Crawford Oaks Trail (18-9)

March 5, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Columbia Hills State Park, WA, Vista Loop 3/3/2018 (#9)

We walked the lower loop from the Crawford Oaks trailhead, passing Eight Mile Falls.

Eight Mile Falls from the trailhead

Signs along the way document the depth of the Missoula floodwaters – always an exercise for the imagination that this landscape was scoured many times!

Eight Mile Falls from the trail

Back toward the river and Horse Thief Butte

Eight Mile Falls from the trail

The trail continues on a oak lined road along the creek, then crosses the creek.

Gold Stars and oak trees

We then headed south toward the river on the Vista Loop, along along the Missoula Flood scoured benches of volcanic rock, with views east and west in wide angle view.

View east along the Columbia River

West view back toward The Dalles; shoulders of Mt Hood behind the clouds on the right.

The trail crosses the power line corridor a couple of times.

Mt Hood is behind those clouds.

The crest of the Columbia Hills was draped with snow.

Dalles Mountain Ranch and Columbia Hills

Early spring blooms were sprinkled throughout the dried grasslands.

Gold Stars

gold stars

grass widows

parsley

fillaree, salt and pepper

yellow bells

A lovely 5 mile/1000foot hike – I had no problems, but I could feel my quads and triceps were a bit out of shape.

Quilting

I finished the crosshatch quilting in the center of the Jane Austen quilt, and made the binding. Still pondering center motifs.

Knitting

One sock done, another started. The strong heel fits fine – not sure why it isn’t more widely known, especially for people who don’t like to pick up stitches, and don’t like the wrap and turn short row heel.

Also, another scrappy tortilla is in the pile.

In my garden:

The first wind flower

In the meantime:

It has been almost two months since my surgery. I feel almost normal, but unfortunately, the growth hormone levels have not actually decreased as low as expected. It could still happen, but if not, then there will be trials of medication in store for me. I am visualizing a completely healthy and functional pituitary.

Late season snow (18-8)

February 27, 2018 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

More Snow in Portland 2/26/2018

Intermittent snow and rain all week. I went for several long walks in the neighborhood but no hiking adventures.

Quilting Progress:

Stitch in the ditch on the Jane Austen replica quilt. I have finished the center sashing with an off-white 50 wt thread, and am working on the outside diamonds using the same diamond pattern and a navy 50 wt thread. I still haven’t decided what quilting design to use for the center medallion. And I am contemplating the binding choices. I would like to finish this quilt before we (hopefully) see the real Jane Austen quilt in England later this year.

Knitting Finish!

Bound off the Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward shawl (Girl From The Grocery Store by Joji Locatelli), and posted it as a Ravellenics WIPs Dancing project (Ravelry username knitwish).

And another win!

I won a copy of Margaret Goes Modern, a collection of quilting short stories, from the author, Frances O’Roark Dowell! Frances is one of my favorite quilting podcasters and a great storyteller. In her podcast, The Off Kilter Quilt, Frances speaks about her quilts in progress, her writing projects (she is a successful children/young adult author, recently branching into quilt-inspired adult fiction), and her adventures in parenting and other life adventures. I listen to many knitting and quilting podcasts, preferring the homegrown variety where the podcaster shares a bit of their own life, complaints or noncomplaints about the weather, jobs, traffic, etc, along with their creative endeavors. From these podcasts I feel I get some “real” news about life in other parts of the world from the point of view of someone living there. I am looking forward to reading this book!

A Painterly Mist (18-7)

February 20, 2018February 20, 2018 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Catherine Creek Arch Loop, WA 2/16/2018 (#7)

Sunshine and clouds, spring flowers and just enough misting rain to create wandering rainbows.

We walked the arch loop counterclockwise while noticing the latest spring flowers to emerge. Purple grass widows sprinkled everywhere in the green, and the first parsleys – yellow, white and purple, as well as white saxigfrage, gold stars, pink prairie stars, and the whorls of green bitterroot foliage.

Grass widows, gold stars

Salt and pepper

Columbia deserts parsley

Saxifrage

Bitterroot foliage

Gold and prairie stars

Yellow parsley

The bare oak trees around the arch stand out in a textured gray palette.

After crossing the bridge we sidestepped up the next hill to the fairyland ponds.

Constantly changing light created a sense of walking through a painting.

A short, easy hike and I feel I am slowly regaining stamina. 2.5 miles, 500 feet.

More rainbows and clouds driving through the gorge:

Quilting: Thread choices for the Jane Austen Quilt

Knitting: Girl in the Nuerosurgery Ward Shawl – Ravellenic WIP Dancing.

Shawl with light dusting of snow

New socks: Berocco Sox yarn knit top down with a simple k7p1 leg, then a Strong Heel – a new to me technique. If it doesn’t fit I will rip back and go with a traditional heel flap.

