2016.4.24. Flowers at Eastern Gorge

4/24 Sunday. Sunny on the east side, wet west of the Cascades. Drove to Columbia Hills State Park's Dalles Mountain Ranch. Visited old farming equipments (labeled) and a rusty car. Then, walked up to the top of one of the hills, and walked back on the road. Should have driven up to the gate, and walk the road to Stacker Butte, which should provide view of Mt Adams. The good thing of walking off the road is, less dust and people. Equally great views of the flowers, Mt Hood and Columbia River. Hills painted yellow and blue. Balsamroot is on its way out. Lupine is still going strong. Yarrow, Lousewort, onion. Quite windy.

Drove to Rowena Crest from the back, via Seven Hill Mountain. Quite a lot of flowers. Rowena Crest is not as colorful as last year. It's always pretty here on the high bluff overlooking Columbia River. Windy!

Visited Camassia, a pleasant piece of nature in the middle of a city (Oregon City, 10 some miles south of Portland). This is owned and maintained by Nature Conservancy. Excellent trail of bark and board. Even in the rain, it's very pretty and peaceful. The draw here is the blue common camas. We saw only 4 people.

2016.4.23. Trail Skills College

4/23 Saturday. Cloudy with rain.

PCTA organizes Trail Skill College for current and future volunteers to learn about trail construction and maintenance. Every year, various locations provide this weekend long learning opportunity. I participated last year at Cascade Lock for both Saturday and Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. This year, however, my request for the Sunday class was full, so I only did one day of class. Hard hat is provided by WTA, working gloves and safety goggle are also provide. Breakfast 7-8am (scramble egg, ham, pancake), 8:30 announcement and instructor briefing. 8:45 class gathering on the lawn. Each class is marked by a small red flag on the lawn with class name on it. Food, if donated, is of good quality (New Seasons donated bread, Stumptown donated coffee, Yerba Mate donated a few cases of cans, and Ninkasi Brewing donated two types of beer. If purchased, you may want to stay away from.

Introduction to Chainsaw (class 104), my class, has only 6 students, the smallest of all. This class has no saw practice, and is taught entirely in the tent. Perfect for a rainy day. But it didn't rain outside either. Well, it didn't rain, as long as we were in the class. We learnt to handle the break, hold the saw, open/close, tighten the chains to proper tension. Then we cleaned a few saws. Had lunch (self-packed during breakfast time: chopped tomato, lettuce, onion, pickel, ham, cheese, celery, carrot, apple, orange) in the pavilion, with heat and bathroom access. After lunch, we filed the blades of a few chains, understand why and how to file the blades. This is a good course.

When our class ended at about 2:45pm, the rain started. I was planning on going to Dry Creek Falls close by. Then I was told a rock class wanted some able body to move rocks, so I went. It's on the island a few steps away. The heavy rocks are moved by a clothes basket. It has 8 handles, can be lifted by 4 people, often easily. Moving 4 pairs of feet on uneven ground proves to be non trivial. It requires clear instructions and one and only person to call them. The cable pulley system was an overkill. But it's fun to watch. I saw it used once only.

Dinner was served at 6pm. Hamburger, hotdog, veggie burger, chili, beer. 7pm, announcement and raffle drawing. Walked over to Thunder Island and setup camp. Saw many people fishing on the boat ramp. None of them wanted to stand on the other side. They were quite close to each other, and sometimes their lines got entangled. The island is grassy, but full of gifts from Canadian Geese. A few baby geese, very cute. Good view, and not many tents. Very noisy: trains go by on both sides of Columbia River. Rain overnight.

2016.4.16-17 Crater Lake snowshoe

4/15, Friday, I was picked up at work at about 3:30pm. Ok traffic out of Portland, but congestion to Wilsonville. Then, smooth ride. Blue and golden flowers on I-5 divider around Salem. We headed west from Roseburg on Hwy-138. Umpqua River is scenic. Bucolic the first 10 miles, gorge like the rest. White dogwood trees dotted the steep river bank. Water is running fast. Three of us set up camp with flashlight at Toketee campground ($10), the only one that's open in the area. Quite a few cars here. S spent the night in his car, because he has never tried to even taken out of his new tent. After 10 minutes or so struggling with headlight, he gave up. Instead, he started camp fire (there're fire rings). A bit chilly at night. My feet were cold.

4/16, Saturday. Toketee Falls is a short walk away. Nice setting. The basalt columns where the water comes down is also pretty. At the start of the hike is the 12' water pipe sending water from Toketee Lake (reservoir) North Umpqua Hydroelectric Plant. A bunch of leaks as wood contracts and expands: good for washing :)

I'd like to check out Toketee Hot Spring and Watson Falls nearby. But M, our organizer of this trip doesn't want to. Well, next time.

