Treks and Adventures
Lori, Jennette and I did short hike, between rain showers, to see the wild flowers at Tom McCall Preserve in the Columbia River Gorge. This lower section was just finishing its peak bloom and the asters were starting to bloom signaling the end of the Gorge flower season. We went for lunch at the Bargeway pub afterwards. Got to love their lunch specials.
It is time to start doing conditioning hikes again to get ready for summer hiking season. Dog Mt. in the Columbia River Gorge is a good place to start and is one of the classics to train on. The trail is listed at 6.8 miles round trip and 2800 ft. gain. Weather condition were good and the trail was not crowed. The big flower show up on the summit had not started yet but there were lot of small flowers out. I just did a steady pace and enjoyed the hike. By the time I got back to my car my legs were tired so about right for the first time out.
A group hike at Oxbow Park.
Lori and I started by driving over to the Moser area to do a flower hike but found the wind a bit over powering so we went for a plan B and returned once again to hike the Penstock Pipeline. This is a short and rather unconventional hike a top a historic old pipe that supplies water to one of the first hydroelectric plants built in Oregon. On the top of the pipe you get some great views of the Hood River. I like seeing the evolution of out industrial age as the pipe changes from steel banded wood to riveted iron to more modern welded steel. After our short adventure along the pipe we went to lunch at Thunder Island Brewery.
I went out for a photo shoot this morning. This was to test gear, practice shooting technique, work with the camera and get some images. I am finding I like this Scappoose Dike walk with a great verity of subject matter and ever changing conditions. With in a couple of miles walk I can go from an old pier to farm to harbor to nursery and more. Plus it is only a 20 minute drive from my house.
