Catherine Creek Mini Hike w/ Special guest

Today we had a special guest join us on a hike. Mary has wanted to join us on a hike for some time. I chose Catherine Creek east of Bingen. This area has amazing wild flowers in the spring time. The weather was to change for the worse in Portland about mid day. But the farther east we go, the less chance for rain. The weather cooperated and only sprinkled a bit. I left one of my cameras at home, so I only used my cell phone. The pics are not the best, but should show how pretty it is in that area. The Catherine Creek area has many miles of trails. I chose a short 2 mile route because we had plans to go to Hood River, Packer Orchards Bakery and Draper Girls Farm to visit some goats. We also did a little Geocaching along the trail. We found two, but that was enough for the short time we were there.

Here is a link to the Hike on Portland Hikers Website

 http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Catherine_Creek_Arch_Loop_Hike

Now on to pics.

Catherine Creek area is on the east end of the Columbia River Gorge, on the Washington side. 

Weather was a little drizzly at times. 

Pretty flowers everywhere. The ladybug was enjoying the view. 

 Catherine Creek. 

Rocky cliffs surround the area. 

Our first Geocache. Not a hard find. 

There is an arch in the below picture. A couple years ago, one could walk through and around it. But now it is off limits because of some sacred Indian reason. 

An old corral. Cattle used to graze on this land. It no longer is used for that. 

Michael snooping on Mary's texting. 

The views are incredible.  

Ann Marie searching for a Geocache on a cliff. 

A view from the second Geocache

After climbing a hundred feet to find the second Geocache, I had realized, there is a easier way to get to it. On the way back to the car, we stopped along the easy route to revisit the cache. 

A view of what Ann Marie and I climbed earlier to get to the cache. 

After our hike, we took a drive up to Packer Orchards Bakery, then to the Draper Girls Farm. This is Ann Marie visiting Snowflake. A couple years ago, Ann Marie fed Snowflake with a bottle. 

This is Ann Marie 2 years ago feeding Snowflake.

 Snowflake is now a mom. This is Cidar, who was born last year.