June 2026, in Portland …

July 10, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

In mid-June, we had an adventure to the Wallowa Mountains in eastern Oregon, and a visit to the Portland Art Museum, described in later posts. Otherwise I was mostly around Portland, knitting, reading, and gardening, and I went on one waterfall hike in the Columbia River Gorge.

6/4 – Hiking Day – Latourell Falls, OR

Latourell Falls is one of the easiest waterfall hikes on the Historic Columbia River Highway. I hadn’t been here for a while, but today it suited my purpose – not too steep, as I regain my stamina (2.5 miles, 560 feet). It was lovely in the shady forest. We saw lots of interesting plant life along the way, and the trail was relatively quiet once we hiked past the crowded viewpoint of the Lower Falls.

Typical trail view through the shady forest.

Manroot flowers, tendrils and leaves; and avens flowers and seedheads.

Eventually, we reached the Upper Falls, and found a shaded lunch spot near the bridge.

The return trail was mostly down hill, with a view point of the Columbia River Gorge near the bottom.

Walking under a canopy of cedar and maple.

Back at the Lower Falls, the sun angle was not great for photography, but the columnar basalts and lichen stand out nicely.

6/13 – World Wide Knit In Public Day and other knitting

My knitting group went to Laurelhurst Park and knit in a shady area for a while. (I forgot to take a photo.) Meanwhile, I finished a pair of socks and a market bag this month, and started new socks and a cardigan.

New socks using leftovers of Zauberball Crazy.

Slant on Nature cardigan, in progress, Juniper Moon Cumulus yarn.

6/25 – Rainbow neighborhood walk

This time of year, when my neighborhood is so colorful with blooming plants, I like to take a rainbow photo walk.

Reading –

I finished reading nine books in June, with only one in the Jane Austen adjacent category. I read two more D.E. Stevenson novels, and two by Molly Clavering – mid-20th century Scottish writers of ‘domestic’ fiction – about people in small villages, with lots of descriptions of the natural surroundings.

Garden –

As noted, June is a busy month for plants. Two notable events in our garden – the blooming cluster lilies and the first ripe tomato.

Etc –

This month I am featuring an old photograph, from my family archives. There are about 400 boxes of slides that one of my brothers has taken charge of, and is having digitized. I had not seen most of these photos since those family slideshows after they were first developed, over 50 years ago, when the world was a carousel of color, and Kodak ruled the photo world. I am very glad I get to see them again, as they show people, places and events long gone, and bring back many great memories.

Family hike, June 1963, Glacier National Park, MT, possibly Baring Falls.

May 2026 – Hiking among the wildflowers…

June 15, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We are back to our usual weekly hiking schedule, with four hikes in May; all repeat hikes, with wildflowers and waterfalls.

5/6 – Eagle Creek, OR

We walked most of the way to the High Bridge on this warm day (5.8 miles, 600 feet). The trail has been recently reopened after repair of landslide and fallen trees from last winter. Still beautiful, with lots of wildflowers.

Eagle Creek near the trailhead – the water has a distinctive beautiful green color.

The trail rises gently above the canyon. Here the rocky slopes are covered with manroot and fringe cup blooms.

In places, the trail is cut into the cliff edge, as the gorge deepens.

Farther along, the cliff edge is more of a steep slope, in this case, covered with blue-eyed Mary meadows.

From the trail edge, the view to Metlako Falls.

Eventually, we could look down onto Punchbowl Falls, with the burned slopes from the 2017 fire beyond.

Cascades on Fern Creek, from a trail bridge across this side stream.

We had to get home for an appointment, so didn’t quite make it to High Bridge, about 3 miles in.

A few more of the many wildflowers we saw today:

5/12 – Cape Horn, WA

Return to this easy-ish forest bathing walk during tall delphinium bloom season, from Strunk Road down to the Waterfall Overlook, and then back up (3.5 miles, 620 feet).

Once into the shady woods, the tall delphinium are blooming on both sides of the trail.

All the way down to the Nancy Russell Overlook…

We always pause here to thank Nancy Russell for her lifetime of work preserving this trail area from development, and helping to create the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Thank you Nancy!

The view to the eastern gorge from here.

