It’s been one of those weeks. By that I mean, we have had weather patterns that make it difficult to get out and do much more than just a daily walk.
Snow and rain, alternating with cold snaps, mean roads are difficult to navigate or should I say, passable only if you need to be somewhere. So why bother.
However, we can’t just sit, read, and do the crossword. Well, we can…but for a change we drive north 15 minutes to Sunriver. At the height of the season, Sunriver’s network of trails is clogged with families on bikes, making walking with Tip problematic.
Once late fall comes, Sunriver presents a nearly ideal walking location, with it’s paved walk ways (except immediately after a snowfall) which are plowed and mostly free of ice.
There are 40 miles of paths in the resort, and while most of that is around and through housing units, apartments, and condos, there is a great loop of trails branching out from the Nature Center. A nearly 4 mile loop takes you across marsh land and fields, eventually dropping down to the Deschutes River.
We also have been spending time watching the water fowl that winter over on the pond beside the Nature Center. A Trumpeter Swan, Canada geese and a heron are regulars here. So on weeks like this one, we do our walking in the relative comfort of paved paths.
In 1843, John Freemont discovered a valley with an alkali lake. On a December day, Freemont’s survey team clammered down a snow-covered cliff they would name Winter Ridge, into a temperate green valley.
The previous owners of our house left us a snow shovel, which was nice of them, as it has come in handy.
Predictions for this week’s weather… looks like I’ll be using the snow shovel. It’s not as bad as I remember from the Montana winters of my youth.