pools, and oozing out of the grassy slopes. No actual flowers, but plenty of emerging foliage – just waiting for a bit more warmth and sun.

Catherine Creek/Sunflower Hill

Fairy pools

Up the Bitterroot Trail,

The Arch

Mt Hood with fresh snow

Mt Hood close up

Meanwhile, as I was admiring these plants at the edge of Rowland Wall, a juvenile eagle swooped by at eye level.

View west from Rowland Wall

Bald eagle…

circling back,

and around again.

Then the entire eagle family circled its way up Rowland Wall, juveniles and mature adults – perhaps the same flock we saw a couple of weeks ago over Lyle.

Adult bald eagle

The whole family is here.

We continued down the wall, and back to the trailhead, imagining the flowers that will be blooming soon.

Looking back up Rowland Wall.

Another vernal pool. The frogs were really loud, but became instantly silent as we approached.

Crawford Oaks-Vista Trail, Columbia Hills, WA – February 14th

A cold, slightly windy day – fresh snow on the Cascade Peaks. We walked the five mile lower loop and were rewarded with seeing the first grass widows – next week there will be a purple bloom here.

View west from near the trailhead – Mt Hood and Horsethief Butte

Mt Hood

Eightmile Creek Falls was fairly full…

Eightmile Creek Falls

Rainbow and plunge pool

The view from the waterfall to the east across the Columbia River:

We continued up the road, across the creek, then south on the Vista Loop, to our usual stop near the power pylons, where we often see the first flowers blooming, and the first grass widows were just beginning to open in the cold breeze…

grass widow

A few purple buds opening in the grassy slopes

We continued around the loop, to the high point, then back around to the view of Dalles Mountain Ranch. A good walk on a brisk day.

West from the high point

East from the high point

Dalles Mountain Ranch

There will be more hikes in February – in the next post.

Hiking, January 2023

February 7, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

January 3rd – Eagle watch near Lyle, WA; Catherine Creek Arch Loop

We drove through the snow-frosted Columbia River Gorge, with a stop at Cascade Locks.

View down river from The Bridge of the Gods.

At the Balfour-Klickitat Natural Area near Lyle, WA, we spotted just a few bald eagles where we sometimes have seen many in early January.

One adult and two juvenile bald eagles

Bald eagle

We followed with a hike around the nearby Catherine Creek Arch, foliage mostly dormant.

View south toward Mosier, OR

Catherine Creek Arch

Eastward, up the Columbia River

January 17 – More eagles; Lyle Cherry Orchard, WA

After two weeks of inclement, unhikeable (for me) weather, we returned to the eastern Gorge. We began with another attempt to see the eagles at the Balfour-Klickitat Natural Area near Lyle. This time, we saw only one bald eagle near the lagoon, and also a great blue heron.

Lagoon near the Klickitat River; bald eagle and heron circled in blue

Bald eagle and heron again

Bald eagle

Great blue heron

Also seen near the mouth of this lagoon and the Klickitat River:

Salmon swimming in from the Klickitat River

Ducks and geese in the Klickitat River

From the southern bluff, we could see that most of the eagles were down on the delta/sand bar where the Klickitat River meets the Columbia River. I took a few fuzzy zoom photos – we counted about a dozen eagles fishing down there.

Bald eagles on the Klickitat River sand bar

Lyle Cherry Orchard Town Loop: Then we drove through Lyle and the railroad tunnels to the trailhead for Lyle Cherry Orchard. We climbed up the first tier, admiring the reflections in the river.

Eastward view from the Convict Road

As we hiked westward on the town loop, we spotted our eagles circling overhead – it was quite thrilling to watch them for a while as they made their way up the Klickitat River Canyon.

Bald eagles circling above Lyle, WA

We also got a glimpse of Mt Adams from the trail:

Mt Adams

And another look at the town of Lyle as we finished our loop. No eagles on the river bar, but one overhead.

January 26 – Tracy Hill, WA

Another gloomy day in Portland. Cold and dry in the Eastern Gorge. We started at Catherine Creek Trailhead, and opted for the eastern loop to the top of Tracy Hill.

Looking up the slope near the trailhead. Bitterroot and grass widow foliage emerging in the foreground.

Vernal pools along the way.

We stopped for lunch with a view up Major Creek.

Continuing upward after lunch, I noticed a ghost tree with an awestruck look on their face:

A face in the trees…

Ghost tree with an amazing view:

The view is of Mt Hood from this point on the trail.

Continuing on to the top of the hill:

To the top of Tracy Hill

A makeshift bench for a short rest

Just beyond the top, a peek at Mt Adams through the bare trees

And another view of Mt Hood on the return hike.

Underexposed, but I can see the glaciers shining in the low winter light on the slopes of Mt Hood.

