Category: Travel

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Chasing Rain Clouds

A high desert spring day offered an assortment of cloudscapes, wildlife sightings, and a view of Fort Rock. The drive out Highway 31 towards Summer Lake is a tour through a variety of habitats, pine forest to lava beds and back.

This week’s escape from the house was a loop east on 31, out into the high desert and then back toward Bend and through a Ponderosa and lodge pole forest just south of Pine Mt. Observatory.

Partly cloudy forecast means something a bit different on the high desert steppes around Fort Rock. Here you can see the small storm cells moving over ridges. You’re greeted with bursts of sun amid the light rainfall.

The pocked face on the southside of Fort Rock didn’t offer up much raptor viewing. Song birds and ravens were in abundance, as was the occasional herd of migrating mule deer and antelope.

Not until we got near Highway 20 and were headed back to Bend did we encounter humans. As we headed home, trucks and their OHV loaded trailers headed to the network of paths crisscrossing the area.  By the time their engine noise filled the forest we were long gone.

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Scouting a cold blue ribbon

The Deschutes River north of Maupin was, for years, a go to fishing spot. There are BLM camp sites along the river from the bridge on Highway 197 to Mack’s Canyon.

When we moved to Central Oregon it was with a thought that we’d spend time on the lower Deschutes.

However, we’ve since discovered the Crooked, Fall and Upper Deschutes and haven’t been to Maupin in over a year.

This year, as we were planning camping excursions. I noticed there is an extension of the BLM land South of Maupin.

In all those years we never even looked that way!

This week we decided to take a day trip back to the old fishing spots and checkout this new area.

The scouting trip was interesting.

That stretch of the river flows through a much tighter canyon and while there are some nice stetches of water, for the most part steep banks and narrow roads make this a much less inviting area.

We headed North, downriver, to our favorite parking spot … Oak Springs. We enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back to home.

Lower Deschutes is on the camping list, but we’ll be back to old haunts rather than any of these newly scouted sites.

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Staying away on the Crooked

The weather has been so nice we took advantage and put the new Euro rod through its paces.

We are back on the Crooked River … fishing … training Tip in the ways of the river …

and generally practicing our own form of social distancing.

This time I evaluated the new rod and in the process caught a couple. The biggest problem encountered is the cobble rock bottom that makes wading difficult and precarious.

At the Crooked we generally don’t cover a lot of river.  Instead we pick a spot and work up and down from there (maybe a quarter of a mile at most). While the river’s bottom is rock and moss, the bank is really easy to traverse.

As the weather keeps getting better, this will be a regular destination for us. It feels great to hear the river rush by and take the time to breathe in the good and exhale the bad.

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Roadside novelty

America developed a national highway system starting in the thirties with a boost after WWII. Paved roads improved commerce but also gave birth to the cross country road trip.

Along our web of highways enterprising business men constructed cement monuments to gophers, dinosaurs and mythical lumber jacks as enticement to the many new sojourners. Some offered food and beverage, but all were rest points so travelers could stretch their legs and spend some money.

The age of roadside attractions has passed or more to the point was bypassed when we upgraded to the Interstate.

However, the monuments remain and it’s amazing what you can find sitting just a mile or two off the freeway. As the weather warms we venture farther from our home base. These road trips, by design, avoid the freeway but any Historical Marker is always a reason to pull over.

Recently we came across a throw back to the time of blue highways, a tea pot shaped gas station in central Washington.

The Teapot Dome Service Station is a former gas station built in the shape of a teapot located in Zillah, Washington. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It is an example of novelty architecture and was intended as a reminder of the Teapot Dome Scandal that rocked the presidency of Warren Harding.

 

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A GREAT Pub … just a bit out of the way

Mitchell, Oregon is roughly halfway between Portland and the Oregon / Idaho border. Sitting on the south edge of Highway 26 there are few reasons for you to do much more than just drive past the sleepy little town.

However, Painted Hills unit is just a few miles east and we venture to that spot 3 or 4 times a year. JQ pointed out the existence of a brew pub, but I was reasonably skeptical of the pours it might offer.

Turns out I was mistaken. Tiger Town Brewing offers a great selection of house brews, a guest tap and an amazing assortment of high end whiskey. Who’d of thunk.

We chose a couple of glasses of different ales and a ‘dram’ of Weller’s. Then, from their adjoining food cart we shared a basket of delicious fish and chips. The menu offered a nice variety of pub fare. Tiger Town may be a bit of a drive but if you ever find your self on Hwy 26 in Central Oregon this is a definite must stop.