Mary's Peak

We got a chance to try our new snow shoes yesterday.  The day was a rare blue sky day, so we headed for Mary's Peak, the tallest peak in Oregon's coastal range, about an hour and 45 minutes from home.  We drove up a gravel road, that had snow on it the last two miles, to the 1700 foot level where the North Ridge Trailhead was.  The trail was fairly steep and the snow became deeper the higher we went.  We were following the tracks left by a couple hikers, but we never saw anyone the whole hike.  Strange things began to happen after a couple hours. Large piles of snow high up in the trees began to soften in the sun, and would fall, knocking other snow piles off, creating a mini avalanche from the tree.  This would land with a big whomp, sometimes causing the snow on the mountainside to tumble down some.  One of these snow bombs landed right between us. There were recent branches that had been knocked down in the process, also. By this time, I had put on my snow shoes and was pleased how they allowed me to float over the snow.  However, we were both getting a little nervous about where we were, so we turned around at about the 3,000 ft. elevation level.  The peak is 4,000 feet high. We're looking forward to hiking all the way sometime soon.

 Heading out, the snow was hard and crusty, so we left our snow shoes on our packs. Later, the snow became more like deep powder.

 The weight of the snow on the tree branches made for a little limbo action in spots.

 The temperature at the trailhead was about 32 degrees, and a few degrees lower by the time we turned around.

 I'm liking the snow shoes.

Gail taking her first steps.

We finished our outing with dinner at Azul, a Mexican restaurant in Waldport.  We caused a humorous scene at the restaurant when the waitress and some other patrons heard Gail say to me, "I'm glad I survived that harrowing...", and she paused a long time, but before she could finish her sentence, the waitress and others thought she had said heroin.  Well, when she did finish, there was an outburst of relief from the waitress and diners.  We slept well last night.

Duck Box

I finished my duck nesting box and installed it today.  I'm hoping to to have renters this spring and summer.  Possible tenants could be Wood Ducks, mergansers, Northern Flickers, owls, or who knows?

 I followed the plans from Ducks Unlimited.  I made the predator guard out of sheet metal to keep out raccoons and other predators.

 One side opens up for clean out and camera adjustment. I installed a camera in the top and ran a cable up the bank to the house. Below the entry hole I added a series of kerf cuts to help the ducklings climb up and out when they fledge (getting optimistic here).  The nest material is aspen shavings.  Wood Ducks and Mergansers are cavity nesters, but don't bring in materials.

 I located the box straight down the bank from the house in an area that we don't go into often.  It faces the river where waterfowl will notice the contrast of its opening.  I noticed some Common Mergansers on the river this morning.  We have seen Wood Ducks in the past on my trail cam.

This is the camera view at night looking down on the aspen shavings.  The picture should be in color during the daytime as I think enough light will enter the entry hole.  Hopefully, I will have some updates in the future with living inhabitants! 

Jerry's Album Release

Jerry Rea and Wanda Stiles are our dear friends and former neighbors in Carlsbad. They have had some exciting news to share over the past couple weeks - a new album of songs from Jerry.

Jerry selected previously unrecorded masters that showcase his amazing range and versatile styling.  Jerry's singing is as good or better than anybody's over the past 5 decades.  The following email from Wanda best summarizes the particulars.

(To quote Wanda)

"Hi, Family & Friends,

After several months working on the release a CD of his music, Jerry has triumphed! He has been negotiating with K-tel, which, after hearing his music, agreed to  sponsor the release of his entire album, If You Try You'll Find Me. His music name is Jerry Ray. Of the 21 songs, he wrote 16, and of course, sings them all. K-tel no longer deals in physical CD's, so it is in digital form only on iTunes. It will probably show up on Amazon, but isn't there yet, as it was on iTunes only as of today. Each $.99 download will help us buy food. (Ha, ha!) Or, if you really want to splurge, order the whole album for $7.99!

 Attached is a picture of the album cover.

Jerry suggests, "Do not listen to Ol Hee Haw and Calling Ralph," as they are inappropriate for some audiences! 

Please enjoy!!"

Below, is a screenshot look at the iTunes web page.  I can attest that my $7.99 purchase was an unbelievable bargain, plus, it felt good to know I was putting food on Jerry's and Wanda's shelves.

The hard copy CD will be released soon in limited numbers, and below is a preview of the box proof. I was flattered Jerry chose my burro picture for part of the project. Gail and I feel like Rock and Roll groupies!  Wanda took the front cover photo, which I think is a perfect choice.

