Contemplative Hiking Society

If you've never seen larches larching, this is your moment. I know a secret spot where you can walk right into a golden thicket of them. When the sun beats down on all that color, everything glows and you feel like you're on the inside of a light bulb. Some trees wear a gradient along their limbs from chartreuse green to lemon, some dab on a little light orange. It's ethereal, even under overcast skies.

We'll meet the at the Government Camp Rest Area and then carpool and caravan in max. 4 vehicles to selected spots. All the roads we will be traveling are paved or very well maintained gravel. Our first stop will take us down a short gravel spur where we will park, walk down the road about half a mile, frolic in the larches and take pics, sit on logs and eat lunch, and then return to our vehicles and backtrack to the main road. We'll be bushwhacking through an uneven but airy Larch forest with logs, twigs, and occasional thorny gooseberry and wild rose to step over, so wear pants and bring the trekking poles.

Then we'll slowly drive a scenic route, stopping occasionally at overlooks for expansive views and wildlife appreciation. When we get to the flatlands at the bottom, we'll explore the scattered ghost town of Friend. The schoolhouse still stands and you can go inside and sign the blackboard in chalk. The outhouses were viable last I checked. A bank vault sits bank-less in a field and the mercantile can still be seen. Then, we'll turn around to see the whole route again from a new perspective heading back and catch some nice shots of Mt. Hood in the alpenglow of sunset.

WARNING: We will reach altitude, between 4500' and 5000', so the air will be thinner and you will be working harder than usual. Move slowly and drink extra water, it helps.

Bring $10 cash, a few bucks for your carpool driver, extra water, lunch/snacks enough for two meals, binoculars, camera equipment, trekking poles, and WEATHER appropriate clothing. Public restroom at carpool site, none elsewhere (but lotsa trees out there, just sayin'). Adults only, please, and no pets, thanks.

CARPOOL: Parking at the stops along the touring route is extremely limited, about 4 vehicles, so we will carpool from the Government Camp Rest Area. GET THERE EARLY (about 15 minutes early) so you can check in, pay your fee, use the restroom, and leave with your carpool driver promptly at 11 AM. Don't forget to toss them a little extra cash for their efforts.

The full Cold Moon will rise at 3:54 PM on what will hopefully be a clear Thursday afternoon in December. From Killin's parking lot, you can get a pretty tasty view with a telephoto when the sunset often dresses Mt. Hood in a pink negligee for the evening--Ooo, la, la!

First, we'll walk very slowly about 1 mi. total out and back down paved NW Cedar Canyon Road to the west slough to photograph waterfowl, nutria, and maybe an elk or otter. Swans, geese, and winter species have settled in so it should be good birding. If time allows, you can explore the little 0.7 mi. trail loop through the park, itself, before it gets too dark. Then we'll return to the parking lot, set up our tripods, snuggle into our chairs and blankets, and watch for the moon to become visible over the hills around 3:15 PM at 49° azimuth.

Bring $5 cash, water, headlamp/light source, binoculars/scope, camping chair with lots of blankets, WEATHER appropriate clothing, and all your photography gear. Restroom on site. Adults only, please, and no pets, please.

Christmas Ships is a Portland tradition since 1954. If you've never seen them...Wait, what do you mean you've never seen them?

Dozens of local boaters (and the Coast Guard!) decorate their vessels, large and small, with festive lights and music and slowly parade down various routes along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers while crazed fans gather in crowds to hoot and holler at them from the shore. There's quite a bit of drunken shenanigans among the rows of floating houses.

Happily, I've found a more intimate location far from the hordes where each glowing ship slips across the glassy black surface of the Multnomah Channel in perfect peace. Leaves rustle, owls hoot, and the water laps gently on the muddy banks of Sauvie Island while an electric rainbow glides silently by. Ahhhh.

We'll gather in the Wapato Access Greenway State Park parking lot by 4:45 PM (get there early!) and carpool and caravan to a secret location about 15 minutes away. The viewing area is small, so we'll arrive early to stake out a spot. We'll have half an hour or so for birding in the dark down the country road (hopefully, owls!) before the ships appear around the bend. If the weather is dry, there is plenty of room for camping chairs. If it's raining, we'll open umbrellas. The colors are even prettier in the rain.

An added bonus to this location is that, since the road parallels the river, you can watch the ships all over again, even from atop the Sauvie Island Bridge, because you'll pass them again on the way back.

Bring $10 cash, water/hot beverage/snacks, camp chair, blankets, headlamp/light source, binoculars, umbrella, WEATHER appropriate clothing, and your photography/video gear. Wear LOTS of layers of warm clothing, way more than you think you'll need, because we'll be standing a while. I'm talking long underwear, woolen socks, fuzzy hat, the works. There's no restroom on site but, you know, darkness and shrubbery. (There is a large, handicapped accessible portapotty at the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area Offices at 18330 NW Sauvie Island Rd, Portland, OR 97231 on the way to the carpool meeting spot.) You'll be settin' up the tripod on uneven gravel or squishy dirt. Adults only, please, and no pets, thanks.

***Due to last year's disappointing scheduling glitch with the Christmas Ships organization, I'm extending a free repeat to everyone who attended that event as well as their +1s who came along. You better believe THIS year, I'll be hounding Christmas Ships right up until the start time to make sure they're actually sailing. ***