This week we found one way to avoid the heat is to get going at dawn, and of course, be home by noon.
Fishing partners
Destination: Crooked River
Departure: 5:00 a.m.
Reward: Pleasant morning sitting by a stream.
Wren, a tiny bird with a big voice
When you sit quietly, nature comes to you. Or more to the point, you notice what was around you all along.
Finally, back on the river
Before the heat of the day pushed us out, there were visits from a kingfisher, osprey, heron, numerous songbirds, and a collection of wrens.
Sun through spider silk
Early morning sun illuminated a web filled with spider snacks.
Stalking spent flower blossoms revealed a plethora of wonders in the frame of a macro lens.
On rivers edge there is still plenty of green
After lunch at the Tastee Treet, we headed home to avoid the oppressive afternoon sun in air conditioned luxury. Soon there will be another early morning jaunt.
View of the Darlene 3 fire from outside our front door.
Wildfire has always been a threat to western forest dwellers. Over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of major . . . as in thousands of acres . . . wildland fires.
To us, the off-shoot of most of these conflagrations has been smoke plumes that randomly blanket the spaces we inhabit. We have not had to deal with a direct threat
. . . until this week when we looked out our front door.
Dubbed Darlene 3; because there were two previous fires in the same area, La Pine’s first wildfire of 2024 was reported around noon on Tuesday the 25th.
By dinnertime it had grown to 500 acres and level 3 evacuation orders (“GO NOW”) had been issued to a large number of La Pine residents.
The fire kicked up several times due to wind gusts. Here you can see several new plumes.
Many of the fire fighting resources concentrated efforts on reinforcing containment away from neighborhoods, and in our case we were grateful they prevented the fire from jumping Hwy 97 (located just past the small forest in front of our home).
For the past couple of days the fire has been sitting at nearly four thousand acres burned, with 40% contained. Thankfully it continues to receive a lot of attention from a wide range of state and local agencies.
All it would take is a shift in wind direction and this wildfire would rise to disastrous levels.
Topping off our gas tank at Wickiup Station off of Hwy 97 before heading home.
Some area neighborhoods remain at level 3. Luckily, other areas have been downgraded to level 2 BE SET to evacuate.
Winds continue to push east-southeast away from La Pine and our neighborhood. But vigilance and constant monitoring is our best course.
Watch Duty, a free app for computers or smart phones, has been a great help tracking the fire’s progress. The app allows you to identify and track wildfire even really small local burns that other online sources ignore until they are at disaster level.
This week we set off for Paisley, the Chewacan River, and eventually a swing through the Lower Klamath.
This is a loop we’d attempted a few weeks ago, but were forced to turn back when we ran into snow covered roads.
Since then, we have had a few weeks of warm weather, so we expected clear roads.
River survey team reporting in
What we didn’t expect was Jack tripping on the rough terrain and cutting open his knee. While exploring a path to the river, he took a spill and jammed his knee on a rather pointed rock.
The MyMedic First Aid Kit was employed for the deep gash. But there was no doubt, we needed to head home to the nearest Urgent Care.
All ended well. The doctor praised our butterfly closure technique. However, the wound did require stitches. As a precaution, x-rays were taken, only to confirm the kneecap was not broken . . . which apparently IS a common injury.
Lupine
Wild Rose
JQ did manage to gather a few wild flower images before the excursion was cut short. Current circumstances may limit our adventures next week . . . stay tuned
Back on the Crooked River again this week. Fishing is getting good and the weather is perfect for a day of sitting along the stream.
American Kestrel (adult male), this small falcon is rusty above with slate-blue wings and two black slashes on the face.
In June the kestrals show up and we may have discovered a nest site,
Though it’s on the back side of an old snag . . . on the opposite side of the river . . . making it difficult to confirm.
Kestrels typically hunt ground prey like small mammals, lizards and large insects.
There was a lizard exchange that first drew our attention to the fact that this pair of kestrels might not be just using the tree as a feeding station.
Northern Flicker (juvenile) is larger than most woodpeckers in Oregon.
Next time we visit, I’ll wade the stream and get a better angle.
Northern Flicker
Mourning Dove
For now, we will be content with images of summer blooms, a young flicker and mourning dove also enjoying the water.
Of course, there are some pix of fishing and Tip keeping watch.
The Fremont Highway will take you right by Summer Lake, so we drive that route frequently. Usually only as far as the refuge, but this week we kept on going.
Past the southern end of Summer Lake sits the tiny town of Paisley. If you stay on Highway 31 for another 30 miles you’ll run into 395 and that eventually gets you to Reno, Nevada.
Instead, we took a hard right in the middle of Paisley, heading up into the Fremont Forest along the Chewaucan River.
The initial plan was to run up the back side of Winter Ridge and come out at Silver Lake.
The Chewaucan is a beautiful little stream, we’ll definitely be back to fish. We’d explored the northern portion out to Fremont Point and got a spectacular view of Summer Lake Valley
The Chewaucan River cuts through a meadow
The canyon cut by the Chewaucan winds south through pine forests, past numerous camp sites and side creeks, eventually running into USFS 28. This road traverses the top of Winter Ridge and would, in theory, lead to Silver Lake.
I say in theory because we didn’t calculate snow pack and got turned back by blocked roadways.
Remnants of a 2022 wildfire
Plans changed and we headed south to Dairy Creek and around Quartz Mountain intent on meeting up with State 140, Klamath Falls Highway. Foiled again by snow covered roadways, we retraced our route.
A JQ angle on dandelions
Undaunted, we’ll return to this area and complete the loop once the snowy grip of winter has been removed.
This is a loop we’d attempted a few weeks ago, but were forced to turn back when we ran into snow covered roads.
