Four views of Wy’east, August, 2022

September 7, 2022December 15, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Our four August hikes all had views to Mt Hood and to some of the other Cascade volcanoes.

from Lookout Mountain

Mts Hood and Jefferson from Three Corner Rock, WA

from Elk Meadows

from the East Eliot Moraine near Cooper Spur Shelter

Location Map

August 4 – Lookout Mountain

We took this short hike with our daughter on a hot day. There were late season wildflowers, views from Mt Rainier to the Three Sisters, and a head on view of the east side of Mt Hood.

High Prairie Trailhead

Paintbrush, Sitka valerian, and asters in the meadows

Mt Hood from the trail pinnacle. Elk Meadows are on the other side of the ridge in the middle distance.

Mt Jefferson and the Sisters to the south

Scarlet gillia, Oregon sunshine, buckwheat and penstemon on the upper slopes

August 16 – Three Corner Rock, WA

Another hot day with a slow pace. Again we could see three Cascade volcanoes to the north, and Mts Hood and Jefferson to the south beyond the telecommunication towers. Most of the way we were on the Pacific Crest Trail. We were passed by about twenty north bound hikers on their first Washington trail section.

Approaching Three Corner Rock

View south to Mts Hood and Jefferson

View north to Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier and Mt Adams

August 22 – Cloud Cap to the Timberline Trail High Point

A favorite walk, up the glacier moraine, toward the Eliot Glacier, then along the edge of the sky to the High Point on the Timberline Trail. Every year I that am lucky enough to hike here I take the same pictures, but they are always meaningful to me!

Mt Hood comes into view after a short, steep hike up to the crest of the East Eliot Moraine.

Mt Hood, Eliot Glacier

Washington Cascade Peaks to the north – St Helens, Rainier and Adams.

This year I noticed a humongous boulder perched on the edge of the moraine…

We continued up the moraine, taking in the Eliot Glacier views before turning south toward the Cooper Spur Shelter.

Foot of the Eliot Glacier in the valley

Foot of the mountain glacier

crevasses

a waterfall

more crevasses

Peak up close

From the Shelter we walked south on the Timberline Trail, up to the high point at about 7400 feet.

Cooper Spur Shelter

Not much snow left on the trail

Looking up about 4000 feet to the top of the mountain

Penstemon

Ground squirrel

View south from our rest stop on the ridge near the trail high point. The Timberline Trail goes down toward Gnarl Ridge. Mt Jefferson and the Three Sisters are on the horizon.

While looking back up at Mt Hood from the high point I could hear water flowing out from the snow banks.

Melting snow on this hot day.

We made our way back along the edge of the sky…

We continued down the Timberline Trail below the shelter instead of going up to the moraine.

Long slope between the peak and Cooper Spur Shelter.

Our down trail goes below the shelter,

toward the Cloud Cap campground.

Near Tilly Jane Creek, I looked up at the East Eliot Moraine and saw the precarious boulder I had noticed on the way up.

Precarious boulder perched on the edge of the East Eliot Moraine

Will it still be here next year?

Late season gentian and monkey flowers in Tilly Jane Creek

August 30 – Elk Meadows

Our first time to this location in a while. Most of the meadows were beyond bloom, except for late season gentians, fireweed, and goldenrod.

Clark Creek, with a beautiful bridge.

Newton Creek is more difficult to cross.

This log was fairly easy to cross, but more difficult if one has fear of heights or balance problems. One of the reasons we haven’t been here for a while.

The seven to nine switchbacks after Newton Creek can be a shady hanging garden. On this hot day, most of the flowers were past bloom, but we did appreciate the shade.

Third switchback viewpoint

Nearby crosshatch tree

Fringed grass of Parnassus and aster

Dried out cow parsley, aster and goldenrod

Lunch view from the first meadow opening – plenty of gentian in the mostly dry meadows.

A scrub jay watched us eat lunch.

After lunch we circled round the perimeter trail, then went to the shelter in the middle of Elk Meadows. We saw plenty of aster seed heads, some arnica in the shady areas,

also fireweed,

and false hellebore.

Wide meadows near the shelter had swaths of goldenrod.

View back to the shelter, and to the burned forest atop Blue Grass Ridge.

