hiking

We flew in an airplane
with a lot of other people,
with masks on, 
south to Palm Springs, 
looking out and down the whole way…

From Palm Springs, we drove west,
tracing the San Andreas Fault,
then north through the Morongo Valley, 
then east to Twenty Nine Palms.

We hiked in Joshua Tree National Park, 
where Cretaceous monzogranite has intruded into Precambrian Gneiss. 
Movement along the plate boundary (San  Andreas Fault System) that defines this topography has shattered the rocks with orthogonal cracks. 
The granite has been rounded and transformed into great piles of boulders by the elements. 
We walked dry canyon mazes while anthropomorphic faces in the rocks watched us. 
Joshua trees posed on the skyline, 
witnesses to the dry open skies, 
and the battering winds, 
of the high Mojave desert.

Joshua Tree National Park – showing some of the trails and viewpoints.

2/7 – Hidden Valley Loop

An excellent introduction to the plants and rocks.

2/8 – Panorama Loop, Black Rock Canyon

6.7 miles and 1150 feet, a lovely loop through the Precambrian gneiss at the west end of the park.

2/9 – Several short hikes and viewpoints

Keys View:

Looking across the the San Andreas Fault and Coachella Valley, toward snow-covered Mt San Jacinto and Mt San Gorgonio.

Looking farther southeast, to the Salton Sea.

Coachella Valley highlights. It was too windy to stay long at the viewpoint, so instead of hiking here, we visited several other viewpoints and short trails in the park.

Cap Rock:

Oyster Bar:

Hall of Horrors Trail:

Skull Rock Trail:

Cholla and Ocotillo on Pinto Basin Road:

We drove to the lower desert to see my old friends from the Sonoran Desert…

Cholla, Coxcomb Mountains in the distance

Bladderpod – the only wildflower we saw blooming

Split Rock Trail:

Sunset views:

2/10 – Willow Hole Trail and The Oasis of Mara

A seven mile round trip hike to Willow Hole in the Wonderland of Rocks…

Oasis of Mara Visitor Center, Twenty Nine Palms

As travelers from the gray wet skies of the north, 
we offered up all of our surface moisture to the desert  air.
It felt good, but also exhausting.

After four days we were desiccated, 
wind blown, tired from hiking, 
filled by immersion in scenery that continues beyond us in scope and time. 
We returned home to the Pacific Northwest, much refreshed.

Note - This is my first post using the "new" block editor - I'm still deciding if I like it.

The first couple of weeks were very cold, followed by many days of rain dripping down the windows, yarn loops sliding by on the needles, and just a few sun breaks. A tsunami from Tonga, the Omicron surge just beginning to decline, a trip to Joshua Tree cancelled…another pandemic month in Portland.

Hikes:

1/9/2022 Wildwood Trail to Pittock Mansion in Portland – A rare sunny day – everyone out on the trails – we continued our section hike of the Wildwood Trail, completing about 3 more miles as we hiked up and back to Pittock Mansion from the arboretum, crossing the new Barbara Walker Bridge for the first time.

Up until last year, hikers had to scurry across the very busy Burnside Street.

Barbara Walker Bridge.

Urban trail graffiti

We reached the 1914 Pittock Mansion, and walked around to the viewing areas…

Pittock Mansion

Views from the property to the Cascade Mountains…

Mt Hood

Portland and Mt Hood

Mt St Helens

Mt Rainier beyond Mt St Helens

Returning back over the Barbara Walker Crossing…

1/12/2022 Eagles and snow near Lyle, WA – Our annual trip to see the eagles at the Balfour/Klickitat Preserve:

Calm Columbia River looking east from the Hood River Bridge.

Snowy ground near Coyote Wall.

We walked to the eagle viewing area near the mouth of the Klickitat River:

Osage oranges along the trail

Frozen lakeshore, eagle flying above the island

Eagle and ducks

Looking up Klickitat Canyon – white eagle heads in the trees.

Bald eagle

Bald eagle

We saw more than twenty today.

Looking south to Tom McCall Point.

Next we walked some of the trails at nearby Catherine Creek.

Snowy slopes at Catherine Creek

Frozen Fairy Ponds

The arch

Mt Hood and the orchards of Mosier

Eastern Gorge

Grass widow foliage, but no blooms.

The waterfall.

1/18/2022 Swans at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, WA – We walked the 2.5 mile Oaks to Wetland Trail.

Swans in the distance, from the railroad bridge

Fungus

Belted kingfisher

Trumpeter swans

Then we drove the auto tour, looking for more swans.

Plenty of tundra and trumpeter swans in the northern lake…

American coot

Northern harrier next to the road.

1/28/2020 Chehalem Ridge Nature Park, OR – Our first visit to this new park south of Forest Grove. We walked almost six miles on the trails, quiet today with a few views of the distant mountains.

Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Mt St Helens and Mt Adams

Farmlands and Coast Range to the west

Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens

Neighborhood:

On our first sunny day, I went outside for what seemed like the first time in weeks, to see blue sky and low angle winter shadows:

1/16/2022 – Another sunny day, we met friends and walked a long loop on the hilly streets south of downtown Portland.

Mt Hood from SW Portland

Mt Hood and the Tilikum Bridge over the Willamette River

By the end of the month, viburnum and crocus were beginning to bloom…

Viburnum

First crocus blooms of the year

Hexagonal sidewalk

Knitting:

I did get a lot of knitting done this month, since the outdoors were so inclement. And I am still meeting once or twice weekly with my knitting group over Zoom.

Winding yarn on my new swift.

Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Shawl, in progress

New pile of yarn from the guild to make hats for our service project.

I used online tutorials to learn Tunisian crochet.

I finished a languishing WIP – The Ella Improv Cowl, by Cecelia Campochiaro, using marling and sequence knitting techniques.

A Gnoah gnome, (Imagined Landscapes), sent via Intergalactic Gnome Transport to the burgeoning colony in Washington DC.

Addenda:

The volcano in Tonga!

The snow in DC.

Other adventures – January 10th was the 4th anniversary of my pituitary surgery. With constant vigilance and good doctors, all my hormone levels are now within the normal range. I feel healthy and strong and grateful for early diagnosis and the miracles of modern medical science, especially the monthly injections that keep the acromegaly in check.

On to February – pandemic numbers are going down in our neck of the woods – we may actually travel somewhere – stay tuned.

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

Joshua Tree National Park, February 7 to 11, 2022