jstv – Page 35

October 3, 2021October 2, 2021

Fall Color

The days are getting shorter, mornings colder and thin streaks of yellow and red are starting to line the hillsides.

Central Oregon is mostly pine forests and high desert sage, but river banks offer great places to find fall colors.

This week we headed to Camp Sherman on the Metolius River.

The National Wild and Scenic Metolius River is home to trout and kokanee salmon.

From the point it bubbles out of the earth on the northern edge of Black Butte until it drops into Lake Billy Chinook it’s banks are lined with willow, maple and aspen.

Fall frosts have just started but the foliage is already putting on a show.

In addition to the fall show, we’re scouting fishing spots. The Metolius offers great fly-fishing only water, though it’s fish are very finicky. We’ve been to camp sites further downriver, but today we’ll explore closer to the headwaters.

A narrow road parallels the river from just below the springs to a couple miles up from the tiny village of Camp Sherman.

There are half a dozen camp grounds and many more pull offs that allow access to the river. A well maintained foot path also runs the entire length of the stream.

It was a perfect fall day. Warm sunshine mixed with the smell of pine and fallen leaves.

Pine trees filter the warm fall sun creating photo op patches of light. Today the camp sites are tagged with reserved signage, however, in a few weeks the crowds will thin and the fishing will be good as will the views.

September 26, 2021September 26, 2021

More Rocks

Highway 20 ,,, clean air as far as the eye can see

Two things have happened . . . the air has cleared and daytime temps have dropped. So it is perfect weather to do some rockhounding.

We love tumbling obsidian. Some pieces can be held up to light and are transparent.

Whereas other stones are lustrous with highlights like this mahogany obsidian.

There is no shortage of places to find fossils, minerals and rocks in Central Oregon, but all are nearly void of shade. Any roads near these sites will quickly become impassable with a day or two of rain. That in mind fall is an ideal season.

We’re headed east on US 20 to a dirt road just west of highway marker 77. Glass Butte and Little Glass Butte are six thousand acres open to public collection of a ‘reasonable’ daily amount of obsidian. The state defines reasonable as less than 250 pounds . . . no problem there.

The two low hills look like most of the hight desert landscape between Bend and Burns. A few patches of scrub pine and juniper amid large swaths of sage and rabbit bush.

Drive up the gravel road a few miles and quickly you start to see the glint of black rock scattered between the sage brush. Obsidian is typically black but at the Glass Buttes area you can find red, snowflake, green, and a number of other color combinations. This makes this a popular rockhounding site.

Shards of obsidian … this volcanic glass is hard, brittle and fractures with sharp edges.

We found a spot away from the crowds in the Little Butte area. It didn’t take too long to fill our bucket with marble sized pieces, perfect for the tumbler, and a few larger chunks as well. The material we picked up was mostly black but there are some with red and mahogany streaks. All were picked up off the surface with only minimal digging.

Once back home we rinsed the desert dust, inspected our finds and separated a load to polish in the tumbler. In addition to obsidian, we found some samples of petrified wood.

We’re thumbing through the Oregon Rockhounding book and plan more fall expeditions in the future.

September 19, 2021September 18, 2021

Head Waters

The Crooked River has been the subject of many posts on this blog, usually centered on fishing. This week, with a welcome break in poor air quality, we headed to the headwaters of our favorite stream.

Forests of Ponderosa Pine mixed with open prairie

The Ococho National forest lands sit between the saged high desert and the thickly forested cascade range.

A half hours drive east of Prineville puts you on the edge of Big Summit Prairie and a web of fresh water springs feeding into the North Fork of the Crooked River.

As the name implies this stream meanders across central Oregon, most of it through hay and pasture land.

The canyon we frequent most is some 50 or 60 miles downstream of Deep Creek Campground.

We’ve pulled in here for a bit of lunch and a cup of coffee. The air is clean, filled with the scent of Ponderosa and it feels like Fall.

Deep Creek feeds into the North Fork as it turns south, away from the road and through a forested canyon and wilderness study area. The only way to fish that stretch is by trail and today we’re not prepared for that journey.

Eagle Rock, a popular site for rock enthusiasts, and a visit for another day.

We follow USFS 42 over yet another low mountain range heading south and west. The pine forest gives way to ancient juniper and volcanic rock fields. At the junction with OR 380 we are surrounded by cattle ranches and the North Fork merges into the Crooked. It stays in this grassy valley for 30 miles before winding south into the Prineville reservoir. After which it will exit Bowman dam and wind through the basalt lined canyon we frequent.

We skirt the eastern edge of the reservoir, through Prineville and after a brief stop for chocolate soft-serve at the local DQ, head home. It was very nice to be out of the smoke and haze for a day.

September 12, 2021September 11, 2021

Smoke Clogged Days

Endless days of ‘unhealthy’ and ‘very unhealthy’ air pushed us to a point where we drove into the belly of the beast, Summer Lake. It’s a few miles north of what was at one point this summer, the nation’s largest wildfire.

Air quality doesn’t seem to matter to the snow geese, sand pipers, American avocet, and stilts who feed across the shallows.

California fires are the major contributor to the choking particulate count but Oregon has added to the plume. Which at last view stretches from left coast across the nation. In all it’s been a bad summer for outside activities.

The one thing poor air quality offers is unique sunrises. So the first stop was Fort Rock to catch the orange globe.

Fort Rock is a great location to watch the progression from dawn to sunrise.

We broke out the drone for some aerial footage.

No obstacles … no wind … perfect flight conditions for this novice drone pilot

The gray haze and lack of wind created some really cool conditions on the water at Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge.

Harshly backlit black-necked stilts stride across a silent expanse of water.

The gray haze and lack of wind created some really cool conditions on the water at Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge.

Birds are starting fall migrations and that was reflected in the variety of species we saw.

A pair of coyotes, one roaming, the other hunkered down in a lone patch of grass.

And for the first time we came across a pair of coyotes that appeared to be hunting.

Photos were shot in brief excursions from the cab of our car and the ever-present masks helped.

There is rain in our forecast so that may bring some relief as season weather patterns shift and temperatures cool.

September 5, 2021September 5, 2021

Annual Fruit Stand Trip

This week we headed up to Hood River and a trip through the Fruit Loop. It is a bit earlier than normal, but a great break from the smoky air that plagues Central Oregon.

The drive is an annual trek and usually focuses on Kiyokawa’s orchard, a favorite stand. The difference is this year we are early by nearly a month and thus the selection is different. We’re looking for peaches and plums with thoughts of preserving a few, and of course making Pflaumenkuchen.

Bartlett pears, red and yellow, are part of the early season harvest on the Fruit Loop.

The apple season is just starting so where normally there would be tens of varieties, this day there was maybe half a dozen to choose from. There was also a selection of pears, as they are in season as well. On the other hand, peaches are end of season, but we found some Veterans which we’ll preserve a couple of quarts to keep the pantry up to date.

The drawback to Kiyokawa is they only sell in bulk. The pandemic has curtailed open bins with tasting trays for each variety and now you buy by the pound.

We stopped at a new stand, Pearls Place. There you can pick up individual pieces, as well as boxed or bagged fruit.

Pearl’s had a great variety of stone fruit and in that mix were Italian Prune Plums, which were at the top of our list.

Individual fruit, perfect for tasting varieties like Diamond Princess and O’Henry peaches

Old-fashioned, Cream-line milk from Royal Riverside Farm in Albany, Oregon

It worked out well to hit the orchards at a different point in the season and we are enjoying the peaches as much as the apples and pears. The trip home was through Maupin with lunch on the Deschutes River. It was a great end to a nicely smoke-free day.