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December 6, 2025December 6, 2025

Weather or Not

Weather front moves in from the Columbia River, near Biggs, Oregon

The topic of weather is covered in this blog nearly as much as fishing.

Both are important, though when you’re mostly outside, conditions and changes in weather are important facts.

Cursing the rain is pointless, so mentioning what it’s like outside is observation rather than rant.

Low hanging clouds drift along the Deschutes River Canyon

One of the main reasons we moved to the east side of the Cascade range was to get away from gray wet winters.

From December to March, on average, Portland has a 25% chance of clear skies. In Bend it’s more like 40%. In that same period, Bend gets half as much rainfall.

Portland skies can stay gray for weeks on end. However, here the snow may pile up. but it’s usually only a day before the sun is back.

Frost glazes the ground cover along Hwy 97 near Shinako

Living under that blanket of grey wasn’t helping our mental health . . . more fishing has helped as well.

Salt Creek Falls, Oregon’s second highest single drop waterfall

Nearly forty years ago we migrated to Oregon, drawn by the Pacific Northwest climate.

For a while the lush green was enchanting, but the precipitation that growth required wore thin.

Sun breaks through forest at Sherwood CG on Hwy 35, north of Hood River

We’re in our high desert mode these days. Sage steppe and Ponderosa pine forests are our preferred environment.

These Central Oregon winters aren’t as harsh as what we grew up with in Montana and are tempered with continued assurance of clear skies to come.

Another positive aspect of high desert weather is you can see it before it get’s here and long after it’s moved past.

Near the base of Winter Ridge, Lane County, Oregon

The weather app is nearly as important as our bundle of USFS maps. Weather can’t be avoided, but knowing what’s out there is the goal.

And often, it’s a weather front that has us setting up the tripod.

November 30, 2025November 29, 2025

Return Again

Any reader of this blog will have figured out we venture to the same places with regularity. This is by design.

Our explorations are, to some degree, dictated by the change in seasons. Like the adage ‘you never step in the same river twice’.

We go to canyons to explore rivers, the high desert to find wildlife and mountains to uncover minerals.

There’s interest in the place, but of equal importance is the journey there.

A spot in the winter offers something different than it will in the summer. This is less a measure of temperature and more a matter of a shift in flora and fauna.

There are times when roads are impassable or the sun’s heat becomes unbearable. We time an excursion, when possible, to variants of weather. One can fish the year around. The only obstacle . . . road conditions.

Rivers in warm months are a pleasant picnic. As the season turns cold, there are fewer fishers but just as many fish.

Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge at start of fall migration.

Migratory patterns help predict when Summer Lake will have its greatest number of species.

But there are always birds and Winter Ridge makes a very photogenic backdrop capped with snow. Each season offers it’s own photo op.

Rock hounding is great adventure to unique locations. We’ve uncovered interesting stones while being treated to beautiful views.

Summer’s heat is not the best time to be chiseling away at a rock face or scraping a hole in the desert floor. But from winter to late spring the road in is a mud trap. Again . . . it’s a matter of timing.

It’s nice to discover a new place, turn down a different road, or frame a special photo. However, often the change isn’t a location but time of year.

To those places we enjoy, we’ll always return again.

November 23, 2025November 21, 2025

It’s Gotten Cold

Winter seems to be upon us. This week was wet . . . and bone chilling cold.

Each year we seem to need more time to adjust to the season of snow. Usually the transition from fall to winter is enough, but for some reason this season seems particularly short.

Perhaps the days are moving faster?

Either way . . . here we are . . . well into November and still thinking it’s October.

The weatherman suggested that Wednesday would present some sun and perhaps be a bit warmer. So we headed up to the river.

The sun did not break through the overcast sky and it never got warmer than 37º. Thus we only spent a couple of hours on the river.

That said, our time was marked by the presence of a Bald Eagle perched in the Osprey’s snag. So fierce!

We pulled out the Drone for a water survey. The Crooked River is at it’s winter time low level.

Finally, when the chill became too much, we sipped on mugs of hot tea, enjoyed some roasted chicken, and shared a slice of delicious cranberry cake. So, all was not lost.

By December we should have acclimated to winter and be better prepared for frigid days on the high desert.

We know there will be breaks from these arctic fronts, where sun-filled days outnumber the dull gray ones. It’s just this week was particularly dull.

November 16, 2025November 16, 2025

Books and Bookstores

Besides roaming the high desert, our days are spent reading. There is always at least one piece of reading material within arms reach.

Since retiring, we’ve moved away from non-fiction reading (no more textbooks) and have been enjoying fiction and history.

Reading requires sources of material. While many of the walls in our house hold overloaded bookcases, the local branch of Deschutes County Library is a constant and reliable source of reading material.

E-books and audiobooks have become an inescapable part of reading. It’s nice to have a few dozen different books in hand .

Though an e-ink screen is convenient, slipping a bookmark between pages is an irreplaceable part of reading.

Bookstores and libraries, are critical outlets however, technology has forever altered that experience.

Our first visit to Powell’s City of Books is etched into memory. Something about the air in a bookstore; paper, ink and dust, if it’s the right kind of store.

Yes, a lot of our reading material is captured via a hold place through the library’s online website . . . then downloaded to an e-reader or picked up on weekly stops.

But one still needs to occasionally step into a good bookstore.

Book searches via keyboard are efficient, but nowhere near as fun as rummaging through shelves, craning your neck to read spines, and pulling an interest prospect.

The website may offer a brief preview, but that doesn’t compare to turning to a table of contents, running a finger down the index or reading random pages at will.

Online you scroll through known authors or subjects, while at a bookstore you are immersed in a genre and exposed to unknown works.

Reading research is very different in a bookstore . . . that is why we never miss the opportunity to push open the door when we come across one.

November 9, 2025November 8, 2025

It’s Already November

Looking back over journal entries I realize this rainy weather coupled with a few ‘poorly’ scheduled appointments severely restricted our travel.

Chores got done, JQ was occupied with baking projects, and lots of pages have been turned on sci-fi and mystery books.

But really , , , we didn’t get very far from the house.

An apparent break in the rain got turned into a trip to the Sunriver Nature Center to check in on the swans.

They are doing well, however that foul weather pause did not include a lull in the wind, nor rise in temperature. It wasn’t wet, but it was a cold walk. Tip did enjoy himself.

Tasks finished and weather forecasts looking clearer this coming week, we should get more exploring in. For now, it’s a warm fire, hot mug of tea, and a good story on the e-reader. Not a terrible way to spend time.