First daffodils in my front yard.

36. Labyrinth Hiking

December 20, 2017December 20, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The Labyrinth Trail, WA 12/16/2017 (#58)

East out of the Portland mist, through the frosted central gorge to the open dry eastern gorge, this time to the Labyrinth, trailhead at the Hwy 14/Old Hwy 8 intersection at Rowland Lake.

Waterfall along Old Hwy 8

The aptly named trail winds gently upward between columnar basalt buttes and a cascading stream.

Bare trees, gold grasses, dried flower seed heads, lichen splotched talus piles, higher and higher, rising to views to the south of the Columbia River, the orchards, fields and cliffs around Mosier, Oregon.

To the east the open skies of the Columbia Plateau beckon; to the west, the lowering clouds of western Oregon gloam, this whole area scoured by the Missoula floods. We explore some of the side trails around the waterfall,

at the base of a columnar basalt butte,

and to our lunchstop viewpoint.

Then on up a bit more,

past the cliff that is covered with purple desert parsley in spring,

View toward Coyote Wall

past the oak tree on the trail’s edge,

to the next high point.

Wind rising, we agree to turn around. Down we go, light changing, shoulders of Hood briefly exposed, back to the old highway then home.

LOOKBACK

During our first hike here in June of 2012, I was enchanted, just exploring the bones of the landscape, the windings between rock exposures then covered with halos of pinkish grass.

May 2012

We attained a high viewpoint back down to Rowland Lake and the river and began to realize the potential. Future trips saw the cliffs and mounds adorned with yellows and purples of spring wildflowers,

Mt Hood from Old Hwy 8 approach trail, May 2012

Balsam root near Hwy 8, April 2014

April 2014

Grass Widows, March 2017

Gold stars, March 2017

Buttercups in oak woodland, March 2016

Columbia Desert Parsley, April 2014

the white snows of winter,

December 2015

and actual rainbows.

December 2016

Some comparisons: the waterfall –

May 2012

March 2017

December 2015

the oak tree –

May 2012

December 2015

We also brought back poison oak and left behind one contact lens. We have explored a few of the side trails – there are many more to look forward to.

CRAFTING

Knitting the green shawl: finished another tortilla and the Sonic Six hat.

Decorating the tree – Diamond Log Cabin Christmas Tree Skirt (Quilt In A Day pattern) made in the early 2000’s. I have learned a lot about color and fabric choices since then, but It still fits our decor and I like it well enough to continue to use it. The rest of the tree decorating is waiting for one child to be home from college.

35. Dreaming of White River, 12/11/2017

December 12, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

A little under the weather, so I missed the hike with Dan and a friend to White River on Mt Hood. He sent me this photo from our usual lunch stop:

LOOKBACK:

This is a favorite adventure because the grade is gentle and the mountain is in view almost all the way up to a spectacular lunch spot. A few photos from previous years:

March 2012 – Close up of the peak of Mt Hood

February 2013

January 2014

March 2016

March 2017

Crafting:

A little of each- knitting, plying, stitching the leftover clams for the back of Atmospheric River, and what fun! deciding to use Fossil Fern as the focus fabric for my long planned hue shift quilt.

Flyaway Twist: begin the brioche, with lifelines

Panel of leftover clams for the otherwise light blue backing for the Atmospheric River quilt

Color wheel of fabrics for a new quilt

Other adventures: Mostly a waiting week – I tried one new med, and also contracted a common cold from my son, so snowshoeing did not seem like fun.

34. Lyle Cherry Orchard and Other Adventures

December 5, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail, Washington 12/3/2017 (#57)

What joy to step with boots on the trail again today, – a bright blue sky, bitter wind, December-low-angle light sparkling on the water day -in the eastern Columbia River Gorge. Trail of dirt and stone and oak leaf duff winding up alternately through golden grasslands and black cliffs of the Missoula flood scoured columnar Columbia Plateau basalts. White caps on the river, bare oak branches, luminous grey clouds to the west raining on the Cascade crest, with only the eastern flank of Mt Hood visible in the clouds if you know where to look. Sounds of wind and ravens and the occasional train. Deep memories of where the yellow bells, purple grass widows, golden stars (and poison oak!) will be come spring….

Approach trail

Views from the Convict Road:

East view

West view

Views from the lower plateau:

Along the trail to the upper tier:

Views from our high point:

The way down:

And looking back up from the Convict Road to where we were:

Some details:

We hiked about 3.5 miles, 1000 feet today. We turned back at the cliff high point where the trail heads inland then farther east toward the remnants of the old cherry orchard.

We saw a beautiful interplay of sun and clouds while driving back west.

