4/29, Saturday. Sunny - drizzle. This is my 3rd time at Trail Skill College of Columbia branch of PCTA. This is a 3 day learning event (Fri-Sun), hosted on Thunder Island (close to the lowest point of PCT). However, I only had class on Saturday. My choice of the Sunday class was full. In the reminder email, I was instructed to arrive before 8am. But the class didn't start gathering until 9am. That's just for the photo shot. I arrived at registration table at 7:45am. Had breakfast (egg, sausage, pancake), packed some food for lunch, including one of the last 3 oranges. No more apples. The only other healthy item is bread, donated by New Seasons, and maybe Yerba Mate (donated by Guayaki, but all sweetened). The rest is loaded with high fructose syrup, hydrogenated oil, deli meat, sugary cookies. Food apart, this event is always well organized, and I've always enjoyed it.I'm in stair construction class. We are 8 students, 2 instructors and 2 experts in the trade (retired contractors who volunteer for PCTA).
We cut wood and drilled holes in the "lumber yard" off the trailhead of Herman Creek. We were instructed on the simple calculation of runs and rises. Generally keep the slope to be 20% or less. After lunch, we drove to Cape Horn trailhead. I volunteered to drive (20 miles each way). Unlike a Meetup, only one of my 3 passengers offered gas money, which I declined (don't want to penalize the nicest in the bunch). Right, not all participants are nice people. The boy from Mt St Helen Institute spits on the ground every few minutes ‐ disgusting. 
We hiked in about half a mile carrying some tools. The wood is then transported via this trolly. Looks very sturdy and useful. I was told this particular version is no longer manufactured. First we took out the original stone steps (they are a bit loose). Since it's a small space, only half of us were let working on digging the dirt and placing the wood, while the other 4 learned to use an inclinometer. Only after many deliberation and handwaving, we then laid the first log. By the end of the day (here about 3pm), we only put in one step, and filled with gravel (which was transported here earlier).
I don't know why we were asked to return to Thunder Island by 5pm. So we had to pack up early than necessary. On our drive back, we made a couple of stops to looked at two earlier projects of stairs our instructors had helped to put in. Tomorrow, the 2nd stair construction class would finish this. Here's their effort and result.
We arrived back at Thunder Island before 5pm. Dinner is at 6. I decided to go for a hike so I can reach my goal of step count for this week. Visited Dry Creek Falls. An easy 4 mile in and out. It started drizzle half way there. But never rained hard. The big grassy area on Thunder Island got a bit soggy over the evening. I got to the dinner around 6:30, still plenty food left. Burger and chilly, chilled beer (donated PCT porter by Crux from Bend). The photos were rotating on the screen. A lot of Hydro Flasks were on the table up for the grab, different colors and mouth fixtures, two sizes. At 7:00, raffle started. It raised over $1200, with donated gears. Osprey provided many backpacks. The instructors and volunteers of this event were each given one special raffle ticket for the first few rounds of raffle.
4/30, Sunday. No rain. Had breakfast at 7am. Drove towards Rowena Crest, 30 minutes east, where I signed up with The Nature Conservancy for a short hike. Since I was early, I stopped at Memaloose rest area for a walk. Didn't have time to loop up the hill. Lots of shiny poison oak. Saw quite a few Columbia Desert Parsley still blooming (the tail end of its season).
At 10am, about 10 of us gathered at Rowena Crest. Very windy today, a couple couldn't bailed out in the middle of the walk. Two TNC staff and one wife. All quite knowledgable of flowers, and took time to show us. I enjoyed the walk, not the wind. Lots of wild cucumber, prairie star, some Columbia desert parsley on the west side of the hill towards McCall Point (no wind here). Dwarf lupine are blooming, but big leave lupine is still in bud. Quite some balsamroot, but still a lot in bud. Maybe another week for the peak bloom. 
After we adjourned, I walked up to McCall Point. The trail is now regraded and open year round. View of Hood (the top is in the clouds), and river valley below is very nice. Some red Indian paintbrush is blooming, added some color. It was very windy, impossible to rest and enjoy the view for long. There's one stretch in the oak grove that's calm. Different flowers: saw oak toothwort, some dead chocolate lily, very tall fern leaved lomatium in low elevation. Definitely worth coming here again on a calmer and sunnier day.
At 3pm, there's a Hoyt Arboretum member-only flower walk. There was a table with 2 trays of cookies from New Seasons and some sparkling water before the walk. A very nice touch. The walk was very short (total less than a mile, and shy of 1 hour), lead by the botanist onsite, who has in-depth knowledge of many cultivars as well as wild plants. I finally saw a bitteroot (planted, not wild), a showy wildflower in eastern gorge I have yet to encounter. A curious one is the fertile stems of horsetail.
Camassia Park south of Portland is a favorite of mine at this time of the year to see common camas in full bloom. Today is a good time. Another TNC property. Short, well laid-out boardwalk. Camas mixed with rosy plectritis, very nice color combo.
