January Pictures

 The first week of this month was rainy and relatively warm for January.  Since then, it has been dry, clear, and cold.  The morning lows have been below freezing with the past two mornings being 22 degrees.  We still have been doing walks and hikes almost daily.  Below are some pictures of from the past couple weeks.

The morning view from the hot tub.

The coast temperatures have been much milder than at our home 8 miles inland.

Cormorants and a gull at Seal Rock.

A beach scene at Seal Rock.

There have been a lot of gulls resting at the bay in Yachats.  Notice how far up the rocks driftwood logs have been hurled by tides and surf.

Yesterday, we drove up to Lincoln City and hiked the trail up to God's Thumb.  The thumb is that steep mound of rock on the left that resembles the thumb of God.  There is a group of people clustered on the top, 400 feet above the water.

A closer view of the folks on top.  It was looking a little crowded for our taste, so we sat on the grassy knoll above the thumb.

Looking up the coast from our perch.

Looking a mile or two northward across the Salmon River we could see a herd of elk lounging and grazing in the yards of these homes.

Meanwhile, back home, we noticed two dead salmon on the bank of the other side of the river, so I aimed a trail camera at it to see what might come along and eat it.   A nutria came plodding by, but being a vegetarian, it showed no interest.

A family of otters also came by, but they weren't interested either.  I think the salmon were frozen solid.  Eventually, a raccoon started chipping way at it, and now the remains are mostly gone.

A bobcat made 3 appearances, but I don't know if it ate any of the salmon.

And last but not least, a couple cute pictures of Gail and Daisy.