Observations

The past week, we took a hike on a nearby logging road after a few rain showers. We've been seeing fungi starting to produce mushrooms, and we are eager to learn about them.  We continue to monitor for critters on our two trail cams on the property.  Below are some random shots of what we've been seeing lately.

 We found a few chanterelle mushrooms a ways off the road.  They are tasty, although we didn't pick any yet.  We'll wait until we get a good rain which should bring up more.

 Near the chanterelles were these cauliflower mushrooms.  They are supposed to be delicious.

 Another chanterelle.

 It looks like elk used this alder tree to rub on.  I read that bull elk do this to strengthen their neck muscles for rut, and to leave scent.

 This banana slug uprooted this mushroom and has been eating away at it.

 We saw several rough skinned newts traveling through the dampness.

 This little bat was sleeping behind a deck chair that was leaning against the house.  I noticed it was there several days in a row.

 Nick helped me identify these flowers as some kind of crocus, possibly saffron crocus.  They came up in a small area of our yard and don't seem to have leaves.

Some of the squash I grew.  I'm holding a Marina di Chioggia, the orange ones are Turk's Turbans, and the two smooth green ones are Kabocha squash.

A bobcat came by two nights in a row this week not far from the house.

Jerry and Wanda Visit!

Last week, Jerry and Wanda, our dear friends and former Carlsbad neighbors, stayed with us for five days.  It was sure fun hanging out with them and showing them around our area.  

 Touring the property.

The weather was great.  Of course we did the mandatory Cape Perpetua overlook.

 We did a couple hikes.  With the recent rain showers, the fungi are starting to show.

 At the covered bridge on the North Fork of the Yachats river.

 We did the lighthouse tour at Yaquina Head. We all enjoyed our spunky tour guide Cloe.  We also enjoyed the unique Ye Olde Telephone Company, a telephone museum of sorts.

We had a "dance night", too! 

 A high point was hearing Jerry sing and play the guitar.  He is in the process of releasing on CD  and digital a selection of old masters he recorded over the years.  We're looking forward to that!

Jerry singing an original.

Mink, I Think

I'm pretty sure we have captured a couple videos of mink in our river. I read they are found in Yachats River.  I've been trying to get video of the otters we see, but these look too small, have a pointy nose, and round tail that looks shorter than otter tails.

Colorado Trip

I spent last week back in Colorado visiting Andria's family and doing some back country hiking with Dave. We originally had planned to go backpacking in the Rockies for several days, but the weather there was forecast to be cold with periods of rain. We opted instead to drive west to the Colorado Plateau and set up our camp at Colorado National Monument, about 15 miles or so from Grand Junction.  We spent three nights there enjoying the sights, and did two hikes in the nearby McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area. The weather was mild, and we had no rain to speak of.

 On Sunday, we did a family hike to the top of Mt. Herman (elevation 9,063 ft.). The kids were great hikers on this short 2.2 mile but steep hike.

 On Tuesday, Dave and I headed out on our trip, crossing the Rockies headed west. We stopped in the town of Fairplay for lunch.  The town is at an elevation of 9,953 feet!

 Get your car insurance here!

 We stopped for a rest along the Colorado River.

 We were glad to have finally arrived at Colorado National Monument late in the afternoon. We did the 23 mile Rim Rock Drive that snakes along the edge of the canyon walls.

 Notice that huge chunk of cliff that has dropped off the side of the canyon wall.

 Views from Rim Rock Drive.

On Wednesday, we did a 7 mile hike up Devil's Canyon at McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area.

 We both love the rock formations of The Southwest.

 Our hike led up this canyon.  We missed the trail down below, and rather than backtrack a couple miles, we chose to plunge over a steep, semi talus slope down to the bottom.

 The scenery reminded us of our Canyonlands National Park backpacking trip of 2 years ago.

 The trail turnaround was at this old sheep herder's shack.

 In the shack.

 The road up to our campground passed through a couple tunnels through the sandstone.

 A look from our campground area.

On Thursday, we hiked the Rabbit's Ear Mesa Trail.  This 6 mile trail led up and around a large mesa overlooking the Colorado River.

 On the way down from our campground, a bighorn sheep ram crossed in front of us.

 The terrain on his hike headed up to the mesa top.

 We had lunch looking down at the Colorado River below.

 After the hike, we drove a few miles over dirt roads to another overlook area.

Throughout the trip, thunderstorm activity was never too far away. 

This area had many little side roads and trails to explore which would be fun in the future.

 Headed back up to camp, we came upon a group of female bighorn sheep and a ram.

 Friday morning and time to head back east to Colorado Springs.  Morning light.

On the drive back, we took a side trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

 Perspective is deceptive here. The Gunnison River is 2,500 feet below the canyon rim.

The river below carved this canyon through hard schist at the rate of about one inch every hundred years.

It was great to spend time with the family and also get a dose of The Southwest.  Gail and I have loved getting acquainted with The Southwest while living in the San Diego area and miss our trips to the desert and red rock country.  We think that eastern Oregon might give us a taste of desert and interesting rock formations. We'll see!