Sunday I headed out with a few friends to walk on the Washougal Dike Trail. It starts at Steamboat Landing (note: there are no steamboats anymore!) and goes to Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. It was a bright sunny morning, and the Columbia River looked pretty and blue. I’m glad it gave us a little taste of that before returning to March’s standard—issue grey.
As we walked along the Dike we enjoyed the cottonwood trees that lined the river.
Steigerwald looks a lot like Ridgefield, and it’s probably closer to our new home, so I guess we should get used to coming out here.
This shot of the ducks with Mt Hood in the background was my favorite shot of the day.
I was a little partial to these leaning cottonwoods too.
We saw evidence of wildlife other than just the feathered kind.
Soon we came to the end of the road…
Time to head back.
On the way back we stopped at Cottonwood Beach for lunch before continuing towards town. We saw (though I did not get pictures of) several people horseback riding on the beach.
The sky was overcast and grey as we trudged back to the car. It was six miles all together, not a bad distance for a first hike of spring. It was nice and flat, just to get us in the mood for hiking again! It was very windy the whole way! But a nice walk with friends all the same.
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Steff Does Stuff! 
Great photos again, thanks for sharing! I really liked seeing the towboat shot (interesting to me to see, never thought much about there being tows on that river!)and the closed door made me giggle !
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Sounds like a wonderful hike. How nice that the weather cooperated, too.
It does look like a beautiful place to ride horses, especially with the lovely water views…something that is very rare here in New Mexico.
Your photos are splendid! I also love how observant you were in noticing the beaver chew marks on the tree.
And I really love the oddness of having a free-standing door…which was locked no less, as the entrance to the wildlife preserve. Cool!
~Lisa
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