January 31 – Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge, WA

Our last hike of the month was another visit to Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge in Washington. There was more water in the reconstructed lakes than during our most recent visit in December, and we saw a variety of wildlife.

Tree reflections in the slightly frozen lake, as seen in from the dike.

Geese gathered near the lakeshore.

Deer near the long bridge

Water under the bridge this visit, swan (and Mt Hood) in the distance.

Tundra swan

Two bald eagles out in the lake.

A great blue heron on our path on the return hike.

Great blue heron on the trail

And I zoomed in to this view of Mt Hood from the dike on our return.

Notice Vista House in the right foreground.

December 2022 Recap

January 14, 2023January 14, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

What do I want to remember about December? A freak snowstorm the first week. A lot of grey, rainy cold days which I spent counting down to the winter Solstice. I only went on two hikes this month:

12/6/2022 – Catherine Creek, WA –

We drove through the snowy Columbia River Gorge, and found the early snow at Catherine Creek.

Ice on Rowland Lake

Snow covered slopes on the Lower Trail

We saw a fox run up the slope.

Looking across the Columbia River to Oregon.

Catherine Creek Waterfall

Then we walked up to the snow-covered fairy pools,

and looked across to the Arch.

While eating lunch and warming up in the car, the sun came out, so we decided to walk the trail above the Arch.

Bridge over the creek

I saw a few predator birds in the tree tops – a hawk

American kestrel

Looking up toward Sunflower Hill

We turned around at the top of the Arch, not having adequate footwear for deeper snow and ice.

Eastward view

12/13/2022 – Portland Arboretum –

Another day, we found a slightly dry weather window, and took a 2.5 mile walk through part of the Portland Arboretum.

We found the most color in the Holly Garden.

Bare deciduous trees and grey skies.

Mahonia in the Winter Garden

Cedar

Meanwhile…

I took plenty of walks through the neighborhood looking for cheerful holiday decor.

I remember willing the Solstice and longer days to arrive. For a few days each year, the sun is so low, it shines through our front door windows onto the stairwell wall.

Later in the month, the east winds swept through and pounded our neighborhood, blowing down several very tall fir trees, including one across the street that we had been worried about for years. It fell on the neighbor’s house. Fortunately no one was in the room that was crushed at that moment. Then we watched the street drama of tree removal for several days, front row seat from our living room.

December 22nd, tree down

December 23rd – a thin layer of icy snow over everything…

December 26th – first they removed the other standing tree,

Then used a very tall crane to remove the fallen tree.

Rainproofing the roof; reconstruction and repair will take a while….

Elsewhere in the neighborhood:

Over in the park, Henry Huggins lost his shade tree,

and the tall fir to the left of this nutcracker…

blocked this street for a few weeks until it could be removed.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt an any of these local incidents.

What else…one son moved to Philadelphia at the beginning of the month and was not here for the holidays. We began to settle into our next phase of empty nesting, with no sign of any of the kids living here in the near future. We were glad to have our daughter home for the holidays. Luckily, she moved her flight up one day, and missed the travel craziness that happened this year. We were amazed that our other son arrived home from a business trip on a delayed flight from Denver, at 3 am on Christmas morning…for some reason not cancelled. We enjoyed setting up our tree, admiring the ornaments and the memories they bring; lighting Hanukkah candles, baking cookies, having a lovely Christmas dinner with some of our oldest friends.

New ornament from Scotland

Portland Art Museum – 12/28

My daughter and I went with friends to see a few of the current exhibits.

The golden brush strokes on this special exhibit Botticelli painting drew me in.

Very different from the rectangular smudges on this Impressionism work, which I also loved.

The Japanese woodblock prints of Mt Fuji were much more intricate and detailed, also beautiful!

A large retrospective exhibit of the Native American artist, Oscar Howe, was so interesting. His style evolved from representational to fractured, and was very colorful. These paintings are both dancers, with one arm raised, and feathers hanging down. I loved them!

Other December news:

An artist friend gave me a small painting of Mt Hood that we hung in our kitchen adjacent to one of my husbands’ photos of Mt Hood. We love the mountains!

I knit my way through the month, completing a few gifts, and finishing the year of gnomes.

I made three of these Warm One Hats in Knit Picks Mighty Stitch yarn held double, as gifts for each of my kids.

I made the 12th gnome, Gnova, by Sara Schira, for the December Year of Gnomes.

I made three Little Tigers that have new homes.

I continued knitting the Malabrigo Slip Stitch Blanket after all the gift knitting was done. This one is for me.

I plan to write one more post for 2022 – hopefully soon.

November 2022 hiking, and a visit to the Maryhill Museum of Art

January 9, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We went on three familiar hikes, and to the Maryhill Museum of Art.

