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June 30, 2024July 26, 2024

Where There’s Smoke . . .

View of the Darlene 3 fire from outside our front door.

Wildfire has always been a threat to western forest dwellers. Over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of major . . . as in thousands of acres . . . wildland fires.

To us, the off-shoot of most of these conflagrations has been smoke plumes that randomly blanket the spaces we inhabit. We have not had to deal with a direct threat

. . . until this week when we looked out our front door.

Dubbed Darlene 3; because there were two previous fires in the same area, La Pine’s first wildfire of 2024 was reported around noon on Tuesday the 25th.

By dinnertime it had grown to 500 acres and level 3 evacuation orders (“GO NOW”) had been issued to a large number of La Pine residents.

The fire kicked up several times due to wind gusts. Here you can see several new plumes.

Many of the fire fighting resources concentrated efforts on reinforcing containment away from neighborhoods, and in our case we were grateful they prevented the fire from jumping Hwy 97 (located just past the small forest in front of our home).

For the past couple of days the fire has been sitting at nearly four thousand acres burned, with 40% contained. Thankfully it continues to receive a lot of attention from a wide range of state and local agencies.

All it would take is a shift in wind direction and this wildfire would rise to disastrous levels.

Topping off our gas tank at Wickiup Station off of Hwy 97 before heading home.

Some area neighborhoods remain at level 3. Luckily, other areas have been downgraded to level 2 BE SET to evacuate.

Winds continue to push east-southeast away from La Pine and our neighborhood. But vigilance and constant monitoring is our best course.

Watch Duty, a free app for computers or smart phones, has been a great help tracking the fire’s progress. The app allows you to identify and track wildfire even really small local burns that other online sources ignore until they are at disaster level.

November 5, 2023November 5, 2023

Fall on the Deschutes

Days are growing shorter and mornings colder. Leaves have shifted from green to gold and paint the ground amber around our picnic spot.

Fall in Central Oregon is a very short season . . . a brief few weeks between ‘Indian summer’ and first snow.

I’m still looking for Steelhead, so we’re making the trek to the Lower Deschutes.

This week we scouted different access spots, a task acknowledging Tip’s desire to wade, as well as the need to access good holding water.

Just upstream from where the White River empties turbid waters into the Deschutes was a nice stretch. Still no luck catching Steelhead.

However, the sun tempered a morning chill and we found a nice spot to brew a cup of coffee and enjoy our lunch.

Winter looms and we wake to a dusting of snow on the ground more than once.

The week ahead promises wet but mild weather. We’ll pack rain gear, break out the beanies and generally prepare for colder days.

However, this day was a perfect Fall day on the Lower Deschutes and we took advantage of that.

February 26, 2023February 25, 2023

Catching a Sun Rise

Coyotes yap and howl across the valley, while doves stir along Fort Rock’s face.

With winter subsiding, at least briefly, we venture further from home. This week we headed east, early enough to catch the sunrise at Fort Rock.

The Fremont Highway is a strip of two lane asphalt cutting across the northern corner of the Great Basin.

On the western side is a rock structure jutting out of the sage steppe. Fort Rock is an excellent backdrop for sunrise or sunset images, as well as a raptor nesting site.

Summer Lake, one of our favorite birding sites

An hour after sunrise we’ve captured images and drone footage and are back on OR 31 heading further east. Over Picture Rock Pass and down into Summer Lake valley. It’s the latter part of hunting season and there’s not a lot of birding at the wildlife refuge.

We press on eastward through Paisley to Valley Falls, where we turn north skirting the edge of Abert Lake. Oregon’s only saltwater lake, and one of two in the great basin, its eastern shore is shadowed by a 2500 foot exposed fault scarp. Abert Rim is one of the highest fault scarps in the US.

Abert Rim looking south from the lake’s edge

All this comes together for excellent landscape photo ops. There is renewed awareness of the damage drought and irrigation has brought to this important stop over for migrating birds. Recent legislation will focus research on ways to restore alkaline lakes. Hopefully, it’s not too late.

Receding water lines mark issues with scarce water resources

Starting in April and running into the fall, there are a series of different bird species using Abert as a nesting site, or for just a short stop over. Our trip was a chance to scout potential birding spots. To that end, the calendar has been updated with future excursions, which of course will get documented on these pages.

Summer and Abert lakes are remnants of an ancient sea bed

For now we swing farther north along the western edge of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We hit Highway 20 outside Burns and then take that road back to Bend and complete the circle.

December 24, 2022December 23, 2022

Year’s End

Halloween candy wasn’t even gone from the pantry and our social media feeds began to fill with gift suggestions tucked among the posts. It’s difficult to be in a holiday spirit when you’ve been bombarded with ads for two months. Amplifying the sales spiels is a din of corporate media messages passing off their price gouging as a recession.

With a lingering pandemic, threats to global peace and what appears to be half of the country ready to embrace a fascist coup, it’s not been a great year. Yeah . . . it’s hard to find any spirit of the season in our hearts.

But then we took a look back at the forty-plus entries on this blog and realized there were plenty of bright spots.

Fort Rock in the distance A year of laughing, living, and most importantly, having fun

In spite of the chaos that surrounds us, we’ve managed to get out in the woods, tramp across the high desert and stand in a stream or two.

Basically . . . enjoy the moment … we hope you have done the same.

There won’t be any blog entries for the next few weeks, but look for a new post toward the end of January. For now, take a moment and reflect on this year’s high points . . .

We wish all our readers Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year!

. . . more roads to travel, trails to explore, more adventures to come

September 4, 2022September 3, 2022

Fall Yet?

Our screens are filled with Fall and Halloween, content but summer’s not giving in that easy. The PNW swelters under a heat dome and it does not feel even a little bit like Fall.

Wading rivers is a great way to beat the heat. Usually we can time our trips to take advantage of the cooler morning hours. Neither of these strategies worked this week. The day’s heat never gave way to a typical morning chill. We needed to find a different escape.

The Upper Deschutes is a perfect spot. Tip can enjoy a game of fetch and a swim. A dense lodgepole forest gives plenty of shade along the stream bank so it is a good choice for these last days of summer. The weatherman predicts a shift to more ‘Fall’ like weather in the days to come. For now we make do.