We arrived at Crater Lake at ~10:15am. Picked up water and backcountry camping permit. Current snow: ~100", snow since last Oct: 432", average annual snowfall 524". The ring road was cleared out up to Discovery Point. Saw the snow blower at work. Camping is allowed 1+ mile in.

It's unseasonably warm. Feels like in the 70s. The snow was sweating. After setting up our tents - found great spots without snow, M and I Snowshoed up to Watchman Tower. The view here is always superb. Can see Klamath Lakes halfway up. Shasta is very clear from here. The Tower is completely surrounded by snow. The deck is almost cleared of snow. A couple was napping on the deck.

Clouds were too thick to the west for a good sunset. To the east, the lake was as still as a mirror. Ice began to form on the lake surface, after the sunset. A warmer night than yesterday.

4/17, Sunday. Alarm set at 4am. Stars were not the best. The sky was not dark enough, as the moon just set 30 minutes ago, or maybe some clouds. I could still see milky way straddling across the lake, and a few brighter stars shimmering in the lake. Not too cold. A bit of breeze. Got up again shortly before 6am. I could see the orange glow from inside of my tent. So hurried out. Great view. Not much of a reflection, due to the ice sheets on the lake surface.

Temperature rose as soon as the sun rose. We packed up by 8am, and snowshoed out. Walked the road from Discovery Point. The snow crew hasn't arrived yet. Returned the backcountry permit. Watched the short video at the visitor center. Drove to Beckie's Cafe at Union Creek Lodge. I had an omelette. It's big, but I finished it all. Service was very slow. A packed house. 74°F when we left Beckie's. It would reach mid 80s this day in Portland.

Took Hwy-58 back. Salt Creek Falls is 286', one of the tallest waterfalls in Oregon. Interesting basalt cliff, thundering water. Very short walk to the upper viewing platform. Quite a few people. One guy pulled 2 small rhododendron trees, kept one, and tossed the other by the road! The access road was snow covered. But it's only about half a mile. I should have read this Wiki page. Didn't go on any neighboring trail, even though we had plenty of time.

Short (1 mile?) detour to see Office Covered Bridge at Westfir. You can drive on the red bridge over North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River (what a name!) to a big parking lot. Proper bathroom. No shade. The bridge looks new. It also has a pedestrian walkway. Nice windows looking out to the water and neighboring hills. The car reported 82°F.

Back at home at 6pm. Early enough to clean the gears and do laundry.

2014.4.14 Brew Cycle

4/14 Thursday afternoon. Rain just stopped. Our little company went on this bike for a few blocks. Total 10 people can paddle, but it seats 12 each side, and a couple more at the back bench. Doesn't matter how hard you paddle, this thing isn't going fast, maybe at 3 miles/hour. Our "host" steered and made stops at 3 local pubs, two of which I've never heard of. We were on our own to buy beer or food, given 20-30 minutes at each stop. It's somewhat fun, for once at least.

2016.4.9-10 Southern Oregon: spring flowers and rocky beaches

4/8, Friday. Sunset 7:46pm, moonset 9:36pm. Left work around 3pm. Hot these days. About 86°F. Later gone up to 88°F. Drove to Woodenshoe Tulip Farm. Typical Friday peak traffic. Google route me to 99E instead of I-5 or I-205, along Willamette River. Quite nice, but took over an hour. $5/pp. My first time here (my 4th year in Oregon). Even though it's a week day, still quite some visitors, even when I was leaving around 5pm. I enjoyed the flowers. It's just one big patch arranged by colors. Neighboring field lay farrow, so it's almost necessary to pay for parking if you want a good look. Driving north of farm, may provide a glimpse. Quite a few contraptions for kids to play in. A few little "cow train" that drives around the tulip field ($3) generating dust. I'm glad to have brought my umbrella.

Drove to Cannonville for the night. ~9pm. Too tired to push further south.

4/9, Saturday. Sunrise 6:39am, sunset 7:47pm, moonrise 8:27am, moonset 10:48pm. I set my alarm at 4am. 55°F. Filled gas at Grants Pass. Arrived at Lower Table Rock trailhead ~6am, hoping to catch sunrise. Check out my hike here last year a couple of weeks later, after the flower peak. This time, it's perfect. Lots of flowers, mostly blue lupine, yellow buttercup, pink Cow's Udder Clover (Trifolium depauperatum Desv. var. depauperatum, white little Plectritis (Plectritis Macrocera). Distance mountain ranges still have a tad bit snow on the top. Exceedingly scenic. There still exits two good size pools of water. See the goose on this photo. I was informed later, that in Feb, or even late Jan, you can find tadpoles and shrimp in these vernal pools, as well as early flowers like grass widow. The best thing is that I was the only one here, soaking in the fragrance of flowers, bird calls and beauty in the morning sunlight. As I was about to leave, saw a runner. On my way down, more people were hiking up.