West view from the Hood River bridge into the gorge

LOOKBACK:

Spring wildflowers:

Yellow Bells on the lower trail, March 2017

Gold stars along the upper switchbacks, March 2017

Grass widows at the upper viewpoint, March 2017

Fall colors:

Poison Oak, October 2016

Orange oak leaves, October 2016

CRAFTING

I distracted myself this week by sewing all the clamshells together on my Atmospheric River quilt.

Each clamshell is 17.5″wide; quilt is 87.5″ square.

I began knitting on Emily’s green scarf.

Other Adventures this week were less pleasant, including a horizontal trip in an MRI machine, several blood draws and waiting rooms, as well as scheduling a surgery date in January to remove something that a doctor discovered by chance while looking for something else. What luck, really – if all goes as planned the long term prognosis is great and there will be no lasting harm. Still it is an unexpected and unasked for journey. So after the emotional trauma of this week, it was with great joy that I ventured on to a dirt and stone trail today in the blue sky, bitter wind, golden hills, and black cliffs of the eastern gorge.

SaveSave

30. Coyote Wall, WA

November 8, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Little Moab trail on a misty day. Nov 6, 2017 (#53)

Monday was supposed to be clear in the eastern gorge after a rainy weekend, but the clouds did not move out until afternoon. Fortunately, the misting rain at the Coyote Wall trailhead dried up about the time we got our boots on. We walked the old road section, admiring the remains of fall colors, then wound our way up the cliffs of the Little Moab trail.

Dried flower seed heads in the grass,

lichen and moss on the rocks,

fog on the top of the wall,

all the views across the windless glassy Columbia River to the Mosier/Lyle/Rowena viewpoints.

‘Twas a good hike at Coyote Wall, with only a few other hikers and bikers sprinkled through our day.

4.6 miles/1300’

LOOKBACK:

We have hiked here many times – to see the first grass widows in February,

February 2015

the brilliant balsamroot in April,

April 2017

the autumnal colors of fall, as we saw today, and snow in winter:

December 2015

I am hoping someday the trail below the wall will reopen to hikers – it would be a lovely loop.

Knitting, spinning, quilting:

I have spun more singles and plied, skeined and washed my first practice yarn.

I cast on a Sonic Six hat with the tubular 1×1 rib cast on in Total Eclipse yarn and am enjoying knitting the slip stitch pattern.

I finished the fourth of the blue and purple washcloths.

I have sewn the first two rows of the Atmospheric River clamshell quilt – so far, so good.

28. Atmospheric River Quilt / Tryon Creek Hike 10/22/2107

October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Heavy rain predicted for the weekend. Meteorologists describe an atmospheric river headed our way. Hiking questionable. Time for some quilting!

I have finally drawn a successful template for my giant clamshell quilt, and spent some enjoyable moments sorting fabric for the clams. It began with a stack that I purchased approximately 20 years ago at a quilt shop in Bend, Oregon – blue-green-purple with gold metallic accents in geometric patterns.

I have used small pieces in scrap quilts, but have been more recently plotting to use these in a giant clam shell quilt, inspired by one I saw on a bed at the Metolius River Lodge in August of 2012. That one had 19 1/2″ wide clams.

The dimensions of my available stash limit my clam size to 18 inches maximum. It took me a while to design the clam shell template. I resorted to creating a compass with a piece of graph paper, a pin, and a mechanical pencil. I traced the half-clam onto freezer paper, and will use the freezer paper template to cut 40 whole clams on the fold, and 20 different half clams, 5 each left, right, top and bottom. I watched the Latifah Saafir YouTube video on sewing clams without pins, but I have already made drunkard path, apple core and half-circle quilts, so I am familiar with the technique. These curves will be relatively easy to sew, I hope, with such large circles.

I visually selected a palette of cool colors to go with the focus fabrics. It makes me happy that I can make this a charm quilt in the sense that each fabric is used only once. After cutting the large clams from my larger fabrics, I placed the smaller pieces around the tentative layout to audition for the half clams.

As I looked at the flood of cool, watery colors on the floor, the perfect name popped into mind – Atmospheric River. In the week ahead I plan to finish cutting the half clams and finalize the layout. Then, on to the sewing.

Tryon Creek Hike 10/22/2017 (#51)

Meanwhile, by Sunday afternoon, the atmospheric river had passed over our area, and we headed to Tryon Creek State Park, only 20 minutes away, for a brief hike in the drippy forest. This beautifully maintained park is one of the oases of nature surrounding Portland. A maze of trails and bridges cross and recross Tryon Creek, providing peaceful moments.

Big leaf and vine maples showing fall color:

Vine maple

Big leaf maple

Moss, fern and cedar:

Muddy creek reflections:

About 3 miles/300 feet.

LOOKBACK:

We have hiked in Tryon Creek many times – it is famous for blooming Trillium in the spring.

