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.

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.

Two hikes as our trails reopen…

May 31, 2020May 31, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Boundary Trail, Mt St Helens, Washington –

May 27, 2020 – Trails and parks in Oregon and Washington are slowly reopening for careful, “social distance” hiking. We chose a sunny Wednesday to hike at Mt St Helens. The road to the Visitor Center is still closed, so we began our hike on the Hummocks Trail, and continued on to the Boundary Trail. (Hike #42, 8 miles, 1625 feet)

Red marks our route.

The trail crosses through the hummocks, which are debris avalanche and landslide deposits from the violent May 18, 1980 eruption. Though once a barren moonscape, the hummocks are now lush and green, covered with plants and shady alder groves, and surrounded by ponds and wetlands.

Alder groves and ponds near the trailhead.

The trail comes out into open landscape at the junction with the Boundary Trail, then heads off into lowlands along the Toutle River, before climbing steeply up the flanks of Johnston Ridge. From here on we almost always had a full on view of the mountain.

Boundary Trail Junction

Zooming in…

Crossing the Toutle River lowlands.

Heading up, Indian paintbrush and Mt St Helens.

Once high enough, we can see north to the west end of Coldwater Lake, and back to the ponds in the hummocks, our starting point.

Closer view of Coldwater Lake.

Lovely view from our lunch stop.

Red current in bloom as we continue eastward.

We reached our farthest view point, not quite to the Loowit Turnout on the road.

Coldwater Peak

Mt Adams and a glimpse of Spirit Lake

Mt St Helens

I felt a bit out of shape on this hike, so we only went as far as a viewpoint where Mt Adams comes into view, before we reached the Loowit Viewpoint. It was fairly hot, and once out of the hummock zone, there is no shade. What is amazing is how much shade there is in the hummocks area, because everything in sight has regrown since the eruption 40 years ago.

A last look back at the mountain on our return hike:

40 year old stumps, with younger trees in the foreground.

Sheep sorrel, Toutle River

Wildflowers are beginning to bloom – in a couple of weeks it will be very colorful here.

paintbrush

penstemon

lupine

woodland strawberry

miniature lupine

little leaf miner’s lettuce

We stopped at the Castle Lake Viewpoint on our drive home for a last look today, with plans to return in the not too distant future.

Castle Lake Viewpoint

Wildwood Trail Hike 4

Friday, May 29, 2020 – In continuation of a pandemic goal to hike all of the 30 mile Wildwood Trail in Forest Park, we walked another section, from Springville Road to the Wildwood Trail, to the Trillium Trail and back to our trailhead on Fire Road 7. This section of the Wildwood Trail is cut into the sides of steep forested slopes. It was dry and warm today, but well shaded. We saw a few flowers, a few birds, a lot of trail runners, and a few hiking groups. Most of the hikers pulled masks up when passing. Trail runners mostly did not. We did our best to give them a wide space. We all need the fresh air! (Hike #43, 5.2 miles, 460 feet)

Trailhead

Springville Road

The first wild roses I have seen this year.

Fern shadows

Ferns

Our return trail is all uphill!

Knitting

I am getting ready to start new projects, so I have been hand winding yarn, knitting a gauge swatch, and spending lots of time searching the glorious Ravelry pattern library, which in my opinion is the very best place in all of the internet. I also cast on a gift knit – fingerless mitts.

A note on the times we are living in – I support the Black Lives Matter protests going on this weekend. It may be a long time before the “all are created equal” spirit of our nation is realized, but I try to live my life in support of it. On a more positive note, I was happy to see the successful SpaceX launch this weekend, furthering work my father participated in as rocket scientist.

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.

Forest Park

May 15, 2020May 15, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Friday May 8, 2020 Wildwood Trail

We hiked out and back, from the Germantown Road trailhead to a little ways up the BPA Road. It was wonderful to be able to hike a good distance on an actual trail. The forest was beautiful, wildflowers were blooming, and we got an unexpected view of two mountains at our turnaround point.

fading trillium

solomon seal

deer fern

salmon berry

vine maple

youth on age

candy flower

rosy plectritis

Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens on view from the power line road

We decided to hike with masks and careful distance mode, in Forest Park, a huge city park in the hills west of Portland. We don’t often hike here because it is across town, and we usually drive a little farther to go to the Columbia River Gorge. It is one of the few trails close to us that is open, and friends reported that they felt safe on their hike there. The Wildwood Trail is 30 miles long. I hope to complete all the segments over time. Hike #39, 6.4 miles, 1060 feet.

Flowers in the neighborhood

native iris

red clover

rhododendron

Knitting

One of the sleeves cooperated and the other did not. Maybe next week…

A sad week. We lost a family member to a long standing illness (not Covid). He lives far enough away, that given the pandemic circumstances, we can’t go and be with his family. The key people that need to be together are together, but it is difficult to participate from afar. I will be thinking of him when we go for our next forest walk, because he was a man of the forest.

Peninsula Park Rose Garden

April 28, 2020April 29, 2020 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

April 23, 2020 – Another urban hike-

We walked to the Peninsula Park Rose Garden through northeast Portland. Neighborhood gardens are bursting with flowers, but it was much too early for the rose garden.

It is pink snow season in Portland! (cherry blossoms)

These red and white camellias reminded me of the “Painting the roses red!” scene from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.

saxifrage

azalea

phlox

apple

dogwood and maple

Our route took us through the Alberta Arts neighborhood where personal artistic expression is abundant!

Even the tiny horses are prepared for pandemic

Mt Hood

We finally reached the Peninsula Park Rose Garden after walking about 4 miles.

The rose garden was built in 1913.

The rose beds are sunken below street level.

Peonies near the entrance were the brightest color there today.

Brickwork paths.

The gazebo

The only blooming roses.

Looking west across the rose garden.

Hike #37, 8.4 miles, 200 feet. We are hoping to find a dirt trail nearby to walk next week – the cement is very hard on my poor arthritic feet, as I am trying to keep my fitness levels up for the duration…

Knitting

I finished the ‘eggs’ and the ‘chicken feet’ on the Which Came First shawl. On to the ‘chicken wire’!

PS. Happy 3rd Blogiversary to me – I published my first post in April of 2017!