4/20, Friday, worked at home. Some traffic getting into and out of the city. I arrived at the mass hall in Cascade Lock's Marine Park at 6:50pm. Registered, in time for tonight's talk at 7pm(there's why I came Friday instead of Saturday morning), while chowing down a baked potato and a bowl of chili. Chris Donnermeyer of NFS talked about historical fires in the area and their cycles and significance in clearing up under-bushes and promote blueberry growth for native tribes. He has some very detailed maps, which is impossible to read on the screen.
After the talk, I ran into Claudio, who came with his group, already attended a day of class. They were camping at a state park nearby. I went to set up my newly acquired tent (a sub-$100 tent for car camping) under a loose cluster of 3 blossoming cherry trees on Thunder Island. All the semi secluded spots were taken. As I was just starting to assemble, a guy walked by claiming how pretty it was to camp here right now. He was so happy that he was humming. I'm also fairly content with my new tent overall, but didn't like the angle of the doors. At night, it rained, exactly as forecast. Not heavy but nonstop. Earplugs were not enough to block the noise of the trains going by on both sides of Columbia River.
4/21, Saturday.
As soon as the rain stopped (~7am), I crawled out of the tent. Sun was already risen. The low angle light is lovely. Breakfast is pancake, egg and ham. I'm not eating meat any more, so choices are limited. For lunch, ham, turkey, cheese to make sandwich, with New Seasons' bread. Tomato, pickle, celery, carrot, no lettuce (recalled by stores). I made a very boring sandwich with just tomato and pickle, avoid all the cheap condiments. Packed a ziplock bag of an apple and celery.
After the group photo shot, we gathered in groups. My class has about 8 students. Sue is the instructor. We carpooled to the large PCT trailhead north of the river, where 4 mules and packer Jim (Sue's husband) was waiting for us by their trailer. The mules have very soft fur, especially Patsy. 3 girls and 1 boy, who's much bigger. They are all bigger than I thought. We practiced tying tools in buckets so they don't rattle (lots of duct tape and clothes), and center the weight to the inner side, and center. Need to weigh each bucket so they balance. Then we loaded gravel on the 3 girls with these special bags that open at the bottom. Loading took a lot of people at the same time. Need to load on both side at the same time, and the buckets were heavy to lift high enough to pour. Then, Jim riding Jackson, and led the 3 loaded mules up the trail to another crew/class that was redoing a turnpike on the muddy trail. Half of us walked behind (the mules were faster than me). After unloading the first batch (one mule at a time, but both sides simultaneously). We walked another ~1/2 mile to pick up some logs that were mistakenly dropped off yesterday. Tying the logs to the horse took a long time. Somehow there were 7 logs. I and another guy carried the 7th log down. Seems for logs this size, it's quicker to carry by human. The rest of the afternoon was filling gravel bags, and the mules made a few trips. I really liked this class, the mules and both Sue and Jim. They belong to Back Country Horsemen, a volunteer organization. I even contemplated attending this Equin Expo recommended by Sue. We finished around 4:30pm.Back at Cascade Locks, I got a Play Wave pale ale, before the beer was officially served at 5pm. Took a photo of the birthday cake. In fact, there were two cakes with same design. One is about 1/4 size. Googled for trail closure in the neighborhood. Many trails in the Gorge are now closed due to last summer's Eagle Creek Fire, but didn't see any mention of Dry Creek Falls. So, after rehydrated, I went.
I walked from Thunder Island via Dry Creek Rd. It turns out I walked more on the road than on the trail.At the end of the gravel road (big-ish stones, seems newly laid), met an SUV. The wife walked out of the car, and walked to the cross-section where a couple of signs indicating no vehicle access. She asked me if the trail was open, then returned to the car, and they drove away. One of the signs were covered by a black bag. Don't know why you'd need these signs here, since there was a bar blocking the road. The trail itself feels like a logging road. 
There's a big building at the beginning of the trail. It follows Dry Creek until the trail junction. Yes, some burnt trees. Continue straight that's the waterfall, flowing nicely. The remaining sunlight made the fall prettier than last year. I was the only person during my entire time on the trail. Took only 15 minutes to come back to the road, and about 30 minutes walk back to Thunder Island. 
I returned around 6:50pm, already past dinner time. There was still food left. I took a veggie burger with burnt bottom, and a big ladle of veggie stew. Had a PCT Porter, also sponsored by Crux. I didn't eat the cake. The small one was finished, and the big one was half gone by the time I returned. Talked to this lady with a ukulele. Stayed for the short talks by different agencies where we can volunteer for trail work. I left at the raffle drawing. Need to charge my phone in the car, because I forgot to bring a normal charger.
2/22, Sunday. Got up at 6am, still too late to catch sunrise when I got out of my tent. Again beautiful light.
Drove to Hood River Valley to see the fruit blossom. Perfect timing. The white flower sea will last at least another week. I couldn't believe that I never came this way in April to see the glory. Very pretty indeed. Maybe a nice place to live. First I drove to the Panorama Point park. Then just cruising around the neighborhood. The early morning light is very nice. May try sunrise next time. Sunset would be a wrong direction for Hood. Too bad that I didn't have time to linger before my class.
Today, my class is new trail construction. The site is at Steveson, at the request of the city to build a trail from the road down to the beach. Ryan from WTA talked about general site selection and trail design. He is a good teacher. We spent the rest of the day shoveling and carrying gravel, digging rocks and dirt, collecting trash, lopping blackberry. Had lunch by the lovely but small beach. Minor problem is no toilet here. I listened to 2 state park employees (also students of this class) talking about claiming per diem for their trip here. Oh, both stayed at the Best Western in town. It made me wonder: government employees who are supposed to know about trail works, are getting extra pay by catching up with their needed skills, while we, the regular citizens, volunteer 100%. Garb, the trip leader (another volunteer like Sue and Jim), is also very nice, who even reminded me to drink, and we were in full sun. Towards the end of the day, the trail was getting in shape nicely. As often with WTA trips, chocolates (Reese and Hershey) were passed around (I prefer my Theo). We stopped ~3:30.
Back at Thunder Island, returned my hard hat and gloves. No beer today. Packed up my tent, drove to Rowena Crest like last year. Hiked up McCall Point. Maybe a week or 2 too early for flowers, but still beautiful. Enough Balsamroot to make the photos shine. Even a few Painted Brush. Lupine was still budding. No much wind today. I planned to watch sunset, but the trail is shorter than I remembered. I reached the top around 6pm. Had a can of Amy's soup while thinking about whether to wait 2 hours for the sunset. Decided to head back.
Drove to Crown Point, barely made the sunset, before reaching Vista House. Hastily double parked. A colorful ending of a beautiful and productive weekend. (Note: the Historic Columbia River Hwy is open from the west - exit 22. The east access from Bridal Veil is still closed.)The sunshine continued next week, reaching 84°F on Wednesday and Thursday (4/25-26). Maybe a record.
