Nature – Page 9

November 5, 2023November 5, 2023

Fall on the Deschutes

Days are growing shorter and mornings colder. Leaves have shifted from green to gold and paint the ground amber around our picnic spot.

Fall in Central Oregon is a very short season . . . a brief few weeks between ‘Indian summer’ and first snow.

I’m still looking for Steelhead, so we’re making the trek to the Lower Deschutes.

This week we scouted different access spots, a task acknowledging Tip’s desire to wade, as well as the need to access good holding water.

Just upstream from where the White River empties turbid waters into the Deschutes was a nice stretch. Still no luck catching Steelhead.

However, the sun tempered a morning chill and we found a nice spot to brew a cup of coffee and enjoy our lunch.

Winter looms and we wake to a dusting of snow on the ground more than once.

The week ahead promises wet but mild weather. We’ll pack rain gear, break out the beanies and generally prepare for colder days.

However, this day was a perfect Fall day on the Lower Deschutes and we took advantage of that.

October 29, 2023October 27, 2023

A Game of Cards on the John Day

There are folks that aspire to primitive methods when camping . . that is not us.

We booked a cabin at Cottonwood Canyon State Park, roasted german sausages on a gas grill, and turned up the electric heater as the fall winds turned cold.

There are rock formations and sage, but very few trees.

Trails were hiked. Lines were wet and books were read.

However, every evening tables were pushed together and six of us engaged in a semi-friendly game of Contract Rummy. I never got all.

It’s interesting to me how many variations of rules there can be for such a simple rummy game. Our family has always played card games.

While this particular variation on rummy is ‘optimum’ for 4 people we’ve dealt hands to more than a dozen players after a large family meal.

The rules are simple enough for children to pick up. However, around the Schommer family table there might be rough language thrown about.

All in good humor, usually. And so it was this week when we met the Wilcox and Yecnys for a two day stay beside the John Day River.

Cottonwood Canyon and the John Day River

We’ve mentioned Cottonwood Canyon State Park before in this blog, but as with all good places there are frequent return visits.

The site is on a lower stretch of Oregon’s only un-dammed river, sitting on a flat between a couple of rock, sage and prairie grass covered hills.

The camp sites are spacious, so RV’s aren’t stacked like parking slips at Walmart. We always choose the cabins, they offer amenities like electric lights, heat and air conditioning.

I think this would be considered Glamping, and we love it.

Canyon walls hit with the first light of day

These two days the cabin also offered shelter from the winds, as well as a good space to sit six people for a meal and afterwards a game of cards.

A good time was had by all.

October 22, 2023October 21, 2023

Edge of the Great Basin

Lake Abert, a large, shallow, alkali lake in Lane County, Oregon

The South Central portion of Oregon holds the northern part of the Great Basin. The Great Basin is North America’s largest area of contiguous endorheic (internally drained) basins.

Two hundred thousand square miles dotted with lakes and streams that don’t flow to any ocean . . . it’s a hydrological land formation.

Summer Lake, another Oregon alkali lake and wildlife refuge

The Wasatch mountain range defines the eastern edge while the Cascade and Sierra Nevada range define it’s western side.

Death Valley and the Mojave Desert mark the southern point and a few hundred miles into Oregon from Nevada is the basin’s northern portion.

Lake Abert, a Pacific flyway stop, and one of Oregon’s few inland nesting sites for snowy plovers.

The off-shoot of being basically a closed system is these basin lakes are typically shallow, alkaline and circled by marsh lands.

At least historically . . . currently these lakes are disappearing, drying up, which is not good news for anyone, and particularly for migratory birds.

Oregon’s portion of the basin includes a chain of lakes at the foot of Hart Mountain and west over Abert Rim sits a long valley holding Abert and Summer Lakes.

The refuge on Summer Lake was our destination this week.

We’re trying to get one more birding journey in before it turns into a duck hunter’s trailer park. This week we got to watch Egrets come and go.

There was a small squadron of American White Pelicans, along with thousands of water foul; ducks, geese and swans.

What we try to accomplish in the fall is a final trip across the northern dike road before it’s closed for the season.

This narrow track of gravel cuts between two large ponds with a view unobstructed by reeds and with Fremont Ridge as a background.

Most likely we won’t be back until the spring migration starts.

Though if we see a string of warm winter days, it is worth a trip to catch a photo of a resident heron, local raptor, or even one of the many cold season song birds.

September 24, 2023September 24, 2023

Summer’s End

By week’s end clouds moved into Central Oregon, daytime temperatures stayed in the seventies, and there was a chill to the morning’s air. Summer has come to an end.

There are still wildfires raging to the north and plumes of smoke continue to move over us. However, spurts of rain and cooler weather will aid in their demise.

Amid shifting forecasts we’ve managed to find spaces with smoke-free air and blue skies. This week one of those excursions was to the Crooked River Canyon.

Regardless of location, fishing gets better as summer turns to fall. There are fewer people along the river and it is no struggle to locate shade and stave off the scorching summer sun.

What’s not to like about the Fall?

As mentioned here before, the winter migration has started bringing with it more birds to the canyon.

River’s edge may still hold the last of summer’s green and buzz with insect life but just a few paces up the bank a season’s heat has taken its toll.

It won’t be long now for frosts to push the green out of the willow’s leaves and spread warm tones of brown down to river’s edge.

We start the day with puffy vests and hoodies braced against the brisk morning air.

Waders have again become required kit for fishing. But there’s still enough energy in the mid-day sun to warm you out of those top layers.

It’s inevitable that September will shift into October and our lunches will be accompanied by hot cocoa and a splash of whiskey. All too soon this pleasant Fall weather will get pushed out by winter’s chill.

Until snow blankets the roads, we’re getting in as much outdoor time as possible. We favor this time of year.

September 17, 2023September 16, 2023

Mosquitoes in September?

This week we headed over to Summer Lake. It’s a trek we’ll make a couple of times over the next few weeks as the winter migration gets underway.

It bears repeating . . . Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge offers the best vantage point for birding. To start, it’s on the Pacific Flyway.

More importantly, the marshes and ponds are bordered with a loop road and numerous turnouts. These two elements mean we are within easy viewing distance of a multitude of bird species.

There is one other, not so great, aspect of this wetland sanctuary . . . mosquitoes. Clouds of the little buggers.

I was under the impression that one encountered this pest only in spring and early summer. I was wrong. Application of some trusty repellent and at least the biting was down to a minimum.

We’d come in the late afternoon to take advantage of the evening light and perhaps capture the sunset. It was too early in the season to have the wetlands teeming with waterfowl. With the exception of mosquito swarms, it was a pleasant evening to be birding.