We continue down through more mossy woods,

A few irises were blooming in the sun here.

We continued down, under the highway, to the Cape Horn Waterfall Overlook.

A wide view up the eastern gorge to Beacon Rock.

And a leaning over the edge view of the waterfall.

Then back up, once again through delphinium blooms, to the trailhead.

A fern leaf parsley, one of my favorites, near the end of the trail.

5/18 – Swaths of purple at The Labyrinth, WA

We visited this trail just slightly later in May last year (May 27, 2025). We saw similar flowers, but this year there were so many more. It was very purple there today (4 miles, 820 feet).

Approach trail along Hwy 8, with Mt Hood on the horizon. Poppies blooming in the verge.

Near the lower waterfall, we began to see the flowers that would fill the slopes above.

Cornflowers (or bachelor buttons), ookow, and creamy buckwheat.

Purple vetch was intertwined with many of the flowers, adding another layer of color.

Pink tapertip onions were also scattered along the way.

Purple flowers filled the meadows all along the trail, with some white yarrow here.

Bicolored cluster lilies also added a pale lavender clumps here and there.

More purple fields as we approached the upper waterfall.

Purple fields below the columnar basalt butte.

Trail out to the lunch ledge – meadows that were filled with grass widows in March are now full of cornflowers.

We noticed three hues of purple cornflowers.

After lunch, we continued upward, still accompanied by the purple flowers, though the grasses are getting drier. Mt Hood ahead.

I stopped to check for bitterroot on the rocky outcrop at the turn in the trail. I found the last bitterroot of spring.

As we approached the ridgeline oak tree, we passed the last of the purple flowers

Down the slope, the last yellow balsamroots of spring were fading.

Our destination – the viewpoint near the tall ponderosa.

As we got closer, I was hoping to see signs that it would recover from the Burdoin Fire of last summer. In March it still had green needles on this side, and I had a bit of hope that it would survive.

As we got closer, I could see no green on the tree, despite the green oak trees all around. I hope it remains standing as a guide snag, at least for a while.

From the viewpoint, the whole eastern gorge is on view.

Pink winecup clarkia are hiding in the dry grass all over this hill.

We hiked back down, through the meadows of purple. Down on the river, a cruise ship was passing through.

Can they see the fields of purple from there?

5/26 – Falls Creek Falls, WA

We enjoyed this relatively easy, mostly shaded hike on a warm day (3.4 miles, 620 feet). The last time I was here, in the fall of 2018, fall colors were on display. Today there were white flowers in the forest, a few colorful flowers in the sun, and the sound and glory of this enormous waterfall!!

The trail follows Falls Creek for much of the way.

Reflections of green and purple in the water.

We passed a few cascading rapids, and crossed a bridge over a small gorge.

White flowers in the shady parts of the forest:

A few more colorful flowers in the sunny spots:

And Falls Creek Falls at the end of the trail:

Falls Creek Falls – 335 feet total drop.

Slightly different view from our lunch perch.

And then a mostly easy downhill walk back along the creek to conclude this pleasant day in the forest.

February 2026 Hiking

March 18, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I went on only three hikes in February. We had some down time while my husband recovered from a sudden illness. He is well now. The later walks were in easy, recovery mode.

2/5 – White River snow hike, Mt Hood, Oregon

With snow levels still very low, we were able to hike this out-and-back trail, a long time favorite, with just micro spikes on our boots. There was a small amount of post-holing, but it was mostly fine.

Hiking uphill along the White River moraine – lots of exposed earth.

Our usual lunch spot, about a mile and a half up river, near the Timberline Trail crossing.

Boy Scout Ridge, which we sometimes avoid due to avalanche danger, has exposed plants on the surface today.

Luckily we had more snow by the middle of the month. There is more snow at this location now than there was in the beginning of February.

2/15 – Leach Botanical Garden, Portland

This public garden was gifted to the city of Portland by the estate of John and Lilla Leach. We hadn’t been in many years, but I remember taking my children here when they were young, and walking the stony paths between the plants. There was a bit of a Secret Garden feel to the park. I was aware that there had been a huge remodel and accessibility initiative. There is now a lovely Aerial Walkway that floats through the woodland. Today was our first time to try it. We walked less than a mile in total, as we had a time constraint, and also, my husband was still in recovery mode. Spring flowers were popping in a few beds, with more to come. I hope to return later in the spring to see more flowers.

