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An ant’s eye view

At first glance the landscape reveals nothing more than a mix of tans and browns. Sand and rock litter the ground. It appears nothing is here. Jack and Tip park under a lone shade tree and I head out in search of high desert wildflowers.

I have to change my approach. Many of these blooms are close to the ground which means I need to take a low angle and get an “ant’s eye view.” I love this type of photography … that said, it does require a certain amount of … flexibility.

I’m equipped with a small tripod and an assortment of iPhone lenses (wide angle and macro being my favorite). I take a wayward tack. I’ve been lucky in the past … meandering and wandering has paid off for me. It takes a while, but then my focus shifts and it’s like another world is revealed under my feet.

 

Its been a successful shoot. I’m pretty psyched at finding a cactus.

I can’t wait to get back and share my news … plus Jack and Tip have an ice tea waiting for me. It’s been a great day!

 

 

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A very old art piece

Oregon Route 31 runs from La Pine to Valley Falls passing south of Fort Rock State Park and Summer Lake Wildlife refuge. The Fremont road is a route we take often. About half an hour into the trip you drop out of the Lodge Pole and Ponderosa forest onto a sage and rocky plain.

Fort Rock sits at the edge of this transition with Summer Lake another 30 minutes onto the high desert.

From tilled fields the road follows basalt columns to a notch just a thousand feet off the valley floor. At the top is Picture Rock Pass, as you drop toward Summer Lake there is a a grand view of the marsh and alkaline flats.

Sitting on this relative high point is a flat rock face with petroglyphs that were etched 7500 to 10,000 years ago. The rock is just a few hundred feet off the side of a road, south of a narrow gravel turn out.  Given humans propensity to paint or tip ancient rock it’s just as well the site is unmarked.

 

It was the marshes and meadows with their abundant wildlife that drew prehistoric humans to the area. Twelve thousand years ago, the Clovis Period, Picture Rock Pass was etched by the area’s early inhabitants.

Archeologists have uncovered signs of prehistoric life that includes 10,000 year old foot woven sagebrush sandals at Fort Rock and 14,000 year old artifacts at Paisley Caves area.

There’s a lot of history in this hundred mile stretch of asphalt.

 

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Otters in the Pond, no really

On the eastern edge of Sunriver lies Lake Aspen, home to a mated pair of trumpeter swans, flocks of Canada geese, redwinged blackbirds, swallows, a bunch of ducks and an elusive family of Northern River Otters.

In one of our many walks along the shore of this small lake, JQ spied these otters darting in and out of the rushes, diving and sliding through the water. We spotted them again last winter poking out of holes in the ice and scampering on the frozen lake.

We make regular excursions to the lake, usually to catch a glimpse of the swans and numerous variety of birds.

So now the search is on for an otter sighting and … hopefully we will get a photo as well.

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Treasure on the river

The Crooked River, one of our favorite Oregon rivers.

Quarantine has closed campgrounds, state and national parks but not fishing. This is good news for us.

Once a week we head to our favorite stream with lunch and fly rods. Tip finds joy in both the ride up to the river and running the riparian.

If we are not both fishing, then Tip divides his time between JQ’s photographic adventures and checking in on Jack.

Enough time has been spent on rivers to develop good manners, for the most part. At some point in the day a stick is discovered, dropped at someone’s feet and thus a game of fetch is initiated … though it often involves much vocal encouragement.

This day was a bit different. Instead of a stick, Tip discovered a ball.

Bright orange, this lost dog toy became a treasured possession and required numerous rounds of ball throwing.

The shade side of a picnic table offers excellent cooling to rest up between expeditions.

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A picnic lunch

It seems we’ve moved past spring and gone right into summer. It was 72º on the river today. When you have days like that you need to pack the car and enjoy.

What’s for lunch gets packed into Ello© glass boxes and loaded into the cooler. Today we had chopped salad, grilled chicken, summer sausage, havarti cheese, crackers and chips, chocolate sandwich cookies, snicker bars and some fresh strawberries.

The cooler has  ice extender tubes but also cubes in a ziplock. The sealed glass boxes are stacked on one side and then nestled up to the ice are cans of beer and soda.

When it’s lunch time you have a smorgasbord of goodies to spread out on a picnic table and enjoy.