Tag Archives: waterfall hikes

Sunriver getaway

Posted on June 22, 2015 | 6 comments

After the busyness of TNNA and Ryan’s graduation, I headed to Sunriver in Central Oregon for a mid-week rendezvous with friends. I stopped at The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters to drop off a look book, and chatted with Paula, Nancy, and Ivy, but forgot to take a picture. Oops!

I had two full days in Sunriver. They were both gorgeous. We kayaked on Wednesday.

South Sister from Hosmer Lake

Hosmer Lake is gorgeous. Tons of birds, including red winged blackbirds, yellow headed blackbirds, and a magnificent bald eagle that flew right over our kayaks. I didn’t bring a zoom camera, just my phone, so no bird pix!

I watched this lenticular cloud develop all day next to Mt. Bachelor.

I love the way the wind distorts the once straight jet trails. You can see that the water is pretty shallow here at the upper end of the lake. We couldn’t paddle up the creek; it was too shallow and muddy. It’s been a pretty dry winter, which isn’t good.

South Sister, Broken Top, and Mt. Bachelor is hiding on the right

Lots of blue damselflies, but it’s hard to catch a picture from a drifting kayak!

We hiked along the Deschutes River near Benham Falls on Thursday.

This turn in the river is an awesomely beautiful spot.

It sounds great, too.

But it wasn’t all play. I brought my knitting. Of course!

On Thursday night I sat in the hot tub under a canopy of stars. And I saw two shooting stars (meteors). Lucky? I think so.

Friday I came home and picked my first ripe raspberries. These are from the two new shrubs the kids planted for Mother’s Day.

I also see that the birds have been busy while I’ve been away!

Guess I should have picked more before I left. Oh, well. It’s been busy around here!

How is your summer so far?

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, travel

Tagged hike, Hosmer Lake, kayak, Mt Bachelor, Oregon, South Sister, Sunriver, waterfall hikes

Horsetail Falls Loop Hike

Posted on September 23, 2014 | 3 comments

I took a favorite hike with a friend last week; it’s the Horsetail Falls Loop Hike, 2.6 easy miles. You’ve seen it before on this blog, here and here. Same same, but different. At the end of summer, the water flow is much lighter, but still pretty. We’ve had a hot, dry summer, and it shows in the reduced waterflow. Still pretty, though.

Horsetail Falls, which is right on the Old Columbia River Highway.

Ponytail Falls, which feeds into Horsetail Falls.

I love that you can go behind it; that’s the reason I chose this hike for this particular friend.

Middle Oneonta Falls.

Looking down at the top of Lower Oneonta Falls. There’s a big logjam, and then it goes over the edge. You can’t see this waterfall from the trail, but you can hear it!

Coming off the trail, you walk back along the Old Columbia River Highway, and pass Oneonta Gorge, which is where Oneonta Creek ends up after the waterfalls. You can hike up the creek, but we were not prepared for wet feet, so we just went a little way. I love how big the rocks are here, and how narrow the canyon is.

It looks like a knitter was leaving a trail marker for someone.

My favorite picture of the day is in the creek under the old highway. The sun was shining through the very clear water, and the shadows of the water striders really showed why they can walk on water.

On the way back home, we stopped at Multnomah Falls, because it’s right there. It’s the 100th anniversary of the Benson Bridge. I think I’ll have to do the hike to the top of Multnomah Falls this autumn. Soon!

3 Comments

Posted in Portland area fun, travel

Tagged columbia river gorge, hiking, horsetail falls, multnomah falls, oneonta falls, Pony Tail Falls, waterfall hikes

Punchbowl Falls hike

Posted on September 10, 2014 | 3 comments

At the beginning of the summer, I put Punchbowl Falls on my short list of must do hikes. I love waterfall hikes, but summer slipped away from me. No matter. September is perfect hiking weather here in Oregon.

This is about 4 miles, easy hiking. It begins at the Eagle Creek trailhead at exit 41 on I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge.

There’s a short spur trail about 1.5 miles in that goes to a view of 100 foot Metlako Falls. Pretty!

Punchbowl Falls falls (ha!) into a shallow area that is very popular in the summer. I waited for people to get out of my picture…

Lower Punchbowl Falls empties into a deeper pool. The water below is a gorgeous greeny blue color. (See all the tiny people up by the upper falls?)

My friend V was my hike/photobomb pal.

There is no westbound freeway access from exit 41 to return to Portland post-hike; you have to go east to Cascade Locks and turn around. While we were there, we went to Thunder Island Brewing and tried the pear cider from HR Ciderworks. Great cider, great view.

We headed back west for a stop in Troutdale and dinner with V’s dad at the iconic Tad’s Chicken & Dumplings. I love that they never fixed their sign. Chic, indeed!

On to knitting! The winner of the first week’s prize drawing for the Snowy Woods KAL is getting this in the mail:

Tiny scissors, tiny tree stitch marker, and some fun HiyaHiya yarn needles. Congratulations to Kelli! Kelli has finished her cowl already, and so has one other knitter. These are quick, addictive knits, perfect for gift-giving. It’s not too late to join the KAL; we still have 2 more weeks of prizes, and a finishers’ drawing, too. Check out the Ravelry thread for more info.