2019.5.26-27. Enchanted Valley

Memorial Weekend. Rained on Saturday, so worked on cleaning my studio. Sunday 5/26, drove out to Quinault Lodge, had lunch on their lawn chairs. The lodge was fully booked this weekend. Beautiful property on the south shore of Quinault Lake. Pleasant scenery.

The hike starts at the Graves Creek campground. A lot of cars parked along the road. The ranger who issued permit told us that there were 150 cars parked last night (Saturday)! It's long: 13 miles one way. Lots of small ups and downs, mostly follow the Quinault River. Trees are big and mossy. The trail is in excellent condition. A few muddy spots. Saw one bear in a meadow a couple of miles before reaching Enchanted Valley. Along the way, there were a couple of camping areas.

At Enchanted Valley, there were many tents. Totally different from 9 years ago, when we visited this valley, saw maybe 2 tents. Quite of few sites had fire going. I'm not a fan of smoke. The only time I'd bother with a campfire is when it's cold. The ranger, who was cooking her dinner, comfortably sitting on her chair, checked our permit and my bear can.Thanks to one camper, we found a more or less secluded spot further down the trail (closer to TH, away from most of the smoke), with the view of the waterfalls across the river. A beautiful place to call home for just one night.

Bright stars at night on the narrow slice of the sky.

5/27, Monday. Sunny turned to cloudy. Hiking out was straightforward. Didn't see the bear of yesterday. Maybe half of the cars of yesterday. Woodland flowers like bunchberry, yellow violet are prolific. Vanilla leaf were flowering. Some columbine, Scouler's corydalis, only ~5 trillium.

Driving back had 1 hour of delay due to accident around Olympia.

2019.5.23. Sunset at Dog Mountain.

5/23, Thursday. Hot and sunny in the city when we left ~3:30pm. 20% chance of thunderstorm was in the forecast for the afternoon. We started hiking shortly before 5pm, still warm, but getting cloudy. The parking lot was ~60% full. Around 6pm, sure it came, thunder and rain, for about half an hour. Thankfully, we were still in the woods, so not raining too hard. I had my umbrella. Wind blew the clouds to the east, we we had a proper sunset. When we returned, only 5 cars in the parking lot.

We did this loop: took Augsperger up, and Dog down. Flowers were a bit past prime, but still beautiful. After reaching the summit, we waited for the sunset lower down by the trail amidst of flowers. Back to the trailhead around 10pm.

2019.5.21. Pico Iyer at Powell's

5/21, Tuesday night. Pico Iyer visited Powell's City of Books to promote his new book Automn Light reflecting on the life of Japan, where he's called home for the last 30+ years.

I've only know of Pico Iyer of his travel writings. This book is more of an essay or memoir. He talked about how he started the book (triggered by his father-in-law's death), read 2 paragraphs of his new book, and mostly just talked, and answered questions. He speaks like a poet with gentle voice, keen observation and reflective thoughts. Very enjoyable. I think I like his talks more than his books. He needs to produce audio books!

Ran into Carol. She told me that she lived in Japan for 9 years!

2019.5.19. Native Gardens at PCS

5/19, Sunday, 7:30. Native Gardens by playwright Karen Zacarías at the Armory. It's quite funny. Exaggerated reactions of daily conflicts, in this case, the old fence that's 2 feet into your neighbor's yard, native garden vs ornamental garden. The play ends in Hollywood-style happy compromise.

I really like the stage set. All the actors are great. The play certainly had fun to poke small differences in perfectly nice and reasonable people, and what can cause unnecessary yet series conflict.

2019.5.18. Elk-Kings loop

5/18, Saturday. Cloudy, drizzle. Thunderstorm was in forecast after 2pm. I've abandoned my weekend trip: canceled rental car, and 2 events. Happy to saw Aleksandra's broadcast about Elk-Kings loop very late on Friday. So, I texted her. She has another taker. She and Ben picked me up near my home ~8:30am. We started at the 2nd parking lot beyond Elk Creek C.G. It's a bit more walking.

We started out in mist. This trail is either very steep (up and down Elk and Kings) or very flat (abandoned logging road that connects the two mountains). See photos on my last blog about the steepness of the terrain.

I'm pleasantly surprised by all the flowers in this mostly wooded trail. Bleeding heart (seeding), fringe cup covered the undergrowth; phlox and paintbrush covered the rocky slopes. Saw the last few trillions and first few bear grass (top of Elk) of the year. I'm also surprised by the number of people here braving the potential thunderstorm. Some going anti-clockwise. Saw this odd bench, and a big picnic table high on the trail. Met a guy putting up a large ham radio antenna on top of Elk. When we saw him back at the parking lot, he said he got 8 contacts. He let me lift his antenna and the post. The post is a bit heavy to carry.

