The silence is unnerving. I can easily hear a pair of ruffed grouse foraging nearby.
Hoarfrost covers everything in crystalline formations.
Hemlock trees appear like apparitions on the ridge nearby.
Two thousand feet below is the trailhead.
It’s time to return to the Weldon Wagon Road Trail and descend through the stark beauty of the Oak Savannah.
Hoarfrost covering the Hemlock trees
Stubborn Oak leaves refusing to fall
Ruffed Grouse (master of camouflage)
Hoarfrost
Oak Savannah
Gorgeous photos of the hemlocks, John. Most of the Gorge hikes take us through multiple zones of vegetation–it keeps the trails interesting.
Thanks Debbie. The area north of White Salmon is an amazing transition zone. From Oak Savannah, to Ponderosa Pines, Douglas Firs, Hemlocks and Noble Firs within a 4.5 mile ascent. The Columbia River Gorge just keeps giving and giving and giving.