Illumination Rock

Our hope was to backpack Saturday night, but rain and wind didn’t sound pleasant.  Sunday, was sunny and windy, so Kevin hatched a plan to hike up to Illumination Rock on the south side of Hood.  8 miles and 3737′ of elevation gain.  Our high point was 9050′.

Heading up beside the ski lifts.

Palmer was closed so we hiked right up it.

Snow started about 7200′.

Cables with ice.  Not sure why they were up here.

Our site is in view, but we had to get over and around all this.

The ice build up was absolutely magnificent.

My excellent guide and husband.  He had 35 stitches in his neck.

Illumination Rock with a sea of clouds.

Sheer happiness.

A butt scoot.  It was way steeper than it looks.

Looking south towards Mt. Jefferson.

This is as close as we got to Illumination Rock.  9050′ and the highest we’ve been on Hood.

Heading down the Zig Zag glacier.

We ended up scrambling up out of a ravine to get to this point.  I not only employed my knees but my elbows ~~ yes, it was ugly.

Back on the Pacific Crest Trail (Timberline Trail) headed to the Lodge and our car.

Modern Patchwork Home

Whoot! My quilt that was in Modern Patchwork got upgraded to being in a book.

Another Yosemite Backpack: Hetch Hetchy

Here’s a link to the photos of our 62 mile backpack. https://oregonrainrunner.smugmug.com/Hetch-Hetchy-Loop-Sept-4-8-2018/

State Fair

Andrew and I headed to Salem earlier this week for the State Fair.

Ice cream from the Oregon Dairy Ladies to top off the night.

State Fair Quilts

We were allowed to enter two quilts at the state Fair.  My “Waynesboro Cherry Wreath Gone Modern” took a blue in the small, professional category.

And my other quilt hung high in the rafters.

And my son and I got Oregon Dairy Ladies ice cream cones.

A Weekend of Service

Saturday, our crew of eleven (two of them were young children) made 42 gallons of applesauce for the church bazaar.

Yesterday, Kevin and I put together a dozen turkey/cheese sandwiches, yogurt, cheese, grapes, garden veggies, chips, beer and pie and headed to a trail off the Pacific Crest Trail to meet up with one of our daughter’s friends, Hal.  We ran right into him at the junction and were able to provide trail magic for about a dozen thru hikers.  Fun times.

Sarah’s friend.

I’m over there sharing more food with the last thru hiker we met.

I promise that Little Crater Lake is that blue.  It’s about 40′ deep.

Another Saturday Under the Stars

Kevin got home from work at noon, slept a bit and we hit the trail at 7:30pm and got to our spot just as it was getting hard to see.

Meteor

Morning with Timberline and the ski lifts in the background.

Most of the trail is this sand or loose rocks.

I was on my hands and knees in this section.

End of the line for us.  We headed west at this point.

There is a port-a-potty over by the top of the lift.

That square area above the snow is the top of the Palmer Ski lift.

I took the photo of Kevin standing on it, then couldn’t look and kept on moving.

He was on the roof above the Timberline sign.

Skiers heading up.

And that’s our route.  It was the best trip of the summer.

The Perseus Meteor Shower

Kevin and I backpacked to a secret location last Saturday night so he could capture some photos of the meteor shower.

Oops.  Not looking good.

But at midnight the clouds were gone so Kevin got a good time lapse started.

He did a composite of the meteors.  We got up at 3 and sat outside in the wind for an hour watching.

More Stars and a Cow

Kevin and I caught the Milky Way Saturday night from Cooper Spur on the northeast side of Hood.

This inscribed rock is at 8500′.

 

I finished binding one of the four cows on the way home and thought “US Department of Agriculture” was appropriate.

 

When I was working on the Cow Abstractions by Violet Craft, our cat heard me eating cereal.

 

My two entries for the Oregon State Fair later this month.

I’m working on Then Came June‘s Sienna Burst.  Finally all the parts are complete.

… and a block is finish

Some veggies from my garden.

A Herd on My Dining Room Table

I’m making four Cow Abstractions by Violet Craft and they have taken over my life and dining room table.

In between, I squeezed in a potholder for a friend who had to put her dog down.

And, Kevin and I did a short backpack primarily to get a Milky Way shot and I do believe he succeeded. 😉💕