Trails are for Christmas Too!

Wait until you hear this!  At 7 AM on Christmas morning as we pulled away from opening the Park gate a car drove in.  It was still very dark and yet they parked at the Filbert Grove and headed off on a hike by the river.  What a surprise!  

We counted 25 vehicles during the day and saw lots of hikers, dog walkers (some who come almost every day) and even 2 groups of horseback riders.  That was just on an 11 AM rove of the park and a 2 PM hike and geocache search.  When we closed the park at 5 PM one set of horse riders were still out on the trail and a walker was making his return to the bike trail car park on the River.   When the horse riders finally left the park it was after 5:30.  They reported making a wrong turn on the trails.  Since it was very dark we had been a little worried.

So- even on Christmas Day our time was well spent giving others an opportunity to enjoy a place of beauty on the River!

On Dec. 26 Terry and Ranger Carlie did some sign removals on the horse trail about 3 miles from the trailhead.  It was so far down the river, across the wheat field and deep in the forest that Terry asked me to come with him the next day to clear some trees that had fallen on the trail.  Since I had never been on the horse trail I was happy to help.  So we loaded up my favorite Park vehicle, the Kubota and headed out!

Yes, Inge, I really do drive this one and LOVE it!!!!  

We spent about 3 hours trimming blackberries, jerking down a mass of vines that almost blocked the trail and cutting the tree that blocked the detour around the tree across the trail.  There is lots of work to do just keeping the trail open in some spots.  It is work that both of us enjoy and it makes us happy to have been a help to someone.  It is a little muddy though---notice the boots!

Oh! and I forgot to mention the moss covered tires we pulled off the trail side (see them in the back).  Terry surprised me with my first pair of insulated coveralls and I was so glad to have them on this chilly, muddy work day.  (I'm learning to be a more contented maintenance volunteer.)

As 2014 starts on Wednesday we will be 30 days away from ending 8 months of Volunteer Work.  Who knew when we said yes to that first job in May of 2011 that we would become so involved in just 3 years?  What an adventure!!!!

Best wishes to you for many new adventures in 2014!!!

Christmas Wishes!

We have already had a touch of winter with two days of freezing fog last week.  Terry took this photo of the trees and shrubs right outside our camper door.   They front the Park Office and one of the trailheads.  The shrubs are Red Osier Dogwood (the branches are bright red and very pretty in winter).
The combination of conifer green and red looks like Christmas!

One of our Christmas traditions for the last few years has been a Christmas Day hike.  We usually go to Cumberland Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This year we can just walk right out our door, under these trees and we'll be on the trail around the wheat field and to the Williamette River.  I wish you were all close enough to come share the hike with us.  The wheat field is a favorite feeding area of the green herons and there are frequent sightings of the resident cougar on the trail by the river.  Who knows what we will see on Christmas Day, but I'm sure an unexpected gift of nature will await us.

Our Christmas wish for you is that some time during the holidays you can find time to take a long walk in a quiet place.  There is always something to gain from stepping out of the routine and into a part of the natural world that surrounds you.  We forget that our lives are one small part of the web of life that goes on about us and without us.

We hope your Christmas is one of joy, peace and beauty!

Bar-B-Q and the Blue Ridge

Thanksgiving for me was a trip to North Carolina and a visit with my sisters.  I left Terry to continue our job at Williamette Mission SP in Oregon.  Jane came from Germany with Kevin for his November training in Memphis and then shared Thanksgiving and the week before in NC.  My sister Ann hosted a beautiful Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was wonderful to have all 3 of us together again, a true celebration!

It was a treat to watch the sunrises from the cabin, see a a little dusting of snow on the deck and back up to the wood stove.

I attended 2 Old Time Music concerts at the Rex Theater in Galax, VA ( about 12 miles away from the cabin), had a super hike with Nancy at the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Parkway, ate NC Bar-B-Q twice, had Fried Okra at the K&W Cafeteria and even got in a Line Dance Class with the Alleghany Jubilee Dancers.

The Christmas Season started for me in my favorite way with a Moravian Candlelight Service at Sparta Presbyterian.  We got to attend a little country church Christmas Bazaar and buy handmade ornaments too.   It was great to get such a fine sampling of NC treasures in just 15 days, but I was mighty happy to see Terry waiting at the Portland Airport.

