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September 27, 2026September 26, 2026

River Time

Just noticed someone is eating our Aspen leaves

The leaves on our aspen trees are a mix of green and yellow, mornings are often frosty, and the bird feeder needs refilling every day. Transition to fall is underway and we’re making the most of it.

A shaded spot by the river to keep an eye on everyone

Trips to the Crooked are spaced weekly, between an occasional rain storm. It’s easy to get on the river just before the sun crests the canyon walls and triggers a morning caddisfly hatch.

Layers are mandatory, but our warm sweaters are folded away by mid-morning. This also is about the time Tip is suggesting it’s time to have some snacks.

There is a day use area fifteen minutes upstream from Prineville that is a regular stop and these last few weeks we’ve mostly been setting up our chairs there.

That crest makes this Merganser look like he’s facing into a wind

A ‘Raft’ of mergansers has been in the area for most of those days.

Occasionally we see the osprey. Often he perches on a snag that dominates the opposite bank. This day the bare branches hold a heron, briefly, but no osprey.

Bull Thistle takes on a lethal quality in the Fall

Some time in mid-summer an SUV spotted JQ adjusting focus on a telephoto lens and pulled over to chat . . . photog to photog.

The gist of that conversation was there’s a Mountain Goat that inhabits the top reaches of the basalt columns on the far side of the river. Since then we’ve scanned the canyon wall, but never spotted him.

A week ago a fisherman chatted with Jack and besides sharing fly pattern information, also pointed out that the goat was on a ledge, over there.

“Fourth ledge down and just right of that outcrop . . . “

It’s no easy tasks to direct someones attention to a small white dot hunkered down on a rock face that is identical to the hundreds of other outcroppings and a mile away.

There are a lot of spaces for a goat to hang out on the canyon wall

But I got the general location. Once back at the car, with the aid of binoculars and JQ’s Telephoto lens we located a mound of white fur nestled in the rocks.

With a better idea of where to look and what to look for this week, we tried again. Pretty quickly we found him standing, exposed with the morning light making it easier to get a photo.

Fall continues to offer a smattering of rainy days amid stretches of clear sky, making it easy to pick out a good river day . . . or whatever outing we feel like. This is by far our favorite time of year.

September 20, 2026September 19, 2026

Pie ala Road

The air over the Hood River area finally cleared and our fridge was in need of a seasonal fruit infusion. This week’s trip sent us north to the Fruit Loop.

The devastation of recent fires scarred the hills along Hwy 26 and 35. Mop-up efforts were still underway as we descended the eastside of Mt. Hood.

But Kiyokawa Orchards was open for the season, and while not overflowing with varieties, there was plenty to choose from.

The boxes of fruit set out on their shelves included some late season peaches and a wide range of small stone fruit . . . plums and plumcots.

Also on the wood racks was an early harvest of apples and pears. We loaded a basket with something from nearly every box.

First haul, there will be more trips in the future.

We were looking for a tart apple to turn into pie. Pies are wonderful treats but lousy picnic fare. The easiest way to change that is to bake individual servings.

Hand pies are no more trouble to make than a whole pie and so much easier to have on the road.

America’s Test Kitchen “Baking For Two” has an excellent pie crust recipe, see attached. Rest in the fridge a few hours (or freeze for later), rolled out a quarter of an inch thick and cut into 5 inch rounds.

You load these disks with pie filling, although the fruit needs to be chopped into smaller pieces.

With peach or apple filling, start by chopping the fruit in small chunks, about a cup will fill the eight to ten disks that a single recipe of pie dough will make.

They freeze and re-heat well . . . if they last that long

Toss these cubes of fruit in a tablespoon of lemon juice, to discourage browning. Add one tablespoon each of brown and white sugar and AP flour. To this we also put in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg, though spices are a personal matter.