A very good work out, and good company. ~11 miles and 3700' gain. Ben is the fastest, even though the oldest. Aleksandra was going steady in the beginning, faster than me, but lost her steam on Wilson River trail coming back. We had a long lunch break on the flat slope before Kings summit, sitting among budding tiger lily and paintbrush. I had to open my umbrella to shield the sun, since I was preparing a rainy+muddy hike so didn't bring any sun protection. Rained only on the way home. No thunderstorm whatsoever. Only one muddy patch on Wilson River trail. I was dropped off near my home ~5:30pm.

2019.5.11-12 East Columbia Gorge - a road trip to Richland

5/11 Saturday, sunny. Hot: 88°F in Portland. Drove to Richland very early for the 11:45 B-Reactor tour. I was told that I could just show up waiting for a cancellation. I checked Friday evening, still no availability. When I arrived at the visitor center 5 minutes earlier, I was the 3rd person on wait list. I still got on the bus. The tour is advertised as 4 hours, and it took 4 full hours, with every part of the visit timed. 2 hours are wasted in transit. B reactor is 40 minutes drive, and our Greyhound-size bus was quite full, with many kids and a grandma on walker. Our driver also missed the turn + fiddled with the dashboard with some dis-functioning light for a few minutes.

The tour starts with a 10 minute video and a 10 minute talk (which repeats what the video said, but in a more friendly and comic fashion. Our guide is quite funny with a journalist major. Then we were loaded to the bus. Along the drive, our guide pointed to the features of the local landscape, including a bird nest on a power pole. The entire site is fenced in. As soon as we disembark by the building that houses B-Reactor, inside a taller fence, I used one of the two porta-potties recommended by the guide. It sure is nice. B-Reactor is the very first real nuclear reactor (in this case, to produce plutonium) in the world. The plutonium 239 generated here was used in the Fat-Man bomb dropped in Nagasaki on 1945/8/9. Horizontal and vertical boron rods were inserted to stop the chain reaction, when shovel fuel out per pipe (200+). They measure the incoming water pressure and outgoing water temperature of each pipe to guess the reaction progress. The finished fuel cylinders (in various degrees of plutonium content) were trucked to different facility to extract plutonium with lots of deadly chemicals. We were allowed to wonder around the building to see the water pipes (pumped from Columbia River), the control room, various fans and power unit. I didn't have enough time to look over everything and videos. This place reminds me of the muon lab in Fermi. There's an on-site docent who gave a a main presentation and 2 short presentations in 2 different rooms. Two guides were available to answer questions through out. I liked the tour. When I returned to my car at 1:45pm, it registered 101°F. After driving off a few minutes, the sensor showed 92°

I was too late for the monthly tour (2nd Saturday) at LIGO (1:30 & 3:30pm). It's about 15 minute drive. The lady at the visitor center played the short video for me and answered my question. She is very nice. She has a physics bachelor and education master degree. Seems there's an extra night of the touring next Saturday. Shall I drive here again? 4 hours!

Now, it's on my way home. I stopped at Yakima River where a row of white pelicans were waiting for fish (the B-Reactor guide pointed this out from the bus). Three young men were fishing. They look like native American. Not sure if other folks are allowed to fish here.

I detoured along Columbia River to Sacajawea State Park to checkout an installation by Maya Lin, part of the Confluence Project. The two rivers here are so big, hard to see which one is flowing into which.

At the HQ of McNary NWR (closed when I arrived) has a trail along the river. I only went to the first blind. It's huge. Still too hot to wonder around. Back to my car with AC in full blast. The brochure doesn't have any map on it. Odd. I made two stops: Two River and Wallula. I didn't even get out of the car. Saw people fishing.

Only trail I did today is Twin Sisters. There's another TH shortly north of it. Very pretty. It looks like they might be linked by footpath. However getting in and out of the TH parking is a bit tricky, because the speed limit is 60mph and you don't see traffic coming. It was past 7pm, not so hot. There're a couple of trails here. Pick your vintage point. Great view of the river and some homestead. Very scenic. I waited for the sunset here. A family of 3 were there, had the same idea. On my way out to the car, met a group coming in, a little too late.

Stopped by Hat Rock State Park briefly. Surrounded by private homes and an RV park.

5/12, Sunday. Warm & hazy. Pleasant morning temperature. Went to McNary Wildlife Nature Area, an Army Corp installation around McNary Dam. Many power lines. Without a guide, I'm incapable of seeing birds, can only hear them. A few trails here, benches, and a small blind.

An curiosity (found in Atlas Obscura) here in Umatilla is the chemical depot. Rows upon rows of dirt mound, housing chemical weapons! Difficult to get a good photo: either I'm too low or I'm moving too fast. The access roads require special authority. I can only zip by on the highway.

Drove to Umatilla NWR, which is not by the river. I drove all the way to the river amidst of farmland with irrigation wheels, and found granary to the left (west) and fish hatcheries to the right (east). I stopped at the first hatchery. An employee was checking the ponds when I arrived, so we exchanged greetings. He ended up giving me a private tour of the facility. This hatchery is one of many owned by the tribal consortium along Columbia River basin. Well water is used here to keep constant low temperature for the incubation. There's a log book to record temperature used in each tray, some were raised to quicken maturing, so a number of trays can be released in the same pond at the same time. Eggs were harvest in Pendleton (upstream of Umatilla River), and the babies will be released there too. Their feed is produced in Canada. There's automatic food dispenser over the ponds.

