Author: jstv

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With or Without Sprinkles

Wickiup Junction’s fresh donuts begin to run low by late morning. If we are lucky we can snag our favorite … Cinnamon Sugar Raised.

Many … perhaps too many road trips begin at a local landmark, Wickiup Junction to fuel our car and sweet tooth.

Fifty years ago a sporting goods store opened at the junction of Burgess road and Highway 97. For years it was the only general store in the La Pine area, but as the population grew it added a gas station and deli. It is after all on a major access route to the water ways and trails along the Cascade Highway and Upper Deschutes River.

A warm chocolate covered raised donut with a heavy sprinkle of chopped peanuts.
Tip is a big fan of nuts.

But the main reason to add Wickiup Junction to a trip itinerary is for the donuts.

We’re not sure when they started offering fresh baked goodies in addition to a well stocked cooler and deli, but it was a good move.

We’re kind of donut snobs, The word connoisseur doesn’t quite fit for this basic pastry, that said, we rarely miss an opportunity to try a new donut shop. Wickiup Junction is at the top of our list for now.

Wickiup does offer classic cake donuts … but for us Raised reign supreme.

Let’s talk raised just so we have a level field. In Portland there’s Blue Star (don’t even try to add VooDoo to a list) and Bend has Richard’s. Any of which are good morning pastry offerings.

However, hit Wickiup Junction, between 7 and 9 am and you’ll be able to get warm goodness that literally melts in the mouth.

Sometimes we manage to save our morning pastry to savor next to a fishing stream. Mugs of coffee in hand we are living our best life!

Our favorites are Cinnamon Sugar or Glazed, but really anything with maple frosting is delicious.

They do offer embellishments; chunks of candy, sprinkles and Hole-less rounds oozing custard or jelly.

But these only serve as distractions from a soft dough fried to an even golden brown featuring a slightly sweet flavor … and no greasy aftertaste.

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The Off Season

Trails edge the Crooked on both sides of the river.

Fly fishing makes up a major portion of our weekly excursions and winter weather can add some difficulty to our plans.

Late fall typically marks the end of the regular fishing season. Fortunately Oregon has waters that remain open year round. Fish don’t stop feeding when the snows come and the lakes freeze. Bug hatches still occur regularly, you just use smaller patterns or fish imitations of insects found subsurface.

The biggest adjustment to off season fishing is you need to layer up before going to the stream. A near freezing morning on a typical cloudless Central Oregon day can warm to shirtsleeve temperatures by afternoon. Fingerless gloves are also an essential addition to the ensemble.

Three streams with access all year are the Fall River, Deschutes River (middle and lower stretches) and the Crooked River.

When the temperature drops we might have to hike though a blanket of snow to get to the water.

The Fall River is a beautiful spring-fed stream flowing through rolling pine forest. It is open to fly fishing only and features brook, brown, and rainbow trout.

As for the snow Central Oregon is blessed with more clear than cloudy days. While Bend and La Pine can get accumulations of two or more feet, our roads are well maintained and in just a couple of clear days any snow pack is reduced at lower elevations.

The Deschutes and Crooked Rivers run through basalt column canyons that are sparsely timbered. This exposure to the sun seems to keep river banks clear of snow.

Closer to home, the Fall River wanders through a forested landscape and it’s banks hold snow much longer.

The river is a few hundred steps off a well traveled road with numerous pullouts and a clearly marked walking path runs along both banks.

Adding a splash of whiskey to hot coffee or cocoa is a regular winter treat.

The winter weather hasn’t been a deterrent in getting out. January cold spells mean we bundle up and add a shot of whiskey to the cocoa for extra oomph. We still like to enjoy the days outside.

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Time-Sculpted Landscapes

Rabbit Bush on plateau of Cove Palisades with storm clouds to the northeast.

While these posts get a lot of fishing stories, another major draw for our excursions involves geology.

Rimrock basalt lines the top of canyon walls.

Evidence of caldera and volcanic activity pokes up through the Central Oregon landscape everywhere. This week’s post highlights one of these areas.

Gusting winds made hiking the trail overlooking the rocks a bit hazardous.

The Metolius Balancing Rocks are the remnants of activity a millennia ago. They remained in near obscurity until a wildfire burned through the western edge of Cove Palisades State Park.

A volcanic eruption created spires, then another added a top layer of denser material.

Over the centuries the lower portions of these spires eroded out from under the harder sedimentary top layer, leaving a unique geographical structure.

You can still see evidence of wildfire that tore through the area in 2002.
The threat of rain followed us most of the day.

Once the wildfire exposed the area long protected by the park service, a short loop trail was added, as well as some informational signage. My guess it was in hopes that vandals would be dissuaded from wreaking havoc on the site.

Another draw for a stop at this overlook is the magnificent view of the Metolius River and Mt Washington offered from a small parking area at the trail head.

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This way or that way

Every road trip starts pretty much the same way.

A lunch gets packed, extra clothing layers are added to a tote, water bottles along with coffee/tea tumblers are filled. Then gear and dog get loaded into the Subaru and we’re off. In winter this is often right at first light giving us the whole day to explore.

Sometimes you have a specific destination in mind, but even when that is the case, the route taken can be altered. The longer you travel an area the more often you find yourself on the back roads. Two lane county roads pass through better landscapes with a lot less hassle from other traffic.

Morning skies are a stunning mix of clouds and azure blue. We head north, then veer east towards Smith Rock. As luck would have it we arrive in time to see the sun light up the rock face.
We have a rule we hold to on nearly every road trip.

Don’t return on the same route. This is a bit more difficult, though not impossible in the mountains. When you’re traveling the high desert there are almost too many routes to choose from.

This road looks promising. Loaded with supplies of coffee, donuts, and gas, we follow this route for awhile, then eventually pull out the map to get our bearings.

This post initially started as a conversation about how it seemed all roads lead to the Crooked River. This is only partially true.

What is true … with the aid of good maps you can find alternate routes to treasured destinations from nearly anywhere. And the beauty of these alternate routes is finding totally new places to explore in and around favorite spots.

Mule deer on the Crooked River

 

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Painted Hills Pictures

Painted Hills Overlook features a panoramic view of the hills. The trail is accessible year-round, but can be icy in the winter.

The otherworldly nature of the Painted Hills is why we keep coming back to this unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. The guidebooks suggest spring or fall as good times to visit. This just means that those are the seasons with the most visitors at the monument.

Mitchell, the closest town, is a two hour drive through the Ochoco National Forest. There are three units that make up the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Painted Hills is at the southwest corner of the complex. An hour and a half north is the Clarno Unit or 45 minutes East is the Sheep Rock Unit. These three sites offer a great look at the paleontological riches of Oregon and as you can imagine the drive between sites is rich in geological marvels.

The Clarno Unit offers the oldest exposed layers and fossil encrusted rocks while at the Sheep Rock unit you can tour the Thomas Condon Center and view fragments of ancient animals under glass.

However, the Painted Hills Unit presents a much larger canvas where stratified layers of soil show off eons of earth history in a very colorful manner.

We make seasonal trips to Painted Hills and find that the colored layers are more pronounced in the winter and spring.

In the spring we plan to try hiking the Blue Basin Loop, at the northern edge of the Sheep Rock Unit, and take in a somewhat different ancient landscape.