A visit to the home place brings forth amphibians on the fourth.

Took a walk recently on Sauvie Island's Wapato Greenway, which is managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. A summer bloom of frogs was in progress!

Saturday in the Columbia River Gorge. Destination: Tom McCall Point, above Rowena Crest.

This slideshow contains scenes from Albany, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Lincoln City, Oregon, The Oregon Gardens in Silverton, Oregon; and Cascade Head at the Oregon Coast.

11 days.
2,330 miles (aprox.)
371 photos (not all good)
$325+ in gas
$200 in food (aprox.)
1 night for $144
9 nights for $251
1 exceptional companion.

The bluebird family in my parent's garden is back with another clutch. Caught this photo the weekend I was home for my sister's college graduation. 

Two slideshows below tell you a visual story of my first two hikes this season. First, a solo trip up Salmon Butte, near ZigZag, Oregon. Great stretch of the legs, but no view on the day I did it--a week ago, today. 

Today, on the other hand, we would have had a view, but Lemei (old woman, in Chinook jargon, according to Sullivan's guide book) foiled us again. A couple of years ago, my significant other and I hiked in on the Lemei Trail in the discordant sounding Indian Heaven Wilderness (SW Washington). On that occasion, all the old woman gave us was fog. Today we hiked all the way in to Wapiki Lake, albeit on some hefty chunks of unmelted snow. Just that, the snow eventually turned us back. We met a gentleman on our way out that was on his way up, and seemed ready for the elements--with a pair of snowshoes strapped to his backpack. For us, it wasn't so much about the white slushies peppering the hillside, is was more...where the heck is the trail under all the slushies?! I am an armchair woods-woman at best, or I would have whipped out the compass. Even if I had, we decided standing in a snow drift at the base of Lemei wouldn't be as fun as basking in the huckleberry and heather later on in the season. We'll be back old woman...

Having worked in the Columbia River Gorge last summer I couldn't resist the opportunity to go back and volunteer for a few hours at the end of July. The occasion was to celebrate the Craigmore Creations book, Terra Tempo: Ice Age Cataclysm. Told in graphic format, it explains how the ice age floods (aka Bretz Floods) shaped the Columbia River Gorge. Every library in Portland should make sure they have one or two in their respective collections. There's a second volume out in the Terra Tempo series now as well.

The brilliant Ranger Lisa uses the snorkel and fins as a prop to entice the curious public. It's like fishing. Walking around at Vista House with a snorkel on will inevitably hook a tourist who comes up and asks, "Okay, tell me what it's all about." Music to the Interpretive Ranger's ear. 

For more on the Ice Age Floods there's a whole Institute.