• Weather and Travel
  • Events
  • Hikes And Sights
    • The Beautiful Columbia River Gorge
      • Angel’s Rest_ Wahkeena Falls
    • The Sandy River
    • Larch Mountain
    • Sandy River Delta / Thousand Acres
    • Mt. Hood
  • Eat And Drink
    • Restaurants
      • Ristorante de Pompello
      • The Riverview
      • The Troutdale General Store
      • Tippy Canoe
    • Beer and Other Refreshing Beverages
      • McMenamin’s Edgefield
      • The Historic Springdale Pub
    • The Liquor Store
  • Art and Shopping
    • Art
  • Where To Find What

Columbia Gorge Gateway

~ News And Views In And Around Troutdale, Oregon and the West Columbia Gorge

Columbia Gorge Gateway

Category Archives: Ramblings

A Quiet Place To Run

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in Day Trips, Ramblings

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

dogs, Larch Mountain, nature, smile, summer, walk

What I love most about this place we live is that there is always a new place, always a place with no people, always green and water and sweet air.

IMG_3861

Sometimes you just have to look a little further, venture someplace you don’t know.

The dogs and I have five places we usually run, and in all five, for most of the year, we have the trails to ourselves.  This time of year, the two river trails are busy with summer people, and the other three trails, beyond the gates on tree company land, were closed to entry two weeks ago because of elevated fire danger.

So we’ve been going to the river trails in the early morning before the summer people have had their breakfast, but a late shift Friday had us out in the afternoon with no place to go, so we went further up Larch Mountain, into the National Forest land, to find a place.

At milepost 9, we found a gate with paved road and walked in.

IMG_3875

Well, I walked.  The dogs exuberated.  (No, it’s not a word.)  (But it should be.)

I expected, it being Larch Mountain and all, and Larch Mountain having a large network of trails, that we would come across a trail that would take us off into the woods, but two miles of paved, and another mile of pack gravel before we ran into a Bull Run Watershed No Trespassing sign, and nary a trail.

IMG_3881

Still.  Beautiful little creeks that those of us in the party with four nimble legs could get down to for a cool down, wildflowers by the road, gorgeous forest, and quiet.

Venture out someplace you don’t know.  There’s something there, I promise.

Here, have a smile.

IMG_3882

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Snapshot No. 7

27 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in And Around, Ramblings, Snapshots

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Corbett, Larch Mountain, snapshot, summer

IMG_3574

The end of July always feels like it came too soon.  There is such a brief moment of summer, and where has it gone.  Beauty day after beauty day slips away in the thousand things, defined by the small pieces of each, and the next time you look around, the greens have faded under the sun, and the river runs low and green, and the dark comes earlier every day.

It is the time to slow down and notice the tiny gifts, to make the most of the strong days and soft evenings.

And to go out in the yard and sleep with an old dog under a starred night sky.

Image:  Loree Harrell, July 2013, King by the spring on Larch Mountain.

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

What I Learned From My Dogs Today No. 1

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in Ramblings, What I Learned From My Dogs Today

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

dogs, play, Sandy River, What I learned from my dogs today

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Play.
For no good reason.

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Snapshot 6

05 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in And Around, Day Trips, Ramblings, Snapshots

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

huckleberry, Larch Mountain, snapshot, summer

huckleberry red

I have to tell you a funny story about red huckleberries.

You didn’t even know there was a funny story about red huckleberries, did you?

Well, anyway.

Back in the days when I was married, my husband and I went on a trip.  We must have been somewhere out in The Woods, because we were on a dirt road in a much-loved F150, and I spotted red berries on a bush and said Stop! I Want Some Of Those Berries!

My husband, being a good and sensible man, said, Are You Sure Those Berries Are Edible?

I said, Yes, of course they are.  I remember those berries from my childhood.  Dad said they were edible and we ate them and we didn’t die and so, Yes.  Of Course They Are.

My husband, being a both good and reasonable man, stopped the much-loved F150, and I debarked and ate several handfuls of the berries.