Mt Hood close up!

We returned the way we came, back down the switchbacks, over the log bridge, planning to return sometime soon to see fall colors, and maybe to extend our hike up to Gnarl Ridge and the Timberline Trail.

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.

April 2022

May 3, 2022September 11, 2024 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from our east coast trip early in the month, happy to see our bulbs and crabapple tree in full bloom.

Checker lilies

Tulips

Crabapple

On April 11th we had an unusual late season snowstorm covering all the blossoms. It melted within a day, and though hail, wind and rain hit sporadically that week, we were also treated to several rainbows.

Snow on the crabapple blossoms

and tulips

Hail and crabapple blossoms

Sunny deluge

Rainbow

We hiked the Lyle Cherry Orchard West Loop on April 6th, – our second time on this new trail. Today we saw the early spring flowers, the always spectacular views, and a lot less wind compared to our hike here last December!

Eastern gorge, red poison oak beginning to leaf out.

Death camas in abundance throughout the lower plateau.

Death camus

Mt Adams from the upper trail

Pink filaree carpeting the upper oak groves

shooting stars

glacier lilies

fiddleneck

View to the western gorge and early balsam root blooms.

Balsamroot

On April 15th, we took a quick loop through Tryon Creek on our annual spring hike to see the trillium and skunk cabbage….

trillium

skunk cabbage

salmonberry

Big leaf maple, Tryon Creek

April 21st to 27th we travelled to the southwest, Nevada and Utah, the subject of my next post.

On return to Portland, the neon green of our city glowed from the airplane window. I was pleased to see the dogwoods and azaleas in the neighborhood in full bloom.

Tulips

My knitting this month:

April Gnome – Gno Fun Like Gnome Fun (Sarah Schira) – made for an east coast friend.

Backcountry hat – Guild service project

Morning Dew hat – Guild service project

Mercury Sox

New yarn from Local Yarn Shop Day

And…I celebrate the approval of our new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson…though her presence will probably not be enough to thwart the regressive decisions looming….

The wisdom of Ruth Bader Ginsberg

January 2022 in Portland

February 4, 2022January 25, 2024 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

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.

December 2021, Walking adventures

December 31, 2021 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

We went on a couple of hikes, and walked among Van Gogh paintings in a digital art experience.

Lyle Loop, 12/2/2021, 5 miles, 1250 feet

Clockwise track

A new loop has been carved out of the Nature Conservancy Lyle Cherry Orchard property. We tried it on a windy (but not tooo windy) day- lovely blue sky and puffy clouds our backdrop. We climbed up the familiar tiers of basalt flows, above the Convict Road,

Looking down on the Convict Road

Windy blue skies above

then headed west, to a new trail carved into the grassy slope.

It curves around the mountain above the town of Lyle.

As the trail circled to the north, Mt Adams appeared on the horizon.

Zooming in

On the northern side of the loop, out of the wind, we walked through lovely oak woodlands, occasionally switching back past views of Lyle, and of Mt Adams again.

Lyle, Klickitat River delta

Lyle town sign, in white rocks

Mt Adams again,

now with clouds.

Eventually, our trail intersected the Cherry Orchard Loop, and we descended on the familiar trail.

A lovely day on the sunny side of the mountains.

Tracy Hill, Catherine Creek, WA, 12/8/2021, 5.3 miles, 1200 feet

Our counterclockwise trail map

Calm and bright; clouds topping the highest hills; some blue sky distant:

some of our plant friends in their winter garb:

bitteroot

parsley

Ravens and cows:

ravens

cows

Columbia River shining:

oak and ponderosa sharing the sky:

Ent on the skyline:

It’s very birdie in this section, chirping and calling, flashes of blue, rust, white and black between trees, I can’t quite see them; blue jays and woodpeckers?

