It always happens at the start of spring that we are jonesing to get out for a solid backpacking trip, but the snow hasn't melted on the mountain, or even in the typical Columbia Gorge hikes. This year, Peter found us some spectacular wildflowers + sun.
The El Nino year is giving us some beautiful blooms + lots of sunshine (though I cringe at the thought of what's to come for us by mid-summer).
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| Memaloose Overlook Trail |
We started Saturday morning with a drive out to the Memaloose Overlook - it was crowded, but the Balsam Root were prolific! The trail crossed over one or two tiny creeks, winding through beautiful oak forests.
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| Creek in Oak Forest |
The trail splits and you have the option to climb Marsh Hill:
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| Marsh Hill + Mt. Hood. |
Or the slightly taller Chatfield Hill:
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| Entrance to Chatfield Hill. |
Every few minutes we would come upon a larger field of wildflowers. Mostly Balsam Root, but also lots of Lupine. It smelled incredible.
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| Balsamroot + Lupine on Chatfield Hill. |
The clouds started to come in (which was a welcome break - it was nearly 80 degrees with no cloud cover) so we headed back toward the trailhead to find a lunch/nap spot.
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| Clouds over Chatfield Hill. |
On our way back, Peter spotted an alligator lizard in an old oak tree skeleton. I spent 15 minutes hanging out with a family of about 3 - they were so curious and interested in just sitting near me, doing 'lizard push ups'.
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| Alligator lizard. |
We found a pretty stellar oak forest for resting:
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| Oak forest at lunch time. |
With a couple hours of daylight left, we headed out for one more hike.
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| Walking back toward Memaloose Overlook. |
Since it was a beautiful Saturday, we continued to anticipate very large crowds and lack of parking. To get the most of out of this non-standard setup (for us), we headed to another very popular spot: Rowena Crest.
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| Rowena Crest, Catherine Creek in the distance. |
We've been trying some barefoot walking/hiking of late, and the trail here was perfectly soft. A good way to slow down, immerse yourself in your environment.
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| Barefoot on Rowena Crest. |
We walked to the end of the Plateau and had it to ourselves for a bit. Staring off into the nearby valley and across the river, we spotted a family of deer feeding at sunset.
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| View of Columbia River from Tom McCall. |
After a very full day, we tried to find some satisfying camping. (sidenote: we are looking forward to getting a truck so we can sleep in the bed rather than needing an established campground for our tent) We ended up finding a good spot at Memaloose State Park - a very crowded campground, but the sound of the train + highway was actually enough to lull us to sleep. In the morning, we enjoyed the rest stop which shares the same exit off of 84.
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| View from Memaloose State Park rest area. |
We enjoyed some wraps for breakfast
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| Mmmm breakfast wraps. |
while eyeing our destination for the end of the trip across the river...
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| Catherine Creek from the rest stop. |
Following breakfast, we went to another new trail - the Klickitat River Trail. Rumored to be reminiscent of another favorite of ours (the Deschutes River Trail), we set out to spend a day exploring. The first couple miles were pretty wonderful with lots of hidden coves.
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| Klickitat River. |
We spotted a waterfall off the main trail.
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| Waterfall near Lyle. |
After not too long, we came across some poorly maintained land which was full of trash and abandoned buildings. We continued on, hoping for some kind of oasis in the desert. It was hot (>80), no clouds, largely shade-free with how high the sun was in the sky.
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| Glaring sun at every turn. |
After 4 hours we stopped in the shade and turned around, eager to climb off the trail into a lunch spot above the river.
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| Looking for picnic/nap spot in the forest. |
There were a lot of wild cucumber plants around - speckled with tiny white flowers.
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| Wild cucumber. |
It turns out that wild cucumber is not edible. This didn't stop us from trying some, but I would not recommend it. After lunch/napping, we headed back - eager to splash around in the waterfall we saw on the way in.
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| Much needed dip above the waterfall. |
The water was cold, but perhaps the most refreshing dip we've had in awhile. We spent awhile here, having a bit of whiskey, enjoying the shade. One of our favorite parts of the trail, second only to the spot we found at sunset.
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| Gate between waterfall and main trail. |
The walk back found us mesmerized by the river, birds, magical afternoon light.
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| Water patterns in Klickitat River. |
Peter remembered a spot off the trail he wanted to visit - a special private island. We could see people on the opposite shore, but we had this spot to ourselves!
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| Walking down to sunset oasis. |
Drunk on love, whiskey & sunshine, we decided to go for another dip.
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| Swim # 2 in the Klickitat. |
This dip was even more magical than the last. A couple wild turkeys joined us as we were headed out. We wandered off the main trail on the way back to the car and fell in love with the setup of a little house on a long driveway... fantasizing about a simpler life in a place with oak trees and rivers and fields of flowers in our yard.
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| Driveway to a dream. |
We tried to find another camp spot, but ended up back at Memaloose State Park. In the morning, we ventured to Catherine Creek - a favorite for springtime sunshine.
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| Waterfall west of the Labrynth. |
It was HOT. This meant not many photos. We were on the lookout for a good spot to backpack but it turns out there really isn't much that's especially cozy. Most of it would require a very long trek in the heat which isn't very satisfying with a big pack.
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| Climbing the hill above Coyote Wall. |
We revisited some of our favorite spots and ended the day traipsing through the beautiful rolling hills of silvery grass and tiny white flowers.
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| Columbia River at sunset. |
A throwback to our prior trip out here:
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| Lunch above Catherine Creek. |
Our favorite oak tree + creek:
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| Oak at sunset. |
Another successful outing. Every time we venture into the wilderness it's incredibly satisfying. We wonder if we'll ever tire of the outdoors, staring off into a field of flowers or mountain streams. I expect I'll crave this the rest of my days.
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| Shadows at sunset. |
