Winter Solstice in the Gorge 2011

 Lingering high pressure has given us foggy yet mostly dry weather, unusual in December.  Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the middle of winter (not the first day of winter, but midwinter, just as June 21 is midsummer's day).  After today, the days will be getting longer!

 

 Mirror Pond in Rooster Rock State Park.  Swans hang out here in the winter.

 Time to get poetic:

Some Trees by John Ashbery

These are amazing:  each
Joining a neighbour, as though speech
Were still a performance.
Arranging by chance

 To meet as far this morning
From the world as agreeing
With it, you and I
Are suddenly what the trees try

 To tell us we are:
That their merely being there
Mean something; that soon
We may touch, love, explain.

 And glad not to have invented
Such comeliness, we are surrounded:
A silence already filled with noises,
A canvas on which emerges

 A chorus of smiles, a winter morning.
Placed in a puzzling light, and moving,
Our days put on such reticence
These accents seem their own defence.

Happy Birthday Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area!

 The 25 trails challenge was part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.  There were celebrations in Portland and Hood River, Oregon.  Half of the 25 trails were on private land before the Scenic Area Act was passed.  The legislation made it easier for land to be purchased for public use.  Long may it live!

 As one of two 25 Trails finishers who live in East Multnomah County,  I was interviewed for an article that was published in The Gresham Outlook 11/16/11.  It was almost all good, except for one error I would like to correct here.  The article stated that the unofficial mascot of the Reynolds Natural Resources Academy was a unicorn corkscrew.  Link to The Gresham Outlook  

As you can see from this tee shirt, which was made and sold in the spring of 2009 as a fundraiser
for a student rafting trip, the mascot was a unicorn, not a unicorn corkscrew.  The unicorn corkscrew I
purchased in 2011 and used as a model to take pictures of while on the 25 trails.  The corkscrew has no connection with the Reynolds Natural Resources Academy (which, sadly,  no longer exists).

Here is a picture from that rafting trip down the Sandy River in May of 2009.  We learned about Wild and Scenic Rivers, leave no trace camping, riparian ecology, hydrology, rafting skills, and teamwork.  It is unfortunate that students are unable to experience this now. 

Recapping the Fall Mushroom Season 2011

 Oregon has a bounty of edible mushrooms, especially in the fall, but this year was late to start.  Not until October did we start finding quantities of anything. 
An important warning:
DON'T EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOM UNLESS YOU
CAN POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE SPECIES!   There are many mushrooms in the wild that can make you sick and some that can kill you.  Better safe than sorry!  Before I started eating wild mushrooms I took a class that included field trips and I spent a lot of time identifying many different kinds of fungus.  In addition, on the way to earning a M.S. degree in Biology I spent a lot of time learning how to use identification keys of many different kinds of organisms. (knowledge is power)

This is Laetiporus sulphureus, or sulfur shelf, also called chicken of the woods.  It grows on the wood of dead trees, helping to recycle the nutrients back into the soil.   Most mushrooms are beneficial organisms, recycling ecosystem nutrients or exchanging nutrients with plants.  Many of the tree species in our forests benefit from mushrooms that grow in association with their roots.   Chicken of the woods doesn't really taste like chicken, but does have a meaty texture. 






Arrow is standing next to a big haul of chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) - one of the most common edible mushrooms in Western Oregon.  They can be scattered on the forest floor like yellow flowers, and sometimes hide among the fallen leaves of a similar color.  Chanterelles make an excellent soup using a chicken stock base and adding some cream at the end - yum!

 Here are more chanterelles, a bolete and a cluster of cauliflower mushroom (Sparassis crispa) which looks like the vegetable, but tastes nothing like it. 

Recommended books:
Mushrooms Demystified and
All That the Rain Promises, and More  - both by David Arora

If you are interested in wild mushrooms on public land, there are regulations that apply - check with the local office of the US Forest Service, BLM, or State Forest to learn more.

Snow at Larch Mountain 11/4/11

Winter arrived at Larch Mountain recently

We hiked a short distance on the Larch Mountain trail.  The map below shows the location of this trailhead, which can be reached by taking the Corbett exit (#22) from I-84 East, proceeding up the hill and turning left (East) on the Historic Columbia River Highway, passing the store and the fire station and the Women's Forum, and turning right onto Larch Mountain Road for about 14 miles.  You can walk from here to Multnomah Falls or Devils Rest, if you are so inclined.  The grey area in the lower right of the map is part of the Bull Run Watershed - you must stay out of this area to preserve the purity of the water supply for Portland.  Larch Mountain road is not plowed above milepost 10, the gate will be closed there when the road becomes blocked by snow, only to reopen in the spring.