11/3 Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge, WA

This used to be our reliable close-in flat walk, for partly rainy days, where we could go to see upside down trees reflected in the lake, and often, many waterfowl. For the past couple of years, the site has undergone major reconstruction. The berm that separates these lowlands from flooding by the Columbia River has been breached in order to reconnect salmon to the Gibson Creek drainage. On our first visit back on the rerouted trails we saw a few birds and drained lakes. I will be interested to walk the rest of the trails when the project is complete.

Looking across the new Steigerwald Lake to the east.

Egret and heron

The bridge that used to have a lake under it.

Killdeer

Crossing the bridge

Trail now closed

Art trail – should be open next spring

View across the Columbia River from the berm

Geese

11/10 Angel’s Rest, OR

We save this popular close-in trail for midweek hikes. The trail zigs and zags up, through the forest, then the cliffs, to stunning panoramic views up and down the gorge, and across to the snowy Washington peaks (4.5 miles, 1500 feet).

Angel’s Rest

View to the west from the upper cliffs

Looking north across the Columbia River

Closer view of Silver Star Mountain

View to the east, northern shoreline highlighted by sunbeams

Blue jay lunch companion

Colorful twice-burned forest in the foreground.

11/14 The Labyrinth, WA

Our reliable eastern gorge hike, especially on windier days when the basalt columns give some protection. I love to visit all my favorite trees along the trail, and check the water levels in Hidden Creek (4 miles, 800′).

Approach trail – Old Hwy 8

Looking south across the Columbia River

Pools in Hidden Creek

Hidden Creek

Dry grass

Basalt cliffs

Up the labyrinth

More basalt cliffs

Favorite oak grove

Lunch view to the east

Farther up, the cliff-edge oak tree

Poderosa at the upper viewpoint

And down, past the haunted tree

Driving home toward rainy Portland through sunbeams

11/8 Maryhill Museum of Art, WA

I was still nursing a knee injury, so instead of hiking, we drove east of our usual winter hiking ground and visited the Maryhill Museum of Art. It is perched on a cliff edge on the northern side of the Columbia River Gorge, in a mansion built by Sam Hill. He was the remarkable American businessman who built railroads and roads, including some of the first roads through the Columbia River Gorge. He travelled through Europe in the early 20th century, and made many artist friends who convinced him to turn his mansion into a museum. The building was started in 1914, but not opened until 1940. It contains an eclectic selection of art, some donated by Sam Hill’s friends, some acquired later. So out in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the Columbia River Gorge, is a museum with galleries of Rodin sculptures, gilt furniture that once belonged to the Queen of Romania, historical exhibits about Sam Hill and friends, and a large and well curated display of Native American art and artifacts. And hundreds of chess sets from all over the world. It is a beautiful collection.

Driving east out of the rain, through the Columbia River Gorge along WA 14

We accidentally parked near the service entrance, so walked to the museum from the western side.

Throne chairs, inspired by those donated to the museum by the Queen of Romania, with excellent views.

View west, to the vineyards and Columbia River

We walked around to the eastern entrance plaza.

Main entrance

Yarn-bombing installation

Dedication by the Queen of Romania

One of the historical exhibits was about pioneering modern dancer Loie Fuller, who encouraged Sam Hill to dedicate his house to art.

There is an entire gallery dedicated to the works of Auguste Rodin, the French sculptor, including a fascinating exhibit with miniatures showing each step in the process of Lost Wax Bronze Casting. We had just seen one of Rodin’s more famous pieces, the Burghers of Calais, in the Washington DC Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, and here was a whole roomful of bronze statues, and plaster casts, working models, sketches and completed pieces.

Rodin gallery

Plaster model of The Thinker

More Rodin artwork

Another Gallery, Theater de la Mode, displays miniature mannequin collections from Paris fashion houses.

Native American Art and artifacts are on display in several galleries:

Modern jewelry

Displayed in a glass walled gallery with extensive views.

Modern paintings in another gallery,

these change seasonally.

And extensive displays of beading, basketry, stone, leather, weaving, pottery and other antiquities, organized by regions of the west. This exhibit is scheduled to be overhauled during the winter closure. (The museum is closed from midNovember to midMarch).

The last gallery we visited was the hall of chess sets – over 400, from all over the world, carved or sculpted from many different media, a dazzling display.

A life size cutout of Sam Hill stands overlooking this gallery.

As we exited the museum, we walked again along the outdoor plaza, admiring the views and outdoor art installations.

Looking down on the outdoor plaza

Aptly named “Roll and Play”, by Alisa Looney, 2007

Eastward view

View to the south, with three birds

Three birds

Walking into the wind back to our car. “Brushing” by Mike Sur, 2009.

I can’t believe I had never been here before, but I hope to return next year when they host their annual plain air exhibit.