On the way out, stopped at McCormach Slough in NWR. Not much water eles where in the refuge. Didn't see any burrowing owl.

Filled gas in Boardman.

At Celilo Park, the river is calm and flat, no any indication of the former roaring Celilo Falls. I didn't know about another Maya Lin's installation here. A pity that I didn't see her walkway.

Another goal of this weekend's drive to the east is balsamroot. I visited the 3 main trails along Hwy 30 between Rowena and Mosier. First is McCall Point from Rowena Crest. This is a Nature Conservancy property. No dogs allowed. Lots of cars and people here. So different from 3 weeks ago. Lupines were starting to seed. Last week's 80+°F heat had fastened the flowers. A little past prime time, but still a great show. Best of the 3 trails today. Vetch was vibrant purple. Windy. So no umbrella. Clear view of both Adams and Hood.

Hiked Memaloose Hills from Memaloose Overlook. Again crowded. I went to both Marsh Hill and Chatfield Hill. Found some tree where had lunch in the shade. Ran into Li and Matt at Chatfield Hill, less balsamroot here. Most of the pedals were blown away.

Last, Mosier Plateau. I did some trail work here with Friends of the Gorge a few years ago. It's one of their properties. Feels less than 3 miles. 600' gain may be correct. Passed some headstones. Mosier Creek Falls looks quite refreshing. Flowers are different here. More bachelor button, blue dick and buckwheat. Only at the top had withered balsamroot. Increasing clouds.

Arrived home not too late, thirsty and dusty.

5/13, Monday. Went to Camassia before returning the car in the morning, even though I knew it was too late for the camas bloom.

2019.5.5. Stacker Butte with Friends of the Gorge

I was checking Friends' website for this event all week long. It was always full. Wait-list is no longer supported. Friday after 5pm, I emailed hikes@gorgefriends.org. Saturday at 8am, I received a confirmation with more contact info for the outing. So, I went.

5/5. Sunday. Warm. 76°F. 14 of us (including Christoph and Jay who scouted the route 9 days prior) stuffed in 3 cars, drove all the way up to the last gate above Dalles Mountain Ranch for Stacker Butte. High clearance may be a good idea for the last 0.5 mile. But you can just walk up. I was in the car with Janet who entertained the rest of us on the way. She's a member of Portland Storytellers Guild, and a flower enthusiast. She identified daggerpod, new to me. There were a lot of these on the upper hill. Carol and I brought our silver umbrellas. Very useful here today.

The gravel road was lined with flowers, blooming more profusely in the lower part. Higher elevation brought phlox (showy and Hood), and on the very top, I saw one shooting star and one geum triflorum. Passed the gate, Christoph handed out a plant list, prepared by Ralph on another day. We walked on the rest of the gravel road to this VORTAC station, about 2 miles. All along, clear view of Hood and Jefferson to the south. I brought my binoculars and could see Sisters in the distance. Once reached the flat ridge, we could see Adams, Rainier, Goat Rocks, St Helens is quite small. Then, we walked west on the flat ridge line to more cell towers, continued west until they were behind us. Maybe a mile further. Had an hour long lunch break. Not much wind today.

Janet proposed to make a short drive through Schreiner Farm. I couldn't believe to see giraffe, zebra and camel here. They seemed to be content. Now most hiding in the shade.

Back at Gateway shortly after 5pm. Total about 6-8 miles. Found this link of endemic flowers in Columbia Gorge.

2019.5.4. WCCLS 15th Annual Story Fest Finale

5/4, Saturday 7-9:30pm. WCCLS Art of Story's finale hosted at Beaverton Arts and Communication Magnet Academy. Didn't know this is already the 15th year. Last year I went to the finale and liked it so much that this year, I attended a few more events of this week-long story telling festival:

I really liked the stories by John Wylder, Janies Collins, Chuck McConnell on Tuesday's Older and Wiser story. Also went an hour-long program by Lawrence Howard and Robert Jones (who sang and played guitar), and enjoyed both. Tonight's lineup is:

Student Story Slam Contest winner: Grayson Wright - Cookies are not Hard to Make
Adult Story Slam Contest winner: Norina Beck - The Sausage Date
Kelly Hoffman - Give Me Hope!
Lawrence Howard - Night on the Island
Jasmin Cardenas - teenagers making an impact
Rev. Robert B. Jones, Sr. - I Can't Play Like BB King

My favorites are "the sausage date" and "night on the island". They are all very good.

Desert during intermission was quite good.

2019.5.2. Peter and Wendy - a play

5/2, Thursday. Bag&Baggage Production staged Peter and Wendy adapted by Jeremy Bloom. A bit messy. No stage, just a bed that's been moved around. Captain Hook is played by mother of Wendy. Tinkerbell is played by the tallest man in the troupe. The lost boy is played by a woman. Not sure what's the darker side of the Neverland the website talks about.