Interlude: Charlotte Mountain

I was at the coast this weekend for my church retreat and hiked up Charlotte Mountain with two friends. The trail head is within Twin Rocks Friends Camp so it's not really a public trail. The trail starts out along a creek with beautiful skunk cabbage and then heads up through a very lush second growth forest. We enjoyed looking at the big old growth stumps and the plank holes 19th century loggers cut into them. At the top we could see down to the beach and the rocks that give the camp it's name. Conversation was good and the day beautiful.

Interlude: Sandy River Delta

It was sunny today so rather than hike in the woods I took Tumalo out to the Sandy River Delta. This is distinctly not in the Tualatin Mountains, but it is a lovely place for a dog walk.

The Sandy River Delta, sometimes called Thousand Acres, is a piece of BLM land on the east side of the Sandy River at its confluence with the Columbia. Access is from Exit 18 off I-84 and the BLM has recently upgraded the parking lot and pit toilets there. It is a legal off leash area and is often busy with bicyclists, horses and lots and lots and lots of dogs. Being at the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge it gets some ugly weather in the winter, and being mostly a big giant field is can be baking in the summer. But the wind was still today and the sun was out. In fact, it was gorgeous.