Upper Table Rock. 9-1pm, I signed up for this Early Flowers guided tour hosted by the Nature Conservancy and BLM. Led by BLM botanist Marcia Wineteer. I took the very last spot (limit 15). I highly recommend these events. I learn so much. Saw only 2 Henderson's fawn lily (Erythronium hendersonii) in good shape (the rest are seeding) and about 3 clumps of the endemic Dwarf Woolly Meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa var. pumila). Marcia told us every plant along the way, as well as BLM's effort to clear some buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus, which is taken over the slopes and flowering excessively with strong smell. Deer eats the young ones.) in order to encourage grass and flowers. Once we (slowly) reached the top, we walked around the plateau. Marcia also told me a couple of other flower spots in the region, which I decided to check them out in the afternoon.

Pets are banned from both Table Rocks. We saw 3 dogs this morning. Their owners, after being informed of the rule (so are a multitude of displays), continued their hike with the dogs.

Being on a solo trip has its advantages. I can change my itinerary on a whim. Marcia told me about the Pear Blossom Festival in downtown Medford (parade today at 11am) and two botanic special areas along Hwy-199. I decided to avoid crowds and check out more flowers.

Eight Dollar Mountain may have gotten its name from a nearby discovery of a gold nugget worth $8.00. Another story is that a man wore out a pair of shoes worth $8.00 walking around its base. On March 25, 1856, the Battle of Eight Dollar Mountain, a skirmish in the Rogue River Indian War, was fought in this area. The Eight Dollar Mountain Darlington fen is characterized by the California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica), a carnivorous plant which feeds on insects when they become trapped in the vase shaped leaves of the plant. This area is one of the larger, more easily accessible fens in the Illinois Valley. A fen, is a wetland created by continuous flow of alkaline water from uphill springs and seeps (cooler water). In contrast, a bog has standing water.

Eight Dollar Mt botanical area names Eight Dollar Mt Road (as on the maps) to TJ Howell Botanical Drive. Total 7.5 miles. Thomas Jefferson Howell (1842-1912) was Oregon's earliest pioneer botanist and created the first species guidebook to regional flora for PNW "A Flora of Northwest America" (1897-1903) in It consists 3150 plant species, 89 of which were newly described by Howell.

• Mile 0, welcome sign. ~100m from Hwy 199. Vault toilet. 2 handicap parking spots. Main parking is on 199. Short (1/8 mile) boardwalk to a field of California Pitch flower, interpretive signages.
• Mile 1. Little Falls Loop TH and campground. A few people camped there. I walked the 1 mile loop through serpentine soil (low in more commonly occurring minerals such as calcium and nitrogen, but high in metal). The Klamath-Siskiyou mountain range is oriented east-west (versus a typical N-S orientation). This provides an unusual habitat. The south facing slope here is dry and hot. Not much shade on the trail. The small campground has a few shading trees. I took an obvious but very short side track to a swampy field full of pitcher flowers, some in bloom. Then At the Illinois River side, two ladies were sunbathing in their birth suite. A father and son fishing and cooling in the water.
• Mile 1.8, cross the river on Eight Dollar Bridge. A few were camping here. Quite nice.
• Mile 2.1, Josephine Camp, close to Josephine Creek. Lots of trash left behind. Saw one van.
• I continued up, now the gravel road till maybe mile 5.6. Lots of dead trees. Not scenic. Good view across the valley with distant mountains still in snow. The lookout here has lost its signage.

Rough and Ready Wayside (4.5 miles south of Cave Junction - Oregon Cave is here). Soils at Rough and Ready flat consist of ultramafic alluvial deposits from Rough and Ready Creek. The ultramafic deposits have led to serpentine soil conditions favoring a unique plant community which is sparse and desert like in appearance. There's a wheelchair accessible paved walk way along the creek. I didn't walk too far, so didn't see anything unusual to my untrained eyes, except for one chocolate lily that's yellow - maybe a different specie?

I continued on 199 towards the coast. As the road enters CA, it passes Collier Tunnel. A nice rest area (closed at night). At Jedediah Smith Redwood park, I took 197 to connect 101. There, even though not entering the park, you see many big redwood trees. I stopped for the night at Harris Beach. Disappointing sunset, clouds were too thick. Had dinner looking over the beach. Parking here is for day time only, so I didn't leave my car.

4/10, Sunday. Very cloudy. Sunrise 6:38am, sunset 7:48pm, moonrise 9:14am, moonset 11:55pm.
Disappointing sunrise. After breakfast, drove straight to Pistol River State Park, and hiked south to Crook Point. No trail per say, no people either. Fabulous view. South to Mack Arch, north to the beach I just walked over, with only one set of footprints. Plenty gulls. Saw 2 deer running upslope when I approached.

