Winter to Spring and on the Edge of Summer

I do love to watch the world wake up, all those transitions between winter and spring and summer, to falling back asleep again in autumn, the wind down before winter. 

still winter and a spectacular sunset on I84, the Columbia to the north

 

(On a random note, I do need to get back into taking the big camera with me, now that Dory-the-destroyer has finally settled in and is less of a holy terror to keep up with. She still requires a substantial amount of exercise, but her impulse control and listening abilities are far better than they used to be.)

Deschutes River Trail

I think, technically, this was the first day of spring. One truth about desert landscapes is that they rebound quickly. This area was a blackened mess after the Substation fire burned over 80,000 acres in 2018. The bones of the landscape and the river canyon is what always makes the Deschutes a beautiful winter hike to me. 

still just the barest traces of snow on the upper hills

the bestest girls

Andy and Dory, making their way down to the river

looking down from the road walk, all the sage burned

dog tax

Lacamas Park

Such a charming city park, surrounded on all sides by suburbia. It feels like a deep forest hike on the edge of waking up from winter. I’ve been putting in lots of winter miles here, in the rain, with my girls. 

lily fields are still sleeping

cutest little shrooms ever

Catherine Creek/Coyote Wall  

Much like the Deschutes River trail, the eastern portion of the Columbia River gorge is always the first to embrace spring. The Catherine Creek/Coyote Wall complex has seen an explosion of increased visitation since I first started hiking it in 2010. It remains one of my favorite areas. Word to the wise though- the entire area is riddled with poison oak and ticks…the early season flowers are beautiful though. 

Hood from Tracy Hill on a spectacular spring day

just a few basalm starting

Catherine Creek is well-known for its flowers

my favorite, lupine

following old road down towards the Arch

 

Trapper Creek

It’s been a few years since I last hiked the Trapper Creek trail, and my legs forgot how steep it is in places. The trees are still enormous and humbling, and the entire area feels very, very old. I did manage to get a little creeped out again, which is unusual for me. However, when the woods are perfectly silent, with no insect or birdsong, they can feel foreboding. 

Now, for the high country to open up….

Beautiful Bell Creek

Memorial Day weekend. Normally, by this time, I’ve abandoned the gorge to the hoards of day hikers evident in it’s easy to reach places. Too crowded, too humid, and the higher places are opening up, calling me into the alpine.  

Not this day though. 

Andy, stopping to contemplate some of the giants

 

Today though, we are looking for something a little different- an unpopular, almost abandoned trail that fits the overcast skies, someplace we’ve never been before.

Bell Creek fits. 

single beargrass on the Oneonta trail

It has a reputation as one of the loneliest trails in the gorge, mostly due to its lack of accessibility. Until the Larch Mountain road opens up, it’s a minimum fifteen mile hike just to walk among these trees. From Larch, it’s what I like to call a reverse hike: all downhill on the way in, all uphill on the way out.

47 ° at the trailhead, the temp has dropped considerably since we left Portland. A reminder not to be too cavalier in the wilderness, even one this close to home. 

We wind our way down, staying in clouds, the trail lined with avalanche lilies and trilliums (little stars), guiding the way. 

trilliums and avalanche lilies

There is a primal, quiet feel among this cathedral of ancient trees, the forest floor hollow and soft. No sounds beyond the quiet noises of water and wind and the occasional owl. The sun was never really present, only offering fleeting glimpses of itself, but it didn't really need to be. When the gorge looks like this, all fog and water and gray, it feels like its true self. It feels secretive, aloof, cocooned and wild. It feels like home.  

perma-cloud/fog

Bell Creek trail

Bell Creek

It's almost June. Welcome to the PNW

We only saw six hikers, briefly, their forms appearing out of the fog, exchanged a quick greeting, and disappeared into silence again. For a holiday weekend in Portland less than forty minutes from home, this is an absolute win.

ONEONTA-BELL CREEK-HORSETAIL CREEK 

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

~10 miles, ~1000 feet elevation gain

Signs of Spring

Unknowingly, we traded sunny skies in Portland for overcast, chilled winter skies in Hood River. Still, the first signs of spring on the eastside, grass widows, greeted us along the trail. Revisiting the Labyrinth.

first grass widows, peeking through

guess no one told them it technically still is January

Pepper wants Hannah's lunch

even in winter, the Labyrinth is beautiful

And J.B. found her tree again :)

COYOTE WALL-LABYRINTH LOOP
Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, Washington
~7ishmiles, 1200 feet elevation gain

Hamilton, again

Hamilton Mountain, looming over Beacon Rock State Park, is a Columbia Gorge classic. It’s got it all: in the beginning, a short and sweet payoff to two waterfalls; then steeps and more steeps; craggy vistas and classic rock walls; and classic mossy gorge forest. 

Pool of the Winds

getting steeper, but still in lovely gorge forest

sweeping gorge vistas from "Little Hamilton", Beacon Rock below

zig-zagging trail

When I first arrived in the PNW and started getting into hiking, Hamilton was one of my go-to spots in the gorge; I’ve visited this trail countless times, but since the enactment of the Discover Pass, I have been back only rarely, mostly due to the fact that I haven’t needed a reason to purchase yet another hiking permit.

Kayaking changed that, so on this partly cloudy, windy day, I decided to take the dog and me on a quick exercise jaunt up an old friend.

And Hamilton is always, always good exercise.

It also has tons of personality, and regardless of the fact that I have hiked it many, many times, I love the ever-changing face of this hike: the transition from low, lush forest to craggy steeps and how different the mountain can look depending on the weather. Today, the lower section was clear and sunny, and then I almost got blown off the traverse on the Saddle by high winds- not to mention I had burrowed into all my layers thanks to the temperature dropping appreciably. Let’s just say it was a quick lunch stop. 

mossy, bright green gorge: Hamilton Trail winter of 2010...

 

and today....heading up into the clouds from Little Hamilton

Hamilton is *right* there, I swear (2010)...

and today- getting windy...

a brief sun break across the Saddle...wind is raging here...

winter sunlight on alders- heading home

 And I was home in time for dinner. So much better than a jog around the neighborhood. {GRIN}