2019.4.27-28 Table Rocks - Crater Lake, another road trip south

4/26, Friday. Picked up a car and drove to Willow Creek Preserve for sunset. Not the best idea. The sun is setting behind trees. This year, flowers are late. Camas were just starting to bloom.

4/27, Saturday. Snoozed my alarm clock at 5:20am. Missed the sunrise. On my way to Upper Table Rock, I almost ran over a turkey. Common camas was the show today on Upper Table Rock. The morning light was still good. A few joggers and photographers with tripods. Only saw one small vernal pool.

I signed up for a birding event at 8am at Lower Table Rock. Here's the list compiled by the two guides of what we "saw" today. But this is what I saw, in 5 hours! I'm pretty happy with the binocular I bought last May at RCA's Astronomy Fair. One of the guides also carried a spotting scope.

Rufus hummingbird;
Lewis woodpecker with raspberry colored chest;
Wilson's warbler, very yellow;
California scrub jay, blue;
Bluegrey gnatcatcher, grey, not blue at all, small;
Golden crown sparrow, brown, with light yellow top head;
California towhee, little, brown, dull;
Rock wren, small, sand color, on top of Lower Table Rock;
Pileated woodpecker. Large, with red head;
Many turkey vulture, some puffed up turkey too.

Birding requires patience with keen eyes and ears, all of which I lack. We spent 3+ hours in the oak + buckbush savanna, not moving much. Had to put all my clothes on. Then we slowly walked up. We stayed closer to trees and the edge. Lots of turkey vulture at the edge. Rosy Plectritis was the show today on top of Lower Table Rock. The blue here was blue-eyed Mary, not lupine. Gold star and camas also were prolific. Saw many babystar (Leptosiphon bicolor), both pink and white. Yes, and the unique dward woolly meadowfoam. By the time, the group disbanded, it was past 2pm! And it was hot. My car read 77°F.

I drove towards Crater Lake. Used the washroom at Lost Creek Marina, filled drinking water. Didn't try the shower.

5pm, Crater Lake. Abandoned the idea of going to Oregon Observatory for the 8pm star show. Snowshoed to a private spot and cooked dinner. Then, I waited for the sun to set. Temperature dropped quickly.

Drove to Odessa Campground for the night. I don't remember why it's marked on my map. When I pulled in, it was quite dark already. No view of the lake. Looked on my phone over trails close by, decided to climb McLoughlin, because its trailhead is only 20 minutes away.

4/28, Sunday. Chilly night. 36°F. Up before sunrise this time, hoping to see the sun rise from Klamath Lake. Quite many nice houses along Rocky Point Road (the north half), but not Rocky Point Resort and the little town.

NF3650 (access to McLoughlin TH) was entirely blocked by snow. 31°F. I don't think I want to walk extra 2 miles each way on snow. So abandoned my last minute plan.

Upper Klamath Lake NWR is signed "No motorized vehicle". I guess it's better to visit here via canoe. It's quite pretty. Saw 2 sandhill cranes, many yellow-headed black bird - very yellow. Fresh horse dump, didn't see anyone.

Stop by Wood River. I don't remember why it's marked on my map. Heard the guide mentioned it this morning. Seems like a better bird watching place than Table Rock. Paved paths, both along the river and in the woods. Picnic tables, benches. Saw only one person here.

Collier Memorial rest area is a fabulous stop for restroom. It's also marked as a state park. Clean restroom. Plenty trees for shade. Drinking fountain. Picnic tables by river, where Spring Creek flows into Williamson River.

I originally planned to visit Oregon Observatory in Sunriver for the 8pm star program. So, researched the trails in the area. I visited Deschute River via Konclin Road. Wide, but very washboard, couldn't go more than 25mph. The road north of the junction to Slough Day Use area is in a much better shape. I parked at Sough, and walked to Benham Falls (~1 mile), and later to Dillon Falls. Both are not waterfalls, just a narrow in the lava field where the river had to squeeze through. The setting is interesting due to the lava rocks, and distant Cascade Peaks. Very dry other than the river. Quite a lot of people here: close to Bend.

