Tag Archives: mount hood

Wildflower walk, dry side

Last week (May 7), I went on a wildflower walk in the Columbia River Gorge, on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. That’s the dry side. I was enticed by the pictures of balsamroot in my Facebook feed.

Yellow balsamroot flowers and a view of Mount Hood at Catherine Creek, Washington

I wanted a view of Mount Hood, so we crossed the river to Washington. This was one of the only clumps of balsamroot left this spring. I don’t know if it’s warmer/dryer this year, but last year there were a lot more! I’m going to have to put a note in my calendar to go in April next year.

Poppies, Columbia River, Mount Hood in the background

There were a lot of poppies, though! I didn’t see any of those last year.

Bitterroot flowers

I love how luminous bitterroot flowers are.

Bachelor’s buttons, and Mount Hood

The bachelor’s buttons were also out in force.

Catherine Creek Falls

So good to have friends that I can talk into excursions! I promised that it was a walk, not a hike. With views of Mount Hood and the Columbia River! We stopped in Hood River, Oregon on the way home.

Wind foilers on the Columbia

We saw wing foilers, which seem to be the next interatiion after the windsailers. Pretty cool!

We chatted with some of them, and checked out their gear.

Wing foil equipment

It was a lovely day for an outing. Are you out and about this spring?

Road trip knitting

I’ve been on several road trips lately, but I’ve been the driver on all of them. I’m a great multi-tasker (knitting while reading or watching TV), but I draw the line at knitting and driving. Fortunately, there’s a new way to road trip. JJ Foster, local knitter/instructor/former LYS owner/hospitality professional has come up with a fun concept: The Traveling Ewe.

The Traveling Ewe is a new tour business focusing on knitters, crocheters and spinners. The Traveling Ewe will offer a new fiber-focused day trip every other month, starting with the Columbia Gorge Adventure on June 28th. Fiberistas will board a swanky luxury coach and head to Hood River for an inspiring day of crafting, eating and shopping. There will be time at Knot Another Hat, lunch at Celilio, a trip to Foothill Fibers Alpaca Farm and Store and, to end the day, a glass of wine on the sunny patio at Mt. Hood Winery . Tickets for this event are available at the Traveling Ewe website.

This sounds like a perfect field trip for me, and no yellow schoolbus! I’m planning to go. Come join the fun!

Mt Hood at Timberline

The sight of Mount Hood still thrills me every time, even though I grew up in Portland. This is an old picture out the back window at Timberline Lodge. The last time I drove out I-84, I kept looking in my mirrors for a view of the mountain. It will be much safer snapping a picture when I’m not the driver!

Endless…

I’m knitting away at my String Theory. It feels endless. This is great TV knitting, but I don’t watch enough TV to get a lot done. I could probably stop now, but what would I do with the leftovers? We’ll see who wins: the bored me or the thrifty me.

endless

It doesn’t look very exciting yet. The fun will be in the finishing. I can’t wait to get to that part, so the bored me may win out and stop soon. I wish I had taken this project for car knitting last Sunday.

My friend V invited me to go cross-country skiing at Teacup Lake on Mount Hood (or Wy’East, as it was named by the Multnomah tribe). I hadn’t been skiing in about 25 years, since before we moved to New York and back. I do still have my same 30 year old equipment. I’m happy to say it’s all still quite serviceable, although a bit antiquated. Remember 3 pin rat-trap bindings? Got ’em!

wyeast

It turned out to be a gorgeous day, with none of the forecasted snow or rain. The sun even came out for a while.

the road

I saw a hill that backcountry skiers had been on. The telemark lines look like knitting cables…

telemark

It was very nice to get out for the day.

rearview
(Mount Hood in the rearview mirror)

How was your weekend?