In The Clouds

We spotted several Blue Heron roosting in trees along the river’s edge

The main difference between weather on the Cascade’s west versus the east slope is how long it lingers. In Central Oregon a rain storm comes in and moves on in a day. The great part is you get to experience weather in a variety of stages and it seems like a sunny day is always on the way. This week we drove through clouds.

The Lower Deschutes, around Maupin, is a regular destination in the fall. There are far fewer people, the river level drops to ‘wadeable,’ and summer heat has passed.

The road ahead winds its way down through a dense cloud bank

The latter part of the week looked like a storm front coming along with wind gusts and increased rain. So we spent a bit more time on the road and headed for Maupin. On the edge of the Deschutes River canyon we drove into the clouds … literally.

Brilliant fall foliage
The Deschutes River

The fog bank hung onto the canyon’s edge, so we slipped below the clouds and pulled up to a favorite spot on the river.

Lunch, fresh coffee and on the river. The fishing was very slow but Tip and I had fun scrambling along the bank. JQ was much more productive with the long lens on her camera snapping pix of some of the locals.

 

Canada Geese

We spent an afternoon on the river without encountering a single fisherman or rafter, unusual, but made for a great day. We expect the rainy days to increase in late fall and take advantage of the drier ones. Bend / La Pine get an average of 11 inches of precipitation compared to Portland’s 44 inches, so we still get mostly desert-like weather.

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