The Past Couple Weeks

 Low tide in Yachats' little bay.

 On a minus tide, the water really moves out here!

 We've had a number of days in the low 80's prompting a few paddles in the river. We call this spot "First Beach".

 One way to keep your bottom cool!

 Gail, practicing her balance beam moves.

 We got a couple cords of fir to lay up for the winter. There is a huge paper wasp nest under the roof of  the shed, so Gail wasn't taking any chances.  The wasps have been mellow - so far!

Fir burns a lot longer than the alder we have.

Gail and her fruiting chamber.  We have been riding our bikes into town on Sundays to go to the farmer's market. Gail bought this shitake block as a kit from Bob the mushroom guy.  In 5 days she had these mushrooms!

Rather beautiful, I think. The block is made of wheat bran and sawdust.

We sauteed them in olive oil with onions and garlic. I put mine over fresh picked green beans.

At the farmer's market, we've been getting soup and grilled cheese sandwiches from this family run soup booth called "Souperb".

I showed Gail how to mow with the tractor mower, and now I can't get it away from her!

We thought we had two giant weeds in the yard, but weren't sure. It turned out they have bloomed, and I think they're hollyhocks.  The other one has black flowers.

 We're not sure what these are, but they resemble mallow.

 We don't know what this is either, but we have them in several places.

 Fuscia and salvia.

More salvia.

Plants are doing well in the greenhouse. Basil and tomatoes.

We are getting enough blueberries to keep us supplied.

 We have beans coming in like crazy!

 ... and potatoes.

...and more strawberries than we can eat! We're starting to get help from a doe and her two fawns, however.

Hiking the Gwynn Creek Trail, we came upon some old growth douglas fir.  The canopy of this tree was like a platform of branches and other plants.

A goodbye hug.

 Below the house, we have some beautiful elderberry shrubs overhanging the trails.

One of the two large Oregon Spotted Frogs that live in our goldfish pond.  All for now!

Forest Service Road Travelers

Monday, we put our two cameras out on the Forest Service road above our home and retrieved them this afternoon. The first camera we placed where I had seen a bear cub last week. There was also an animal trail crossing the road, and bobcat scat on the road. Looked promising! Here are some of the videos from that camera.

The bear in the above video is investigating the camera in the video below.  Luckily it didn't knock it over or worse!

The second camera was placed a few miles further up the road in an area dense with berry vines. We had spotted an animal trail going into the vines and placed the camera near the exit facing the road. The video below is the only animal shot we got.  

I guess the camera spooked this bear and it took off - pretty impressive speed for such an ungainly looking animal!

Drift Creek Wilderness

Yesterday, after looking at our Siuslaw National Forest Map, we decided to see if we could make it up to a trailhead that would take us into the wilderness.  We drove east of Waldport along the Alsea River, and then up a national forest road to the Harris Ranch trailhead.  The trail was a descent of about 1,100 feet to Drift Creek through some old growth forest.  The map says it rains about 120 inches a year here. It was quite rain foresty.  We had lunch on some beautiful open rock slabs along the shore.  There were numerous potholes in the rock filled with water and containing a number of Rough-skinned Newts.

  No other cars at the trailhead and not one other person seen all day.  Definitely not Southern California!

 This forest has a great mix of  kinds of trees and ages of trees. 

 We recognized this plant from Alaska - Devil's Club.  It is covered with spines, even its leaves.

 A good example of a nursery log now straddled by this large hemlock.

 Drift Creek was a very pleasant surprise, and a great place for lunch.

 We had lunch on some beautiful open rock slabs along the shore.  There were numerous potholes in the rock filled with water and containing a number of Rough-skinned Newts.

 There were some calm, deeper pools, too.  This is a very important creek for coho and chinook salmon.

 Moss covered tree.

 The trail up the creek was very overgrown.  We were trying to find where it connected to a trail coming from the north down to the other side of the creek, but finally gave up.

 Hiking back out, we saw this garter snake cross the trail and try to hide.

 This sighting by the amazing eagle-eye Gail, was one for the books! A Coastal Giant Salamander consuming a banana slug.  It seemed comatose, possibly from the slugs chemical slime.

 Although this one is about 7 1/2 inches long, Coastal Giants can reach 13 inches in length, making them North America's largest terrestrial salamander. They have been known to eat mice, fish, and just about anything they can fit in their mouths. They can also bark like a dog!

We didn't see the salamander or the slug move in any detectable way.  I wonder how this ended.

National Forest Road 5300

About a quarter of a mile from our house is National Forest Road 5300. It is a seldom traveled one lane road that winds through the mountains, intersecting other Forest Service roads and logging roads, eventually coming out near near Waldport after about 15 miles. Monday, I hiked it out and back about 9 miles. There was a down tree across the road near the start that I had to climb through.  After my turn around, I came upon a bear cub about 50 up the road. It quickly scrambled off into the berry vines. I was carrying a big stick and talking loudly as I passed by where it was.  A few minutes later, I heard the slow loud drumming of a pileated woodpecker.

Tuesday, Gail and I drove up to the downed tree, cut up a passage through it with our chainsaw, and drove up a couple miles to begin a hike further along the road.  It was a beautiful sunny day, with some awesome animal sign along the way.

Monday

This downed alder meant I probably wouldn't have any vehicles on the road to disturb the peace.

Turn up your volume and listen to the territorial drumming of North America's largest woodpecker.

Tuesday

After cutting our way through the downed alder and driving up the mountain a couple miles, we parked and started walking.

 This large bear scat contained the hooves of a fawn. 

 Further up the road, another large bear scat.

 A thin layer of mud on the tarmac was a perfect substrate for these bear tracks.

 We noticed that banana slugs have an appetite for various scat.  This one is dining on bear scat.

After a few miles, we explored down a secondary gravel road that is pretty much a half lane road now.  We want to come back to this one and explore further.

A Pale Swallowtail butterfly on a cow parsnip flower.

Andria's Family Comes to Yachats

Andria, Dave, Nora, Soren, and Susanna came to stay with us from last Wednesday to Sunday. Most of the following pictures were taken by Andria which I will designate with an "A".

Susanna immediately became the daily goldfish feeder. A

The kids wanted to help out with the chores, especially chopping wood. A

Susanna scraped the moss off the logs. A

Nora mastered splitting logs, even using an overhead swing when needed.  A

Soren worked hard all morning.  A

Haulin'.  A

After all that work, a trip to the beach was in order.  A

Sculpture and sand castle fun. A

 The Devil's Churn

Kapow! A

 Cape Perpetua 

Silly version.

A juvenile Bald Eagle watches from above.  A

Andria, me, Susanna, Nora, and Soren.  A

 Hay ride time!  A

A

Susanna is very serious about her strumming.  A

She also enjoyed picking chard and watering the vegetables.

Watering the beans.

The spa was a hit!

The talented Susanna is also a hair dresser.

One last group shot before saying goodbye.  A