Hiking

Cape Lookout, 2017

Spring has been a bit short on flowers and green to date with cold weather through most of April in the high desert.  If spring won’t come to you, you go to it.  So with that in mind we headed west, stopping in Corvallis for some fresh veggies at the farmers market and then on to the coast.  It seems like we’re still watching the snow melt and the farmers market in the valley was in full swing.

We arrived at the coast by mid afternoon, enough time for a hike to the end of the Cape.

Looking south from Cape Lookout

 

Looking north from Cape Lookout

 

Netarts Bay from Cape Lookout

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Glass Buttes, 2017

Winter has had a persistent hold on the coming of spring but there comes a point when you just need to get out, so we headed east for a weekend and landed at Glass Buttes.  It’s not too hard to tell how the buttes got their name, there is literally obsidian just about everywhere.

The glass of Glass Buttes

We picked a somewhat random spot upon arrival and went for a cross-country walk.  There’s enough glass scattered across the ground to keep a person looking down almost the entire time.

Wandering Glass Buttes

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Hello Spring

Don’t let the reports of a never-ending winter fool you.  Spring has arrived in central Oregon.  The snowpack around town finally melted.  With longer days and buds ready to burst at any moment, it was time to get the camper back on the truck and head out for a quick weekend hike and some time around the campfire.  We headed north to the Cove Palisades State Park and hit the Tam-a-lau trail.  The trail starts in a climb from the level of the reservoir to a plateau called The Peninsula offering great views of the cascades and a portion of Lake Billy Chinook.

Three Sisters

 

Mt. Jefferson

 

Tam-a-lau views above Lake Billy Chinook

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