unexplored (and wild) trails: May 2018

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Latourell Falls

We have been wanting to hike the gorge for a while now. Last year it was on fire and there was no hiking. Since then many of the trails have been closed, but recently they have opened up some of them. The trail to Latourell Falls was one of them.

The basalt rock formations towards the bottom were interesting

There was so much to see on this hike. The trail was nice. We went during the week and got there early so there was no problem with parking or crowds. My trail app said it was a 2 mile hike but by the time we finished all the scenic lookouts and wandered around it was more like 3.5. It was classified as a moderate hike. It had nice views of the Columbia River as you hike up to the top but my phone camera pictures weren't very good, you'll just have to believe me.

We also went on another hike that day to another Bridal Veil Falls. It seems like that is a popular name for a water fall. The hike to this falls is pretty easy, only .5 miles. Apparently the bridge is a popular wedding photo place. There is a small loop you can hike nearby and I did get a picture of the Columbia River.

Yosemite

The last blog was the beginning of April and here it is almost June. So it's time to catch you all up to what we've been doing. Since I have snippets of time to write, the updates will be in small blogs. First one:

It's been thirty plus years since I've been to Yosemite, when my oldest was just a baby. Mr UAW was there a few years ago during Thanksgiving break, in the snow, with everyone else. (I had to work) He went with family, it was cold and icy and crowded. So fast forward to 2018, since we were going to CA at the end of April, we decided to take a vacation from vacation and visit Yosemite for the day. This place never ceases to amaze. We purposely chose to go at the end of April, winter was gone, it was before the summer crowds, and hopefully we would see some dogwood bloom-alas we were too early to see any blooms. However, there were no crowds and the weather was great. Knowing that we were going to be there just for the day, we decided to not go on any long destination hikes. We wanted to see more than just one or two things. And we thought since we weren't going on any long hikes and hanging around the valley floor that we wouldn't put on many miles. Boy were we wrong. We saw many things, Yosemite Falls, wandering around the valley floor, hiking to Mirror Lake-catching the view of half dome from Mirror Lake, Bridal Veil Falls, and stopping for lunch and dinner at various venues. My milage app on my phone said we did 10.4 miles that day.

Yosemite Falls

Church from valley floor

On our way to Mirror Lake

By Mirror Lake

Bridal Veil Falls

Someone forgot their sunscreen!

Notes to Self...

It's always a good idea to take all the sticky tabs off the replacement ink cartridges BEFORE installing into the printer.

Flannel lined jeans-it only took 3 winters for me to discover them. It would have been better to buy them 3 years ago.

Check weather, especially windspeed, before heading out on the Willamette.

Before cutting off the dripper on the drip system that appears to not be working-check to see if the hose is kinked.

Running when the temps are in the 30s means wearing many layers of clothing-thermals on legs and 2 layers of thermals on top, large sweatshirt, down vest, sometimes a rain jacket, a hat, gloves. Just think when warm weather returns and I shed these layers I will feel so much lighter and maybe be faster.

When wearing all the layers of clothes to play in the snow remember not to lay things down on the ground by your feet...it's hard to bend over to pick them up again.

Remember to bring the net when fishing from a kayak.

When you live in a house with no air conditioning it's important to pay attention to the weather forecast: if a long period of heat is forecast-do some cooking and freezing of dinners to get thru the hot spells without using the oven.

Now I get to learn how to count to ten in Korean-thanks to my grandson's taekwondo classes. And if I forget how-he's always there to remind me.

Snow can "ball up" under my riding boots when I wear my half chaps, I think the elastic under my boots helps the snow to collect down there. Now I know what the horses feel like when snow "balls up" in their hooves.

It's not necessary to cast all the way across the river. In fact it's a good way to lose some fishing gear.

When traveling and depending on Google Maps, it's best to type in exactly where you want to end up. I typed in the name of a Fall and should have typed in the Fall's name plus trailhead.

It's probably best to wear heavy duty gloves when doing major trimming on roses.

Leaving at 5am for a drive from CA to OR isn't that bad.

When having the roof striped off the house, and you have the washing machine out in the garage-with no ceiling above it, just the roof----it's a good idea to shut the lid on the top loading washing machine. That way the pieces of roof that fall won't land inside the washing machine.

When buying a house it's a good idea to take pictures of the yard and all the plants, just in case a previous owner/renter decides to take the plant(s) with them. Of course they may take them if it's written in the agreement, but otherwise they should be staying with the house.

Ammonia, black plastic bags + sunshine=clean stove grates. Now if I could just do that to the whole stove!

It would be nice to remember the sunscreen next time we go to the beach.

Traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles.....

A grandchild's smile is enough to brighten my day!

I really don't like packing chairs. They are awkward to pack and packing things around them-very tricky.

Even tho 99% of my household is in a POD and it's easier to clean the house, easier to wash dishes, I still can't find my packing tape, pens, glasses..need to organize what little is left in the house!

I officially love vacuum sealed bags!

It takes a long time to pack a kitchen.

Pretty sure the world is held together by packing tape.

When missing that screw from installing "something"-remember to check the box the "something" came in.

Make a list of things to do when showing the house and we need to be out.

Electric power washers are great until you get tangled up in the hose, electrical cord, and the spray cord. Next time try not to get tangled up.

It's best to hold on to the paint brush when painting

Baking soda + vinegar = cleaner grout