March 2023 – Back in PDX

April 23, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned to Portland from New Zealand on the 18th of March. Our daffodil and crocus bulbs that had just started to bloom in February were still blooming because Portland was unusually cold while were gone. Spring flowering trees and bulbs continued to emerge, sprinkling the neighborhood with color.

Camellias

Daffodil

Moon, redbud

Crocus

Viburnum

Cherry

Star magnolia

We took one hike, on March 22nd, at one of our favorite winter season hiking trails, Catherine Creek, WA, and it was the same story out there. I had predicted tons of grass widows while we were gone, but instead, the area had been covered in snow again. By late March, the grass widows were re- or just blooming, and other early spring flowers were out – gold stars, Columbia and pungent desert parsleys, and yellow bells…

Gold stars and grass widows

Pungent desert parsley

Columbia desert parsley

Blue jay

Ent

Grass widows and gold stars, Columbia River, and the orchards of Mosier

Catherine Creek Falls

We made a short visit to the Oregon Historical Society on a rainy morning. I focused on some of the textiles on display.

Knitting: I made just a little progress on a sock while traveling, but then immediately cast on a toddler sweater for the knitting Guild service project when we returned. This is my first ever knit raglan sweater. I used the same Caron Cotton Cake yarn I am using for the Sliding is Fun Blanket, also for the Guild challenge. The blanket will take much longer, and I realized I had way too much yarn, so repurposed some of it into this little sweater.

Flax (Tin Can Knits) toddler sweater

Quilting: I attended an online ColorMixer quilt seminar on the Creative Spark platform this week, and got lots of ideas for future quilts. Next month, I plan to sew the blocks together for my Modern Mystery Quilt that I had made before our New Zealand trip.

Poetic ode to sunlight from a neighborhood Poetry Post:

Early February 2023, hiking, quilting, knitting…

March 5, 2023February 19, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

This post updates my activities for the first part of February…

Knitting: I’ve made progress on two blankets – one for me, and one for the Puddletown Knitters Guild Service Project:

Malabrigo Slip Stitch Blanket

Sliding Is Fun Blanket

I had planned to crochet the guild blanket, and tried my hand at a sample, but I’m not quite ready to commit to such a big crochet project yet. Maybe the next one.

Practice crochet swatch

Quilting: I’ve worked through all the clues on the Modern Mystery Quilt, and pieced the blocks. We were asked not to share the finished look until March 3rd.

Modern Mystery Quilt 2023 tentative layout…

In bloom: Our first crocus emerged from the mostly dormant garden beds on February 9th. Just about the same time as the first grass widows were blooming in the eastern Gorge.

Our first crocus

Hiking: Both hikes were in the eastern Columbia River Gorge, Washington:

Eagles again! Bitterroot-Rowland Trail at Catherine Creek, WA – February 8th:

Lots of water here today – in vernal pools, and oozing out of the grassy slopes. No actual flowers, but plenty of emerging foliage – just waiting for a bit more warmth and sun.

Catherine Creek/Sunflower Hill

Fairy pools

Up the Bitterroot Trail,

The Arch

Mt Hood with fresh snow

Mt Hood close up

Meanwhile, as I was admiring these plants at the edge of Rowland Wall, a juvenile eagle swooped by at eye level.

View west from Rowland Wall

Bald eagle…

circling back,

and around again.

Then the entire eagle family circled its way up Rowland Wall, juveniles and mature adults – perhaps the same flock we saw a couple of weeks ago over Lyle.

Adult bald eagle

The whole family is here.

We continued down the wall, and back to the trailhead, imagining the flowers that will be blooming soon.

Looking back up Rowland Wall.

Another vernal pool. The frogs were really loud, but became instantly silent as we approached.

Crawford Oaks-Vista Trail, Columbia Hills, WA – February 14th

A cold, slightly windy day – fresh snow on the Cascade Peaks. We walked the five mile lower loop and were rewarded with seeing the first grass widows – next week there will be a purple bloom here.

View west from near the trailhead – Mt Hood and Horsethief Butte

Mt Hood

Eightmile Creek Falls was fairly full…

Eightmile Creek Falls

Rainbow and plunge pool

The view from the waterfall to the east across the Columbia River:

We continued up the road, across the creek, then south on the Vista Loop, to our usual stop near the power pylons, where we often see the first flowers blooming, and the first grass widows were just beginning to open in the cold breeze…

grass widow

A few purple buds opening in the grassy slopes

We continued around the loop, to the high point, then back around to the view of Dalles Mountain Ranch. A good walk on a brisk day.

