Hiking Latourell Falls

The Columbia Gorge, bordering Oregon and Washington States, is home to more than 77 waterfalls, mostly on the Oregon side. Some are more isolated than others, but many are accessible after a moderate hike. The Latourell Falls hike is considered ‘moderate’ with an elevation gain of 635 feet to the upper falls.

Near the trail head, Mr. N and I stopped for a ‘photo op’ with the lower falls in the background. Passersby commented on how well behaved we are. I guess they don’t know Mr. N and I have a secret about that–we work for treats!!Mom was careful going up the trail with it’s many tree roots and rocks. There were places where there were steep drop-offs, but she held my leash tightly. The trail wound around the top of the waterfall and meandered on up through the forest.

Logs were down in many places, often over the stream. You see I’m still not wet–what’s up with that??We finally made it to the upper fallsAnd I was finally able to get my furs wet!

Trillium Lake

The big dogs–Toby & Heidi

The day started out perfectly–the sun was shining and we were going for a hike. Mom took me to our friend’s house and we got in the car with her 3 dogs (Toby II, Macy & Heidi). Somehow, we all fit!

I squeezed between Macy & Toby (They were my very first friends when I was a pup!)

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You’ve met them before.

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They’re my pack.

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Heidi doesn’t scare me anymore. She’s just a big goof of a St. Bernard. We arrived at Trillium Lake and all piled out of the car…ready for our adventure! There are 12 glaciers on Mount Hood…you can see several here.  There sure isn’t much snow! In fact, Mount Hood has lost more than a third of its ice since first measurements in the early 20th century.

There’s a nice path around the lake, so we took off! I found several stumps.

That was a BIG tree

The sun was shining through the trees.There were walkways over areas that probably are pretty wet. It’s been really dry here in the Pacific Northwest, so there was no extra water anywhere! (It started raining today, so all that changes!)This is my new buddy, Heidi. We have a good time together!

We stopped for lunch here and I got my furs wet.I think this is where I found the marijuana.

Mom thought it was some kind of animal skat…you can sure tell she knows nothing about drugs! 🙂 I guess it’s a good thing I ‘drop’ when she says ‘leave it’. Even so, I had to sneak a bite. Let me tell you, it was even tastier than skat. 😦  I’m all better now and ready for my next adventure! (Yeah, right, Sage. You’d better not do this again!!)

I’ll leave you with some more views of Trillium Lake.

Hood River on Dwellable

Ocean Adventure-Part II

During dinner at Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay (Wyatt’s Mom over at Gardening with Wyatt recognized that gorgeous view), Mom decided to find another beach for an evening romp. Just a bit down the road is Moolack Beach. Ya’ know that sun-in-my-face photo from last Wednesday? That’s the place.

It was a little scramble down a cliff,No problem.

Because at the bottom was this wonderful beach with no hu-mans or dogs anywhere! Well, except for Mom and me. It was all a dog could want.

Way off in the distance is Yaquina Head Lighthouse…can you see it? One day we’ll go visit it, but today it was all about Moolack Beach and me.

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I loved the tidal pools

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My furs have to get wet somehow and I know that’s the bestest way in the whole world to cool down after a crazy ball-playing session. .

Come on, Mom. Get the lead out!

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After a little scramble up the rocks, we headed back to our hotel for a much-needed night of rest!

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We wrapped up our little anniversary-cation at the “D” River in Lincoln City. It’s supposed to be the shortest river in the whole world.

Really?

Newport on Dwellable

Wordless Wednesday: Lovin’ the Sun

Nehalem Beach

We went to the beach earlier this week, but I bet you knew that. My friends Caly & Tucker were camping nearby so we went for a fun play-date. I was all set for a big run after that long car ride. Hey, guys. Are you ready? Ready, Set, GOOOOOOOOTucker & I did a little wave action.

Mom says I should learn to body-surf, but a stick or ball is a lot better, I think. Even Toby, who really doesn’t like water, was getting into the action!Of course, there’s always a little roll in the sand to perk you up.We saw this guy on a 3-wheeled beach buggy doing some wind-surfing. I thought I’d pass on that sport…I prefer balls, thank you very much.

You get a little sandy when you come to a screeching halt! But a good shake later, it was all gone. What’s that, Mom? The car was full of sand after we got home? I wonder where that came from? It must have been Toby.

Did you know you could play a good game of hide-and-seek in the sand dunes? Another great beach sport, in case you didn’t know. Of course, I was waiting for a ball throw. What else?????Toby and I took a bit of a stroll back up the beach.We were a bit tuckered out when we got back to their campsite. Mom, Dad & their friend roasted wieners over the fire. They even gave us some! Pretty good end to a fun day, if I do say so myself!!

Nehalem on Dwellable

Wordless Wednesday: You Can’t Catch Me!

Beach Aerobatics

When Mom gets Toby and me all harnessed up; secured in the car in our Kurgo contraption and the backpack goes in the trunk, I KNOW something good’s about to happen. We drove for a long, long time and finally stopped. We went all the way to the coast! Wow, that was a LONG trip!

Mom: Sage–it’s only 90 miles away. You didn’t have to ride in the car THAT long. And, you got to stick you head out the window a little bit. 

We haven’t been to the beach in a long time. And this one had so much sand! It was everywhere. And a river coming down into the big ocean. And there were waves way off in the distance!Mom’s friend brought a kong on a rope for me to play with. That was fun until Mom brought out the ball! You KNOW what happened next, don’t you? Ball, sand, sun is my idea of F-U-N.