Terry and I are looking forward to Christmas at Williamette Mission.  We've already had a little snow (on the day after my return).  We are curious to see if the park will have visitors on Christmas Day like it did on Thanksgiving.  We will open and close the Park and be the only staff for the day.   A different kind of experience for us!  Stay tuned for details!

As the Water Rises

The Willamette Mission that gave our Park it's name was flooded out in the 1840's and moved to the present day Salem area.  A major flood in 1861 actually changed the course of the river in the park and created a Lake.  The river continues to flood each winter and most of the park is closed until the water recedes.  We have had a very busy week working to prepare for the flood predicted for Nov. 22.  All the picnic tables have to be stacked and cabled to trees.  Bridge railings and boat docks have to be removed.  The grounds have to be mulched and the trails uncovered where the leaves are thickest.

The ferry will be closed when the river gets too high.  The dry land visible in this photo is already covered by the river waters.

Here's a close-up of the ferry.  It gets lots of use and links our staff to another park and greenways along the river  that our staff manages.  We took it a few days ago and the water was surging beneath it nothing like the gentle waters pictured.

It is really interesting watching the changes in the river and learning about how the water levels are predicted and monitored.  Terry will be returning from our days off in Vancouver at his mom's place to finish up the preparation for the first flood.  I will fly from Portland to Charlotte in the morning and spend Thanksgiving with my sisters.  It will be great to be in NC after 9 months of roving and rambling.

Enjoy the coming days with thankfulness and gratitude!!

On the Willamette River

     All those wagon trains going to Oregon that we studied in history classes were headed for this river valley and it's rich, fertile fields---- the Williamette.  Our present hosting site is on the banks of the river north of Salem and about 40 miles south of Portland.  It includes 1,600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, rolling meadows and working farmland.

This is one end of the largest picnic area in the park.  The distant tree line borders a lake that was the original river channel before a huge flood changed its course.  The present river course was behind me when I took this photo.

This picnic area, the Filbert (Hazelnut) Grove, borders the river with a 6.4 mile bike trail along the river bank.  This area will stay open all year when access to it is not flooded out.

The paved bike trail goes all the way to the Wheatland Ferry Crossing at the edge of the park.  This crossing was used by the wagon trains too!  There's a Bicycle Campground and a Horse Campground back to back here on the right.  Nice trail !!

We are busy helping to ready the park for winter; taking down volleyball nets, blowing leaves off the trails, patching holes in the bike path, getting equipment winterized, and organizing the work sheds.  With 17 miles of trails in the park we will never keep them all clean and trimmed.  It's all very satisfying work though and more than we can do before winter rains stop us.

More Beach Views

Looking south to Heceta Head and Lighthouse.

Back at the parking and picnic area the view looks over the shrub covered dune to the beach below.  Another path winds through the moss draped trees to the campground for about a 1 and 1/2 mile loop.

The October days here have been gorgeous as these pictures show and I try to get to the beach daily.
The only place we can get cell phone service or internet is parked at this view.  Not bad, huh?
Only 12 more days and we head inland to Willamette Mission State Park, 8 miles north of Salem, OR.

The Beach at Washburne State Park

This beautiful sandy beach is 1/4 mile across Hwy. 101 from our campground.  Part of our duty is litter pick up in the parking and picnic area.  We are stopped many times and thanked for our clean up efforts.  Makes us feel good!

One trail at the end of the camping area leads under the highway along China Creek for 1/2 mile to the beach.  It's a little more than 1/2 mile back to the picnic area, making a very nice loop walk.

So here we go on a little stroll to the beach.

Once you climb down a few steps, here's the view north toward Yachats.

Big Creek flows into the ocean up where the sand breaks at the rock strewn edge.
As you turn to head back to the picnic area, the sea stack rocks at the end of Heceta Head are in the distance.


Well, that's all folks! Something is goofy here.  Look for a second post.

Our Oregon Camp

We've had a busy week helping clean up the campground now that the fall camper rush has slowed.  The weather allowed some fine walks on the beach and a chance to take some photos.  It's such a lovely park that it's hard to share it all.

The campground is on one side of Hwy 101, the Coast Highway, and the beach is on the other.  We can hear the ocean roar throughout the campground and at night when we awake.

This is Loop A of the CG, our site is on the left next to the large 5th wheel trailer.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and you can see Terry's truck.  We pick up litter throughout the CG each day.

This is Loop B with a meadow front and center.  A creek and some interesting old trees are in the back section.

One of our jobs is cleaning the 2 Yurts that are near the CG entrance.  They are rented most nights year round we are told.  Most folks stay just 1 or 2 nights.  We had a family stay for 5 days over Labor Day.