Trails continue down to Johnson Creek, and to the original stone cottage across the creek.

Some flowers in bloom today…

2/26 – Memaloose Hills, Oregon

A windy day in the gorge. Most of this trail is protected from the strongest blasts, and it is a good conditioning hike (3 miles, 550 feet), as we work on our stamina…

Trailhead view across the Columbia River

Gold stars and grass widows on the upward slopes

View of the gorge and Mt Adams from the top of Chatfield Hill

We continued the loop that circles over the top of Marsh Hill…

View eastward from the top of Marsh Hill toward Tom McCall Point, with Columbia Desert parsley and grass widows among the rocks.

Swales of grass widows just beginning to bloom.

On the drive back toward Mosier, we stopped for a view to the north, to look at the greening slopes of the Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek areas, all burned last summer by the Burdoin Fire.

The good news is that, despite all the chaos in the political world, the flowers of spring are blooming again this year in the Columbia River Gorge!

January 2026 – Hikes and adventures…

March 5, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Five outdoor adventures in January…

1/3 – Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, WA

Just the auto tour, to see the birds…

1/5 – Balfour/Klickitat Eagles, and Labyrinth Trail, WA

Our annual visit to this eagle nesting area near Lyle, Washington…

Osage oranges on the trail to the eagle overlook,

Lagoon with salmon, ducks, and eagles hiding in the trees. We saw about 20 while watching for a half hour.

Zooming in on the snag in the distance – more eagles.

Next we went to the Labyrinth Trail, our first time here since the fires last summer…

Looking up to the guide Ponderosa Pine tree above the Rowland Lake Trailhead.

Zooming in, I can see it is partially burned.

The waterfall – quite full this time of year.

The burned areas are sprouting new grass.

My favorite oak grove is scarred, but trees are still standing.

We didn’t get all the way to the guide tree on this day,

but zooming in, I can see it is less burned on the west side.

1/14 – Catherine Creek and Rowland Basin, WA

Another rainy day in Portland, but nice and sunny in the eastern Columbia River Gorge…

First we walked the lower loop at Catherine Creek, looking for the first grass widows, which we had seen reports of…

Trailhead. The burned slope here is turning green.

We found a few clumps of early grass widows along the ADA trail south of the road. This area did not burn.

Next, we walked up the trail that starts at the base of Rowland Wall, and walked about a mile up into Rowland Basin, having never started our hike from this point before, just to see what we would see.

Uphill, again, plenty of burned landscape, all in recovery mode…

And we can see the guide tree from here.

Another zoom in on my favorite ponderosa.

All the usual undergrowth is gone under the oak trees

Looking back eastward toward Rowland Wall

We found a few clumps of grass widows out here

Another view of Rowland Basin, before we start back.

1/20 – Hummocks and Boundary Trails, Mt St Helens, WA

And now for something different – It had been a low snow January, so we drove up to Mt St Helens to try the Hummocks and Boundary Trails. As long as we stayed among the hummocks, we could enjoy the day. There was a cold wind blowing along the Boundary Trail, so we only walked a short way up…but we had great views, and a real change of scenery from the Columbia River Gorge.

Mt St Helens, as seen from I-5 as we drove north.

Snow in the parking lot. The trail was mostly clear. The trail winds around through hills of volcanic debris that were completely barren after the eruption in 1980. Forty five years later, the hummocks are covered with vegetation and there are many lakes and ponds throughout this landscape.

On this day the lakes were partially frozen.

I was fascinated by geometric patterns in the ice, apparently caused by differential melting due to plant shadows.

Groves of alder trees have filled in much of the landscape.

Toutle River Overlook – this downstream landscape is unstable and constantly changing.

Junction with the Boundary Trail, toward Johnston Ridge…into the wind we go.

The trail switchbacks up onto the ridge on the left, toward Johnston Observatory, with great views of the northwest side of Mt St Helens.

View from our turnaround point…the wind was getting stronger the further east we went.