Print Recipe

Pie Dough (American Test Kitchen "Baking for Two")

Ingredients

9 Tbsp unsalted butter chilled and divided
1 1/4 cups AP flour divided
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
¼ cup ice water

Instructions

Grate 2 tablespoons butter on large holes of box grater and place in freezer. Cut remaining 7 tablespoons butter into ½ inch cubes.
Pulse ¾ cup flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, 2 pulses. Add cubed butter and process until homogeneous paste forms, about 30 seconds.
Using your hands carefully break dough ball into 2-inch chunks and redistribute evenly around processor blade.
Add remaining ½ cup flour and pulse until mixture is broken into pieces no larger than 1 inch (most pieces will be much smaller), 4 to 5 pulses.
Transfer mixture to medium bowl. add grated butter and toss until butter pieces are separated and coated with flour.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over mixture.
Toss with rubber spatula until mixture is evenly moistened. Sprinkle 2 more tablespoons of ice water over mixture and toss to combine.
Press dough with spatula until dough sticks together.
Transfer to sheet of plastic wrap. Draw edges of the plastic over the dough and press firmly on the sides and top to form a compact, fissure-free disk.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Allow to sit on counter top for about 10 minutes to soften before rolling out.

September 13, 2026September 12, 2026

The Shift into Fall

One of many Woolly Bears hanging out on the river’s edge.

Smoke finally lifted over a favorite haunt and we are back on the Crooked River. There were days of on and off rain, which likely had some influence over the reduction of wildfire haze.

Our chairs are tucked into a shady spot. The cooler is opened long enough to pull out the boxes with quarter cut sandwiches and cold drinks.

The winter migration is picking up and the trees are filled with a greater number and variety of birds.

Osprey

Not sure what to call the season; late summer, early fall? We’re at a transition that is neither, but without a title of its own. We like this time of year.

Labor Day’s over and the crowds have started to thin. The cold of the morning can be warmed with a sweater that is easy to shed when the afternoon sun warms things up.

But it never gets that August hot that drives you off the river by noon. We’re back at the point where you can spend the whole day on the stream.

I rig up a couple of rods, one for wet flies in the morning, the other ready for the afternoon hatch.

The river level keeps going down just as the reservoir dramatically drops, but the fishing remains good.

A bunch of Wooly Bears (caterpillar form of the Isabella tiger moth) cling to riverside branches. If they are a harbinger of winter it would seem the El-Nino predictions are on target.

The weather reports are for mild clear days ahead . . . we take that as a sign to get on the road and enjoy all the fall weather we can.

September 6, 2026September 9, 2026

Early Birding

The chorus of geese, heard before seen, pass over head. Their wedged flight pattern becomes a frequent sight at the end of summer.

Seasons shift and with the coming of winter migratory birds are now frequent visitors to the back yard feeding station.

We make regular trips to the wildlife refuge at Summer Lake, but always make a point of being there during this time of year.

The marshes are starting to draw passengers off the Pacific Flyway. This week was the first of those visits.

The wild fire plume had shifted to the north and east pulling smoke away from the summer lake area.

Though, when we came over Picture Rock Pass there were remnants of a recent fire.

Not huge but enough to threaten some homes on the western edge of the lake. Hot spots were still smoldering.

Marsh ponds weren’t teaming with birds, but we did see Ibis, Stilts and Dippers. Water levels are low and the refuge management has moved most of it to the south west corner.

Our standard visit is to drive in the headquarters entrance a bit south of town then follow the loop road turning north along Link Canal and exit on the north edge of the city of Summer Lake.

There was no one else around so we pulled into River Ranch camp site, found shade in a willow grove and had some lunch.

Sitting on the bank of the Ana River we were entertained by a group of Passerines hopping between branches and reeds.

In a few weeks the bird count will grow and while the week’s worth of rain, forecast, won’t make much of a dent in the water volume it will make the road a lot less dusty for our visit.

August 30, 2026August 29, 2026

A Mountain Stream

At least for Central Oregon the wildfire smoke has subsided, that is . . . there are fewer hundred plus AQI (air quality index) days.

The wind in your hair on a summer day is joyful

Our particular area remains smoke free, but the August heat bears down in the afternoon. A good reason to seek higher elevations and denser forest cover.