West from the high point

East from the high point

Dalles Mountain Ranch

There will be more hikes in February – in the next post.

September 2022 Hiking….

November 16, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I went on three hikes in September, in Portland, Mt Adams and Indian Heaven.

9/14 – Macleay Park to Pittock Mansion: Finishing the Wildwood Trail, Portland, OR

During the early pandemic in the spring of 2020, travel was restricted. Many parks and trails were closed. We tried long neighborhood walks, but concrete is hard on the feet! I missed the dirt trails and nature. When local trails reopened, we turned to the Wildwood Trail in nearby Forest Park to keep our hiking habit going. We had hiked parts of Forest Park over the years, but usually prefer further destinations with views, waterfalls or mountain tops. The Forest Park trails are fine for nearby forest hikes, but are often crowded with trail runners and neighborhood hikers, and there aren’t many views. Nevertheless, we set a goal to try to hike the full 30 mile length of the Wildwood Trail in sections – especially after the realization set in that the pandemic restrictions were going to last longer than we first imagined. As of this month, there was one section left (not counting the section between miles 14 and 15 that is closed for repair). Early September had been too hot and/or smoky in our usual destinations to hike much, but after a day of rain we found time to hike this last section.

Upper Macleay Park Trailhead

Pittock Mansion

The views were limited on this overcast day, but the seasonal flowerbeds provided some bright colors.

Views to downtown Portland from Pittock mansion

Seasonal flower beds

We returned to our starting place, then added to our mileage by hiking a few of the trails on the nearby Audubon reserve – again a bit nondescript on this between seasons day – too late for summer flowers, too early for fall colors. Our total for the day was about 4 miles, and 700 feet.

Trail map for the Bird Sanctuary

Muddy trails

Douglas Fir deck

9/20 – Bird Creek Meadows, Mt Adams, WA

This area has been mostly closed since the 2015 Cougar Creek Fire. The Yakama people have opened the hiking trails for the month of September the last two years, and we finally made it out there this year. Our pre-fire hikes in the area were during peak wildflower season in a place where the bloom is as fine as any in the Cascades. We saw the beginnings of fall color on our hike today, while appreciating the repairs that have been made to the fire damaged trails. It was beautiful!

Our GPS track – 7 miles, 1350 feet

Bird Lake Trailhead, Mt Adams

Up toward Bluff Lake through the 2015 burn zone.

Green undergrowth

View to Mt Hood through the haze.

Bluff Lake, Mt Adams through the trees on the left.

Huckleberry foliage

Staircase Falls

Mt Adams

Hellebore, huckleberry

We reached the Hellroaring Viewpoint, then continued upward on the Climber Trail for a short way:

Hellroaring Viewpoint

Hellroaring Falls

Mt Adams Glaciers

Glacier View

Moraine and ridge toward the Climbers’ trail

Higher meadows

View east – Little Mt Adams and Heart Lake

Our turnaround point, looking north…

and looking east.

Our return hike circled through the western meadows, past Crooked Creek Falls, and then down through the burn zone again, to Bird Lake.

Gentian blooming in the huckleberry patches

Late season meadows

Crooked Creek Falls

Back down into the burn zone

Crooked Creek

Back to Bird Lake

Lookback photos from 2013 compared to 2022, looking south from the below Hellroaring Viewpoint –

August 2013

September 2022

And one of the wildflower meadows of summer 2013:

Bird Creek Meadows, Mt Adams, August 2013

9/27 – Indian Heaven Wilderness – Cultus Campground to Wapiki Lake Overlook

GPS track – about 8 miles, 1700 feet.

We had also hiked this trail before. Again, we caught the beginnings of the fall colors in the higher elevations, and in the more open meadows and huckleberry fields.

Trailhead

Panorama looking north from the shoulder of Bird Mountain

Sawtooth Mountain and Mt Rainier

Mt Adams

We passed Cultus Lake on our way to the Wapiki Lake overlook:

Cultus lake

Lemei Rock

Huckleberry foliage

A very few late huckleberries

Wapiki Lake Overlook

Mt Adams

Wapiki Lake

On our return hike, the smoke had blown in from a nearby fire, obscuring the mountain views we had enjoyed earlier…..