The return loop passes by this inverted tree, still buried where it landed in May, 1980.

We stopped for a last look from the Elk Rock viewpoint on Hwy 504 on our drive home.

Panorama of the Mt Margaret backcountry, Mt Adams, and Mt St Helens.

1/28 – Eagles and Catherine Creek, WA, again; with a side of Multnomah Falls, OR

My sister was visiting, and interested in an easy hike, so we took her back to a couple of our favorite places in the Columbia River Gorge.

We could see a few bright white spots in the trees as we approached the overlook at the Balfour/Klickitat Reserve.

Three bald eagles. We saw about a dozen this day.

The pond is icier than it was earlier in the month.

Next we walked the lower ADA Trail at Catherine Creek, and found just a few of the early flowers.

We walked up to the fairy ponds, now frozen around the trunks of slightly burned oak trees,

And finally, we drove back through the rainy Gorge, and made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls.

I am gald to be back out on the trails, though I have some work to do to regain my stamina!

January 2026

March 2, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I will continue to post about knitting and other crafting; reading; neighborhood sights; hiking and other adventures, including monthly visits to an art museum; and inspiring resistance memes from my internet neighborhood, trying to focus on the positive.

Knitting –

I finished two projects in January – a cowl, and a pair of socks.

Reading – My own private Jane-uary –

I have been rereading Jane Austen’s novels since my teenage years. Perhaps because it was Jane Austen’s 250th birthday last month, there have been many new ‘adjacent’ books published: scholarly analyses of the times she lived in with speculation about her political, feminist, quirky, satirical, and social views; and fictional sequels and ‘inspired by’ books. I realized at the beginning of the month that I was simultaneously reading three of them (one audio, one ebook, one analog). And there are more on my shelf, or in my library queue! Austen literature gives me joy and provides escapism from these troubling times.

Six of the eight books I finished in January were Austenesque. There will be more in February!

Neighborhood sites in January –

Museum Days –

We had two museum visits in January – the Portland Art Museum, and the Ursula Le Guin Exhibit at the Oregon Contemporary Museum.

1/6/2026 – Portland Art Museum – We spent most of our time at the Global Icons, Local Spotlight exhibit, and also visited the Mt Hood room.

Global Icons entry placard. There followed several rooms of bright and inspiring artworks. Highlights for me:

25 Dots, 2013, Chul-Hyun Ahn – This piece is extremely colorful, and three dimensional.

Your Love Will Bring Me Home, 2023, Jeffrey Gibson. By an indigenous artist, includes acrylic paint and glass beads.

Spirit and Matter, 2023, Jeffrey Gibson, Acrylic paint on elk hide. Skywalker/Skyscraper, 2022, Marie Watt, Reclaimed blankets, cedar, steel.

Atomic Pinwheel 8 and 9, 2018, Polly Apfelbaum, Woodblock monoprints

LA Magic Hour 6-10, 2021, Tacita Dean, Lithographs of sunset colors; these pieces reflect the circular airbrush painting: No. 138, 1999, by Ugo Rondinone, at the far end of the gallery, providing a surreal, almost immersive atmosphere.

Jazz Stories: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart #2, 2023, Faith Ringgold, Quilted textile

Some of the mountain paintings in the Mt Hood room:

1/16/2026 – Ursula Le Guin at the Oregon Contemporary Museum –

Author Ursula Le Guin spent much of her adult life in Portland. Her family helped create this exhibit with many of her original manuscripts and hand drawn maps of some of her fantasy worlds; personal belongings, including childhood toys, books, sketch books, and literary awards; and interactive exhibits about her literature. I didn’t take very many photos, but I was inspired to see these artifacts of her life and works.

Awards and books and a lifetime of pet cats.

Eugene Weekend

Late January – early February, my extended family held a celebration of life for those we lost last year. The silver lining was the reunion with several distant loved ones parted since before the pandemic. We hope to meet up more often going forward.

Celebration, with Nathaniel’s Art on the walls

The rainbow that came out as we toasted him.

