Weather – Page 2

April 16, 2023April 15, 2023

Weather Watchers

We put in a lot of miles over the course of a year. Most are spent on two lane roads crossing the sage steppes on the east side of Oregon.

A feature of driving through the high desert is you’re able to see the weather. Not just the stuff over our heads, but what’s happening on a distant horizon.

You witness weather fronts sliding across remote locations. We frequently pull onto a wide spot in a remote stretch of highway, camera lens pointed out at a distant butte or swale. Cloud patterns, rain curtains, and sunlight all casting shadows for our photos.

The play of light, clouds and landscape make for very interesting images. It connects us to the environment in a way similar to standing in a stream or hiking a rocky trail.

All if this is part of the experience we are trying to share in these posts. At the same time, making the journey as much fun as the destination.

January 30, 2022January 29, 2022

A Spring-like Day at Summer Lake

The sun shone and the temperatures warmed … seemed like the perfect time to make a trip to Summer Lake. There is still some snow banked along the Fremont Highway, but the roads were clear. The same icy fog banks that we encountered last week hung over some of the valley around Fort Rock. Once we crested Picture Rock pass and started down into the Summer Lake Valley it was all sunshine.

These guys seem to be permanent residents

Winter is also hunting season, so we don’t expect to see a lot of bird activity. There are plenty of ducks and geese but not in the ponds around the campgrounds. Canals and marshes have filled up so there is plenty of water, most of the still pools are crusted with ice.

We hiked along a dike to get closer to a pair of swans and watched a few raptors sail over head. The real reason for a winter photo excursion to Summer Lake is the contrast a cover of snow gives to the cliffs that line the valley.

Reeds and grasses along the water ways give the foreground tones of caramel, ochre and brown. The snow-covered rocks of Freemont Ridge make the perfect transition to the blue skies. On a still day these are also reflected across the water surfaces.

The lack of any wind and the sun made for a comfortable day of walking the wildlife refuge’s paths. It’s still a few months before the migration brings flocks of birds to the space, but for now we can find plenty of other subjects for the lens of our cameras.

November 7, 2021November 7, 2021

In The Clouds

We spotted several Blue Heron roosting in trees along the river’s edge

The main difference between weather on the Cascade’s west versus the east slope is how long it lingers. In Central Oregon a rain storm comes in and moves on in a day. The great part is you get to experience weather in a variety of stages and it seems like a sunny day is always on the way. This week we drove through clouds.

The Lower Deschutes, around Maupin, is a regular destination in the fall. There are far fewer people, the river level drops to ‘wadeable,’ and summer heat has passed.

The road ahead winds its way down through a dense cloud bank

The latter part of the week looked like a storm front coming along with wind gusts and increased rain. So we spent a bit more time on the road and headed for Maupin. On the edge of the Deschutes River canyon we drove into the clouds … literally.

The fog bank hung onto the canyon’s edge, so we slipped below the clouds and pulled up to a favorite spot on the river.

Lunch, fresh coffee and on the river. The fishing was very slow but Tip and I had fun scrambling along the bank. JQ was much more productive with the long lens on her camera snapping pix of some of the locals.

We spent an afternoon on the river without encountering a single fisherman or rafter, unusual, but made for a great day. We expect the rainy days to increase in late fall and take advantage of the drier ones. Bend / La Pine get an average of 11 inches of precipitation compared to Portland’s 44 inches, so we still get mostly desert-like weather.

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021

Waiting on Spring

A wind advisory (gusts of 85 mph) for Summer Lake killed any plans to visit the wildlife refuge.

All the signs point to the start of spring. However, the weather or rather the constant changes in the weather continue to upset our plans.

During the last few weeks we woke to snow three times and daily temps in or near 60º twice. That’s in one ten day stretch.

Winter keeps a grudging hold on us as Spring taunts us from the sidelines. We’ve managed to get on the river a couple of times during those warmer days. But each morning it’s a new forecast and shifts the day’s travel plans.

All winter the snows have been frequent but rarely more than a couple of inches and have always melted away in a week’s time, or less.

Past winters have seen a foot or more of snow sticking for weeks, but not this year. That may be why it’s so frustrating to plan a road trip. Destination set and then you wake to iced roads or the threat of a snow dump. For some reason the weather people are having a hard time forecasting more than a day or two in advance.

Saturday (3/20/21) was officially the start of Spring and for now that’s reflected in the forecasts. We continue to add locations to our itinerary and pack for a variety of weather … that’s just Central Oregon … but it has been a slow month as occasional sunny days hint at the potential for a real winter thaw.

October 17, 2020October 18, 2020

Looking through a new lens

This week, unlike the last few, was filled with ‘doing’. The air quality improved and the sun was out.

We took day trips three different days.

Hit the Crooked River on a perfect fall day … caught no fish but had a great picnic.

We love areas like this … that said, we never travel unprepared, even on short trips.

The other two days we headed east toward Fort Rock and the high desert.

Came across a few road obstacles … nothing we couldn’t manage.

If you’ve spent any time on this blog it’s clear we are iPhone photographers. We subscribe to the adage ‘the best camera is the one you have in hand’.

However, the types of images we are attempting to capture require telephoto lenses that just aren’t available on an iPhone.

This week we took delivery on a new Sony camera and lenses. Similar to the system we rented in June and posted about in issue #38 on birding.

Storm front moving across the Summer Lake Wildlife Area.

Of course Summer Lake was one of the places we headed for. Unfortunately it’s hunting season and there was some obvious restrictions on where you can go if you’re shooting but not ‘killing’.