Next time I'll share pictures of the Washburne Beach.  We pick up litter over there too.  Tough job!  One we dearly love!

October- Old and New

October already?

We had a busy, happy September at Heceta Head Lighthouse and Washburne Campground.  Susie and Mike, our true Oregon friends, finished their Host month and we hated to end our great team.  We'll do a repeat performance someday.  The September Lighthouse Host crew was such a 'good time' group that we hope to be back next Sept.  Our weekly campfires were non stop laughs and funny adventure stories.  We had a great visit from Terry's,  Uncle Rex, and saw more of the area than we ever had thanks to his "Let's go" attitude. We went down to Coos Bay and Shore Acres SP to visit our previous Host friends, Art and Janette.  What a beautiful place!  We had a 'personal tour of the gardens' and the rocky headlands with gigantic waves crashing across them.  (It's off the beaten path of Rt. 101, but so worth it!!)  We weathered and cleaned up from a big 2 day storm- 45 mph gusts and over 3 inches of rain.

And now it's October.  This month we will just be working at the Campground.  With fewer travelers this month, we won't be so busy and hope to have more walks on the beach and hikes in the area.   I've started Line Dance classes in Florence, very different dances.  (I knew one, Stealing the Best with an Irish tune I don't know.)  I am challenged but learning.

 Every day we marvel at the beauty that surrounds us and LOVE living here waking up to the sound of the waves rolling in!

Here are some pictures from our visit to Yellowstone, summer home of Ranger Anthony.  He and Molly visited with us each day and introduced us to some great restaurants and pubs in West Yellowstone.  The wildlife gave us a great show too!  It's such fun learning a National Park from the professionals!

Yellowstone Canyon colors were stunning after a rainstorm!

The bison in Hayden Valley were also leading traffic down the road for a close encounter.

We hadn't visited Norris Geyser Basin before and it was such an array of colors and steam!

Just left of middle in that field are my first 2 Sandhill Crane sightings!  Get the magnifier for this one!

There's so much to see, so little time!

Returning from Glacier NP to Heceta Head Lighthouse-1

We are happy to be volunteering again at Heceta Head Lighthouse and Washburne SP, where we lived in May and June.  Our friends from Oregon State Parks Training, Susie and Mike, are Campground Hosts and we are assisting them and hosting on their days off. It is great to be working together as a team!!  On Tues. a tour group of 50 home schooled students, ages 5-16 years, will be visiting the Lighthouse so Susie and I will help out there.  Interesting!

I have to include some photos of our travels after Glacier and at Yellowstone, so here are a few favorites.  More will follow in each update for a while.

This is Freezeout Lake south of Choteau, MT on the Rocky Mt. Front.  Camping here is free on this Montana Fish and Game Refuge.  It hosts thousands of geese and swans in early spring.  It is a very, very beautiful place!

Sunset there was so Big Sky Montana!

The next day we went to Great Falls, MT to visit the Charlie M. Russell Museum.  If you are ever near, don't miss a visit!  We would have both returned the next day if time had allowed.  His art from bronzes, to oils, watercolors and illustrated letters to friends was so much more than the "cowboy" art we see most often.  The museum includes his home and studio.

 Our reservation at Yellowstone kept us on the move to a site on the Madison River south of Ennis, the fly-fishing capital of the world.  ( A neat little fishing resort in the middle of nowhere with an artsy fly-fisher statue at the edge of town.)  Another one on the list of Must Return Someday.  We were only 1 of 2 campers here at Ruby Creek, a BLM site, with the river gurgling behind us.  Loved it!

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail- 2

The trail left the boardwalk as you can see here.  The knees were happy with the change.

We did some climbing and trudging over rocky terrain, but soon leveled out.  My knees were aching and I was almost ready to turn back when we met some other NC hikers our age who said, Keep on!  You don't have far!  It is so worth it!"

The level area had this gorgeous little pond that I loved enough to stop right there and stay a few days!

It really wasn't far at all to a little rocky ledge where we got this view of Hidden Lake below.  The trail goes on for hardy hikers to the edge of the lake below.  We were happy to enjoy our lunch right there.

And look who joined us for lunch!!  Mama mountain goat was wandering around us too and they both wandered back down the mountain as we did all the way to the pond.

Glacier NP is a really wonderful place!  The Amtrak train still stops at several places on the park edge.  Great Falls, MT airport is not too far away!