Devil's Rest - (and all the details) 10/28/11

The last of the "25 hikes" was actually a hybrid journey designed by my anonymous hiking partner.  We set up a car shuttle and started with mountain bikes at Forest Service Road 1520 which is at about mile post 10 on Larch Mt. Road.  To reach Larch Mt. Road go East on I-84 to Exit 22 (Corbett).  Go up the hill and turn left (East) on the Columbia River Scenic Highway. Go about 2.5 miles and turn left on Larch Mt. Road.  FS Road 1520 is gated.  We got on the bikes and rode about 2 miles to

FS Road 129.  Going about .5 miles on this road until you intersect the Devil's Rest trail.  Leaving the bikes, we walked on the trail.  The Green Trails map "Columbia River Gorge West" is useful.

Soon reaching a viewpoint

Continuing West on the trail and wearing hunter orange because it is still deer season.

We reach Devil's Rest which is a pile of big rocks now overgrown with trees (you can't see a view from here)

We walk back to where we left our bikes (did not see anyone else on the trail today)  This sign marks where FS Road 129 intersects with the trail.  Trail is mostly flat in this area.  We got back on the bikes and rode back to FS Road 1520, continuing downhill.  The anonymous hiking partner's idea was that we could coast downhill to the bottom of this road which ends where Brower Road goes over Bridal Veil Creek.

We soon encountered some washed out areas

But the man said he wasn't going to ride uphill.  (the entire plan was made to avoid walking or riding uphill)

Fortunately, we were soon back to real road as the creek dropped farther below the road bed.

And quickly reached the bottom of the road.

Bridal Veil Creek near road's end.

On the way home, we saw this Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) excavating a dead tree.

Condit Dam Goes Down!

 It was a historic day in the Columbia River Gorge and law enforcement was ready for it.  A large hole was going to be blown in the base of Condit Dam in Washington at approximately 12 noon. The dam is located on the White Salmon River 3.3 miles upstream from the Columbia River and is North (and slightly West) of Hood River, Oregon.  See dam info on link below:
http://www.pacificorp.com/es/hydro/hl/condit.html#

Mt. Hood watches over the event

 A crowd gathered near the mouth of the White Salmon.  The road next to the river going up to the dam was closed.  The dam was finished in 1913 and blocks salmon and steelhead from traveling upstream (there is no fish ladder).  After scheduling the dam removal this fall, some salmon were transported above the dam this month. 

 A few people perched on rocks overlooking the canyon.

 Helicopters were monitoring the no-fly zone which had been established over the dam and lower river.

 The bridge over the White Salmon on SR14 was closed just before noon.  The hole was blown several minutes later (we did not hear the blast).

No barrier can stop a unicorn

This is the view we had of the mouth of the White Salmon River

 We had heard by radio that the water was rushing down the canyon but by the time it reached us

It was a small surge that spilled up over part of a dock

 And up into a bay that was bare moments earlier - the water took about 15 minutes to get here.

 Then sediment and debris began to arrive.  Large logs were carried downstream.

 As we walked back to the car, we saw some of the logs floating downstream in the Columbia.







For exciting video of the dam breaching - click on the arrow below!

Dog Mountain 10/19/11

 The trailhead is located off SR-14
in Washington, 12.5 miles West of the Bridge of the Gods (Cascade Locks).  A NW Forest Pass is required for parking.  There is a bathroom a short distance up the trail.  This trail presents the challenge of 2828 vertical feet in 3.8 miles, lots of Poison Oak, and the possibility of strong winds at the top of the mountain.  (The Forest Service should be paying you to go to the top - maybe we could work this into the national health care)

After about a mile of switchbacks you get to this split in the trail

We went to the right because it is "less difficult"

Soon you reach a forest carpeted with Oregon Grape - Mr. Thornsby approves

The trail opens out onto this viewpoint

 Looking downstream

 The wind was picking up speed here - notice the ears and tail!

 Come back in May or June to see the Balsamroot in bloom.  From here, the trail goes back into forest, then out onto the grassy mountain top for the last 3/4 mile.  Clouds and high winds dominated this last part of the trail today - not a pleasant hike.

The "view" from the top, looking down at the river

We only stayed at the top long enough to take a couple of pictures, then retreated down slope into the forest, away from the wind for a quick lunch, then headed home.