Blacklock Point from Cape Blanco Airport. Quite a few hikers. The trail is quite boring. The point itself is okay, nothing special for Oregon coast. I walked to the water fall (okay, has better view for the vertical cliff). Now I was on my own. I continued the trail to Flora Lake, and hit a marshy area with ATV track. Then I lost the track, soon very lost in the thick of brushes. Almost one hour later, after a few scratches, lots of sweat and dirt, and loss of my sunglasses, finally found the trail, all the while using my phone GPS as guidance. One problem: I didn't calibrate the orientation.

Yaquina Head used to be my favorite spot for sunset and bird watching. Not many birds this time. Not much of a sunset either. Still a nice place to visit. Walked up the hill behind the restrooms for a better view. This site ($7 or Interagency Pass) closes at sunset. I was the last person out.

Drove back home almost at midnight. Very sleepy.

2016.4.2-3 Spring at Fairbanks

Based on University of Alaska's Aurora Forecast, the weekend of 4/2-3 has high and high+ solar activities. Combining with a reasonably good weather forecast, I decided to fly to Fairbanks to see Aurora Borealis. Well, weather wasn't cooperating after all.

4/1. Late night flight to Fairbanks, AK. Lucky enough to have seats exchanged for exit row. Arrived at FAI shortly before 2am. Rental car counter of National was already closed, even though this is a prepaid reservation at 2am.

4/2, Saturday. Sunrise 7:05am, sunset 8:46pm. Moon rise 5:59am, moonset 1:45pm. Plenty sunshine with clouds. Fairbanks is quite ugly. Sprawling town with bad architecture. But the drive to Denali National Park is quite beautiful, especially as you approach the park. Alaska Range is right in front of you, Nenana River is often next to the road. This spring has been exceptionally warm. Water is flowing, yet plenty ice and snow for cover, providing a pristine landscape. Many roadside pullouts offer photo opportunities, with advanced (1500') signs. The only bad thing is that you'll find trash here and there. The tourist town at the park entrance is totally deserted, which looks quite prettier.

Drove the park road to Salvage River, where a bar blocked further access right at the bridge. The road is clear of snow for sometime. Not sure why it's still closed. Walked in a couple of miles to the next rest area with green roof toilets. Everything looks serene. Next, hike the little loop along Salvage River. Icy at times. Beautiful place. About 10 cars parked here, more than I expected.

Increased cloudiness later in the day. Drove a bit more south, turned around when clouds blocked the top of mountains. Even snowshoed a bit. Snow here is deep and soft (even the very top is a bit crusty), or I'm getting too fat: I sunk to my hip a couple of times. So, didn't venture very far. Waited for the night to set. No sunset, grey sky until dark. No Northern Lights. It started snowing around 10pm, and didn't stop till ~5am the next day.

4/3, Sunday. Sunrise 7:01am, sunset 8:49pm. Moon rise 6:20am, moonset 3:14pm. Cloudy morning. Briefly visited Creamer's Field in the northern part of the town. A swap for birds. Now, it's flat and white. Visited the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline 10 miles north of Fairbanks, and the Gold Daughters across the road. Both Gold Daughters and Gold Dredge 8 are closed for the season. These are the two closest mining tourist attraction to Fairbanks. I like the old machinery lying about in their properties.

Last, visited Chena Hot Springs Resort, 1:15 hours east. The resort is like every place in Alaska, built without a plan. A cluster of buildings and huts, built each for its own purpose. The pool looks very nice, so is the ice museum (open for guided tour only). There's a free geothermal energy tour at 2pm & 4pm daily. We get to see the power house where the 2 in-house designed engines are running, and a new
screw turbine using a 2000+' drill to tap hotter water (~195F, about 30F more than what's turning the two main engines, drilled at ~750'). Together, they are able to produce about 200kW electricity, about 40% of its consumption in peak season. The hot water also supplies the green house to produce "Chena-Fresh" lettuce and tomatoes, as well as absorption cooling of the ice museum.

The plane ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage is a visual feast. I seated at seat E by the right side window. I can see Mt McKinley's double peak through the badly scratched window. The left side is prettier (seat A). Endless snowy peaks of Alaska Range, then Talkeetna Mountains.

4/4, Monday. The only flight to PDX is at 12:40am. Anchorage airport is a good layover choice. Big glass windows showing off the surrounding mountains. Seats without armrest, perfect to sleep on. On the plane, I tried to stay awake, staring out of my pot-hole window (seat A), but didn't see any Northern Lights. Yes, some stars, but the north / lower half of the sky is not dark, clouds? Arrived at PDX 5:20am!