Travel

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024

Some Fall Color

Fall has descended on Central Oregon.

The high desert isn’t known for its foliage displays, but there are spots of color. Morning temperatures have dropped to near frost level chill, but the skies are clear, and by noon we are in the mid-seventies.

It’s a great time of year.

Early in the week we headed over to Summer Lake only to find that it’s locked down in preparation for waterfowl hunting season. Didn’t really see many birds, wonder why?

Undaunted we swung up to Winter Ridge for the trip home.

A favorite pull off on the Chewaukan River

Large swaths of the forest were ravaged by wildfire three years ago and yet some sections were untouched. Wildfire is a tricky beast.

Aspen leaves hold a distinct shade of yellow/orange in the falll

The area is peppered with marsh land, which in turn is home to numerous Aspen groves. This was our fall color and while mainly just shades of yellow. It was beautiful.

Later in the week, we headed back to Maupin for an additional attempt at Summer Steelhead.

This week’s trek began at first light . . . or at least early morning.

My cast count must be getting close to that magic “1000” number and still no steelhead. Instead, I settled for a stand in the river, taking in the wildlife and practicing those casting moves.

It’s the height of apple season and we were hoping to get some more cider.

There are around a hundred boxes of different apples and pears at Kikawa Orchard

If apples with redish flesh are pressed you get red cider … tastes just as good.

From the Deschutes River it’s a short jaunt to the orchards in Hood River.

On the slopes of Mt Hood there are a great variety of deciduous tree species and thus more fall colors.

Trees are still loaded with fruit, though mostly pears and the harvest is in full swing.

We did find some cider, as well as a few different variety of apples and pears to complement a growing fall fruit basket. Ladened with seasonal fruit, we headed home.

September 22, 2024September 21, 2024

Apple Cider weather

Early morning start, upstream from Warm Springs.

Our week started cold and wet. This did manage to cool off a wildfire that had Sunriver residents on edge.

At the end of last week the Lava Lake fire joined what was now being called the Mt. Bachlor complex. Burning up thousands of acres on the south edge of the mountain and headed east toward the resort.

The rain and low temps also flushed out a smoke plume that was plaguing Central Oregon. In typical High Desert fashion these gray skies moved on but left behind more fall temperatures and really nice days.

On Wednesday we celebrated national cheeseburger day at our favorite old school diner, Tastee Treet. Then, as the nice weather persisted we decided to take a jaunt over to Kiyokawa Orchards in Hood River.

It’s height of apple season and there are plans to can some sauce and reduce some cider for syrup.

The trees are heavy with fruit and farm stand shelves are loaded with a variety of apples and pears. The fresh cider was an unexpectedly good treat.

As long as we’re over there, we decided to swing up to Dufur, check out the Dufur Market and then spend the afternoon on the Lower Deschutes.

Still no Summer Steelhead, but I had a great time building up my cast count.

It was a perfect afternoon to sit along the stream . . . we’ll likely head up there again next week and try to find the illusive ‘fish of a thousand casts’.

September 15, 2024September 14, 2024

Back to the Canyon

We’ve managed to book regular stays at Cottonwood State Park and this week was September’s visit.

There is a quiet stillness to this spot that is very restful.

This cabin camping is just the ticket.

It starts with a couple hours drive up Highway 97 through a cross section of Central Oregon landscapes . . . forests to wheat fields, sage steppes to wind farms.

There is a great grassy spot in the day-use area

The day-use area allows us to plan a late lunch before the ‘official’ check in time.

A shady spot even in the heat of the day

We also managed to get in some fishing early in the afternoon.

Evening to sunset we mostly just sit in the shade of the cabin’s porch and sip cold beverages.

Though this time, the day was a bit too warm and we had to take advantage of the AC to endure the afternoon heat.

Outside urban light pollution, the star-filled skies require an early morning gaze.

There is coffee sipped to the sunrise over the John Day River and perhaps a morning try at Small Mouth Bass.

We’re usually packed and back on the road by noon.

It’s not a lot of time spent, but the value of place and peace of mind is huge.

