| Date: February 12, 2002 | | Location Catherine Creek Hike | | Where: Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area | | Wanting to escape from the fog-encased Willamette Valley, but a little tired of snow and more snow in the Cascades, I chose the Columbia Gorge for hiking. As I got out of my car at Catherine Creek I was greeted by the delicate brightness of the Grass Widow, fluttering in the cold breeze of thirty some degree weather. Truly, a 'gift of the day'. |  | | Grass Widow The Catherine Creek area is a hiker's utopia, with miles of unofficial trails that lead up forested canyons, over open grassy hillsides, and across rocky terraces. Wild flowers carpet the ground, deer graze on the hillsides, and Redtail Hawks soar overhead. Oak and pine trees accent vast views of the Columbia River Gorge.
It was a perfect day.
|  | | deer on the hillside |  | | Mt Hood in the background |
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