Up Tracy Hill’s open slopes:

View up Major Canyon, to the east

Seating at the top of Tracy Hill

A well earned rest

and down again:

halfway down

above the arch

Looking back at the top of Tracy Hill

It felt a bit like walking in a painting. I was interested to compare it with walking in digital paintings the next day…

Beyond VanGogh, Oregon Convention Center, 12/8/2021 – We did actually walk in pictures, as the digital imagery swirled around us, and the paintings painted themselves on the walls. All beautiful and colorful, and an excellent reminder of Van Gogh’s work. I loved seeing:

the flowers that melded together then blew away:

the swirls of starry night whirling:

walls of self portraits:

buildings appearing from simple sketched lines to full color paint strokes:

signatures writing themselves in a patchwork of squares:

dark starry skies dripping down the walls:

However, Beyond Van Gogh was not a wilderness experience. I enjoyed the visual imagery, but would have liked to see it in an Imax setting. Perhaps if we had been stationary, I would have felt more in control regarding Covid precautions, especially now that omicron is spreading. There were too many people wandering around in the hall. I was constantly checking over my shoulder to get away from someone standing tooo close with their mask slipping down. I guess I’m not ready to resume life in the peopled world yet.

For the rest of December it has been raining, and now is cold (for us) and snowing. Not conducive to driving to the trails or hiking. I’ve mainly been taking neighborhood walks in the brief dry spells. I will be glad to return to walking in the real hills after this Canadian cold front moves on.

12/14/2021 Waiting for the winter solstice…

December 17, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes near Vancouver Lake, WA

I had heard rumors, and we had a day with some sunshine amidst the weeks of rain…

Sandhill cranes and snow geese near Frenchman’s Bar

We found a couple of view points through the berms and fencing around the Columbia Land Trust cornfields where we could see the flocks of birds wintering there. We saw the cloud of white geese stir up, then settle.

Sandhill cranes were grazing near the cornfield, often flying in groups of three…

We were using our zoom lenses, far from the birds, but could hear the honking of the geese, and that special purring trill of the sand hill cranes. And were grateful to see and hear them!

Meanwhile…

New York Times notice today:

November 2021 report…

December 4, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

A month that sped by, interludes of rain and wind and another atmospheric river, a few hikes, some knitting, and a family Thanksgiving celebration indoors…

Hikes:

November 5th – Wildwood Trail, miles 0 to 1.5, Portland, OR

On a sunny afternoon, we walked the first section of the Wildwood Trail as part of a 3 mile loop. We saw some late fall color, a bald eagle, and a few other interesting trees.

liquidambar

oak

bald eagle

Redwood trees

Huggable!

Monkey puzzle trees

Not huggable!

I only have about 3 miles left to have completed all 30 miles of the trail.

November 10th – Catherine Creek – Bitterroot/Stringbean/Rowland Wall trails, WA

Another 4.5 mile loop on a sunny day in the eastern Gorge, Washington side.

Up the Bitterroot Trail, view to Catherine Creek Arch.

Oak groves on the west side of Rowland Wall.

Spotted towhee

Lunch view to the east toward Rowland Wall

another towhee?

Handsome old tree snag

Westward view

Back over Rowland Wall

Orchards of Mosier

We took a quick stop to check out the bald eagle nesting grounds on the nearby Klickitat River, knowing it was probably too early to see them.

No bald eagles yet,

but plenty of Osage Oranges,

and some small birds in the bushes.

Three bushtits

Spotted towhee

November 18th – Deschutes River Trail, OR

A two hour drive to get out of the rain – a pleasant 5 mile walk with friends…

Canada geese near the trailhead

The river level is high!

Some fall colors along the banks

Cliff views as we start uphill…

View back to the river mouth.

November 23rd – Stonehenge, WA

Again we drove east, looking for good weather. We found sun, but too much wind! We drove through the wind power installations in the hills, then stopped for our lunch break at the Stonehenge replica/ WWI Memorial near Maryhill, WA.

Rainbow and white caps on the Columbia River, from the Hood River Bridge.

Driving through wind power country…

Stonehenge Memorial out on a bluff over the Columbia River…

West toward Hood River

Eastward views

North…

Sun on the cliffs near Lyle, WA, as we drive back west into the rain.

Thanksgiving:

We celebrated with friends,

Thanksgiving table, 2021

Some turkeys were not eaten

while this bird feasted on the rudbeckia seedheads in our front yard:

Knitting

Mostly on a brioche project. I have become quite experienced at repairing knitted purls and vice versa.