We’ve got another stay reserved for next month and regularly check the reservation site to look for openings and chart the next stay.

September 1, 2024August 31, 2024

Preserving the Season

A couple of things this week, Steelhead and seasonal fruit canning.

If you’re a regular on this blog, you might recall we’ve combined trips for Summer Steelhead on the Lower Deschutes and orchard visits before.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Fishermen refer to Steelhead as a fish of a thousand casts. It can take that many or more to actually catch one.

Our favorite stretch of the Deschutes River.

In simple terms, this is a Rainbow Trout smolt that spent a few years in the ocean and then comes back to the fresh water river of it’s birth to spawn and repeat the cycle.

Late summer on the Lower Deschutes offers a chance to add to your cast number in pursuit of large fish. Mostly, I’ve been trying out fly patterns, improving my casting skills, and a little more.

This week I did manage to hook up a large fish, but lost it before a positive identification. In a week, I’ll try again. The Lower Deschutes Canyon in late summer is worth the trip.

Suncrest peaches feature in a new recipe, Ginger Peach Butter

August and September are huge canning months as farms and orchards overflow with new harvests. We eat “seasonally” which requires the preservation of some of what you are enjoying at the moment.

Pickling and fermenting are on this month’s menu

Stone fruit have started to show up at the Hood River orchards so that is what we gathered extra of this week. Peaches, plums and some crabapples are getting sliced for breakfast today and loaded into jars for meals this winter.

Tree ripened fruit from the farmstand outshines anything you’ll find at the mega-mart. It is always worth the trip.

August 11, 2024August 8, 2024

Third Time’s the Charm

An early morning start had us heading towards Paisley and the Chewaucan River.

It’s the third time we’ve attempted this loop route (previously stymied by snowy roads and a knee injury).

Paisley is on the southeastern end of Summer Lake, but first we headed to Lake Abert just a few miles further.

Both of these alkali bodies offer a stop over for migrating birds. The largest concentrations occur in July and August, so it seemed like a good time to swing by.

The lake’s calm surface creates an interesting illusion

In addition to a huge variety of gulls, we spotted Black-necked stilts, Phalaropes, as well as Avocets, both feeding and nesting.

US 395 runs the along the eastern edge and there are frequent turn outs to give you a great view of the mudflats.

Abert looking south from one of many pull-outs.

While we have been here before, the lake’s water level has never been this high, and by assumption that made for higher numbers of birds.

The background gets enhanced by the smoke haze.

A plume of smoke moved through the valley, but we managed to avoid the worst of it, grabbing some images before heading back to Paisley.

What little water makes it past the alfalfa irrigation and into Lake Abert Lake is from the Chewaucan River.

Paisley, home of the Mosquito Festival, sits on the river’s edge.

We turned onto a forest service road that follows the river up the southern end of Winter Ridge . . . a point from which John Freemont “discovered” the Summer Lake Valley.

Some fire scarred trees along the Chewaucan River

Ironically, the west side of this forested mountain range was consumed in a massive wildfire (Bootleg Fire, 365k acres) in the summer of 2021.

The understory shows signs of recovery, but blackened tree skeletons stand in memorial to the devastation.

Interesting point about wildland fire is how the fingers of a blaze reach into portions of a forest and miss adjacent areas.

The lower reaches of the Chewaucan were on the edge and our route wound in and out of the burned areas. At some high points you get a feel for the expanse of it.

We pulled into a quiet camp site for a lunch break, then continued to head up Winter Ridge. We skirted the edge of Gearhart Mt. Wilderness, and forged on to Bly and the Sprague River Valley.

On the way we discovered an unusual memorial from WWII, the Mitchell Monument Historical site. Apparently, the Japanese attempted to use High-altitude balloons to start fires in an effort to kill US citizens.

The Mitchell family and a group of Sunday school children were the sole casualties from an estimated 9000 balloons launched.

The USFS route out of the hills was a pothole riddled mess, but once we hit Bly, the roads improved and we had a very enjoyable journey along the slow moving Sprague River.

We then joined up with Highway 97 and cruised back up towards Bend.