Etc…

Events are occurring in our own country I never thought to witness. My neighborhood held a candlelight vigil after the murders of protesters in Minnesota. We continue to support the resistance as best we can…

2025 – Review

February 16, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I am having a hard time keeping up here – real life is getting in the way, as it should, I suppose, but I want to keep my record. Future me wants to read about what happened. So this post is my summary of 2025, written in February 2026, to the best of my current memory.

Last year I still managed to knit and read a fair amount, but our hiking and travel were somewhat curtailed by health issues, and I did very little sewing and quilting.

Knitting

I finished 17 projects in 2025, including nine donation items, mostly hats.

One goal for 2026 is to finish the Zephyr sweater I have been working on for two years.

Reading

I always set my goal to my age, but lately have zoomed past it. This year I read just over 100 books.

Quilting, Sewing and other projects…

Stitching was mostly helping my daughter work through her mending pile whenever she visited. I also briefly worked on these quilt blocks. Next year I hope to quilt four languishing quilt tops, and I have several planned tops in my minds eye…

Hands All Around Blocks, Modern Quilt Studio

We also made progress on home maintenance and repair: interior wall repair; new dining room blinds, new hallway carpet; new kitchen faucet; window repair; storm window cleaning and repair; exterior paint; and exterior brick tuck pointing. This 1932 house will always need something!

Hiking

I have had the goal of at least a hike a week in recent years. I only made it to 49 in 2025, mainly due to health setbacks. Hip bursitis, and a complete cardiac work up for me, and neck surgery for my husband, kept us on shorter and easier walks for a while. I have noticed that I have much less stamina on hotter days, and we seem to have many more hotter days now.

Highlights:

March – Grass Widows at Rowena Crest, OR

April – Green meadows with Death Camas, Shooting Stars and many other wildflowers at Catherine Creek, WA…these meadows would burn in July….

April – First walk through the new hiker/biker tunnels at Mitchell Point, OR

May – Return to that one trail between Multnomah and Wahkeena Creeks, OR

June – Avalanche lilies on the Ant Hill Trail, Mt Hood, OR

July – Bear Grass near Picnic Rock, Mt Hood, OR

July – Elliot Moraine and Timberline Trail High Point, Mt Hood, OR

December – First return after the fires to Catherine Creek, WA

Travel

Travel was mostly local this year. We had to cancel plans for Paris, Switzerland, and Mt Rainier due to the previously mentioned health issues. We spent two lovely weeks in January and August at Bandon, on the southern Oregon Coast.

We visited family in Connecticut and Philadelphia in the fall.

And I spent two weeks in southern Utah in June, but that was mostly within health care settings, and too hot to go outside.

RIP

I will miss these family members who left too soon.

Etc…

2025 was worse than expected, with the government now being run by corrupt criminals who have a stranglehold on the checks and balances built into our government. Someday, someone will figure out why Congress and the Supreme Court won’t do their jobs (Epstein files?). In the meantime, people are protesting in the streets, and every avenue of progress has been set back; basic rights are denied to many people. I thought this was behind us! I wish I was living in that other reality, with a woman president, all people feeling respected as humans, climate change initiatives proceeding, and everyone learning to accept diversity as a natural part of the human species. In the meantime time I will do my bit to communicate, vote, knit, read, and share in resisting tyranny. In spite of everything, I have to hold an optimistic spark in my soul, for hope that we end 2026 on a brighter note!

December 2025 hiking

January 26, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We only went on two hikes in December, one in town, and one out in the eastern gorge.

12/1/2025 – Mt Tabor, Portland

On a sunny day, we drove to our nearest extinct volcano, and walked around its circumference and up to the top, taking in views, and getting a good leg stretch (2 miles, 200 feet). There are many trails that circle around and through the park, and many users, running, walking, and stair climbing. It is a great public space on the east side of Portland.

As we gained elevation, we got a western view toward downtown Portland across one of the reservoirs.

We continued upward on one of the forested trail to the top.

There is a view to Mt Hood through the trees near the summit.

We hiked down the northern slope, and got a peek at Mt St Helens.

The amphitheater near the parking lot has an outcrop of the volcanic layers.

We passed Joan of Arc, glittering defiantly in the sun, in her traffic circle, on the drive home.