Toward Sawtooth and Mt Rainier

Toward Mt Adams

We were too early for full fall color. We passed this same pond near Cultus Lake last year, in early October, after there had been rain. I remember spending a lot of time here marveling at the colors. This year, late September, only a little color and no pond yet.

Pond near Cultus Lake, October 8, 2021

Same pond area, September 27, 2022

It is lovely to see these places in different seasons!

I am catching up on blog posts – on to October…

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.

Catching up in July 2022

July 31, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Time to write again. We traveled from mid-June to mid-July to Scotland and Iceland. On return I was swamped with jetlag and reentry and hot weather. Life seems to move along twice as fast, time always doubling, and I barely have time to look back, while moving forward, while still living a semi-Covid life. My next post has photo highlights of the trip. This post is catching up with life back in my Portland neighborhood.

Neighborhood –

I always see so many interesting things as I walk through my neighborhood. This month, a tiny tree door I hadn’t noticed before, more sidewalk ponies and chickens, a new poetry post, and so many bright flowers, including at least three colors of cone flowers. We were home in time to get plenty of berries in the freezer, and I had the good luck of partaking of a pineapple upsidedown cake at my book group meeting.

Hikes-

July 15, Vista Ridge – Before this current heat wave, we went with a friend up Vista Ridge on the north side of Mt Hood, hoping to see the avalanche lilies. We hiked up to the snow level, about 5300 feet, not quite up to the Timberline Trail. On the way down, I noticed a couple of my haunted tree friends still standing.

Avalanche lilies blooming on the burned forest floor; Washington Cascade peaks in the distance.

Avalanche lilies

Snow, Mt Hood

Lilies poking up through the melting snow

Mt Hood and Barret Spur

Close up, crevasses forming

Deeper snow – time to turnaround

Avalanche lilies

Haunted tree, Mt Hood

Another haunted tree, Washington peaks beyond.

July 28, Bayocean Spit near Tillamook – Full on heat wave, we drove out to the coast to lovely 65 degrees weather, and walked an 8 mile loop around the spit that bounds Tillamook Bay. Fog, shorebirds, not many people. Lovely!

Over the dune to the foggy beach

North to the jetty, fog lifting

Sanderlings, sand pipers and plovers

Tide coming in

The jetty

Pelicans

Tillamook Bay, gulls,

a couple of Caspian terns

and Yellowlegs.

Knitting-

Not much. I had travel socks, but was too busy looking and planning to knit. None of the wool stores were open when we saw them, either in Scotland or Iceland. I did buy some commercial sock yarn at a variety store in Iceland, so have added those skeins to my queue. On return I knitted the tiniest of Sarah Schira’s gnomes, called Gnibblet, to keep up with her Year of Gnomes challenge. This was the month for it. I have a more ambitious one planned for August.

Sock yarn from Iceland

Gnibblet

Now I am sort of caught up, and looking forward to August, when there are some family visits planned. I’m hoping heat and viruses won’t derail us, knock on wood!

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, 2022 / 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.

Southwest hiking trip, April, 2022: Part 2 – Escalante, Utah

May 28, 2022May 26, 2023 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

April 23, To Escalante, Utah

Escalante is about 5 hours drive east of Las Vegas, so we spent most of a day driving there, but it is a beautiful drive!

I thought this was a lake, in the desert along Highway 15 east of Las Vegas, but it is actually a large array of solar panels.

Snow capped Pine Valley Mountains on view as we cross into Utah.

We stopped for a lunch break with a family member who lives near St George, Utah.

View from the garden.

After lunch, we continued on to Cedar City to buy groceries for the next few days. Then we took the scenic route, Hwys 14 to 89 to 12, over mountains, and onto the Colorado Plateau, where the ‘lower’ elevations are above 5000 feet.

We passed the turnoff to Zion Canyon, not on our agenda this trip.

Over snowy mountains on Hwy 14,

Back down to the Sevier River, along Hwy 89.

Highway 12 deserves it’s scenic designation!

Hoodoos of the Claron Formation along the road near Bryce Canyon.

Everyone loves a rock tunnel!

Beyond Bryce, Powell Point of the famous Grand Staircase Pink Cliffs began to dominate our view.

Powell Point

We stopped at the overlook on Highway 12 to admire Powell Point from another angle.