Tumalo Falls has been on my radar for sometime. The road to the falls was closed, not sure why, since it's entirely snow free. The only snow left is at the parking lot by the waterfall. The couple who were eating sandwiches sunning on their truck bed told me not to bother with hiking boots. Good advice. It's a gravel road I walked on. ~2.5 miles one way. Practically no shade. Thankfully the temperature was pleasant, maybe in the lower 50°Fs. A few runners and more walkers. The waterfall is quite pretty. Don't know why I never came here before.

On the way back along Hwy-20, visited a few map markers on Metulios River. I must have marked then according to one of Bill Sullivan's guide books. First stop, the source of the river, a spring. Saw only one other family. The hatchery at Wizard Falls closes at 7pm. There's a washroom with running water. I couldn't find where the falls are. The river, however, is significant. Hard to associate it with the little spring source. I tried to visit the House on Metolius, but the access road was gated. Drove by Camp Sherman on my way back to hwy-20. A spread-out collection of huts and other random structures. It doesn't look very neat. I probably would prefer the FS campgrounds along Metulios.

Got home ~9pm. Returned the car the next morning.

2019.4.21. Starvation Ridge - Mt Defiance loop

4/21, Sunday. I started hiking very early, because Mt. Defiance is the hardest hike in the Gorge with close to 5000' gain, and I have a deadline: the rental car office closes at 3pm on Sunday.

The first 0.5 mile is paved. At 6am, Cabin Falls. 5 minutes later, Hole-in-the-wall Falls. Both are very pretty. Soon after, the pavement stops and trail starts going up a bit. Soon, the trail forks. I turned left for Starvation Ridge - Mt Defiance loop clockwise, because Starvation Ridge looks more open. The view of the river was also better in the rising sun. The only bad part is the power line.

I like the lower half of Starvation Ridge before it goes completely into the woods (~1 hour later). Quite a lot of flowers: shooting star, gold star, glacier lily, still some grass widow left, plectritis both white and pink. In the woods along the trail, a lot of calypso bulbosa. I may have seen silver crown (not flowering), endemic Columbia Kittentail.

Wasted a few minutes looking for the non-exist trail on my FSTopo GPS map. Read more carefully the description of the loop at oregonhikers.org again, and abandoned my search. At 9am, reached the junction of Michel Point trail. That's 3.6 miles in 3 hours: very slow! Warren Lake is signed at 1 mile. But took me 40 minutes. It's flat here, but couldn't go fast due to snow. The lake basin was covered with snow. The snow on the lake looked soft, melting. At this point, I realized that I wouldn't be able to make it back by 3pm, if I had to pick up Mary's phone. So, called the rental office, requested to drop the car at another office which closes one hour later.

Large cairns marked the Michel Pt trail from the lake up. Plenty footprints too. 10:26, reached junction with Mt Defiance trail. 25 minutes later, crossed the road. 20 minutes later, hit the road again. I walked on the rest of the road to the cell towers on the summit. Good view of Mt Hood. 11:07am, took me 5.2 hours!

On the way back, I followed footprints in the snow (lots of them shooting at all directions) and missed the junction with Michel Point trail. Quite open for awhile (~30 minutes). Too bad that the clouds were low, blocking the view of Adams. I started to meet hikers on their way up. Below the rocky section, the trail is in burnt forest. Orange ribbon tied on branches to mark the trail. Soon, I could see the reconstruction of the trail. Lots of small rocks, maybe due to the re-treading. My knees start to hurt. Quite steep. The lower half of the slope was covered with minor's lettuce, the tasty kind. I munched on a few handfuls.

After Lancaster Falls is the junction with Starvation Ridge, thus completing the loop. Passing again the Hole-in-the-wall Falls, and Cabin Falls, at 13:43pm, I finally reached the full parking lot. Almost 8 hours! My phone recorded over 39K steps. The large restroom with running water and drinking fountain is a welcome finish.