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail-1, Logan Pass, Glacier NP, MT

Here are a few photos from our favorite hike at Glacier as I promised.

 About half the trail is on strangely sloped boardwalk with many steps along the way to protect the delicate sub alpine flowers and vegetation.  This area is covered with wildflowers and many little waterfalls from 6 inches to larger distant ones.

The trail is described as a series of 'hanging gardens' and it crosses one after another as it climbs the rock ledges at the base of Mt. Elbert.

The snow was still melting on the mountain and it made lots of waterfalls coming off the mountain as we circled around it toward the Hidden Lake Overlook.

Part 2 will include photos of the Lake Overlook area, our destination and lunch stop.

East Glacier National Park, MT

After traveling the south edge of Glacier NP twice on the train, we had hoped for an extended visit someday.  The train stops at the East Glacier Hotel and we had wandered and wondered at the station there.  Even though it was high season for visitors, we followed the advice of a camper at North Cascades and took the chance on camping at Rising Sun CG on St. Mary's Lake.  It is located just a little west of this photo.  On our second day in the area we got a very private, spacious site there.  Yes!

The Canadian part of the park, Waterton Lakes in Alberta (about 50 miles north) was a perfect place to explore on the next day of heavy rain and fog.  The historic hotel there offered afternoon tea and typical English pub fare so we grabbed the rain gear and headed north.  Even in the fog the views from the dining room of the lake waters and mountains was wonderful.  Great tea and English Crisp (waffle fries, pulled pork, sour cream and scallions) too!

 
The Many Glacier Hotel area is the center of activities on the East side and it is about 15 miles north of the St. Mary's area where we camped.  They had a Ranger led tour of the historic hotel so we went north again.  When we entered the hotel lobby just beyond the red tour bus at the entrance a fire was roaring in the huge fire place and a violinist was playing for the guests scattered through the lobby.  Wow, just too lovely!  Not to mention the breath taking view! ( I really did get a headache because I forgot to breathe.)

On Sunday the weather prediction was at last good so we boarded the free shuttle for the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road and it's high point, Logan Pass.  The Hidden Lake Overlook Trail starts there and was described as crossing hanging gardens of wildflowers, to circle Mt. Clements and climb to an overlook of the Hidden Lake in a 3 mile roundtrip.  There are not enough superlatives in my vocabulary to tell the beauty in every inch of this hike!  It will always top my list!

 East Glacier has 4 separate areas of magnificent beauty to explore.  I'll try to blog more another time.  I took 66 pictures on the hike alone and we never even got to the Two Medicine Area.  We had to leave a day early when they closed our campground because a grizzly bear walked through the middle of the Campfire Program on Sunday night just after I was there for Evening Worship.  Glad I missed that program!

Tourists Again!

We left Ross Lake Recreation Area our home for the last month about 6 this morning.  Our time there gave us a great opportunity to explore the Pacific Northwest.  We had not been east out of the park so we have had such an adventure!

The sun lighting up the mountains of Washington Pass on the descent into the Methow Valley was fantastic!  Terry stopped for me to get this picture at just the right time.

We are on our way to Glacier NP and then on to Yellowstone.  It might be a few weeks before we add more notes and pictures.

Wonderful Whidbey Island, WA!

On Tuesday we returned to Fidalgo Island and crossed over to Whidbey Island on the amazing Deception Pass Bridge.  The morning fog was just beginning to lift off the bridge as we walked out across it.  The view to the Strait below was too scary for me to make the walk over the water.  Terry loved every step across!

Two tugs were pulling a float of timber under the bridge so I had lots to watch while he walked.

Next stop was lunch at the lovely little town of Coupeville (in the spring a headland area slipped into the Strait here).  The hanging Baskets of flowers all over town and the sea salt air filled the streets with fragrance and I wanted to stay for days!!  We visited the town Museum a part of the only National Historical Reserve in the US.  The community joined together to preserve the community and surrounding prairie farms and the Park Service created a local Trust Board to mange it.  We didn't find the local Reserve farmland coastal walk, so now we will have to return!  Whidbey Island is at the top of my Favorites List now.

The Coupeville wharf area and Mt. Baker and the North Cascades ( our Park) in the distance.

We ended our day at the Admirality Head Lighthouse (with a 4th order lens).  Another lovely spot!
It was fun to share stories with the volunteer hosts there.  I think we'll start a Lighthouse visit list too.