View of Powell Point from the Hwy 12 Overlook.

Hwy 12 Overlook sign

Our stratigraphic column for the week.

We arrived in Escalante around dinner time.

Escalante hotel room view – very different from Las Vegas!

Location map for our hikes and landmarks for the next few days.

April 24 – Toward Boulder and the Burr Trail

We began the day by driving east on Hwy 12 into this remarkable landscape:

Lower Calf Creek Falls – We hiked six miles round trip along Calf Creek, mostly between steep red sandstone walls of Navajo Sandstone.

The trail begins near the campground, and stays close to the river most of the way.

Red sandstone walls loom above,

On both sides of the river.

Photogenic scenery in every direction.

Beaver dams in the river.

The paper trail guide pointed out pictographs across the canyon,

identified as Fremont-style rock art,

painted with red pigment.

A rock arch across the creek, where the canyon walls narrow.

At river level, the vegetation forms a tunnel,

and then the waterfall appears through the trees.

Lower Calf Creek Falls, 126 feet

Upper lip

Lower drop

This was a great lunch stop! We admired the falls for a while.

Tripod nation

Upper lip again

After lunch, we returned down the sandy trail.

Desert varnish on sandstone

Spotted towhee

Navajo Sandstone

We continued driving east on Hwy 12, toward Boulder. We stopped at the pullout that is just above Calf Creek Falls, to see the view across the canyon.

Looking west

Our trail down in the canyon

Blue arrow points to the narrow part of the canyon, and approximate position of Lower Calf Creek Falls.

Long Canyon Slot – We continued east on Hwy 12, to the small town of Boulder, then turned onto Burr Trail Road for eleven miles, to the Long Canyon slot canyon. Once again, the road cut through amazing scenery. These white sandstone hills just outside Boulder remind me of Checkerboard Mesa, near Zion Canyon.

Navajo Sandstone

By the time we reached Long Canyon, we had driven lower into the stratigraphy to the older Wingate Formation, also a massive red sandstone layer. The slot canyon here is less than a quarter mile long and easily accessible.

Wingate Formation

The slot

Slot entrance

Looking up at the sky between the walls

The end of the canyon

Much narrower above.

Head of the Rocks Viewpoint

On our drive back to Escalante, we stopped at the Head of the Rocks Viewpoint, with all the world displayed around us.

Head of the Rocks viewpoint

Panorama

Farther east

Close up of slick rock Navajo Sandstone surface

Navajo Mountain in the far distance

April 25 – Hole in the Rock Road

Zebra Slot Canyon – We drove down Hole in the Rock Road, south of Escalante, to the trailhead to Zebra Slot. This was another six mile round trip hike, first across open desert, then into canyons cut into Navajo Sandstone. For most of the hike we were admiring wall after wall of cross bedded sandstone.

Open desert and cliffs west of Hole in the Rock Road

A desert vetch in bloom

Slumping within the original sand dune layers

Closer view

Microfaulted crossbeds

Harris Wash

Entrance to Zebra Slot

Passage becoming narrower

An open chamber between narrow passages

Stripes of varnish and concretions

Squeezing through – we didn’t make it much farther – we would have had to chimney up the slot – a bit out of our skill set.

Some of the beautiful striping suggesting the Zebra name

Daylight above

Coming out of the slot

On the hike out, we wandered across the beautiful slick rock surfaces.

Devil’s Garden – We continued down Hole in the Rock Road for a few more miles, to the Devil’s Garden – an area of hoodoos eroded from the Entrada Sandstone. We wandered around this area for about an hour enjoying the photo opportunities.

Metate Arch

Metate Arch

Metate Arch

Mano Arch

More hoodoos in the distance

A rock wren?

Eroding sandstone layers

To Tropic – At the end of the day, we drove back west for about an hour, relocating to the town of Tropic, just east of Bryce Canyon, where my husband would be based for his photo class. And we still had a whole day to explore in this area.

View to Powell Point from our cabin in Tropic.

Coda: When I was at Joshua tree in February, I was wondering if I still liked the desert, and this trip to the redrock country has answered that question. This is the desert I like…sandstone slickrock, slot canyons, and cliffs – I realized it was the Colorado Plateau I was seeking. Each day, we noted trails and views we didn’t have time to explore, and made a list for next time…

Southwest hiking trip, April, 2022: Part 1 – Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

May 24, 2022May 28, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I accompanied my husband for a week of hiking before he attended a long delayed outdoor photography course in southern Utah. We began by flying to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the friend we planned to visit there had a last minute family emergency. And much as we wanted to see the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, we were not ready to be with unmasked people indoors for that amount of time. So, we kept to our hotel, and to the great outdoors, of which there is plenty to go around in this part of the world!

April 21 – Flying to Las Vegas

Flying over Mt Jefferson on our way south…

And directly over Red Rock Canyon, with its beautifully displayed Keystone Thrust Fault (gray Paleozoic Limestone lying atop tan and red Mesozoic sandstones), where we would be hiking tomorrow.

We circled the Las Vegas strip before landing.

We could see the strip skyline from our hotel:

By day;

including the marquee for the show we wanted to see;

And by night.

April 22 – Red Rock Canyon

As we drove west toward Red Rock Canyon, we could see a storm coming in…

We began at the Visitor Center, which has excellent outdoor exhibits that explain every category of natural and human history of the area.

Sheepshead Peak and Calico Basin redrocks

Geology exhibit, storm clouds

Desert tortoise

Wildflowers, storm clouds

Then, instead of being allowed to drive the 13 mile one way scenic drive to trailheads and viewpoints, we were asked to leave, as they were evacuating the park. We assumed it was due to flash flood hazard. Fortunately we had noticed nearby Calico Basin Trailhead, which was not closed. We waited in our car as the brief storm passed through, then hiked the Calico Basin and Red Springs trails.

In Calico Basin, it was lovely to walk among the cross bedded sandstones and spring flowers, to a small canyon. I heard, for the first time in many years, the descending scale of the Canyon Wren song, though I never did see the bird.

Trailhead

Sheepshead Peak again, beyond Calico Basin

Paper daisy? Lots of new to me wildflowers on this trip.

Hedgehog cactus

Crossbedded sandstone

Canyon at the end of the trail

White crowned sparrow?

As we walked the boardwalk around Red Springs, we saw more birds, flowers, and interesting rocks, all the while being serenaded by violin music from an ongoing wedding.

Red Springs

California Quail

Petroglyphs, orange globe mallow, white evening primrose

View back to Las Vegas from the ridge above Red Springs

View back into Calico Basin

We decided to check the park entrance again, and it had just reopened, so we drove the Scenic Loop, stopping for views at the High Point Overlook:

Toward the southeast, Calico Basin

Sheepshead Peak, Paleozoic limestone to the northeast

More Paleozoic limestone to the north

Northwestern slopes of Red Rock Canyon

Western slopes

Then we drove into the Willow Springs area, and took two short walks into the rocky landscape.

First, the Petrogyph Trail:

Trailhead

We spotted a pale pink penstemon in the wash.

Signage at the Petroglyph Wall

Pictographs

Petroglyphs

Next, we walked a labyrinthian maze to Lost Creek:

Trailhead

Around the tree, up the stairs,

Under the overhanging rock,

To a trickling waterfall at the end of the trail.

Finally, we stopped at Red Rock Wash Overlook for a last view of the area.

Late afternoon light over Sheepshead Peak and Calico Basin.

We enjoyed our day in this beautiful landscape; and were next looking forward to a few days of hiking in southern Utah.

Last words from the Visitor Center.

April 2022

May 3, 2022 / 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 Ginsburg

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

wildflowers

March 2023 – Back in PDX

Early February 2023, hiking, quilting, knitting…

Eagles again! Bitterroot-Rowland Trail at Catherine Creek, WA – February 8th:

Crawford Oaks-Vista Trail, Columbia Hills, WA – February 14th

September 2022 Hiking….

9/14 – Macleay Park to Pittock Mansion: Finishing the Wildwood Trail, Portland, OR

9/20 – Bird Creek Meadows, Mt Adams, WA

9/27 – Indian Heaven Wilderness – Cultus Campground to Wapiki Lake Overlook

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

Catching up in July 2022

Hikes-

Knitting-

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

Southwest hiking trip, April, 2022: Part 2 – Escalante, Utah

April 23, To Escalante, Utah

April 24 – Toward Boulder and the Burr Trail

April 25 – Hole in the Rock Road

Southwest hiking trip, April, 2022: Part 1 – Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

April 21 – Flying to Las Vegas

April 22 – Red Rock Canyon

April 2022