There is something about all this sand. I was doing some pretty crazy moves! Here I am. My eye is on the ball. I make my move.

And I caught it!

See….

I tried a little levitation here. Just imaging some jet-packs on my back. I could FLYYYYYY!

I bet you think I didn’t catch this one.

I did…..

But like all good things, it had to come to an end. I was pretty pooped, but had a nice long nap on the way home. The bad part was not only did I get hosed off when we got home, but then they stuck me in the bathtub! Mom said I stunk. I didn’t tell you about that part–you know you have to cool off and when there’s water…..

It was really stinky water too. And you HAVE to roll in the sand after getting all wet, right?

Now that I’m clean and smell nice, I’m going to see what everyone is up to on the Saturday Blog Hop!

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I’m a Tomboy

Since my name is Sage, I started wondering what that means? Sage is of Latin origin, and the meaning of Sage is “wise, healthy”. The name has associations with sagebrush, cowboys, and the Wild West. Oregon has sagebrush, but not where I live. And I just know there are cowboys out there with all that sagebrush stuff. And I saw all about the wild west on tee vee once. Mom says sometimes I’m wild, so that fits too!!

Sage can be a boy’s name too, but I’m a girl. I’m not one of these prissy girls with bows in their hair and painted toenails. No sirree! Not me. I can rough and tumble with the best of them. Playing ball is one of my favorite games and I don’t have to worry about whether I can get on the team–I AM the team!! Sometimes I let some of my friends play with me–we take turns catching it, but I’m the best at bringing it back! (not that I’m bragging or anything……)

So, what about wise and healthy? I think I’m pretty wise (Mom is snickering). Well, I do! I looked it up in the dictionary and wise can also be sagacious. Get it? Sag-acious. I like that word. And I sure am healthy. Healthy as a horse–except I’m a dog. Do you think we could start saying “healthy as a dog?”

Mom says I have to use logic. I need to analyze what I told you and come to a conclusion. That’s how it’s done–or so she says. What does she know. Oh, alright, Mom, I’ll get back to the subject–I’m telling this story, not you.

After all my “wise” analysis (see, told you so), I think I’m a TOMBOY! A tomboy is an energetic, sometimes boisterous girl whose behavior and pursuits, esp. in games and sports, are considered more typical of boys than of girls.

I wonder if that applies to dogs? I think that’s better than being called a bitch! What do you think?

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What Happened at the Beach-revisited

Mom and Dad are suppose to come home today, but here’s another story I told you earlier:

Well, what happened, you ask? Let me tell you, it was a lot. This is going to be a LONG story, so you’d better sit down and relax.

Mom and Dad took Toby and me to Lincoln City not long ago–actually about a week ago. That’s on the coast of Oregon, in case you don’t know. I’ve been to the coast before, but the first time I was really little and don’t remember it. The second time was a disaster because Mom lost her keys in the sand. WOW, what a mess that was-she needs to get her head examined….(oops, don’t tell her I said that). We (Toby and I) had to ride in our car on this BIG truck, but it was OK–we just took naps.

This time, Mom said I lifted her curse. Ya’ know, everything comes in threes, or so they say. So, you ask, what was the first thing? One time, before she lost her keys and about the time I was being born, they went to the coast and came home and THEY WERE ROBBED. Now, I bet you are wondering what could have happened this time? Let me tell you.

When we got there, we went to Gleneden Beach so we could have fun and run and play. Did I tell you Toby II (and his sister Macy) were there too? They were! There weren’t very many human people, so we got to go off-leash (remember, I know “come”). That was so much fun–sand to dig in and Toby II. THEN I saw the water! This was like going to the river!! Here I come!!!!

That was one big river–not like the Sandy. And there was something Mom called waves–look at them! They were BIG! And something called seafoam. I thought maybe that was something I could eat–but it tasted a little funny. Mom said I can’t drink it OR eat it–it can make me really sick. Well, what is it?

So, I ran down into the water and this huge wave crashed over me–I came up spluttering. Oh wow, it was  BIG. Mom and Dad were SCARED (or so they said). They said I could have been caught by a sneaker wave. What’s that? I thought sneakers were something I could chew. They’re crazy….Give me a sneaker, I’ll show them!

Well, I guess it was something I need to learn more about. Mom put me on my leash and said I had to wear it on the beach until I learned about it. Well, they’d better teach me!

We stayed at this hotel that LOVES dogs. They even let me stay there! I thought that was pretty neat. Mom took Toby and me for a long walk and I played with Toby II and then we had to go to bed.

When it was really dark outside, Toby got up; got stuck in the bathroom and barked. Mom thought he needed to go pottie and told Dad. Dad got up; opened the front door and I raced out! Like I do at home, don’t you know? He didn’t know I was right there at the door. Silly Daddy!

Oops–where am I? This is not my back yard. Mom and Dad came out and kept calling:  “Sage, COME”. They sounded really scared, but I knew where I was. Did they? Apparently not–what was their problem? Well, I came, like I was taught. I just made them suffer a little–I was having fun exploring. Mom read her book for a long while after that, but I went back to sleep. What was the big deal, anyway?

Mom says this is what lifted her curse! Really? Does that mean we get to go back? Oh, wait! We still had another day! But I’m tired after all this writing, so you’ll have to wait.