You rock, Jerry!

Mergansers Drop In

Tuesday morning, I spotted a flock of four Common Mergansers swoop in and land on the river. They actively hunted, swimming underwater, going through submerged grass, and teaming up at times to scare up fish. 

The light was dim and I had to shoot from the backdoor so as not to scare them away resulting in low quality photos.

Two females on the left, and two males on the right in breeding plumage.

Scanning under the surface for fish or any other moving animal.

A Steller's Jay looks on.

I'm inspired to build a duck nest box and see if it attracts mergansers, wood ducks, flickers, or whatever.  I might even put in a nest camera.

Snow Day!

Last night, and early this morning, we had snow showers - a novelty for us!  We got out and took advantage.  There was even a snowplow clearing the road, and a helicopter checking things out.  Really, that didn't seem necessary for the 1" or so and slightly above freezing temperature.

Gail "tubing" below the driveway.  This inspired us to go across the road and up a logging road for more fun.

We crafted a snowman.

His nose is elk poop, which probably skews his sense of smell.

We got some pretty long runs down the road rut. We're looking forward to doing this again with a little more snow on the ground and maybe having scored a used toboggan somewhere. 

Sea Lion Caves

Thursday, we stopped at Sea Lion Caves on our way to see a movie in Florence.   Since we were there early, we had the place to ourselves for awhile, and enjoyed the caves enough to stay about 90 minutes.

 Looking north from the parking area towards the Haceta Head Lighthouse.  The ocean is 300 feet below.

 You take an elevator down 208 feet to emerge in the cave system. It is the biggest sea cave in the United States. Those are mostly Steller Sea Lions on the rocks.  Males can be as heavy as 2,500 pounds.  The big entrance to the ocean is on the right. The south entrance is that beam of light, and extends about 1,000 feet to the ocean.

Action in the grotto.  Click on full screen to see what's going on.

 The view from the north entrance.

In the summer, the Steller Sea Lion cows have their pups on these rock shelves.

Tillamook

Last Friday, we left early for a drive up to Tillamook where Gail had an art class on Saturday.  Tillamook, famous for its cows and cheese, is about 2 hrs. and 40 mins. by car. Of course it took us twice that long with little side trips and stops.

 We had lunch at the Blue Heron French Cheese Factory in Tillamook.

 A little outside of Tillamook is this WWII blimp hangar that is claimed to be the largest wooden building in the world.  It is 1,072 feet long and 296 feet high. It had a twin nearby that burned down in the 90's.  The building houses the Tillamook Air Museum.

The plane out front is the Mini Guppy, a cargo plane with a hinged tail section for rolling in heavy equipment.  I remember the  Guppies from my time in Santa Barbara, as they were built there in the 60's.

 We went inside the Mini Guppy which was cool because there was a driving rain which was very loud on the uninsulated shell of the plane. The cockpit, wings, and tail were taken from a Boeing 377.

Inside the hangar it was dark, damp, and cold, as the roof is pretty leaky.  There are a number of Barn Owls living up in the rafters.  There is a classic plane section inside the hangar that is protected in an enclosure.  During WWII, blimps were housed in hangars up and down the coast. Blimps were good at the time for spotting Japanese submarines.  They could even drop depth charges on them.

The ship services lady was very calm, and didn't mind me getting a selfie with her.

Same with the sailor dude.

I'm not sure what this little blimp was doing here, but I think it belongs to some aliens.  The helicopter was for sale.

We stayed in a Air B&B that Gail had picked out. The hostess brought us this wonderful breakfast in the morning.  We ate dinner the night before at Roseanna's Cafe in nearby Oceanside - highly recommended.

While Gail was in her art class, I perused the very well maintained Pioneer Museum.

 After her art class, we drove out to Cape Meares and came across a trail to Oregon's largest Sitka Spruce.

 It had a huge trunk that didn't taper, and some limbs that would be large trees on their own.

 Friday night had driving rain and wind, but Saturday was dry. Looking north from Cape Meares.

 The lighthouse at Cape Meares.

 This spruce is named "The Octopus Tree".

Looking south from Cape Meares towards Haystack Rock.

We took the Three Capes Drive southward and came back out on the 101 at Pacific City.   Stops on the trip also included an annual rummage sale in Lincoln City, and a couple art galleries.  We'll be returning to the area again, as Gail has more art classes in Tillamook.