One Shot

Panther Creek Falls has definitely been one of the most difficult to access falls in the gorge for me. Yesterday was my second attempt to get there. The first was in the winter, but I didn't realize the elevation, didn't have tire chains, and eventually had to give up and turn around because of the snow level. So I waited a good long time for warm weather, and we had a fun family outing to the falls to celebrate the start of summer. There's a nice overlook at the top of the falls, as well as access to the base of the falls from a scary-sounding side path (according to my guidebook), we had to navigate "the steep path that requires some rock-climb moves to get to the lower path".  It took me a half hour to get up my nerve to try it, but I eventually scaled a short section of rock, and shimmied down another section with the aid of a climbing rope. It was actually pretty exhilarating! Only to find, once I reached the bottom, that my camera had low battery! I had left my bag behind and strapped my camera on my back for the climb down. My camera managed one shot, but didn't have the juice to process a second shot, hard as I tried. So this was a real Jim Brandenburg event for me, and I'm really thrilled with how my one chance photo turned out! Of course now I want to go back again, with a fully charged battery of course. 

Shoreline Reflection

Another Columbia Gorge reflection, this time along the shoreline near Corbett.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Variety

A very, very pale Blue Camas!
There's a fair amount of color variation in a camas field. 

White always stands out the most. 

The Road Less Traveled

View to the other side of the road from last week's post.  I'm getting a little behind on the blog, between finishing up the calendar and getting my garden planted.  I've got a little backlog of photos though, so hope I can catch up on posting this week and next.  As far as the photo, I was in Trout Lake looking for a particular herb farm that I visited earlier this spring.  I remembered it was on Glenwood Rd., and when I saw the sign for BZ-Glenwood Hwy I thought that was it.  Multiple times I felt like I was on a new road, and yet I kept going because I was just sure Glenwood was right.  After a while I was quite sure I'd made a wrong turn, but it was just so pretty that I continued down the road and decided to visit the herb farm on my next visit (which will be on Friday). All these yellow flowers, plus the camas growing along the edge of the road, line an area signed Conboy Lake Wildlife Refuge. We didn't plan for a trip through a wildlife refuge, and our dog Clover was in the car.  So I'm thinking that if I have time, I'll visit the herb farm and check out the refuge when I'm back in Trout Lake later this week. 

Along the Roadside

Camas in bloom along the side of the road near Trout Lake.

A Little Bit of Shade

We had fabulous weather for a hike around the arch bridge at Catherine Creek on Saturday. I got my fill of vitamin D, and then felt like I wanted to cover up a bit. This clump of trees fanned out nicely on the ridge line above the bridge, giving me the chance to snap a photo and get a bit of shade.