12/23/2025 – Catherine Creek, WA

We went with our daughter to this favorite winter hiking spot. This is our second time here since the Burdoin Fire last July. This time, we walked the East Loop above the Arch, and also made a quick trip down to the waterfall viewpoint on the lower ADA trail. (3 miles, 450 feet).

At first we planned to walk the loop that returns by crossing the creek below the Arch, but we wanted to be sure the creek crossing was possible, so we went to look.

Catherine Creek crossing on the lower Arch trail. The waterfall-like step is actually the plank bridge, now broken and underwater. The road/trail was not accessible without serious wading. So we took the trail above the Arch, and then the eastern return loop.

Walking across the burned slopes toward the lower bridge across Catherine Creek. This one survived the fire.

Once we reached the slopes near the Arch, we could see across the Columbia River to the west,

Bitterroot foliage coming up through a rocky, mossy area that likely escaped burning. There were a few unburned areas within this mostly burned slope.

View from the top of the Arch, new fence in place.

We ate lunch on the rocky outcrop just north of the Arch, then continued our loop to the east, passing scorched pine trees.

We returned back across the lower bridge.

Then we took a quick walk down the paved ADA trail south of the parking area, to see the waterfall.

Catherine Creek Waterfall. This side of the road has dead, dry grasses on the slopes because it didn’t burn along the paved trail. But it looks like it did burn across the river.

We enjoyed this hike on an overcast but not rainy day. It was nice to spend some outdoor time with our daughter. And it will be interesting to watch the land here as it recovers from the fire damage.

December 2025

January 22, 2026April 22, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I managed to do many of the traditional December things this year, despite the lead up to the winter solstice being a little darker than usual, as I carried the grief of losing two family members in November, and the chaos of our national wrecking ball situation. In some ways, the traditions kept me going through the otherwise difficult days. The solstice arrived, bringing longer days and more light. And we thoroughly enjoyed a two week visit from our daughter.

Knitting:

I finished two pairs of gift socks, and then re-made a cowl into a felted bowl.

Gift socks, Patons Kroy scraps held double.

Lancelot Cowl, as finished last year, in a bulky alpaca yarn called Hobbii Apricity.

When I tried the cowl on this winter, it was just a bit too itchy for me. Since I knew the yarn would shrink and felt, I decided to unravel the last six rows and reknit it with a closed bottom into a bowl shape. Then I machine washed and dried it, and the fiber shrank and felted into a small bowl, with the textured stitches still visible in the fabric. I count it as a success!

Books:

I finished 8 books in December. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans was probably my favorite of the bunch. I enjoyed seasonal rereads of The Tailor of Gloucester and The Dark is Rising. I learned a lot about the Gilded Age lifestyle in Consuelo Vanderbilt’s autobiography – The Glitter and the Gold.

Museum Day:

The Portland Art Museum has just opened their newly expanded and remodeled gallery space. We bought a membership, and I hope to go monthly to see all the new exhibits and spaces. Today, we focused on the Rothko exhibit, where we saw examples of this Portland grown artist, from early career to the abstract art he is famous for. There was an adjacent exhibit presenting Abstraction Since Rothko.

I am always attracted to bright colors and patterns. And I love to see the close up view of the texture of the paint layers and brush strokes on the canvas. I am looking forward to looking at a lot of art next year.

Neighborhood walks:

The flowers of December sparkled amidst the holiday and protest decorations.

Holiday decorations somewhat overlapped with the ongoing protest signs. New this year were some birds, and some frogs.

Frog added into to this traditionally elaborate display

Celebrations:

The first December celebration was Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, on December 16th.

Long my favorite author! (Internet meme)

I have her ornament, which I bought at her house in Chawton, UK, hanging on my tree.

I slowly put all the decorations on the tree,

and had a lovely traditional Christmas dinner with long time friends.

We also went on a few outdoor walks and a hike, to be detailed in the next post.

On New Years Eve, we stopped on our way home from doing errands to look at our volcanoes from the top of Rocky Butte.

Clear and cold view to Mt Hood from Rocky Butte on New Year’s Eve.

We had a delightful Thai takeout dinner with our daughter and several of her childhood friends, who also happened to be in town for the holidays. Then they went out on the town for the night, and we were early to bed, ready to say goodbye to this difficult year, with hope for better things in 2026.

