Another River Video From Thursday

This is our little waterfall at Two Bench Beach on 12/18.

Things are much more sedate today, 12/20.  This is the view from the back deck.

Another River Video

This is the river by our big spruce tree.  I wouldn't want to fall in here!

Atmospheric River

We had a direct hit on Wednesday with 5.90" of rain.  The total for the month so far is 20.66".  Winds blew down trees, limbs, and branches throughout the area.  We got off without serious damage, but more rain is coming.

Our friends Jim and Ursula were not so lucky.  A large tree fell on Jim's blacksmithing studio and shop.

Recent Events

 This is the season of get-togethers made easier by not having as much yard and garden work.  

Our neighbor Catherine, on the right, turned 80.  She was pranked here with a birthday cake that was fake and impossible to cut.  The real cake came out later.

We had our 3rd annual neighborhood "For the Birds" gathering, inviting neighbors from up and down the road to come and have treats, wassail, and chit chat.  People were encouraged to bring some bird friendly decorations to hang on the little row of fir trees along the road at the fire station.  It was raining all day, so Gail and I did the decorating later.  Gail did a lot of work decorating, and our friend Andrea helped organize and send out invitations.

The hostess with the mostest! 

Daisy wondering what's happening.

Some of our guests here.  Most everyone  wanted to sit with a view out the window.  We've been seeing elk, lately, on the other side of the river.

Our newest neighbor,  little Pablo, was even more popular than Daisy.

Party's over and feeling good!

The Fungus Among Us

 By the end of summer we start anticipating fall rain which adds freshness, the plumping of moss, and the emergence of a lot of mushrooms.  The Douglas fir forest of the Northwest has the most biomass per area of anywhere in the world, including the Amazonian rainforest.  To break down all this biomass is a vast number of fungal species.  What we see above ground is just the tip of the iceberg.  From an aesthetic point, I really enjoy the beauty and variety of mushrooms.  Below is a sample of snapshots I took this fall.

Gail has been experimenting with mushroom spore prints.  She takes mushroom caps from gilled mushrooms, places them on paper, covers them with a bowl, lets them stay overnight, and if she's lucky the spores will have fallen to the paper leaving a nice pattern.

Halloween Over The Years

 Since 2012, with a big boost from Gail, we have had some hilarious good times doing up Halloween.  Moving to the remote central coast of Oregon has cut down on our costuming incentive, but I included a couple non-Halloween costumes in the video below.  Check it out on the link below:

https://youtu.be/gbQmL92n6eo

Down By The River

My trail cam at First Beach below our house has had a variety of animals the past few weeks. Continuing my fun with my computers video app and YouTube, I made another little video.

https://youtu.be/IJnmMMQWIYg

Under the Apple Tree

 Yesterday and last night, visitors came to our apple tree by the greenhouse.  They have been around for days, actually.  Click on the link below for a less than 2 minute video of the action.  

https://youtu.be/UKHytQFQn_s

Video: No Kings Protest in Yachats, Oregon

No Kings Protest In Yachats

 For a town of about 1,000 people, Yachats had a very strong turnout today for the No Kings protest.  The Lincoln Chronical estimated over 500 people lined both sides of Highway 101.  It didn't hurt that the weather was about perfect.

Mountain Lion in the Night

 

This is at First Beach, just past our cabana.

Bo and Ginger Are Back!

 This year, Bo and Ginger got off the table and are eager to explore what's up the road.

They are traffic stoppers, and catch me off guard when I go up to check the mail.

I harvested the squash:  23 butternuts, 5 kabochas, 3 turbans, and 1 pumpkin.

Visitors

 Here are some videos of recent animal visitors to our yard.

Bobcat

Bear

Nutria

Lorie and Brian's View

 Recently, we had an afternoon dog walk with Lorie and Brian and then went to their home on the Yaquina Bay for dinner.  It was one of those rare warmish evenings and we dined on their deck.