Trillium at Tryon Creek, April 2015

OTHER CRAFTING:

Kimono robe and socks I made for my daughter for her birthday.

27. Cape Horn Loop, Columbia River Gorge, Washington

October 18, 2017October 23, 2017 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Cape Horn Loop October 14, 2017 (#50 – hikes in 2017)

On a beautiful fall day, after several days of rain, we went with friends to the Cape Horn trail just east of Washougal, WA. This view shows the massive cliffs of Cape Horn from Angel’s Rest on the Oregon side of the river. Our trail will follow the road down to the lower green fields, then traverse west along the lower cliffs before heading back up hill to the top of the mountain.

October 2014 Cape Horn viewed from Angel’s Rest

Fog draped the summit when we arrived, so we chose to hike clockwise around the loop, our first views being the highway 14 viaduct above us as we completed the road walk.

From the road, the trail then enters the forest, and emerges onto the open mossy scree slopes above the cliffs adjacent to the waterfall (which was at very low flow).

We reached the lowest part of the trail above the Columbia River, and could look east to see Cigar Rock.

Eastward view toward Beacon Rock, Phoca Rock; fog topped cliffs

We continued across the cliffs, and opted for the westernmost loop that leads onto a promontory above the western entrance to the train tunnel that cuts through the cliff beneath us.

From here, the trail heads upward through various switchback sections, with spurs to the Oak and Waterfall viewpoints, then through the trail tunnel under highway 14, and finally up to the Nancy Russell Overlook, where plenty of other hikers were resting.

We saw two giant baguettes being transported by barge (or was it sawdust)?

There is a distinct sandbar in the river channel below glinting in the sun.

Next, the traverse along property boundaries to the actual highest point – Pioneer viewpoint. By this time the fog had evaporated.

View to the east upriver from Pioneer Point

View to west from Pioneer Point, including Hwy 14 viaduct

From there it is all downhill, down the steep switchbacks to the trailhead. We were a bit early for the fall color display, and saw only one flower, a penstemon, whereas in the spring the trail is lined by hanging gardens of wildflowers.

The last penstemon

It was a lovely day for a hike. On a side note, the turftoe plate I was using in my right boot seemed to delay the onset of pain in my arthritic big toe for a couple of miles, and I hope this tool will allow me to continue with longer hikes.

Total for the day: 7.5 miles, 1350 feet.

Look back:

We have hiked this trail several times – though we have only completed the full loop a couple of times because the lower cliff area is closed from February to July for peregrine falcon nesting. In 2014, when we hiked the lower loop, we saw a train exit the tunnel beneath us.

The most striking comparison is the new view of burned up Angel’s Rest, almost directly across from Cape Horn on the Oregon side of the river. Green in the past, it is now brown.

Angel’s Rest 2014

Angel’s Rest 2017

Crafting:

I have knit two more tortillas and a square purple wash cloth, as well as mended four pairs of hand knit socks in time for winter.

I have been planning my giant clam shell quilt, but have not yet made a satisfactory template. More on that later.

10. Saddle Mountain with a bit of quilting and knitting

June 26, 2017 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

Saddle Mountain 6/23/2017 (#34)

Saddle Mountain is in the coast range, so has slightly different suite of flowers than what we see in the Gorge or Cascades. We have hiked Saddle Mountain in different seasons, and today we expected a mid-wildflower season bloom. I found 66 different flowers that I could name, a new maximum for this year. The trail switchbacks through both forest and open meadow slopes and cliffs, 5 miles round trip and 1600 feet elevation.

Top of Saddle Mountain as seen from the trailhead.

Dan in the cliff meadows on the way up.

Distinctive knob along the trail with views toward the ocean.

Looking north toward Mt. Rainier from near the top.

Our friend having lunch on the lower summit ridge, with Mt. St Helens and Mt. Adams beyond.

View from the top to Astoria and the ocean

View to the north from the summit with three volcanos

Some of the wildflowers that stood out to me:

Nodding onion

Olympic onion

Monkey flower and rosy plectritis

Selfheal

Oregon sunshine

Oregon checker mallow and paintbrush

Saxifrage

Western feather bells

Blue eyed grass and chickweed

Buttercups

Tiger lily and bistort

Prairie smoke

Fleabane

Clasping twisted stalk

Lewisia columbiana var. rupicola

GPS track

Flower list

Quilting progress:

Sneak peak at my Jane Austen tribute quilt using Smithsonian reproduction fabrics, many years in the making, and now basted and ready for quilting.

Knitting progress:

Original 1280×1280

Compressed before import copy

Crazy eights dishcloth (pattern by Julie Tarsh, Ravelry), made from kitchen cotton. The second photo is a compressed version of the picture in my quest for better blog photos.