October 2025 Hiking

December 1, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Three hikes this month. Our fall hiking areas on the Washington side of the eastern Columbia River Gorge are still impacted by Burdoin Fire damage. We hiked twice on the Oregon side, and once in the Cascade foothills east of Salem.

10/14 – Deschutes River Trail, Oregon

Our usual loop, up to Ferry Springs, and then return along the Deschutes River (4.5 miles, 600 feet).

Blue sky today, a light breeze.

Walking along the Deschutes River. Reflections, a few water birds.

Rising up above the river, view to the confluence with the Columbia River.

Still losing my breath on the uphill. There are clumps of white and pink blooming buckwheat, yellow rabbit brush, and a few scrabbling lupines. Dried out balsamroots and thistles punctuate the slopes of golden grass where it was blackened and burned a few years ago. Very little sign of the fires now, so much has regrown. Once again, it is peaceful out here – down by the river there are many people fishing for steelhead; we saw one train on the western bank; otherwise a rock wren, a raven call, and us.

We crossed over Ferry Springs, then looked down toward the river.

Looking down on Ferry Springs as it joins the Deschutes River.

And the view to the Columbia River and Columbia Hills.

Almost back to river level, looking through the arch.

Back along the river, walking north –

Milkweed seeds getting ready to disperse.

We appreciated the golden slopes we just walked down, especially after seeing the blackened slopes at Catherine Creek. As we drove back west along south side of the Columbia River, I took a few shots of the Burdoin Fire area in Washington that was burned last summer. There are some very black slopes, but also some unburned areas. I can’t quite see my favorite trees from this view.

Catherine Creek hiking area, from I-84, westbound.

Catherine Creek area. The Arch and Tracy Hill.

10/20 – Silver Falls State Park, Oregon

Another place we have hiked many times. Today we saw six of the ten famous falls (5.8miles, 600 feet).

South Falls

Looking downstream from behind the falls. This time of year the spray doesn’t soak us.

Lower South Falls – We continued downstream along the South Fork of Silver Creek, eventually descending switchbacks and staircases to walk behind Lower South Falls.

Lower North Falls – Next, we passed the confluence of the North and South Forks of Silver Creek, and began walking upstream along the North Fork.

Drake Falls – Continuing upstream along the North Fork…

Autumnal trail – lots of big leaf maple leaves drifting down.

We only get a sideways view of Drake Falls from the viewing platform.

Middle North Falls – A side trail goes under the falls, but we didn’t take it today.

Winter Falls – From here, we crossed the river again, and passed the nearly dry Winter Falls while ascending to the rim and walking back to our starting point.

10/28 – Tom McCall Point, Oregon

One of the prime wildflower locations of spring; orange oak leaves color the slopes on this quiet autumn day (3.6 miles, 1000 Feet).

Our destination – Tom McCall Point, through the mist.

Looking north from the lower plateau – Rowena Curves below; Lyle, Washington across the Columbia River.

Bright orange oak leaves; Memaloose Hills to the west.

Zooming in on the shoulders of Mt Adams – the most we would see of it today.

We startled a small family of deer near the summit.

Summit of Tom McCall Point, covered with clumps of dried balsamroot foliage.

The neon orange oak leaves that brightened our day.

October 2025 at home

November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from Philadelphia during the first week in October. I have been at home for the remainder of the month, watching the Halloween enthusiasm and the changing foliage fill the neighborhood with color and whimsy, against a background of quiet and not so quiet resistance throughout our city.

Around the neighborhood…

Halloween decorations. Some folks go all out. New or notable for me this year:

Fall Colors:

Creatures:

Sidewalk of the month:

In our yard:

Knitting

I finished three hats for donation, a scarf, and a pair of socks:

Books

I finished eight books in October:

Ribbitting with the resistance in PDX…

National ‘leadership’ continues smashing everything, like a giant wrecking ball. I am proud of my Portland people for exhibiting a mostly peaceful resistance, responding with whimsy and relentless persistence. Some highlights of the month:

Some of our famous Portland Frogs, from Instagram.

And my son took this picture in Paris, France!

Our hikes of the month are in the next post.