…

A mile or so down the dirt road, my logic superceded my enthusiasm, and I wasn’t Quite as sure those were the berries of my childhood, and I said, I Think those were the same berries we ate and didn’t die.

I could see him, being a good man, and also an ex- Eagle Scout, making a Plan for how to get me to a hospital without breaking the much-loved F150, and, really, I was being silly (probably) so I said, I’m sure those were the berries of my childhood, and we both pretended to relax while waiting for me not to die.

Anyway.

The point is.

Last week there were no huckleberries.
This week there are huckleberries.
The moral of the story is there are cycles in life.
Or the moral of the story is there are huckleberries in life.
[Both red and blue.]

huckleberry

One of those.

Larch Mountain is as much information as you get because, really, there ain’t enough for both of us.

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Snapshot No. 5

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in Ramblings, Snapshots

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cottonwood, flower, rain, Sandy River, walk

Sometimes it’s all gray and green, cottonwood fluff…

cottonwood fluff2

and sweet sweet blue.

Sweet sweet blue

I love the living smell of spring –  the pungencies of cottonwood and warming damp earth, of scotch broom and wet dog. 

Almost a match for the abundance of green.

[cellphone pics, dusk, and drizzle… ]

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Snapshot No. 4

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in Ramblings, Snapshots

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Sandy River trail, snapshot, spring, walk

Sandy River Gorge; Loree Harrell, May 2013

It was raining lightly when I got to the woods last night after an overcast day.  That was good after days of beautiful blue sky, as it meant we had the trail to ourselves.

In the rain, under gray skies, the forest was glowing with a light all of its own.

I never remember how it is.
Or maybe I choose not to remember.

So that each shift is fresh wonder.

 

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Snapshot No. 3

18 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in Ramblings, Snapshots

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Corbett, Sandy River, snapshot, spring

WP_20130416_003

There was a moment just before, when leaves fell to ground and dust, when breath was mist in the air, when all was bared in shades of gray and brown and silver.

Now the river sang through to green and home and long sweet days.

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Triumph Of Trilliums

14 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by loreeharrell in And Around, Other Side Of The Inside Of The Box, Ramblings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

flower, Sandy River trail, thank you mom, trillium

When I was a young girl, what I knew about trilliums was that each one will only bloom once every seven years.

IMG_2778

I don’t know if that is true, or if it was something to tell a child who wanted to take the treasure of a perfect flower home for her own, or if, maybe, I am remembering something that never happened at all.
I don’t expect I’ll ever punch the buttons to find out.

IMG_2783

Because do you know what happens when you find out that this beautiful, this perfectly white, this immaculately formed, miracle first flower of spring in front of you last bloomed in the year you were born?

IMG_2728

It creates a miracle in every next time you see it for the rest of a whole life.  Something joyful that is only for you.

IMG_2763

The first trillium appeared on my trail to the Sandy River on March 26th.  Every day, the first was joined by the next and then more, until there were dozens.  Right there and just for me.  And for the past twenty days, I have hiked that two miles down, two miles up, with more delight than the everyday peace that place is for me.

WP_20130402_003

They are starting to fade.  White petals tingeing to lavender, today’s deluge of rain and hail bowing their heads.

IMG_2779

It’s okay.  The wild strawberries and the salmon berries are blooming and will soon be a different kind of delight.  The ferns are showing new furls, and will fan out to obscure their winter-killed fronds.  The cottonwoods are leafing and, once again, the understory will contain no clear paths through.

WP_20130414_004

I hope that when my season is done, I turn gently to lavender before I sink back to ground.

WP_20130414_005

Mama, thank you for teaching me this love of wet and green and mud.
Loree

Share this:

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Fall In The Gorge
  • Larch Mountain Gate Opens 05.27.14!
  • Snapshot 8
  • And A…
  • We Wish You…

Archives

  • November 2016
  • May 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012

Categories

  • And Around
  • Beauty Be Us
  • Community
  • Day Trips
  • Events
  • News In
  • Other Side Of The Inside Of The Box
  • Ramblings
  • Snapshots
  • Uncategorized
  • What I Learned From My Dogs Today

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: