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, 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.

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

May 28, 2022June 16, 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.

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, 2022June 7, 2024 / 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

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, 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

March, 2022

April 10, 2022September 13, 2024 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

March was cold, rainy, windy, with a few sun breaks and early flowers:

camellias

hyacinths

cherries

plums

star magnolias

bare branches

We went on three repeat hikes:

Memaloose Hills – March 3rd:

Cold and windy at the Memaloose Overlook

Looking to the westward cliffs…

Zooming in on the blue heron rookery.

Chatfield Hill – mostly still dormant,

with a few yellow bells.

We tried a (new to us) side loop up the lower hill on the return hike.

White River with micro spikes – March 11th:

Clouds wafted across Mt Hood throughout the hike.

Our usual lunch spot – snow level is low!

Return hike – lenticular clouds forming…

The Labyrinth – March 16th:

Plenty of water in the Old Hwy. 8 waterfall; Mt Hood on the far horizon.

Slightly frozen grass widows.

Labyrinth waterfall

Yellow bells and buttercups

My favorite oak grove

Our guide Ponderosa

View from the guide tree

Early yellow parsley

The haunted tree

Knitting and sewing:

Quilt for my new niece, born at the end of the month.

‘Brave Enough’ Hitchhiker – yarn by Knitted Wit, pattern by Martina Behm

Gnome Pun Intended, pattern by Sara Schira, Year of Gnomes, scrap yarn.

Ripples Make Waves hat for the Guild Service Project; pattern by Casapinka; Knit Picks Hawthorne yarn.

I started a new pair of socks for travel knitting.

At the end of the month we flew to the east coast to visit family – that will be my next post.

NZ2020: Day 15, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

February 5, 2022November 16, 2024 / margaretquilts / 3 Comments

February 8, 2020

After the beautiful evening views at Lake Ohau, clouds were hiding Aoraki/Mt Cook this morning. The wind was up, and Lake Ohau was a steel gray. We drove back around Ben Ohau and its landslip-streaked mountain face. Slight rain was in the forecast, but we pressed on to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

Lake Ohau in the morning

Our driving route to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

The road follows the shores of Lake Pukaki, up the Hooker Valley toward Aoraki/Mt Cook. We will hike the Sealy Tarns/ Mueller Hut Track, and stay the night at the Mt Cook Chalets.

A rainbow in Hooker Valley, as we approach Aoraki/Mt Cook Village

Trail map showing our location in orange.

Sealy Tarns Track / Mueller Hut Route

This trail is famous for having about 2000 stair steps up to the tarns. It is one of the hardest I have done, but somehow I keep my legs going up. I count steps in sets, counting up to one fewer number each time (20-19-18-17…), with planned breathing/rest stops between sets. There should be 210 steps per set, 10 sets in all…some of the steps are almost ladders. There are clouds blocking some of our views and spitting rain; cold wind, then warming sun.

Trail stairs

Looking down at the Kea Point Lookout on Lake Mueller (circled in blue). Beyond Lake Mueller is a huge moraine, then Hooker Lake.

Kea Point Lookout on Lake Mueller.

Looking toward the camp on Mt Sefton, circled in orange.

Zooming in on a tent at the foot of the glacier on Mt Sefton.

Looking back down Hooker Valley to where we started the hike.

When we arrive at the tarns, I feel surprisingly strong. We eat lunch at the picnic tables, take some pictures of glaciers, then decide to go higher.

Sealy Tarns

Glacier on Mt Sefton

crevasses

wildfire dust?

rockfall

The Mueller Route, going up beyond the tarns.

Above the tarns the track is rougher, a bit cliffy. I miss the stair steps here! We continue up the rocky, “choose your own adventure”, anastomosing trails, until I decide I can go up no more. We take in the view, eat a snack, then go down.

From our high point we had a good view of Hooker Lake, the terminus of Hooker Glacier, and Aoraki/Mt Cook, still in the clouds.

Closer look at Hooker Lake, and the Hooker Valley Trail

Ice bergs in Hooker Lake.

Looking south down the Hooker valley from our high point.

We saw a few flowers and some interesting flora along the trail.

Mountain daisies

We returned back down the 2000 murderous steps, knees and legs a little wobbly. On the way down, we stopped often to admire the views of the glaciers, lakes, moraines, and the unveiling summit plateau of Aoraki/Mt Cook.

Down the steps…

Another view of the terminus of Hooker Glacier

Close up of Hooker Glacier

The peak of Aoraki/Mt Cook, coming out of the clouds!

Closer views…

The curved southern edge

Northern slopes

So beautiful!

Aoraki/Mt Cook, completely unveiled by the time we reached the bottom of the trail!

and Mt Sefton, too!

We make our way back to the bus, and check into our room at the Mt Cook Chalets, having hiked about 6.5 miles and 2800 feet. But we are not done with the mountain yet! After dinner in the cafe, we relax in the lounge, where we can see the triple triangle face of Aoraki/Mt Cook glowing bright white, then pink with alpenglow, in the pinky blue cloud streaked sky. Phenomenal!

Lounge with a view…

Mt Sefton, Aoraki/Mt Cook

Aoraki/Mt Cook

Tomorrow we are going back to Christchurch – our last guided tour day. The next two weeks in New Zealand will be on our own – with many more adventures that I am excited to be reliving with these blog posts!

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

wildflowers

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

March, 2022

Memaloose Hills – March 3rd:

White River with micro spikes – March 11th:

The Labyrinth – March 16th:

Knitting and sewing:

NZ2020: Day 15, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

February 8, 2020

Sealy Tarns Track / Mueller Hut Route

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