Willamette River Paddle

 Saturday, we participated in a nine mile paddle down the Willamette River.  We were joined by our friends Bob and Mary.  The paddle was sponsored by Willamette River Keepers and Oregon State Parks.  They provided canoes, paddles, and life jackets and the event was entirely free.  28 people signed up, many bringing their own vessels.

The weather was perfect!  The two rangers in the canoe are transporting a wheel chair for a man with paraplegia who paddled his own kayak.

Ahoy, Bob and Mary!

We made several stops along the way. Here a ranger talks about this primitive campsite.  They have over 90 campsites along the river, but you can also camp on the gravel bars.  It's kind of like backpacking except you can load up your canoe with a lot more stuff.

Here we are beached on a gravel bar.  The rangers and two River Keeper folks shared a lot of information along the way.  We learned about the native mussels, invasive water plants, "secret" swimming holes in abandoned quarries, and other recreational opportunities.

After the paddle from Corvallis to Albany and about 4 hours on the water, we had a picnic before heading home.

🚣

Trail Cam News

 This is the first time we have had a Gray Fox show up on a trail cam here in Oregon. It came by two nights in a row just before dawn.

This bobcat below is holding what looks like a squirrel in its mouth.

🍁

Road Trip!

 On the 4th, we boarded Daisy and headed east for a 6 day road trip to eastern Oregon.  Our first stop was Bend Oregon where we had reservations for the Hampton Inn right on the Deschutes River.  We expected it to be hot there, and it was. Ninety-three degrees, but just right for floating down the river on our tubes.  We floated for almost an hour before going down the rapids of the fish ladder.

As you can see, this is a very popular activity on a hot day in bend.  Photo from internet.

After the float, we walked along the river trail to find a dinner spot in Old Town.

We passed through the Old Mill shopping area where I took a little rest.  I have been shrinking in my old age.

We walked along the river where we had floated earlier.

After dinner, at 8:04 PM, there were still folks floating under the moonlight.

That's the full moon over the stacks of the old lumber mill.

The next day we headed east and drove through the remote Ochoco National Forest where several lightning fires were burning, some right next to the road.  We saw a converted airliner drop a load of orange retardant not too far in front of us.  It was a little spooky with all the smoke.

We finally made it to our destination of Joseph after about 7 hours of driving.  Joseph has many bronze sculptures around town that are made locally.  You can see how smoky it was on this day.  We stayed 3 nights in Joseph.  Joseph is at the base of the Wallowa Mountains and close to Wallowa Lake.  The entire Wallowa Mountain Range is a wilderness area and popular with backpackers.

The next day, we took a long hike going up into the mountains.

It was still smoky, but the scenery was rewarding.

Eagle-eyed Gail spotted this pika in boulders of a rock slide.

Wallowa Lake was naturally formed by glaciers up to 1,500 ft. thick pushing rock and earth down the mountain.  This earth appears like a big man-made dam, but is a natural moraine, one of the best remaining examples in the U.S.  The lake is 283 feet deep.

A rain squall came through the second afternoon, and helped clear out the smoke.

Near the lake is the headstone and monument for Old Chief Joseph.

At the far end of the lake is this building built in 1918.  It was a roller rink and dance hall.  It looks like it is past the point of being saved.

The next day we had clear skies.  This is from a little nature trail a short walk from our lodging.

We took the tramway 4,000 feet up to the top of Mt. Howard.  

The trees and vegetation at the top were stunted by the wind and winter storms.  The trees were mostly white bark pines and some lodgepole pines.

Under the bark of this dead pine were the tracks of bark beetles. I see a moose.

Looking to the east over Wallowa Lake.  This is a premier jumping off point for paragliders.   Some have ridden thermals from here crossing Hell's Canyon and landing in Idaho.

A golden-mantled ground squirrel.  

He was not timid after hearing me dig into my lunch bag.  We did not feed him.

It was a little disconcerting.  We could not keep him off us or our packs.  

We rode the tram back down and up again for fun, then had a little happy hour at the small restaurant at the top.  The next day we headed back to Bend via the Columbia River route, spent the night there, and drove home the next morning.  It was great to have a change of scenery and a little adventure.

🚡