Early June, 2022

June 12, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The sun came out for a few days, and the roses finally bloomed, seemingly all at once.

Hiking: We hiked twice on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, where wild flowers are also blooming late this year.

June 1 – Hardy Ridge – We found some of the earliest blooming wildflowers on top of Hardy Ridge (8.2 miles, 2100 feet).

Fading trillium

Oregon anemones

Glacier lilies

Eastward view toward Table Mountain.

Phlox Point, and plenty of black flies photobombing us.

Blue jay near our lunch stop.

Looking south toward Oregon on our return hike. Service berry bushes in bloom.

June 7 – Cape Horn – We started in the middle, at the Strunk Road Trailhead, since the full loop is not open this time of year. We were hoping to see the tall larkspur, which can be profuse along this trial.

Lupine blooming in reclaimed fields along the trail to the Nancy Russell Overlook.

Cow parsley also in full bloom.

Tall ferns unfurling

Tall ferns

And we found the larkspur!

Larkspur blooming all along the trail…

More larkspur…

Also, candy flower and buttercups.

More buttercups.

Maple trees were leafing out.

Avens at the Hwy 14 underpass.

We made our way to the Lower Oak Overlook, where the trail is closed for falcon nesting season. The river viewpoints were very windy, but it was calm and protected in the forest. We retraced our steps, back up the larkspur lined trail, for a 4 mile, 650 foot hike for the day. Lovely!

Knitting – I finished my June gnome for the ‘Year of Gnomes’, and made progress on socks, a hat and a sweater…

June Jester Gnome, Oh, Gnome, You Didn’t pattern by Sarah Schira

Side view, with jingle bells and pockets.

I was inspired by a Cirque du Soleil show from 20 years ago, and some other knitters’ Mardi Gras interpretations of the pattern.

Works in progress.

And spent much time preparing for our overseas adventure to Scotland and Iceland… finally! Postoned and postponed and postponed again. I will report back!

Hiking in May 2022

May 31, 2022September 9, 2024 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Our four hikes in May were all repeat hikes for us, east out of the Portland rain, to see spring wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge.

5/4 – Tom McCall Point

One of our favorite hikes (3.5 miles, 1000 feet) with wildflowers and mountain and river views.

Balsamroot and lupine on the lower plateau

Fern-leaf desert parsley and poison oak in Parsley Alley

Paintbrush and balsamroot all the way up the mountain

Chocolate lilies

View to Lyle and Rowena Crest

Mt Adams

View to the Cherry Orchard cliffs from the top of Tom McCall Point

And, a flock of American pelicans flying upriver…we’ve never seen that before!

5/10 – Bitterroot Trail at Catherine Creek

Another easy loop (3.5 miles, 800 feet), my favorite bitterroot flowers in bloom, and amazing views the whole way.

Bitterroot blooming on the rocky balds near the trail head.

Poppies and bachelor buttons along the road

Bitteroot, camas and monkey flowers near the fairy pools.

Bitterroot – Lewisia rediviva

Cluster lilies, orchards of Mosier

Meadowlark

Rosy plectritis and bitterroot

Upriver view at the Balsamroot cairn

Downriver view, giant anvil cloud southeast of Mt Hood

Top of Rowland Wall. I found that one giant cluster of bitterroot that I always look for.

Giant bitterroot cluster, not in bloom;

Another beautiful bitterroot cluster, in bloom.

5/13 – Weldon Wagon Road

A hike with friends along gorgeous slopes of blooming balsam root flowers (5 miles, 1200 feet).

Lower oak woodland

Western tanager flying near the balsamroot

The open slopes in bloom

Open slopes

Parsley and balsamroot

Flowery meadows along the trail

Lupine dew

Balsamroot

Dogwood in the lower forest

5/26 – Hamilton Mountain

This can be a more difficult loop hike (8 miles, and 2200 feet), but we chose to go just to the upper set of rocky switchbacks, then return the way we came (5 miles, 1550 feet). I got to see the smaller cousin of the bitterroot – Lewisia columbiana, on the upper cliffs just as the weather was starting to turn.

Lots of white flowers blooming in the forest

Equisetum (horsetail)

Rodney Falls

Pool of the Winds

View across the gorge from the Little Hamilton summit meadows

Larkspur, parsley, and chickweed blooming down the slope

Bonneville Dam and the eastern gorge

Hamilton Mountain- we are only going to the upper rocky switchback section, circled.

Most of the Lewisia columbiana was not blooming yet,

but there were some patches on a sunny cliff.

Chocolate lilies, phlox and parsley on the lower cliffs

We felt a smattering of rain as we hiked down, but managed to sneak this hike out from under the nose of the weather gods. The real rain didn’t start until we were on our way home.