Paul's house is marked by an amazing cherry tree in full bloom. Their garden is full of flowering plants. Because Paul is color blind, his wife is in charge of planting :)

2019.4.20. Catherine Creek - Coyote Wall loop

4/20, Saturday, partly cloudy - partly sunny, warm (maybe reached 70°F), a bit windy. My only hike with Friends of the Gorge this year. Most weekend hikes were full when I registered. However, due to last minute cancellation, Mary was able to register one day earlier. So I picked her up on my way to Gateway TC - the first meeting spot at 8am.

There were total 14 of us including a guide (Paul) and two shepherds. Walking west towards Coyote Wall (see above photo), on a trajectory of dumbbell shaped, to cover different habitats. View is expansive, except in the oaks a couple of short stretches (the only possibility for bio-break). We had lunch at the 10 acre parcel Friends of the Gorge acquired recently (off trail). There, we may saw Bolander's linanthus. We walked by Burns family property many times, and saw this nice warning at two different locations. Yes, poison oak is starting their red young leaves.

This Really Is:
Private Property
So, unless you are:Visiting
Bearing Gifts of Wine and Cheese
Injured, Dehydrated and need a cup of Tea
Having Equipment Failure
Genuinely Lost
Please Respect Our Privacy
Thanking you in Advance
PS: Beware of Poison Oak.

Catherine Creek area is my favorite flower location in east Gorge. We saw many varieties today. Only saw 4 grass-widow left, balsamroot was starting to bloom, not a single broadleaf lupine in bloom, shooting star was at peak bloom, lots of popcorn flower, tomcat clover, 4 kinds of lomatium, including the one I was wondering about at White River Falls last weekend: fernleaf. Refreshed my failed memory of stoneseed, oak toothwort, ball-head waterleaf. Filaree was carpeting open space by every highway.

Also saw a nuthatch. Heard him first knocking a tree.

The wind, sun, and distance (maybe 9 miles) was wearing out Mary. She and Sue's husband (Bruce?) went down earlier with a shepherd. She went back to Portland in Paul's car. I continued east.

The drive on Old Hwy 8 is quite pretty, a lot of flowers. I pulled into Horsethief Butte parking lot with a lot of people and climbing gears. It turns out that 5 Mazamas groups were doing BCEP class here today. To my surprise, I saw Tatiana (student) and Linda (assistant). All of them were camping at Maryhill State Park that night. Good timing. Glad that I wasn't here earlier. Now only me and a family of 5 in the park, scrambling all over. Balsomroot was blooming very nicely here. Some lomatium, death camas. Saw some flowers on the top that could be townsendia. On the way out, I picked some nettles to cook when I get home.

Waited for sunset at Rowena Crest. Ate an uncooked dinner here. Saw a couple doing wedding photography.

Received an email from Paul saying that Mary forgot her phone in his car and she requested me to pick it up tomorrow. Dang! She knew I'd be short of time tomorrow.

As (un)luck has it, my rental car locked itself with keys inside. Had to call the road assistance. Took half an hour on the phone, and another hour for a guy to come out to my car. It went fairly smoothly. Cost? $58. What if my phone was also locked in the car?

2019.4.14. Crossing Mnisose - a play

4/14, Sunday, 7:30pm. The new play Crossing Mnisose by Mary Kathryn Nagle at Portland Center Stage. Mnisose is Missouri River. I really liked the stage design: a make-believe river, and few long cloths hanging over the ceiling, resembling sails. The play weaves two stories together. The recent fight of the Standing Rock Indian with Army Corp over Dakota Pipeline, in the play, who bulldozed native culture sites, bullied a local farmer into selling his land for the easement of the dam. The circumstance of the 14 year old Sacagawea's participation in Lewis and Clark's expedition under the tyranny of her owner/husband Charbonneau. Both stories well told, even though in a simplified the way to keep the play in 2 hours. I didn't care for the two budding love stories of then and now. The end is a bit ambivalent. Overall, I enjoyed the play, learned something, and propelled me to read the entire article of Sacagawea on Wikipedia and the chronic of the Standing Rock struggle in the show note.