Neighborhood

Many walks during the dry intervals. Leaves saying goodbye…

and this guy looking to the future…

The rest of October, 2021: knitting, neighborhood, more hikes…

November 3, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

A transitional month – the last of the summer flowers, leaves turning and falling, more rain, an atmospheric river event. We got our Covid booster shots, are poised for reentry, again, again, again, again….

Knitting, etc:

I knitted some little creatures – a gnome, three cats and a witch, and finished a pair of socks. My collection of twelve hats and a cowl are blocked and ready for donation to a local women’s shelter. I sewed potholders and a door light curtain for my daughter.

Witch and Cat (Susan B Anderson)

Mystery gnome Gnorwen (Sarah Schira)

Twelve hats and a cowl for donation

Weaving Socks (verybusymonkey)

New potholders for a gift

Tiny Speckled Window Cat (Sara Elizabeth Kellner) for a gift

Another Tiny Window Cat for me

Around the neighborhood:

Colors of the season:

Sunflowers

Crabapples

Two more hikes, besides our Mt Adams and Eagle Creek adventures:

With more frequent rain in western Oregon, we go east of the mountains, beyond the rain shadow.

10/21/2021 Tom McCall Point, Oregon: Orange oak trees, views of Mt Adams and Mt Hood, and a surprise viewing of a buck near the top of the mountain.

Tom McCall Point

Parsley Alley

Oak leaves

Oak tree

Memaloose Hills

Mt Adams, Washington slopes

Mt Adams

Mt Hood

Buck

Dried balsam root and puffy clouds

Summit view

10/27/2021 The Labyrinth, Washington: A saunter with our son through some of my favorite basalt piles and oak groves on an overcast day with sun breaks.

Oak grove

Orchards of Mosier

Friendly tree

Columbia River Gorge

New Zealand Albatross update: The chick Tiaki that I watched in the webcam from the time it was laid as an egg last fall, to its fledging in September 2021, has flown across the South Pacific Ocean to the coast of South America.

Screenshot from the NZ/DOC tracking page.

And some inspiration for staying positive…

Internet meme – author unknown.

Three Fall Hikes near Mt Adams, WA Oct. 6-8, 2021

October 26, 2021 / margaretquilts / 3 Comments

We stayed two nights in Trout Lake, Washington, to be closer to some far flung trailheads in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The distance may not be far, in miles, but the nature of the roads requires slow and patient driving. The trails were beautiful, in their fall colors, despite a a bit of rain and early snow.

Trail location map

Lewis River Falls – October 6th

Knowing it would probably rain, we chose a waterfall hike through the forest. This area is extremely popular in summer. However, on this rainy fall day, we had the trail entirely to ourselves beyond the Lower Falls Overlooks near the campground.

Lower Falls: We looked from above, then from one of the downstream side trails.

Lower Falls from the overlook

Closer view of the holes in the rocky platform

Fallen leaves near the downstream viewpoint

The Lower Falls were mesmerizing:

Lower Lewis River Falls

We walked back upstream along the Lewis River for about three miles, toward the Upper Falls. We passed the Lower Falls again:

Lower Falls with a bit of fall color

We found a beach during a pause in the rain for our lunch break.

Lunch rock

Rock hopper nearby

We continued upstream to the Middle Falls:

Rainy trail – the trees sheltered us much of the time.

Middle Lewis River Falls

The main channel cuts into the rocky bench below the falls.

We passed Copper Creek Falls, a tributary to the Lewis River:

Copper Creek Falls

We paused for a rest at the Upper Falls lower viewpoint:

Upper Lewis River Falls

From here we turned back, retracing our steps through the woods, quite satisfied that we have seen most of the Lewis River Falls.

Sun breaking through on the return hike.

We drove on various Gifford Pinchot National Forest roads to our lodging in Trout Lake. These roads were very slow going, shifting from paved to gravel and extremely potholed!

Killen Creek Meadows, Mt Adams – October 7th

We woke to a glorious blue sky day! The mountain was out, and we looked forward to our hike to Killen Creek Meadows on the northwest flanks of Mt Adams.

