2019.2.17. Tamanawas Falls

2/17, Sunday morning. A local winter favorite Tamanawas Falls. 1.5 hour drive, less than 4 miles RT. Road passable for all vehicles (via Hood River). Gravel and salt were sprayed on the road for de-icing and traction.

Nice day. Not cold. Sun came out at some point. 11 people in our group. Many others. On the way out, there were cars waiting for us to leave (~1pm). Trail was packed enough that regular boots would work if you are experienced with ice and snow. I wore micro-spikes, carried my snowshoe all the way in and out. Water volume is lower than all of my previous visits. This time, since it wasn't icy, I walked behind the falls.

2019.2.16. OHS open house + beer exhibit

2/16. Saturday afternoon. Family Day at Oregon Historical Society for their new exhibit Experience Oregon. Lots of kids. Scheduled performances that I liked (3 out of 4) are:
Portland Taiko drums.
Oregon Trail Trio sang, read pioneer diaries and songs for almost an hour, very entertaining. Many unusual instruments.
The Prairie Blossoms performed re-orchestrated native American's songs.

I really enjoyed the current temporary exhibit: Barley, Barrels, Bottles, & Brews: 200 years of Oregon Beer. Very well designed exhibit. Apart from historical photos and objects, accompanied by clear descriptions, it has several interactive activities to illustrate the brew steps, to smell different hops, to match color/bitterness/ABV and style of beer. Too bad, no beer for sale or taste. No kids running around here, unlike Experience Oregon, the permanent exhibition, was packed with noisy kids and their tired parents.

2019.2.3. Oakridge Mall in Vancouver

2/3, Sunday. Snowed. After lunch, went to Oakridge Center (a shopping mall) to see the small installation of Imperial Inspiration. About 8 dresses by young Asian fashion designers, inspired by paintings of Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧), a court painter in 18th century China, an Italian Jesuit. Paintings on view were provided by National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Most are small. The largest is One Hundred Horses, a long scroll cut into two sections. Unfortunately, half of the paintings were displayed in glass cases facing the skylight, difficult to see.

West Bank, a Canadian developer, has re-imagined this shopping center into a hub of retail, residential, office. A model exhibition is in place in the mall. You have to sign in with an email address in order to view the exhibit. When you exist, your opinion is listened, and you have the opportunity to purchase the future homes in the first two high-rises scheduled to complete in 5 years. The exhibition space is nicely laid out with curved paths, 2 green walls, plenty of plants (no local species, some are invasive ornaments), a girl playing on a custom piano, 4 scaled models, the entrance was decorated with live moss. One architect onsite where we were there. Quite a few employees eager to answer questions. So I learned that the penthouses of those residential buildings will have a private swimming pool. Only one unit on the top floor.

Mary wanted to go to Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area, so I drove there, intended to drop her off. But she came back with us. Made another stop at Barnet Marine Park.

2019.2.2. Snowshoe at Mt. Baker Heather Meadow

2/2. Promised clearing for the afternoon, I set off to Mt. Baker ski area with Mary. She has no one else to spend her birthday, so I invited her to come along.

First stop at Nooksack Falls. A nice waterfall within 2 minute walk, and a half mile detour.

We arrived at the Heather Meadow base around 1:45pm, due to the late start, and multiple stops for food and toilet. Here's a ski trail map of the ski area. Parked along the road, all plowed and free of ice/snow. The main parking lot was full of snow, which I didn't think it's a good idea to take my rental Corolla in. A little bit of snow was still falling, but soon it stopped. I didn't make it to Artist Point, but high enough to get on fresh snow. Very powdery and soft. I sank often into the snow ~0.5' with snowshoes on. Up to the visitor center at Austin Pass, it was fairly easy, steep if you use tube-like snowshoes. There're well-trodden tracks to walk on (next to the downhill boundary orange tape). Good view of the lake basin below. Steeper and less defined boot tracks above here are more fun, yet more tiresome. Saw a few groups practicing digging snow shelters/ice caves. I turned around ~3:30pm as I promised, outstanding scenery higher I went. I layered down to base layer and a fleece vest, still sweating a bit. Reasonably warm: upper 30°Fs, maybe even 40°F. Regrouped with Mary just below Austin Pass. Back to the car ~4:30pm, and sun was already behind the mountains. Saw Shuksan finally broke out of the clouds, only a glimpse of Baker and only its corner.