Before winter storms close the Cascade Highway, we try to make one final trip to Upper Deschutes River.
The three of us love this spot. Jack for the fishing, JQ for shooting video and photos. As for Tip … this is his favorite swimming hole. Fun is had by all.
In the Fall you can often catch the spawn as the big Rainbows move into the river from Crane Prairie. The river is very different during each of the seasons. not sure when is our favorite. But then, why choose?
One sunny afternoon last week we headed over to the Nature Center at Sunriver Resort.
The idea was to check on the new trumpeter swan cygnets and maybe get a glimpse of the river otters JQ spied earlier this month.
The swans were in sight, however no river otters. Instead we were treated to a close up view of a Great Horned Owl, Joe.
He was hit by a car and is blind in one eye, thus he’s become a permanent resident of the nature center’s rehab and education facility.
November is turning into a really great month, weather wise. We’ve had sun and mild day temperatures for the last few weeks. Mornings are frosty but by 10 am the sun has taken the chill off.
This week we headed out to an old favorite, the Crooked River, to do some fishing and take some photos of the canyon in fall. Had the place to ourselves, set up the camp chairs and really enjoyed the day.
Fishing was good even got into an afternoon dry fly session. As you can tell from the post the canyon was very picturesque.
The other activity was to put up a ‘Flybrary Project’ card.
You likely saw the post on Instagram @jstv. Essentially this is a fly sharing project to encourage people to share their pastime. You can check it out at www.flybraryproject.com and if you are interested, catch an episode of ‘huge flyfisherman’ on YouTube, it’s hilarious.
The initial frigid fall temps have moderated and we’re currently enjoying an “Indian Summer” of sorts.
Taking advantage of these mild fall days we’ve re-started fall hiking trips that were put on hold when it seemed like winter was upon us.
In spring of last year we’d attempted to walk the Rim Rock Springs Loop trail but it was buried in snow. It’s not a summer hike destination as it’s way too exposed to high desert sun … but Fall is perfect.
It’s a relatively easy hike, taking off from a wayside East of Madras on Highway 26. There are a couple of observation points to get a look at migratory bird habitat and some great vistas of the Cascade Peaks. The first half of the trail is even paved.
The were no other hikers so we enjoyed the solitude, shot a bunch of photos and generally took in the scenery. Finished up with a picnic lunch for a perfect November day trip.
Bend is surrounded by amazing sights. Perhaps one of the best places to take it all in is Pilot Butte, an extinct cinder cone located within Bend’s boundaries.
A lot of people choose to hike up, however our first trip was by car. The view is really spectacular.
In the center of the observation deck is a bronze disk aligning all the prominent points.
We got much better acquainted with our surroundings and had excellent views of the city of Bend.
It was well worth the short trip up it’s narrow road.