Mt Adams from Trout Lake

The Killen Creek Meadows to High Camp trail begins in the forest, then emerges into tiers of meadows. We started at about 4500 feet elevation, ascending to about 6000 feet on the 12,281 foot tall stratovolcano.

Lots of red huckleberry bushes along the trail.

Fresh snow from yesterday’s storm began at about 5200 feet.

In one forest opening we could see Mt Rainier to the north.

The open meadows provide great views of Mt Adams:

We reached the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail and the High Camp trail at lunch time, after hiking 3.5 miles. The snow was getting deeper, so we decided this would be our turnaround point. We did meet one northbound hiker, Tortoise, while we rested there.

Trail junction/lunch stop

High Camp is somewhere up on this ridge

Sparkling snow

We made our way back, admiring the views and the foliage.

Clouds forming in the afternoon

Huckleberries in the snow

Killen Creek Meadows are known for summer wildflowers, and we plan to return for a future summer adventure.

Takhlakh Lake is not far from the Killen Creek Trailhead. We stopped by for the iconic view on our way back to Trout Lake.

Mt Adams from Takhlakh Lake

Glacier close ups

Northern flank

An ice cave?

Adams Glacier

Hummocky topography on the south flank

Bird Mountain Loop, Indian Heaven Wilderness – October 8th

We chose this hike on the northeast side of Indian Heaven Wilderness for our last day. Clouds were coming in, but we had excellent conditions for seeing lots of lovely fall foliage around the meadows and lakes. The trail begins in the forest, and heads up hill to the flanks of Bird Mountain.

Once again, our trail leads through red huckleberry foliage.

From the shoulder of Bird Mountain, we got views of surrounding peaks, near and far.

Mt Adams to the east

Goat Rocks to the northeast

Sawtooth Mtn, with Mt Rainier in the distance

Scree slope beneath Bird Mountain, near our return trail this afternoon.

Continuing south, we would pass near Lemei Rock.

Beautiful foliage, mushrooms, small lakes appeared in the meadows along our trail.

Mountain Ash

Small lake

Mushroom

We stopped by this small unnamed lake to eat lunch and admire the reflections and colors.

We took the side trail to Deep Lake, passing the Cultus Lake outlet on the way.

Cultus Lake from the Deep Lake Trail

Deep Lake

Back on the main trail, we passed Cultus Lake before taking the junction toward the Pacific Crest Trail and Clear Lake.

Cultus Lake

Clear Lake

Back on the Pacific Crest Trail, northbound

One of the scree slopes on the west side of Bird Mountain.

Another unnamed lake by the trail.

We crossed back over the northern shoulder of Bird Mountain, where we could see some views again, before descending through the scree slopes back to the trailhead. Lots of late blooming flowers and seedheads in this area.

Sawtooth Mountain, from Bird Mountain

Mt Adams

Descending the scree slope – rougher trail in here

Seedheads

The very last lupine of summer.

This was a very successful trip – three new trails for us, and more added to our list for the future. We’d hiked more than 22 miles, and 4000 feet elevation, and fully immersed ourselves in the autumn foliage.

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

Washington

Four views of Wy’east, August, 2022

August 4 – Lookout Mountain

August 16 – Three Corner Rock, WA

August 22 – Cloud Cap to the Timberline Trail High Point

August 30 – Elk Meadows

Early June, 2022

Hiking in May 2022

5/4 – Tom McCall Point

5/10 – Bitterroot Trail at Catherine Creek

5/13 – Weldon Wagon Road

5/26 – Hamilton Mountain

April 2022

January 2022 in Portland

Hikes:

Neighborhood:

Knitting:

December 2021, Walking adventures

12/14/2021 Waiting for the winter solstice…

Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes near Vancouver Lake, WA

New York Times notice today:

November 2021 report…

Hikes:

Thanksgiving:

Knitting

Neighborhood

The rest of October, 2021: knitting, neighborhood, more hikes…

Knitting, etc:

Around the neighborhood:

Two more hikes, besides our Mt Adams and Eagle Creek adventures:

Three Fall Hikes near Mt Adams, WA Oct. 6-8, 2021

Lewis River Falls – October 6th

Killen Creek Meadows, Mt Adams – October 7th

Bird Mountain Loop, Indian Heaven Wilderness – October 8th