2019.4.13-14. PCTA Trail Skills College

4/13, Saturday, rain. This may be my last time attending PCTA's Trail Skills College at Cascade Locks. I had only 1 day of class. A repeat of what I did in 2016 ago. Most classes were full by the time registration was open to the general public. I camped at Thunder Island Friday night. No cherry blossom this time. Luckily the rain didn't start until Saturday mid-morning, so my tent was kept more or less dry.

My class, Introduction to Chainsaws, had 7 students and 3 instructors. We were lucky that the class was held in the tent, as it rained most of today. We learned each parts of the saw, what fuel to pour (50:1), how to hold the saw, how to put the chain on/off, file the blades, clean the air filter. Need to release the build-up of vapor when hot. It was a good refresher. During the break, we could warm up inside the big hall.

This class finished around 4:15. I left about half an hour later, without dinner, heading east - less rain. Lomatium was blooming on the slopes, but didn't see balsamroot.

Went to White River Falls, a day-use only state park (7am-7pm now). Water volume is more forceful than usual. My 3rd time here. There were a few people hiking out. As it was late, when I went down to the river, I had the whole place to myself. Thick with scent of sagebrush. yellow Lomatium blooms. Some other parsley looking plants with red stems, no flowers yet. The toilet by the parking lot here is proper, with TP and running water. The camp host parked their RV and truck next to it. The hostess with bright blue eye shadow was cooking dinner. I inquired about the plant and the road.

Instead of back-tracking to hwy-195, I continued east on hwy-126, and crossed Deschutes River at Sherars Bridge, and then turn right on Deschutes River Road (which connects 195 in Maupin). I really like this route. Scenic, no traffic. Maybe a little slower, but not much longer in distance. I saw only one car on the road. At the Blue Hole BLM campground by the river, I saw only one car (1 tent, 1 guy). Sun was setting. There're a number of BLM campgrounds along the drive. The one closet to Maupin had a few campers. I decided to continue driving till the rest area at Peter Skene Ogden State Park.

Some brights stars and some clouds at night.

4/14, Sunday. Overcast. Drove to Smith Rock State Park hoping to catch sunrise. But the red clouds I saw on the approach disappeared entirely when I arrived. I hiked the Homestead Trail so I was back at the rim again for another chance of the light, but the sun never broke out of the clouds today. Then, the typical Misery Ridge - River Trail loop. Water level was high. A very short section of the River Trail was under water. There's re-route. It's very short, but not for everyone. I was back in my car around 9:30am.

Went to Peter Skene Ogden park to checkout the 3 bridges. The Trunk Bridge (railway) and the High Bridge (de-commissioned) are historical. Not sure why they block the access (short) road to the bridge and parking lot. You can only park in the rest area and walk. The view of Crooked River below and the Cascades are good.

Last stop of the day is Cove Palisades State Park. I was hoping to hike Tam-a-Lau Loop hike. But the clouds were too thick for a good view of the mountains. The trailhead is way down by the lake/reservoir (I actually missed it, since it's not signed by the road). Drove to Round Butte Overlook Park. The park itself was closed. But the road is not. So, I parked outside of the fence, and walked next to the fence for a view down to the Dam and beyond. Along the drive, there were multiple pullovers above the canyon cliff to peek down 400' to Lake Billy Chinook and Lake Simtustus.

Uneventful on the drive back. Returned the car ~2:30pm (the office closes at 3pm).

2019.4.7. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

4/7, Sunday. Cloudy. I often stop by Nisqually NWR if I drive north to Seattle or Canada. It's a good place for birds. I especially like the long boardwalk. Today, I walked all the way to the end. The walk was now entirely sitting in the mud. I was a little disappointed in the number of birds: less than last time when I was here in winter. Somehow spring migration doesn't stop here? Saw 2 herons.